Northern Wisconsin 6/14 - 6/18/04 - report & photos

[Jig'nMinnow]

6/14/04


STATS
Water Temps - Low 70's
Weather - Low 70's/ partly cloudy
Wind - 5-10mph


- Started fishing from 11:30 am till 4:40pm. Fished tight shoreline structure (logs, trees, flooded bushes, docks).





Hot baits for the day were:
- 4" Luck-E-Strike Razor Worm
- 6" Bearpaw worm soaked in Megastrike
- 4" YUM Dinger
- 4" Senko
- 3" Baby Slug-Go










- All baits were presented on a simple worm hook (weightless) Early evening was good for the topwater bite on Chug Bugs. Lots of big fish were missed on the Razor worms due to poor hook-sets.

- Bass are done spawning on almost all lakes (my lake anyway) Saw schools of Bass fry swimming tight to dock posts. Bass wanted meat today and they got it!

- Fish were cruising the shorelines looking for food. That was all they were interested in.

- One fish was caught on live bait the entire day. Crappies went on small 1" tubes & twister on 1/32oz jig and Bass came on all plastics.


Totals - (from 11:30am - 4:30pm and 5:45pm - 9pm)

- 57 Largemouth Bass (17", 16", 16", 16", 15", 15", 15", 15") - - - - most bass in 13-16" slot

- 27 Crappie (14", 13.5", 12", rest at 9-10")





This is the biggest crappie of my life, so far.....Somewhere between 13-14". Very solid fish for my lake. Biggest one I've seen caught was about 6yrs ago, and my old man caught and released a fat 15"er.


Today was the HOT Action & Sized day...................


All fish were photographed & Released



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6/15/04


STATS

Water Temps - low 70's
Temps - low 70's
Wind - 0-5mph







One of the few bass caught over 17" - one of the biggest of this trip.
Caught on 4" Kinami Twister on 1/16oz head.


Grandpa with a small 18" Northern from the river.


Started today from 8:45am till 11:15pm.

- Bass wanted plastics once again.
- Senko's, Bearpaws, 4" Kinami Twisters, Scott Wilson's Walking Worms, 3" BPS Spring grubs.

- Few Bass were somehow gut-hooked w/ a big worm hook. These fish were 14" but looked like the hook was in perfect position to be dissolved by the proteins.

- Just fished the bay where our cottage is located in. Bluegills were located on their beds, and didn't bother them.

Then went to a river west of Minocqua. Fished there from 12:30 till 2:30. Bite was slow but gramps caught an 18" Northern and I got a 25" Musky on the simplest of all lures, a jig and minnow. Musky snapped the line when it was lifted for a photo and was then lost.

Then fished the lake once again from 3-4pm and then from 6:30 till 9pm. picked up about 10 bass from 3-4pm. All were from 13-15" on YUM Dingers & Senkos.

From 6:30 til 9, fishing was slow. Only 10 Bass total. Biggest were 5, 15"ers on GULP Siking Minnows & Dingers. Few came on live-bait on a slip-bobber. Only 2 Crappie today unlike the 25 from yesterday.

A cold front was on its way.....................

TOTALS (For the day)

- 35 Largemouth Bass (25 fish in 13-16" slot) plus 1, 17.5"er
- 1 Musky (25?)
- 2 Perch
- 2 Crappie
- 3 Bluegill


All fish photographed were released


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6/16/04

Started the day at the world-class fishery of the Wisconsin River. Fished there from 8am till 12pm.
Was wading next to a guy from Elk Grove, IL -

- Baits in use were jig/ minnow, countdowns, twisters, and split shot/ crawler combo. Picked up 6 walleye, 1 dink Northern, and 4 BULL gills. All released.


Then fished the "lago casa" from 1-5pm.

STATS

Water temps - high 70's
Weather - Cloudy
Wind - 10-15mph

- Picked up 15 Largemouths from 4-14" and 1, 17". Senko?s & Dingers got all fish. Lost 2 very big ones due to bad hook sets. Fished drop-offs right off of flooded shorelines w/ bushes & lillies.




17"er - One of the biggest of trip caught on YUM Dinger.

Then went out again from 5:45 till 9pm.

Caught 20 Largemouths 5 were in 13-15" range all on the YUM Dinger, 3" Baby Slug-Go?s, and Razor worms while working the shorelines. Also caught 3 crappie. Cold front came through and really slowed things a lot.


TOTALS (for the day)

- 35 Largemouth Bass (17", 14", 14", 14", 14", and 5 in 13-15" range)
- 6 walleye (12")
- 4 Gills
- 3 Crappie
- 1 dink Northern



All fish photographed were released

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6/17/04

STATS

Water temps - low 70's
Weather - high 70's/ low 80's, sunny
Wind - 0-5mph


Went out on the lake with Gramps from 10am till 1pm. I got 5 Bass total while he got 1 very nice 14"er.






- Small Senko's & plastics worked best. Only One came on live-bait.

- Conditions were very poor for any activity whatsoever! (Hot, Sunny, no wind)


Then went out from 5:30 till 9pm.

- Bass were decent and action would be fast for 5 mins and then dead for the next 10. This trend would continue through time.

- Got about 25 Largemouths. This time, they wanted leeches, so I gave them a 3" Berkley Power Leech under a 1/32oz jig, or a minnow & jig. Bass were very good this time. Live-bait was worthless and most likely pointless for my lake for the rest of the season. Price for a scoop of minnows (3-6doz) is a rip-off now.

- Also picked up 5 Crappies on small tube jigs.

- As of now, I've accomplished everything I wanted to do while fishing my lake. Still no 20" brutes to show off.


TOTALS (for the day)

- 30 Largemouth Bass (3 in 15" slot, - 4 in the 14" slot, and - 7 in 12-13" range)
- 5 Bluegill (all bulls) - Males
- 5 Crappie (Biggest at 12.5")


All fish photographed were released

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6/18/04

This was the final day of fishing on this trip...............


Day Started out at the Wisconsin River. Wade and shore fished from various locations.


This was a mixed bag outing. All fish went on either lindy rig, jig & minnow/ crawler, or jig & twister.




Thsi river has a fantastic Pike & Musky fishery.

There are a lot more smallies in the WI river than in the Fox river. For proof, read up on Russ Warye's book on ToP Smallmouth Bass Water in the United States.

Totals were:

- 3 Northern Pike (biggest at 25")
- 2 Smallmouth Bass (biggest at 17" and 14") - 17" might be my biggest to date..............?. not sure..................?????
- 1 Largemouth Bass (15")
- 1 Walleye
- 1 Crappie


Then finished the trip on my famous ?Lago Casa? Fished from 2-5pm and then from 6 - 8:30.


STATS

Water Temps - low 70?s
Weather - High 60's/ partly cloudy
Wind - 15-20mph


- Conditions were terrible to catch any numbers & size on the lake. I had to go for the aggressive fish and to drift the boat w/ the wind. Did this the entire day.

- For a 23 acre lake to have waves of about 1ft, my battery on the motor wouldn?t last too long.

Just fished bucktails, spinnerbaits (Strike King, Tiny T's), bigger cranks (Risto Raps) & countdowns w/ my Musky Combos and drifted over the depths of 8-14ft of water the entire time searching for any muskies or Pike (especially the 40"er PIKE named "scarface" that my old neighbor caught and released a few times). Only picked up 6 aggressive Bass at around 12" apiece on spinnerbaits & bucktails meant for the toothy critters that my lake holds. No pike & Musky were found.

Then went from 6 - 8:30pm. Used the wind once again to push me around and to cover water. Picked up 2 Largemouths on a #6 Blue Fox Super Vibrax.

Otherwise, I would look for any calm water and the Bass would be ready for #2 Mepps that were being thrown. No fish were on plastics, nor on live-bait.

Trip ended at 8:30ish with a solid 13" attacking a Terminator Tiny-T spinnerbait in about 3ft of water right in front of my dock.




TOTALS (for the day)

- 20 Largemouth Bass
- 3 Pike
- 2 Smallmouth Bass
- 1 walleye
- 3 Crappie
- 3 Bluegill




This trip was as good as any of my other trips to WI. This time, I had the numbers and size in fish. Most Bass were in the 13-16" range. All fish on trip were C&R.

I?m worried about the Bass now because I know the idiots will start to keep the bass now since the season opened on Saturday, the 19th..... Some Bass on bigger area lakes haven't spawned (Fence, Trout, Tomahawk, etc..).. For a better fishery on all lakes, please release all Bass and keep to yourself the Panfish or eater Walleyes. Bass are NOT food for the table!!!!!!!!!

I'll be back in business next in mid to late -JULY for 1-2 weeks, and then for 2 weeks in August.


MY TOTALS FOR THE TRIP - - - - - 248 fish

- 177 Largemouth Bass
- 40 Crappie
- 15 Bluegills
- 7 Walleye
- 4 Northern Pike
- 2 Smallmouth Bass
- 2 perch
- 1 Musky



All fish on trip were caught and released







Till Next time,




JIG