Fishing Report 6-13-2013

Conditions have varied greatly over the last week. The bite has been good or awful, with not much in between. Weed growth is about average for mid-June, with milfoil really taking off in many places. Water moved into the low 70's on many area lakes this week.

Panfish are spawning, but the numbers of beds you will see shallow is down significantly this year. There are some decent fish spawning in the 10-18 FOW range. Waxworm tipped plastics fished vertically on tight lines are catching these bigger gills, but a light lindy rig with a panfish leech can really produce, especially in the deeper water areas. Sand or gravel are key areas.

Largemouth fishing has been spotty. Its not that you can't catch fish, it is the patterning of fish that is difficult. Some fish are still defending fry, but many are in a post spawn mood. You can target LM by fishing for bass around the outsides of areas where gills are spawning. Wacky, popper-topwaters, minnow baits, soft jerkbaits or bright colored floating worms can really produce when the fish are on. If the bite is tough, tubes, jig and chunks, spinners or buzzbaits fished around scattered weed clumps (and tight to them at that) can trigger some less agressive fish to bite.

Pike fishing has been on-fire, with lots of guys who are fishing for bass or musky reporting solid catches of pike. Keepers are coming in 6-12 and 18-25 FOW.

Walleye are biting great, although the best bite has been mid-day. Shallow weed edges adjacent to deeper water are holding fish which can be jigged/rigged for, or fished by casting grubs or minnow baits.

Not much to report on the musky front. Reports seem to indicate lots of lazy follows from smaller 30 inch class fish.

There's a tournament on Okauchee on Saturday...WABTA.

Good Luck,
CT

Lac Labelle Day 2

Fished a little more today, primarily in the afternoon.

Took my older son Shannon out for just some father-son time. Shannon likes to fish, but he has a time limit for how long it is interesting to him. I knew today would be no different.

Headed right out to one of the waypoints I set yesterday. Dropped the lindy rig over the side, let out some line and handed him the rod. We made it about 75 feet before he asked me if he had a fish, saying there was something pulling.

Here was the first of the two walleyes he caught. I was proud of him as he did it all by himself.

First one was 15 after we caught a 16.5 he had "beaten" the longest fish that Quinn had caught yesterday, so he was ready to go in. I dropped him off at the pier and headed back out.

The wind was picking up, so I killed the motor and had two rods out drifting. I caught six walleyes 14-18" on one long drift, and headed in for dinner. Pops and I went back out after the kids went to bed, and we caught a mixed bag of crappies and whitebass before we called it a night.

Fish were shallower early, deeper later. Weed edges, especially those adjacent to a drop off have been key.

Going to hit it in the early AM tomorrow, looking for smallies.

Cheers,

CT

Lac Labelle-Day 1

My parents are staying at a place on Labelle for a couple weeks. We are looking forward to spending some time with the kids at the lake before they get busy with summer activities. I don't fish Labelle often, but I always enjoy it.

Made it out for a couple hours mid-day today. I wanted to show my Dad how to fish the weedlines for walleyes.

Found weeds out to 13 FOW, but the real weedlines are in about 10 FOW right now. Kept it simple, lindy rigs with leeches. Caught 4 and missed a couple more in about 90 minutes of fishing. Hit the first fish in 19 FOW, but the next three were right on the weed edge in 9-10 FOW. Fish were 14, 15, 15, and 16.5.

Will be at it several times over the next couple of weeks. Going to focus on primarily walleyes, but I'm looking forward to doing some smallmouth fishing in the early mornings, and some topwater for musky after dark.

Here's my daughter Quinn and her "Pop" with one of the ones we caught today.

Take a Vet Fishing

I had an absolute blast at the Take a Vet Fishing event on Lake Waubesa Today. I signed up to take a vet out for the event and I'm absolutely glad I did.

I'd never fished Waubesa before, but tried to keep it simple. Long drifts over a mainlake point with a mix of sand, rock and weeds. We were casting jigworms, and Steve had a rod out with live bait on a split shot rig. Like I said, simple.

We hit some active fish early and caught a mixed bag of both largemouth and smallmouth bass. After a bit, we also started picking up some walleyes and even grabbed a nice pike. Fished 7-11:30am, ended with more than a dozen mixed.

It was a fantastic event, well organized and well executed. Boats were launched/taken out quickly and in orderly fashion. I'm really looking forward to next year.

Here's Steve with a nice smallie from today.

Fishing Report 6-7-13

June...nothing says June like Mid 60's degree water and air temps, but that's what you've got.

Weedgrowth is picking up, and weedlines are forming in deeper water. Lilly pads are really taking off, and some areas have some patches of emergent vegetation.

Panfish are in the spawning process. Crappies are at the end of the run, but bluegills are just getting started. There's plenty of beds in the shallow water, especially in areas of sand or small gravel, but these tend to be the smaller fish. If you're looking for decent keepers, you need to look for those fish in 12-15 FOW. They are hard to find with the eye, you'll need to do some moving around with your electronics. A good starting point is the deeper water adjacent to areas where you see beds in the shallow water. (Best bets: Middle Genessee, Lower Nehmabin, Nagawicka, Okauchee, Garvin, Keesus, School Section)

Largemouth are at the end of the spawn. You may still find a few fish on nests, but many are defending fry or starting to feed on juvenile bluegills. Most fish are patrolling shallow flat areas. Look for them around scattered weeds or near where bluegills are starting to spawn. This is topwater season, and poppers, jointed floating minnows and smaller walk the dog baits (spooks) can really produce. As the sun gets high, look for fish around docks and in the deeper water adjacent to longer points. Wacky, Jigworms, Jig/chunk, Skirted grubs, pre-rigged worms, Texas rigs and sliders will all catch fish. (Keesus, Okauchee, Pewaukee, Oconomowoc, Golden, Forest, Silver, Ashippun.)

Smallmouth are also approaching the end of the spawning process. Lots of fish are in small wolfpack schools, patrolling shallow bars, points and drops with rock/weed transitions. Tubes, grubs, soft jerkbaits, topwater and live leeches or small suckers on lindy rigs are producing. (Pine, Oconomwoc, Lac Labelle, Nagawicka, Upper Nehmabin, Beaver and North)

Northern pike have moved out to the deeper weedlines that are forming. Look for them in 12-18 FOW. Live bait on slip sinker rigs is always the most consistent approach for larger pike. If you're looking for faster action...square bill or lipless crankbaits, buzzbaits or spinners fished around shallow weeds, especially in flat areas will all produce. (Pretty, Golden, Kessus, Fowler, Moose, Okauchee)

Walleye are using mid-depth weeds in 8-15 FOW. Pitching jigs tipped with live bait into the holes on the weed edges or ends of weedlines has been very productive. Back trolling lindy rigs or pulling spinner harnesses along the 12-18 FOW transition is producing some keepers. (Pine, Nagawicka, Oconomowoc, Lac Labelle, Keesus).

Musky fishing has been fairly slow. Reports suggest Pewaukee has been largely a dead sea, and Okauchee is giving up a few smaller fish with Oconomowoc being the most consistent. Gliders and bucktails have been the most productive daytime, with topwater giving up a few fish at dawn and dusk or just after the sun sets.

Whitebass are running at Jefferson, but the bite has been hit or miss. Streamers, twister tails and 3 ways have been catching fish up river from Ft Atkinson. 

DNR at Waukesha County Launches This Weekend.

"Department of Natural Resources conservation wardens will be at Waukesha County’s boat landings, and bait, sport and dive shops this Saturday as part of a collaborative group effort to protect Wisconsin’s waters from destructive aquatic invasive species.

The DNR’s decontamination unit also will be stationed at the Pewaukee Boat Landing, ready for any boat owner looking to have their vessel power cleaned for free."

 Full Press Release is here.

Tonight- Speaking at the OFC Meeting

Just a reminder...I'll be speaking tonight at the Okauchee Fishing Club at the Knights of Columbus hall located at 1800 S. 92nd street in West Allis.

Guests are always welcome for a $5.00 fee.
 
The meeting starts at 7pm. My presentation will probably start around 7:45.

I'll be talking about a couple of things Bass related, including 4 area lakes I think people overlook for bass fishing opportunities.

The Club's Website is here.

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Fishing Report May 31st, 2013.

A quickie report for today, more after I have a chance to compile the information which came in this week.

Fishing was a little slower the last week as the post-spawn blues set in on many lakes for bass fishing. That, coupled with the crazy unstable weather we've had this season, has made it hard to consistently pattern fish. Although polar opposites in terms of the actual weather compared to last year's drought, the premise is the same...you need to be able to adapt.

The best action is coming from panfish and pike. Panfish, especially bluegills are getting ready to move in and spawn, and can be found in the shallow areas around scattered weed clumps, sand, rock, or wood laydowns. The rain and the cooler weather ahead in the short term might slow down the process, but the fishing has been very good. Go small with your presentations, and be ready to mix it up some. I had much better success early last week by trying a mix of plastics and different live bait options. Waxworms outfished redworms 15-1 one day last week....and then plastics were better the next day.

Meanwhile, pike fishing has been very good, with some quality fish coming in. The larger pike are starting to move back out to deeper breaks, but there's decent action to be had casting around isolated cover with spinners, buzzbaits or lipless crankbaits....or working the flats with suspending jerks or spoons. If you can find some decent weeds standing in 8-15 FOW, smaller suckers on a slip sinker rig can really produce some nice fish.

The last thing I have for right now is that there's a fair number of reports on Lake-Link and otherwise that the whitebass are running between the Jefferson Dam and the mouth of the river. I just got back to town this morning, so I have not personally verified this, but my usual sources have been talking it up some.

Check back over the weekend for a more complete report.

Cheers,
CT

Northern Bag Limits For Walleyes Increased.

From JSOnline: information here.

Note the picture Paul Smith posted with the article:

That's a Rock River walleye in my hand in that photo.

Information on the new bag limits is: in this DNR press release  or available with lake specific information at this link.

Walleye Stocking Increase

From time to time, I have been critical of the DNR's stocking efforts but this looks promising: a focus on stocking more of the 6-8" fingerling walleyes which have a much better survival rate.

From Jsonline.

Hoping to spur fishing-related tourism and end the days of severely restricted bag limits in northern Wisconsin, state officials Wednesday announced a proposal to ramp up production of walleyes for stocking in state waters.

Called the Wisconsin Walleye Initiative, the program would "dramatically increase" the number of walleyes in Wisconsin by expanding production at state, private and tribal fish hatcheries, according to a statement released by state officials.


Update: Here.

Memorial Day Weekend Fishing Report-2013

Make sure to thank a vet this weekend.

Overall, water temps are back in the Mid to high 6o's. Weedgrowth is behind normal for this time of the season, and Mayflies are in the middle of the hatch on a couple of area lakes.

Bluegills are starting to congregate in shallower water. A few nests are starting to appear in the traditional sandy and gravel areas.Look for them in 4-10 feet of water, and be ready to move shallower as the temperatures warm up. Current areas and spawning areas (like sandy or gravel areas) will have fish, as will isolated patches of weeds in 6-10 FOW. Waxworms, butterworms, redworms and plastics are taking fish, but bigger gills have been hard to come by in any significant number. (Try Okauchee, Garvin ( red hot!), Golden Nagawicka, Upper and Middle Genessee, School Section, Ashipunn, Pretty, Phantom and Lower Nashotah)

Crappie fishing has been slow. Most crappies are in shallow bays near weeds, wood laydowns or reeds. Some fish have spawned. Minnows, hooked through the tail on a small hook (#8 or #10), waxworms and plastics have all been taking fish. Lots of fish are in small areas, so move until you find fish, and then set-up on them. (Try: Okauchee (especially the North Flat, Bay Five and the Crane's Nest), Garvin (North End and Wood Laydowns), Kessus, Nagawicka (Channels), Golden, Silver, and Pine.

Largemouth bass are post spawn and fishing has gotten much tougher this past week. Anglers are catching fish targeting them in shallow water, but a few fish are still being caught off the open areas on flats with scattered weeds. It might be hard to consistently find bigger fish, but on warm afternoons, the action could be good. Shallow water presentations like jig and chunk or craw, wacky, texas rigged lizards, spinnerbaits or lipless crankbaits will all catch fish right now, but don't overlook smaller topwater presentations. Live bait, nightcrawlers, leeches or small suckers are your best bet. (Try: Okauchee, Lake Five, Oconomowoc, Pine, Lac Labelle, Kessus Nagawicka, Silver, School Section, Golden, Fox or Emily)

Smallmouth bass have been active, but are in the process of finishing the spawn. Rock structure, scattered weeds on sand and major points are all holding fish. Expect them to be a little spooky, especially in the shallow water on sunny days. Skirted grubs, jigworms, jig and craws, tubes, and soft jerkbaits are all catching fish. Go natural with your color choices this weekend. (Try: Oconomwoc, Pine, Lac Labelle, Nagawicka, Pewaukee, Lower Nashotah and the Nemahbin Lakes.)

Walleye have been active, with some keepers being caught in 8-12 feet of water. Slip bobbers, Jig and minnow, jig and leech, and split shot rigs with nightcrawlers or small suckers have been the best way to target eyes. In the evening, a few anglers are catching fish by working rapala minnow baits over isolated weed clumps. This weekend should be red hot for walleyes, especially in the evenings. (Try: Oconomowoc, Lac Labelle, Nagawicka, North, Pine and Fox)

Northern Pike fishing has picked up some and as the bass move into the post-spawn cycle, pike might be your best option for some action this holiday weekend. I personally caught multiple 30+ inch class pike this week. Spinnerbaits, buzzbaits, lipless crankbaits, or suspending jerkbaits (like Husky Jerks or Rouges) are catching fish around shallow weed clumps, or at the edges of coves and marshy areas. If chasing pike with live bait, look for them in 6-12 feet, using small suckers or large shiners on a slip sinker rig. (Try: Okauchee, Kessus, Garvin, Nagawicka, Pine, Fowler, Golden, School Section, Emily)

Musky Fishing has been slow, but steady. There are lots of fish in the shallow water chasing, and a few are even being caught on topwaters, but the most consistent action has been coming in 8-15 FOW around mainlake structure. Gliders, jerkbaits, swimbaits and bucktails have been productive, but many anglers continue to describe lots of lazy follows, so having a sucker out on a quickstrike rig is a great idea, and figure eights are required on every cast. Gold blade/balck skirt seems to be the color of the season, but white/copper combos have also been catching a few. (Try: Okauchee, Pewaukee, Fowler and Lac Labelle) 

Around the area: Fishing on the Rock River has picked up again, and anglers are still catching a few whitebass south of Ft Atkinson, and catfish between the Jefferson Dam and the mouth. The action has been good when its on, awful when its not.

If you're in town for the holiday and want to talk some more specific tips, email or call me.

Have a great holiday weekend. Again, thank a vet.
Cheers,
CT

JSOnline Outdoors Article

Paul Smith's article on our Okauchee outing for Prespawn Bass is now posted.

 You can read it here.

Fishing Report 5-17-2013

Well, there's not much I can say about the weather. Fish are biting, but biting better on the warmer/stable weather days. You can still catch fish on the other days, but the bite can be very tough.

Water is in the low to mid 60's on most area lakes. Weed growth varies, with lakes with large quantities of Milfoil already with explosive growth.

Panfish have been hit or miss. Schools of fish are holding tight to shallow weeds in 6-8 feet of water, or around docks adjacent to deeper water. The primary point of note is to make sure your presentation gets to the bottom of the school where the bigger fish reside. Stay small with presentations, waxies or spikes on a small hook or plastic for gills or yellow perch, tail hooked minnows for crappies. Be ready for light bites.

Bass fishing has been on fire the last 10 days as the prespawn period wraps up. Lots of fish moved to their beds during the later part of the week, and if you're heading out, be ready to fish for fish in each of the three stages..prespawn, spawning and post spawn. Jerkbaits, especially soft jerkbaits can be dynamite, but don't overlook jig and craw/chunk, texas rigged plastics, skirted grubs and shallow running crankbaits for bigger fish. Lots of guys are drop-shotting around bedding fish, or flipping around docks right now. Don't be afraid to pull back from the shallow water and look for active fish in 6-10 FOW.

Pike fishing has been pretty good, but with the prespawn bass activity keeping people busy, not many anglers are targeting pike. Buzzbaits, lipless crankbaits, spinner baits and spoons are catching fish, especially in shallow areas where weeds are coming up. Bigger pike have returned to deeper water, and a few people fishing deeper for musky have been reporting some active fish in the 10-15 FOW range.

Musky fishing has been spotty, with the fish exhibiting classic post spawn behavior. My only advice...fish shallower than you'd think. I stuck a great fish early this week in 2-3 FOW while bass fishing, and I saw another fish in the same area later in the week.

There's tournaments on Okauchee on both Saturday (Bass) and Sunday (Musky). Pewaukee has a Musky tournament on Saturday. Whitewater has a Bass tournament on Sunday.

Look for an article in Sunday's Journal-Sentinel Outdoors section about the half day I spent with Paul Smith early this week.

Cheers,
CT

I get interesting emails sometimes....

Like this one:

Hi Chris

I'm a Casting Associate with Top Hooker, which is a new competition show from the producers of Top Shot, Dirty Jobs, and The Ultimate Fighter. We are currently casting for the second season, and are looking for skilled and adventurous fishermen/women to be on the show. I wanted to reach out to you to see if this might interest you, your colleagues, clients, or friends.

And here's some additional information:
NOW CASTING Dynamic Fishermen for Season 2 of Animal Planet’s Highly-Anticipated Fishing Competition Show !!!

The producers of Top Shot, Dirty Jobs and The Ultimate Fighter are seeking America's best and boldest men and women to take on the new season of Animal Planet's extreme fishing competition, Top Hooker.

On this hotly-anticipated new TV show, you and a handful of daring fishing enthusiasts will tackle exciting and intense challenges on America's rivers, lakes, streams and even the open ocean.

We are looking for COMPETITIVE, OUTGOING and SKILLED anglers, spear fishermen, game fishermen, fly fishermen, trawlers and trappers from all walks of life. It doesn't matter if your experience is commercial, sport or recreational. As long as you're skilled, adaptable and confident enough to take on anything we throw at you, you could win A BIG GRAND PRIZE and the title of Animal Planet's next Top Hooker.

This is TV's wildest fishing competition. APPLY TODAY!!! DEADLINE TO APPLY IS TUESDAY, JUNE 11, 2013!

Send an email to TopHookerCasting@gmail.com with your name, age, phone number, location, a recent photo (without hat and sunglasses please!) and a brief explanation of why you are
America's next Top Hooker.



A link with the rules and such is here: www.pilgrimstudios.com/casting/tophooker

Take a Vet fishing event in Madison on June 9th.

The 2nd annual Take a Vet fishing event is happening on Lake Waubesa on June 9th.

Event website with video and sign-up details is http://takeavetfishing.com/

Information from the website on the event:

 A Day of Giving Back

Sunday, June 9th 2013
Lake Waubesa on the Madison Chain of Lakes

All boats will launch from Babcock Park starting at 6:30am

Babcock Park

2909 US 51
McFarland, WI. 53558

Fishing time is from 7:30am – 11:30am

Veterans Memorial Party will start at 12:00 noon at McDaniel Park

McDaniel Park

4904 McDaniel Lane
McFarland, WI. 53558

Festivities will begin at 12:30pm with a flag ceremony honoring all of our active and retired US Military Veterans

Food will be served starting at 1:00pm. All families of participating military personnel are welcome to join the Veterans Memorial Party starting at 12:00 noon.

A Veteran Recognition Tribute will immediately follow lunch at 2:00pm. EACH VETERAN who participates in the event will be recognized with gifts, give a ways, and raffle prizes – all donated by our sponsors.

Space is limited! All entries will be on a first-come first-served basis!

Please contact Jay Garstecki at (847) 921-0760 or jgarstecki@yahoo.com with any questions

WMT/ Pro-Mac Events This Weekend.

I've gotten a couple of emails about the musky tournaments on Okauchee and Pewaukee this weekend.

I sent an email to the tournament organizers this morning to see if there's still room. I'll post the reply as soon as I get it, but if you wanted to pursue it yourself, the contact information for the WMT trail is available here.

Cheers,
CT

Okauchee 5-13-13

Out today 9:30-2:30 with Paul Smith from the Journal-Sentinel.

Had a couple of quick bursts of action, but was tough bite overall. All bass except for one shorty were 15-18.5 inches. Big fish was a unspawned female. Had one other female that wasn't spawned out, the rest were males.

Fished the usual early season spots, looking for warmer water and baitfish. There were fish in each area we fished, but getting bites was tough. Hooked a decent musky up in Tierney, but it got me wrapped up on a dock post. Tried to feed it line, and it ended up jumping a couple of times before breaking me off. Looked to be low/mid 40's.

Water dropped into the low to mid 50's during the cold snap. Was mid 60's when I was out on Thursday. Weeds are getting green, and have started growing big time. Water is high, and current is flowing through.

Fish were moving up, but there weren't many nests being guarded yet. I expect the warm up will put them on the nests pretty quick, and if you're fishing WABTA this weekend, you can probably plan on fishing for bedded fish.

Should be a busy week with the tournaments and such, but the fishing should also be pretty good as the warmer weather moves back in and stabilizes.

Good Luck,
CT

Fishing Report 5-9-13

Was out today on Okauchee chasing bass. Started with a jig and pig up front and a wacky rig in the back. Had to make an adjustment but dialed in the fish about 90-minutes in, and then knocked them out. Had several over 3 pounds, with a 20 incher in the batch. I would have liked to keep fishing, but the rain chased us.

Water was 60+ everywhere, but I didn't see many bedding bass...which was very surprising. The fish we were catching were shallow, but off the bank....classic pre-spawn feeding pattern for the larger female fish we were dialed into today.

This cold front that's about to hit is going to slow things down  a bit, but I expect the fishing to stay very, very good for the next ten days-two weeks before we hit that slow down in the post spawn.

Here's one picture from the cellphone...apology for the distortion in depth perception.

One of the better ones from today.

Onto business...

It's spring. You should fish spring patterns.

Water is in the low to mid 60's on most lakes, although this cold snap will drop the temps some before next week.

Panfish are moving into the shallows in groups. There's still plenty of fish hanging off the breaks suspended, especially the larger crappies, but you can get onto some decent sized fish in the 4-8 FOW range.  Areas with green weeds will hold the most panfish, but look for them around laydowns and docks that reach deeper water. Lots of nice gills are schooled up around deeper docks right now.  Keep it simple, small bobbers and small bait. Minnows for the crappies, but otherwise plastics tipped with waxies or spikes. Remember the biggest panfish are on the bottom of the school, so get that bait down to them. (Okauchee, Kessus, Ashippun, Lower Nehmabin, Fowler, Nagawicka, Pine, Golden, Middle Genessee and Forest (for shore fishing)

Largemouth bass fishing was on fire this week. I have put some huge fish in the boat since the opener. Each day requires a little adjustment, and this cold snap will push that theory to its limits this weekend, but the fishing should be fantastic for at least the next ten days. A few fish are up on the beds, but most are still chasing bait and craws at the last major structural elements outside of the spawning areas. Jig and pig, wacky, floating worms, soft jerkbaits, grubs, drop shot minnows and lipless crankbaits are all producing depending on the day. Lindy rigs with leeches fished around shallow weed clumps will catch fish, as will split shotting nightcrawlers along shallow rock to weed transitions. Now is the time to catch your biggest bass of the year. (Okauchee, Silver, Golden, Kessus, Moose, Oconomowoc, Pine, North, Nagawicka, School Section or Pretty.)

Pike fishing has been steady, with most fish being caught by musky or bass anglers. Spinnerbaits, buzzbaits or lipless crankbaits fished over/around shallow weeds or in marshy areas can really produce this time of year.

Musky are still shallow and seem to be chasing spinners, gliders and jerkbaits. Consistently hearing about lots of lazy follows on Pewaukee, Okauchee and Oconomowoc, which usually means people are fishing tackle that's too big. Try downsizing and throwing baits in natural patterns, especially if you are fishing the Muskie's Inc tournament on Saturday.

Trout are still being caught in decent numbers from the stocked ponds and lakes. Lower Genessee is still giving up some decent numbers.

Best of luck this week.

Cheers,
CT

New Bass Species Identified

Think of all the tournament rulebooks that will have to be updated!

More information on the discovery is here.

Openings next week....

I have a couple of days open the weeks of the 13th and 20th, and I'd really like to fill them. To that end, I'll knock $50 of the going rate for a half day trip, or $75 off a full day trip. We can do a multispecies trip on an agreed upon local lake.

Email me or call for more information....