Fall Trips

I will have some limited availablity for the next few weeks.

I'll be in the Eagle River/St Germain area on a short trip starting Friday but I'll be back for the weekend of the 12th.

If you're interested in getting out, please contact me asap to confirm your date.
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Bass and Walleye fishing is set to get super good as they start moving to fall transitional areas. I would imagine the cold front that is headed our way is likely to trigger some fish.

Musky fishing should be in full swing by the 20th. Just in time for the Ironman Tournament on Okauchee. Could this be the year for Okauchee to break the 50inch mark in a tournament?

See you on the water!
CT


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Last Week of Summer

You wouldn't know it by the heat today, but Labor Day has passed, and summer is at an end. I like to think of the next two months as early fall.

Guided Sunday during the afternoon, both the bite and the boat traffic were tough. I got a chance to meet Eagle's warden, when he checked me. I did enjoy the conversation and I do like to know the warden's by name/face.

Tough bite ended good, with this nice smallie for Trent.

Finesse approaches seem to be working right now.

CT

Link Added

There's a link on the right hand column that will allow you to download a short powerpoint presentation on the fly-in trip to Canada.

The dates are set Augst 22-29, 2009.

Take a look.

CT

Oconomowoc and Silver Trips

On Oconomowoc with new clients on Sunday Morning.

Fishing was tough, but the lake is starting to clear up a little. There's lots of new weed growth this season, especiallyin the the 6-12 foot depths. It might be a fantastic musky season this fall.

On Silver on Monday Afternoon with new clients.

Fairly typical trip for Silver. Better than 30 fish in about 4.5 hours of fishing.

Two things of note: 1.) Jigworms are outproducing wacky worms on Silver this season. 2.) Zac, one of today's clients, caught the first smallmouth I've seen come out of Silver. I have heard rumors of smallmouth in the lake, and it would appear to be a great lake for them to be in, but I was skeptical of the claims for a long time. I have guided for or personally caught literally thousands of bass from Silver over the past few seasons, but never once had even stumbled onto a smallmouth until today. As a result, I'll be taking a better look at some of the deeper structure on the lake for next season.

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Our Canada trip keeps getting the details changed, but I've been talking extensively with the outpost operator and I think we picked a great lake, even if we have to change the dates of the trip. I'm waiting for confirmation that we have the slot. As soon as I know for sure, I'll be posting additional information.

Thuja Musky Lures

Just got some sample baits from Thuja. They are topwaters and I'm looking forward to trying them out.

I added a link to their blog and I'll report back later this week on the trial run.


CT

Canada eh?

Musky Mikes Fly-in Canada Trip

After some requests by guide clients and store customers, I have begun to put together a Canadian Fly-In Fishing Trip for August of 2009.

I will lead a small group on a week long trip out of Red Lake, Ontario. We will fish a lake for Northern Pike and Walleye for a week starting on August 7th, 2009. I'll be arranging the food, beer, bait and tackle for the trip and each angler will get a personalized St Croix Jigging Rod as part of the package.

This is a great trip. I've been out with the outfitter several times and we've caught lots of fish at each of the lakes we've gone to. We'll be the only group on the lake (there's no other cabins). The scenery and wildlife are magnificent.

I'll be posting more information soon, but if you are interested, email me.

Chris

White Bass Weekend

One White Bass from this weekend:


Expect this bite to last a few more days at least.

CT

Weekend Report

Managed to get out both days this weekend.

Went to Lake Koshkonong with Ray on Saturday for a few hours. We trolled the flats and caught around 30 white bass and one short walleye. We tried pulling minnowbaits, and caught a few, but bottom bouncer/spinner harnesses were producing, so we dropped to four rods pulling those. Kytock Rigs (my special twist on the bottom bouncer) produced almost all the fish. The wind had picked up since I had been out there on Thursday, and the fish had repositioned deeper.

Had repeat clients Stu and Michelle on Sunday Morning. We had a nice casual trip to Silver Lake for Largemouth Bass. Caught some fish on Wacky Worms but Jigworms were producing a few more fish today. The fish were deeper than they usually are on Silver, but we got on them right away and ended our half day run with better than 30 fish.

I have a few days available if you'd like to get out.

CT

Koshkonong!

Folks,

If you're looking for a place to get out this weekend, consider packing the boat for Lake Koshkonong where there's an incredible bite happening right now.

Anglers can catch a variety of fish trolling the areas off mainlake points in 4-6 feet of water. While out on Thursday I caught catfish, numerous whitebass, some quality walleyes and even some northern pike.

If you're going to keep some whitebass for eating, remember to take a cooler full of ice to put them one right away after they are caught, and consider catch and releasing any big walleyes you catch. I put a couple back Thursday that were better than 25 inches each.


Good Luck,

CT

Cancellations/Availablity this week.

Gang,

I had a couple of cancellations this week. I'm available on both Thursday and Friday this week for half or full days.

CT

School Section

Headed down to this small lake for a look see over the weekend. If you're looking for a quiet day on a smaller lake, its worth considering as an option.

The launch is just off school section road. Take hwy 67 south to D. Turn right on D and when you get to the fork, veer left and take school section road to the launch. Its on the left hand side.

CT

Fly In Trip-August 2009

Based on the interest from some of my clients, I'm organizing a Canadian Fly-In fishing trip for next year.

I know its early, but if you're interested in joining a small group for a week in Northwest Ontario fishing for walleyes and northern pike, contact me.

CT

Busy, Busy

I'm booking alot of trips right now, but still have some openings available.

The bass are biting. Half day trips on Silver Lake are averaging 40-50 fish a day right now, while trips on Golden are averaging 12-18 fish a day.

What's working?

I got a call from a longtime client last night. He asked me what's been working. I won't pretend to have all the answers, but here's a quick rundown.

Largemouth Bass: Skinny water has been productive for me lately. I've been catching fish on wacky worms, a jigworm and jig and crawler.

I'm fishing the matted grass with a zoom frog or a big floating lizard. I'm targeting the edges of shallow grass piles with a jig and trailer.

I'm starting to catch a few fish around transitional rock areas with a small crankbait in perch and crawfish patterns.

I'm not on a good deep bite, but I'm catching a few on a carolina rig off the flats and a handful off the deep weedlines using a texas rigged salty sinker.

Smallmouth: Tubes, skirted grubs and wacky in that order. The deep edges of rock structure seems to be holding fish.

Northern Pike: Spinnerbaits burned around shallow weeds or slow rolled along weedlines.

Musky: I haven't been fishing for them lately, but the word is topwater early in the morning. I'm sure a few are being caught trolling as well.

Cheers
CT

Openings

I have a few openings the weeks of August 4th and August 11th.

Give me a call if you want to hit the water.

CT

Mixed bag this morning

Hit Okauchee with clients this morning. Was a slow bite, ended up with 8 bass and 2 northerns and we probably lost that many again.

CT

Friday Open

I had a last minute cancellation and I have this Friday the 25th available for a guide trip.

Contact me if you are interested.

Milwaukee Magazine

The baitshop and my guiden service got a mention in the August issue of Milwaukee Magazine.

http://www.milwaukeemagazine.com/currentIssue/full_feature_story.asp?newMessageID=21845

102 In Two Days!

Back on the water this week and the action has been fast and furious.

Friday: Silver Lake with "Uncle Louie." I wanted to redeem myself after my "slower" day with Uncle Louie earlier this year. We did it. Caught more than 70 bass in just over 6 hours of fishing. We saw two real big fish, and a couple walleyes to boot.



Saturday: Golden Lake with a new client. Started extra early with topwater. As soon as dawn hit, started working shallow water and started catching fish. Caught several bass in the 2.5-3.5lb range. The shallow bite tapered off aroun 8am, so we moved out deeper and caught another batch and finished the day with a bonus northern pike.

Signs indicate that the crayfish molt is just around the corner. Get ready for some incredible summertime shallow water fishing for bass.

Open for business!

My prelims are done, and I'm back on the water starting tommorrow.

If you're interested in booking a trip, I have several openings between now and Labor day.

See you on the water!