Madison Ice Fishing

Heads up:

I stopped by my favorite greasy spoon (The Curve) for breakfast this morning on my way to my final exam, and there's a bunch of guys out on the ice just off of Park Street in Madison. They look to be chasing panfish and they also look like they're catching some.

Just FYI.

ICE ICE Baby!

Reports are starting to filter in. The shallow bays and channels on the area lakes have between 3-6" of ice. I'd be very careful over any deep water as we've had more snow than cold.

Panfish have been a mixed bag on the early ice. Local lakes seem to be giving up plenty of fish, but they are running small. I'd stick with a teardrop, a ratfinkee or a very small red hook tipped with a waxie, spike or mousie for right now. Look for the fish to relate to any weeds that are still green and/or any submerged wood that you can get on.

Pike have also been active but running small. I'd venture shiners are producing more fish than smelt at this point, but it will vary day to day. The shop has some great pre-made leaders for running under tip ups, and that's how I'd hit them for now.

Hot Tip: Lac Labelle's ice report is sketchy, so be careful if you are heading out. make sure to take a buddy and spud your way out. I do know that a batch of fish (Walleyes and Pike) have been caught off the flat in front of the West Flagpole. Jigging with a small northland fireball, either green or orange and green tipped with big fatheads was getting the job done better than tip ups. I don't know if there were any keeper walleyes caught (20 inch size limit on Labelle) but I do know a large number of fish were caught, some even during the day.

Be careful out there, and good luck.
CT

Baitshop Blog

Eric's going to be taking over the baitshop blog. I'll still be posting there, but my ramblings are going to move to this neck of the woods.

Stay Tuned.

Gift certficates for the holidays

Looking for something for that person who is hard to shop for?

Consider a gift certifcate for a guided fishing trip for the 2008 open water season.

I'll sell you a cerificate good for a full or half day trip in 2008 at the 2007 rate.

You can contact me through Musky Mikes at 262-560-1189.

CT

An Update!

Well the times of open water are behind us for a spell. Its time to stare down that hole.

Some anglers have been heading out already into the shallow bays, but I'd wait until this weekend to be sure. If you feel the need, head north until then. Gills and perch are being caught in front of Skipper Buds in Oshkosh.

Traditional local early ice hotspots are on Golden Lake (North End) The Kettle on Nagawicka, Bay Five and Icehouse Bay on Okauchee, Forest Lake in the Nashotah Park and the shallow areas of the Genesee Lakes.

For now, target areas with still green weeds or wood structure. Waxies, spikes and small fatheads will work for panfish, medium to large shiners are your best bet for tip-ups right now.

Be careful out there, and Good Luck.

November Dates.

I have some free time in November where I'll be out alone.

If you've wanted to try a guided trip, but didn't want to invest the "whole day" or the "whole fee" we can work something out "for a couple hours in the boat."

I'll be chasing muskies, walleyes and perch, depending on the day.

Give me a call, or drop me an email if you are interested.

CT

Gone Fishin'

I wish. School is back in session. I do have some limited availablity for walleye and musky trips this fall. Ben also has some openings. Call the shop or contact me via email for more information.

CT

Golden Lake Report

Was back on Golden for an early morning trip this past Sunday.

We ended up with a mixed bag of fish, northerns and bass. Some decent, but not huge fish. It was a nice day on the water.

Fish are moving shallow to feed, but the morning bite seems to shut-off about 9:30am.

CT

Scheduling-Last Minute Trips

Everybody,

I had orginally planned to be out of town this week, but my plans have changed. Therefore I have some last minute availablity for guide trips.

I'm available Monday, Thursday, Friday for either half or full days and Saturday, Sunday and Labor Day Mornings.

If you want to get out this week. I'll drop my rate to $125 for a half day for bass or a mixed species trip for up to two people. If you are in town for Labor day, this is a great way to get the kids out and let them catch some fish.

Call it a Labor Day Special.

Call 262-893-2183 or email catchfishwithchris @ hotmail.com.

CT

Golden Lake

Made it out for a few hours this afternoon after working at the shop.

Caught a mixed bag of largemouths, about 20 fish in all. Most were pretty small, but we got a 18" and a couple of 16"s. As is the case for Golden, the fish were in the areas where baitfish had collected. We didn't hit the slop, but I'm sure there were fish using it with the bright skies/cold front.

Best bait was a Gulp shaky worm rigged texas style behind a barrell swivel, weightless. Gulp plastics don't float (at least not the shakey worms), but the fish would grab the bait on the fall.

There was a steady Northeastern wind, but it sure was nice to see the sun.

Lake Kessus

Spent Monday looking at some new water for guide trips with Brandon Degan. Spent some time on Kessus in the morning and Moose after lunch.



Took this nice one on Kessus. I'll be spending more time out there, and it will be available as an option for multispecies guide trips starting next spring.

Even Kelly Catches Fish Sometimes

My wife Kelly catches a "big one" during an afternoon on the water.

Some Pics...

Been back at it since the injury, guiding is sporadic, which is a shame because the next couple weeks usually offer some great fishing.

Anyway, here are a couple pictures from a recent trip with my new pal Tucker. He caught the most fish he ever caught in his life during a day with me. You can tell by the smile on his face.








I can do the same for you and your kids. If I get to pick the lake we take the trip on, I guarantee we'll catch fish or your money back.

Gone fishing

I haven't had a chance to blog on my trips for awhile, but keep up with current fishing reports over at the baisthop blog.

CT

site updates

More content is on the way. I'm doing some off line technical stuff. Stay tuned. You can keep up with fishing reports at the baitshop blog.

Last week's trips

Update Coming Soon....

Silver Lake

A beautiful Monday on the water. Took Gary and his son Hale out on Silver for a few hours midday.

Caught a couple legal bass plus a bunch of shorts out of shallow water. It seems that there is some bigger fish in the mix this year.

Caught a batch of nice gills out of about 15 feet of water along the west shore.

Wouldn't be a bad idea to hit them at night or first thing in the morning rather than the heat of the day.

CT

IMTT

Saturday was tough bite. Only two fish were caught.


Congrats to Dennis on a nice 48" fish to take the tournament.


CT

IMTT

Fishing the IMTT tommorrow. Out for practice today, caught a nice northern and saw one musky right where I was told he would be.

My new partner for the IMTT is Ben Keung, a local musky guide. I hope we score tommorrow. Taking the 50 inch fish pot would be pretty nice.

Wish us luck,
CT

Golden Lake

I hit Golden for a couple of hours this morning in the rain. The wind was blowing down the length of the lake and it was tough to make a good presentation on the weedlines.

Ended up catching ten bass throwing a jigworm around. 6 shorts and the 4 legals were 15.5, 15, 16, and 17+.

I think Golden is near peak time for gills right now, and you should consider heading down there before next week.

CT