Fish Reports
Below are the latest fishing reports for the Eagle River Area:
June 28, 2009 - Vilas County Lakes, Vilas CountySome really hot weather brought the water temps up to the 80 degree range on many lakes before it cooled a little. What a change from several weeks ago! We have high temps and low water levels, bringing the weeds right up to the surface in many lakes. This is not unusual for this time of year. You should be aware of this, however, when planning to use boat landings, as some of them are quite difficult to use this year. There’s a lot of boating traffic for the next several weeks especially, so many anglers will fish either early or late in the day to avoid some of the traffic. Night fishing for walleye and musky has started. Walleye fishing has still been affected by the mayfly hatches on many of the lakes. This moves the fish from hard to soft bottom areas. A good part of the walleye population on most lakes remains in weeds, so weed fishing with a jig and minnow remains the most effective technique. Look for the deepest weeds you can find on most lakes for the best feeding areas. We are also finding that walleye – big ones – are suspending out over deeper water, especially on the clear lakes. These fish are only moving up on structure after dark to feed, so the best way to fish them is at night. Bass fishing has been good, with the fish certainly in a post spawn pattern at this point. Smallies are in 8 to 15’ of water around hard bottom areas and boulders. They can be caught with either crayfish imitations or leeches on a daily basis. Some anglers are reporting action also on tube baits and crankbaits. Largemouth are in the deep cover areas, either in weeds or brush. Crawlers work best for these fish, and weedless baits are recommended. Spinnerbaits have also been working well for these fish in cover. Northerns have been hitting well in the weeds. Try some chubs with slip bobbers at the deep weed edge, or go to downwind sides of lakes and fish the weeds with Johnson Silver Minnows, spinnerbaits or Mepps. Both good numbers and good size have been reported in the last week. Musky action has been as usual a little sporadic, but very good when the fish have been “on”. They increasingly have been feeding in the low light periods, so try mornings, evenings and even after dark. All types of baits have been working, from the deep running Bulldawgs to surface baits. Some big fish are suspending in deeper water daily, so the row trollers are getting fish. Panfish action has been good to very good, with the balance of all panfish in the weeds. you will find any weed area full of bluegills and perch, with crappies on the deep weed edges and deep brush piles. Use waxies for the best bluegill action, small minnows for the perch, and crappie minnows for those crappies. If the weather stays nice, it will be a great week for all fishing. Good luck and good fishn’
George Langley |
June 27, 2009 - Vilas County Lakes, Vilas CountyMUSKIES THURSDAY & FRIDAY 6/25 & 6/26 Ok for those that do not know we have two more Musky leagues up here. We had the infamous Monday night in Eagle River and the Wednesday night in Rhinelander. Now we have a Tuesday night on the Eagle Chain and a Thursday night in Boulder & Sayner. Far too many for me so I just stayed with the Monday Night. My partner is fishing with my other partner (Glenn & Joe) on the Tuesday & Thursday league. This is the Boulder & Sayner league and it is doing very well for the first year. Anyway I told Joe & Glenn I would sub on Thursday if they needed me. Well I fished Wildcat with Glenn as a sub an caught the Big Fish for the night a 37. Tim got a 35 and took second. Both these fish caught right at the end of the feeding period and many fish seen in that first hour. Tim got his at 4:30 and I got mine at 5:00 then things slowed up greatly. Did not see another fish the rest of the night. Here is my Thursday night (sub) league fish. I got my fish on a Bull Dawg. Friday morning I got out for 4 hours on one of my smaller Vilas musky lakes, I had EIGHT follows and one strike on Bull Dawgs. I can not figure how I lost that one... I had him on tight... then gone. I am fishing deep weed drops.
Fred Brogle |
|
June 27, 2009 - Vilas County Lakes, Vilas County GOING BACK TO TUESDAY 6/23!! Yes I am behind and I will cram a few reports together. Muskies are the ticket right now as last Monday night league 14 fish were caught between the Eagle River Chain and the Sugar Camp Chain. I had my shot at a 41 which was caught right in front of me, and I registered it for Steve; and I had a follow a little later on another similar fish, about 40 to 42. Tuesday 6/23 I had one of my SPLIT DAYS (4 hours early morning-- the 4 hours late evening) this is great with the longer and hotter days we are having. Anyway I had Ed & Robert who were camping on Big Arb and they wanted a morning on Big Arb for Walleye and and evening (my choice) at night for musky. There date was the day after the new moon. An early morning start on Big Arb was 7am on the water, but something was drastically wrong. DEAD CALM and fog was not the problem... POLLEN was! Imagine taking 10 pounds of coffee grounds and putting them in your bath tub. YES!!! About a foot of the top surface was completely full of pollen. NO BREAKS, constant accross the entire lake. A Brown wake no matter where you went. We got one nice perch but that was it! The guys were in question to the night fishing... I told them we had a New Moon with a feeding period from 7:30 to 9:30 pm and moon rise just about sunset, it should produce. I told them we would fish Little Arb so we went over after the morning outing just to check the water. It looked Good so we were on for meeting here at 5 pm. The guys came back and we were on the water by 5. Well for the first three hours we saw nothing and I started to worry. I told them the feeding period was still to come and in the North we get Sundown-Calmdown. At 8 pm the water was pretty flat, I switch the guys to a Top Raider & a Pacemaker. With no signs of activity out of the blue Ed had a big Strike at 8:30 right in the middle of the feed. Ed got his fish on the Top Raider and was estatic as this was his first time musky fishing... and he caught his first legal musky a HEAVY 35. Photos and measurement quickly done in this hot weather and the fish was released. See Ed's Fish!! One hour later (9:30) Robert had a blow up on the Pacemaker but missed the fish... he jerked before he felt the fish. I told these guys before... Do not set the hook on top water unless you feel the strike. Anyway the guys ended up with a great evening after a poor morning start, All were happy!!!
Fred Brogle |
|
June 23, 2009 - Vilas County Lakes, Vilas County FISHING WITH THE GUIDES by George Langley We are now in summer conditions for our water sports, with temps up unto the 70's throughout the area. The last fish to spawn - bluegills - are on their beds and spawning right now. The mayfly are hatching or have hatched on most area lakes, which has caused many fish to move to the mud flats to feed. Lake levels remain low to very low, with no appreciable rain in the last week. All year we have had forecasts of rain, with the rain that does fall going south of here. It is very frustrating for those of you with big boats, as many landings are tough to use. Weed growth is great, with a lot of the "musky cabbage" right up to the top. This is providing great cover and feeding areas for all fish. Walleye fishing is good, with the balance of the walleye population of all lakes feeding primarily on mayfly larvae during this "Hex" hatch. This means you will find these fish mostly over soft bottom mud flats, and that parts of night crawlers or smaller leeches are working best. Those anglers still fishing weeds are reporting some success on jigs and minnows during the daytime, but the early mornings and evenings are best fished in those soft bottom areas. Some big fish have been caught just out over deep water also. Bass fishing is assuming its summer patterns, with largemouth in the heavy cover alsong shorelines and in the weeds. Smallies are pretty much done spawning, but there are still some on beds in the northern part of the reading area. Some fish spawned quite late this year because of the cold front that kept coming through. For largemouth now, fish the weeds and wood cover. Surface baits and plastics rigged in a weedless manner will work best for these fish in cover. We have had great action on poppers and Hula Popper in the evenings on a number of lakes. Smallmouth are in deeper water now. Look for rock structure on all smallmouth lakes for best results. Leeches and crawlers work well for these fish, but the most exciting way to fish them is with tube jigs or crayfish imitation lures in 6 to 10' of water next to or over rock. Northerns have been in the weeds in strength. The best way to fish these fish is with chubs, fishing on the deeper weed edges. Some anglers will successfully slip bobber these fish over deep weeds on clear lakes. Musky action is good, but now spread out over all types of structure and all times of the day and night. You can find these fish suspended in 40' of water and in 3' of water in the weeds. This also means that all types of baits are working well now. Many of the tournament anglers feel the bigger fish are all suspended and are fishing them with rubber in deep water. Move around if you are looking for these fish, and change styles of fishing if you are not getting fish. Panfish action is great, especially for bluegills now. hey are right on the shorelines spawning now, and can quite often be seen before you fish them. Waxworms work best for these fish right now. We expect this spawn to last a week or so. Perch are over mud flats and in deep weeds now - acting like small walleyes. Crappies are in cribs and deep weeds at this point. It will be a great fishing week, with the spawn done for just about everything and fish in summer feeding patterns. Good luck and good fishn'
George Langley |
|
June 20, 2009 - Vilas County Lakes, Vilas County THE LAST CAST!!! Today I took out Alan from Glenview and his brother Tim from AZ. Neither have caught or fished for muskies but Alan just purchased some property in Three Lakes. Alan is also a (brother of the axe) a firefighter (Captain/medic) from Evanston with 20 years. I with 30 and retired we had a lot to talk about in the boat. I really wanted one of the guys to get one. They knew the story of the fish of ten thousand cast but wanted to give it a try. Well within the first hour we had two follows on some nice fish. Alan later got two small northerns and got another follow. But now the FULL day was coming to the end, as we worked a few spots back to the launch. I was telling the guys all day about lunar feeding periods but it is hard to explain it for first-timers. Well we were just a few yards away from the end spot and I knew the feeding period (the minor) was late but right at the end and LAST CAST Alan got his strike on the figure 8. A 33 incher and he was happy with it. I got the fish unbuttoned, kept him in the net... we got our pics and released the fish. Just as that fish was released my feeding alarm went off and I put the vibrating alarm on his shoulder... feel that.... that is the feeding time! He could not believe it. The fish came in 8 feet of water on a Mepps. Nice going Alan for you first musky... You worked hard for it! Next time it will be Tim.
Fred Brogle |
|
June 16, 2009 - Vilas County Lakes, Vilas County FISHING WITH THE GUIDES by George Langley What is this? Warm weather?? So this is how it feels without jackets! We like it. Long awaited summer like weather had hit the area and seems to be staying without cold fronts for the first time this year. It has started to dramatically increase water temps, which as in turn brought about the start of many hatches on the water. For those of you who (like this writer) suffer from the effects of pine pollen it has also brought about sneezing and coughing fits. It will be nice to be able to swim and otherwise be in the water. The levels have gone up a slight bit from recent rain, although we need a lot more to get anywhere as far a those water levels go. If you are planning on a canoe trip, or camping, take along mosquito repellant. Walleye action will be greatly affected by the mayfly hatch, which has started to appear on area lakes. This will turn these "weed walleyes" into "mud walleyes", as the fish migrate to mud flats to gorge on these hatches. Some people have complained over the years that the fish are just not biting - we need as anglers to recognize these hatches and move to areas where the fish are feeding. Mud flats (weeds or not) are where the fish will be locating for the next few weeks. Medium leeches are a good imitation of "wigglers", which are the larvae swimming to the surface. We are also hearing of many really nice walleye caught and released by deep water anglers and the row trollers. These fish are suspended out over deep water during the daytime, and moving in only to feed in the evening and after dark. Bass action is a confused and confusing as we have ever seen. On many lakes there are smallies moving up to spawn, some post spawn by as much as two weeks, and some guarding their beds after recent spawns. These patterns are as spread out and mixed up as we have ever seen - along with being tough to fish. The good thing is that this warmer weather will now bring all remaining fish that have not spawned up to the shorelines to finish and get out to summer habitat. Largemouth bass are also finishing their spawn, but they will merely stay in shallower heavy cover for the summer. With the warming water temps, we are seeing a lot of surface activity in the evenings especially. Musky action has been good to very good, with some nice sized fish being caught throughout the area as the fish recover from spawning. There have even been a few later spawners seen on the shorelines recently, but these fish are late exceptions, not the majority of the population. The muskies has a good spawn on most lakes this year, which is a surprise given the weather. All types of baits are now working, and even those big deep water baits such as Bulldawgs have been producing. Panfish action has been great, with bluegills up on the shorelines to spawn. While they are up there, they are active feeders on almost any types of bait. The crappies also up on the shorelines in some cases, but they are mostly done spawning. They also been feeding on the surface on calm evenings. Perch are in the weeds, acting like small walleyes. They will feed on the mayfly hatch also, so expect them to move to mud flats. It will be a great week for fishing in the Northwoods this week with the warmer weather. Good luck and good fishn'
George Langley |
|
June 14, 2009 - Vilas County Lakes, Vilas County MUSKIES ** TOURNAMENTS ** CHANCE ** & MURPHYS LAW! If you read my reports over time sometime I talk about my Fishing Tournaments. In 1983 I fished my first tournament Paul's Pro/Am (a musky tournament) which I have fished every year since then. Shortly after that first tournament I sidetracked and got involved heavily in bass tournaments keeping musky and walleye always on the back burner. In that time I am now getting close to 500 tournaments and this weekend really hit the MURPHY'S LAWS what could go wrong... will go wrong... everything from right spot wrong time to many things. Saturday started the Headwaters Muskies Inc., Spring Classic Musky Classic. Well the first day it was we only saw two small fish yet 21 fish were caught. Reports indicate we hit many of the spots that produced fish but... that is fishing. We all know it!! This is our first year with judge boats so we do not transport fish anymore GREAT!! you need a cell phone or have a radio or flag a judge to get your fish registered therefore this fish never comes out of the water GREAT!! Last night with 10 minutes to go we got our intense thunderstorms and I should have gone in early but I fish to the bitter end. My phone got wet and shorted out, my partner does not have a cell, and I do not have a radio in this boat. On the way to take off, this morning, I hit a log which took out the dash ignition wiring. The motor ran fine but would not shut off even with the kill switch, and the power trim did not work in the shifter, but back at the moto. We drove the boat to take off area but what do we do here. If we kill the motor (and how) we will not get it started. But the motor will not shut off even with the kill switch. The only way to shut the motor off was to pinch the gas line. Once it was off we could not start it again, I checked in with the officals told them my problem and that I was going to kill the motor here and just fish in front of the take off are with only my trolling motor. Take off is on Duck lake on the Eagle River Chain, I held to the docks while all 110 boats took off. Then I started fishing right in the hole where the boats took off. At 8:05 am I caught 1 of the 8 fish of the day. The guys that won with 4 fish did a great job with a QUAD... 4 Doubles and 21 singles left about 85 teams with no fish but this was a GOOD catch when it comes to musky tournaments. Anyway even with all the hardships, I thank the Lord for that one fish. A 34-1/2 barely legal, but not the smallest, so I will be happy with that. Caught the fish in 18 feet of water on a Bull Dawg. Most of the tournament fish were caught on Bull Dawgs type bait, yet some on bucktails. Fish were sent to deeper water durning all those hits on the cold fronts. Warmer weather shows some signs of fish returning to the shallower weed. I would start fishing 8 to 10 ft weed line edges. (Just a guess right now with the warmer weather). here is my barely legal but I will take it!
Fred Brogle |
|
June 8, 2009 - Vilas County Lakes, Vilas County FISHING WITH THE GUIDES by George Langley What a surprise - another cold front hit like a ton of bricks last weekend! These repeated spells of bad weather have put a serious dent into the fishing conditions this spring, and now gotten to the point of endangering what spawning activity is left for the bass, bluegills and crappie. Last year a good number of these crappies were caught in July still full of spawn. We now think that the same thing is happening and we'll see the same thing again this year. At the time of this writing water temps on many lakes are down from their highs in the neighborhood of 10 degrees. This is a huge drop for any time of the year. Water levels remain very low also. It will be interesting to see what fish remain on the shoreline as it warms up this week. Crappie, bluegills and some bass were there as of Saturday, but that temperature drop was so severe that it had to drive many of them off. Walleye fishing has been pretty good, with weed walleye being the best fishing. Some years by June, the mayfly hatch is starting by now. With the cold temperatures this year that will not be happening any time soon. These weed walleye are in about 7' of water in the milfoil on the Chain. The best ways to fish for them are with weedless jigs and minnows or with slip bobbers. The biggest fish are deepest in the weeds. Look for emerging musky cabbage beds in the neighborhood of 12' deep on the clear lakes. Some beg female walleye are suspending out in deeper water on these clear lakes also. They are quite hard to locate and fish for during the daytime. Fish these bigger fish as they move on to structure during the evenings. Bass fishing has taken a hit from the cold weather. We don't feel that the smallies really got through their spawning process completely on the deeper lakes, so there is a chance that they will still be on the shorelines as it warms up. It is really hard to tell what is going to happen at this point. Largemouth have remained in heavy cover, but that is their summer pattern anyhow. Northerns are in the weeds and feeding aggressively on minnows of any sort at this point. They seemed to move with colder water out to the deepest weeds they can find. Musky fishermen are catching them in these weeds by accident. By far the best live bait for them is chubs. Musky fishing is improving, with many females getting further away from the spawn and becoming more active. The action was great right before that cold front hit on Saturday, but this temperature drop has been a real negative for these fish also. Smaller baits are still working best for these fish. As with the walleye, there are some big females out suspended on some lakes. In general, look for the weeds as the best places to locate musky. Good, developing green weeds will hold these fish and the baitfish they are feeding on. Panfish action slowed with the cold front also, but we hope to get right back to "normal" as the temps go back up. This means the bluegills will still be on the shorelines and beginning their spawn later this week. As with anything relation to water temps, it is late this year. Crappies have taken cover in deep weeds and wood at this point. Let's hope for consistent warm weather, for a change. Good luck and good fishn'
George Langley |
|
June 7, 2009 - Vilas County Lakes, Vilas County WHAT A MISERABLE %@#(*^^$^ DAY TO GO BASS FISHING!! Giovanni (John) & his wife Kathy booked me several weeks ago to take them smallmouth fishing. I'm thinking the first week in June "Right On"!!! Well if you have been following the Northwoods weather basically the first 10 days of the season was Great, then it has been a Cold Front every two day (seems like). Anyway what a weather day, cold front crashes through here late yesterday, cold rain 42 degrees to start the day... 15 to 20mph winds from the east... FROM THE EAST!!! No way Jose'! You know... when the wind is from the EAST the fish bite LEAST! I needed to impress John as he is a Bass Tournament Angler from Illinois and he comes up quite often to the Northwoods to fish bass, he wanted nothing but smallies. Well it was a tough act... I prefished several lake this week and this was the best bet regardless. I looked bad to John as he only had a few Strikes... OH! Did I mention John brought his Wife Kathy... Well I did not look bad to her as she was doing clean up in the back of the boat, while John was showing his tournament style Kathy picked up six TOURNAMENT fish in the back. Four fish in the 2 to 3 pound class, one 4 pounder, and one 5 pounder. No guessing on the BIG fish "They were weighed" and she got them on ultralight spinning tackle! GOOD GOING KATHY!!! I will show the guys your FISH!
Fred Brogle |
|
June 3, 2009 - Vilas County Lakes, Vilas County IT'S ABOUT TIME!! Well between some very cold weather, high winds, and clients to fish for walleye and bass; today was my third day to throw musky baits. I got out for the openner saw 8 fish and we caught none; I got out Monday night for the Musky league and saw none... not a good start. Today I needed to check my smallie spots with clients coming in for Sunday; but I took the big rod as well. The smallies were not in the shallows but just a few and I tried fishing them for about 2 hours and only had two fish. I did see 4 muskies in shallow so... I broke out the musky tackle starting with some twitch bait and had no luck and I then out on a small mepps. I could hardly believe how calm the wind was and I had a bright sun. I could see very good into the water and about 25 yards from the boat I saw a musky slowly cruising the weed bed. I threw past him and to the right... he turn and followed right to the boat and hit the bait as I started my figure 8. HIs mouth openned very wide for the strike. It was a lot of fun to see the whole action as I netted and released my first musky of the season; a nice 40-1/4. TIP FOR NOW USE SMALL BAITS!
Fred Brogle |
|
June 1, 2009 - Vilas County Lakes, Vilas County FISHING WITH THE GUIDES by George Langley Despite what seem to be cold & windy days, the water temps are reluctantly getting warmer and the spawns are happening. We've really had a lot of wind for this time of year, which has made fishing tough on many days. Calmer days and a more consistent warming trend are the ticket at this point. On most area lakes the temps are now in the very high 50's or low 60's - we were at that point several weeks age. The temps have just hovered at this point now for several weeks. Despite that, the smallies, largemouth and crappies are getting some spawning in. Most muskies have spawned and you are still seeing some post spawn beat up fish along shorelines on many of the bigger lakes. Summer will come, whether it really wants to or not. The resultant warmer temps will bring the last fish to spawn - bluegills - up to their beds. Walleye action has been very good in the weeds. Almost all anglers report their best action in 6 - 12' of water in developing weed beds. Jigs and minnows are the best baits, and these fish are really tucked deeply into weed beds. Action has been good all day long for most walleye lakes, with the Chain producing as well as anywhere. Most fish are on the small side, but some of the female larger fish are moving at this point. As with most fish, we need more warm weather to get these fish moving. On the walleye side, we are not too far from that dreaded mayfly hatch in the area. That will bring about major changes in the walleye fishing also. Enjoy the jigs & minnow fishing in these weeds while you can. Bass action is very late this year, and seems to be spread out much more than normal. The fish move up - and then get stuffed by a cold front. On many lakes we are just now seeing a lot of beds, especially the colder water lakes. Smallmouth lakes are "hopping" this week, and we should see several more weeks of good fishing on many lakes. The largemouth are also on the beds near shorelines. They use more cover than the smallies. For both species try some surface baits - the fish have been seen rising to hatches along shorelines. If you fly fish, try some poppers for great action. Musky action is picking up as these fish recover from the spawn. On some of the smaller lakes the fish are quite active at this point, and are hitting in the weeds on smaller baits of all types. A number of nice fish were reported by walleye fishermen on the Chain in the last week. As reported earlier, we are still seeing some post-spawn fish on some of the bigger lakes. They are quite beat up, and it will be several weeks before these fish become really active. Follow the basic spring rule for musky fishing: small, slow and shallow. Smaller bucktails or twitch baits used in weeds or along shorelines and retrieved slowly work best. Panfish action is great at this point. Perch are in the weeds and some very nice fish are being caught on minnows. Crappie are in and finishing their spawn on many lakes and are hitting very well. A hint for these crappie is to use poppers in the evening along shorelines and near the wood structure they use. Bluegills are also along shorelines, but have yet to build their beds. With warmer temps this will happen within the next week or so. They also are spawning late this year. All in all, the action is great at this time of year. Get out there if you can! Good luck and good fishn'
George Langley |
|
May 26, 2009 - Vilas County Lakes, Vilas County A great Memorial Day weekend was a real treat, as the weather cooperated for a change and made everyone happy. Now, some rain will make us even happier, as we badly need as much as we can get. Many lakes are seriously low, and conditions are dry. Tuesday morning rain at the time of this writing, however, was very welcome. Fishing in general is good at this point, with the bass and crappies up on their spawning areas. This action, along with the bluegill spawn, will last for several weeks now. It is much enjoyed by all area anglers and many visitors. We are now heading into late spring and can expect some greatly warmer weather to get here sooner or later. The ticks are out in force, so if you spend any time in the woods, use some repellant for them. Walleye fishing has been good. The fish have now moved mostly to the weeds, and are feeding pretty well. Soon the mayfly hatch will happen and greatly change that weed walleye fishing, but it is pretty good now. Jigs and minnows work well, and are by far the most universally most effective bait at this time. Weeds are coming up on all area lakes and the walleye are using them both for cover and for feeding. Look for depths of 6 to 8’ on the Chain, and 12’ or so on the bigger clear lakes, especially in the evenings. The females have recovered from spawning and are hitting on all lakes, so some bigger fish have been caught throughout the area. Bass fishing has been great, with both largemouth and smallies on their beds throughout the area. Remember that this fishery is catch and release only until the third weekend in June. You will be able to see the smallmouth beds along the shorelines, but the largemouth tend to spawn in areas with heavier cover. Believe it or not, but surface baits are working already, and both frogs and insect hatches are abundant with the warmer water temps. If you are not wanting to try surface baits, use leech or crayfish imitation lures. They work very well for spawning smallies, and frog imitation baits or spinnerbaits work best for the largemouth. Musky season started over the weekend, and some decent fishing was experienced throughout the area. They fish are further along the recovery (from spawning) in the smaller, warmer water lakes. In the beginning of the season, try some smaller baits for them. Rizzo Wiz’s, #5 Mepps and 6” twitch bait have worked very well in the spring. Small Suicks can be deadly also. We think that most musky got through the spawning process despite the cold fronts that hit in May. This bodes well for the season, as they seem to be more active and aggressive in years that they spawn successfully. Panfish action is now first rate. The crappies are spawning as you read this, and on the shorelines. They have been providing great action this year for all anglers. Bluegills are also up in the spawning areas. They are the last spawners to arrive, and when they are done it is “officially” summer. Use ultralight tackle for both the crappies and the ‘gills for best action. It’ll be a great week for all fishing, as conditions have developed nicely for late spring. Good luck and good fishn’
George Langley |
|
May 18, 2009 - Vilas County Lakes, Vilas County FISHING WITH THE GUIDES by George Langley Wow, what a weather roller coaster we have ridden on for the last several weeks again this year. We would really like some consistent warmer weather - but have had just the opposite. Last weekend was the worst, with the wind and snow dropping the water temps significantly and interrupting the spawning activities of many fish. Things certainly look better for this week, however. We don't need the greatest weather in the world - just an absence of these really profound cold fronts. The 60's or low 70's would be great at this time of year. Let's get those water temps back into the high 50's or 60's for spawning. We have had some moisture - badly needed - for the lakes. We could use one of those old time "soakers" for a day or so (or two days, or three) to at least stop the decline in the lake levels. The rain we have had got some of the leaves on the trees blooming, and of course some pollen started. Spawning activity by bass and crappie hopefully will be in full bloom by the weekend. Walleye action has been OK, with some larger fish now being seen and caught On the Chain, the fish are moving into the weeds and have been hitting good when the water temps are not going down. Jigs and minnows continue to be the best baits, but we are now seeing a few guys using leeches for them also. On the larger lakes spawning is complete and the females are getting through the recovery process. Most of the fish being caught are males, which means smaller fish. The bigger fish are just barely starting to move back into weed growth and feed. Consistent warming will help here greatly also, as the warming water temps spur some better feeding activity. Bass action was starting to get really good, with smallies especially moving along shorelines and getting ready to spawn. This activity was interrupted by the cold front, but is restarting this week. This weekend might be just right for them. Remember that this is a catch and release only fishery for both types of bass well into June. Twitch baits (minnow imitations) were working well for these fish, as they feed with aggression on these shoreline runs prior to spawning. You should be able to spot spawning beds all over on the clear water lakes this weekend. Largemouth bass were also sneaking up in singles on to the shorelines. They hold much tighter to cover when they come up and don't move around as much as the smallies. they can be caught on minnows quite well also when they first move up. Fish close to trees and logs for these fish. Northern action was good, with these fish feeding with abandon in all weeds. Larger minnows such as redtail chubs or creek chubs work very well for these fish. Musky fishing starts in the area this Saturday. We hope that most fish finished their spawning before that last cold front. They will not yet be recovered for that, but you will be able to catch a few early spawners. Mostly, it will be male muskies caught this weekend on smaller slow moving baits. Panfish action has been pretty good, with the perch now in the weeds and hitting well. Crappies were moving up in the shallows before the cold front, but got kicked out to deeper water by the drop in water temps. Hopefully, they'll be back in force by the weekend and provide some good shallow water fishing on small minnows. Bluegills were moving into the shallows in the evening to feed on hatches, but also were moved out by the cold front. With better weather they'll also be in the shallows soon. As long as we don't get clobbered by another cold front, it will be a great week of fishing - and great conditions for the Memorial Day weekend. Good luck and good fishn'
George Langley |
|
May 11, 2009 - Vilas County Lakes, Vilas County BACK ON THE WATER -- COMPARING NOTES? OK from opening day through Friday, a full week of GOOD fishing. Saturday & Sunday I did not go out with family coming in and Mother' Day. JUst as good as it seems the full moon, the completion of the spawn, and a Saturday COLD front slowed thing down. Out on the water a good part of the day the bite was OFF. I got only two walleyes (one in the slot at 17-1/2 and one over at 22-1/2. I was fishing very clearwater so take note... most of my time was with the underwater camera. I checked rock bars that should have some walleye or smallmouth, what I found was suckers on the bars. No smally beds yet but a few were on the shorelines cruising. The walleyes that I saw were in 16 to 19 feet of water and that was the same depth that I caught them. The smaller came on a deep little crankbait and the bigger on a jig & leech. I have a few clients this week so I will have to plan on this as a possible change or go back to my other lake. Four hours & two fish... will need to improve. Some of the other lake that are warm ar getting ready for smallmouth, but the walleye spawn appears mostly done except for the deep clear lakes. I plan to fish those pre-spawners for another week and get the late ones.
Fred Brogle |
|
May 11, 2009 - Vilas County Lakes, Vilas County FISHING WITH THE GUIDES by George Langley As we move into the season we are getting some higher water temps and some more spawning activity, despite the cooler temperatures. Water temps very throughout the area, but run from 45 to 55 degrees on most lakes. We now have some crappies, bass and bluegills on or near the shorelines. We are still dealing with seriously low lake levels, especially on the "seepage" type lakes. We need some rain! There seems to have been a good number of anglers out over the first two weekends of fishing, despite some tough boat landing conditions. The walleye activity was as good as usual around the opener, and people have generally been pretty happy about the fishing so far. Walleye fishing has now moved into the post spawn period on all lakes. On some of the shallower lakes, the fish are in the weeds already. Some nice fish have been caught on these lakes. Just look for any developing weeds - even if they're only several inches. This will be enough to hold these fish. Jigs and minnows are still working best for these fish, as they are in the weeds to feed. The river run is over for the year. On the bigger lakes you can find fish just about everywhere at this time of year. Some of those big females can go right out to 30' to recover from the spawn. We will be getting some weed development soon, and look forward to nice fish moving right into the weeds as soon as they come up. Northerns have been very active, especially in the last week or so. They have long since spawned, so they have put the "food bag" on big time. Some nice fish have been caught lately. Look for any weeds you can find. Bass fishing is starting to get interesting, as they are moving into the shallows in a pre-spawn mode. This applies more to smallmouth than the biggies, as they are up on many shorelines in big numbers. Fish for these fish in the 4 to 8' range at this time of year. They will hit just about anything when they are in this mode. Largemouth are also moving up, but their numbers are smaller and they seems to move around less when they move shallow. The smallies are almost moving in schools when they first come up. The Michigan musky season will be open on the 15th, so the border lakes will open on that day. If the weather is warm, you will see some activity. We'd really like to see consistent warm weather so these fish can get through their spawning cycle without the interruption of more cold fronts. This really killed the musky season last year - all those cold fronts kept many muskies from spawning. Panfish activity has been good. The perch are schooling in the weeds now, and hitting well. Bluegills are moving along many shorelines in search of food, especially in the evening. You are starting to see surface activity from them on calm evenings as there are hatches. Crappie have been moving to the warmest water they can find on all lakes, preparing to come up to spawn and feeding eagerly. We've got a lot going on and a lot to look forward to in the next several weeks. Good luck and good fishn'
George Langley |
