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The Great Lakes Region of the BFL kicked off last Saturday on the Mississippi River out of LaCrosse. The boater division was won by Caleb Kuphall of Mukwonago, WI, with a five fish limit weighing 17lbs 4oz. The bag gave Kuphall a $4575 pay check for the day, which started off slow. It took about 45 minutes for him to find his fish, but managed to put four decent bass in the livewell by 9:30am. After that, he left pool seven and spent the rest of the day fishing pool 8.
All of the weigh fish came on a homemade green pumpkin/chartreuse jig with a green pumpkin chunk of Zoom. “A lot of the areas were muddy and the fish were spawned out. Finding clear water with a good weed line and a drop was key.”
Co-Angler Tong Lor took home a check for $2,288 after weighing five fish for 13lbs 15oz. “It was kind of slow, but picked up after 7am,” said Lor. Fishing on the number one spot of his boater, Lor was using topwater baits. “Speed was very important. We started of fast, but when we slowed it down is when they bit.” Lor was fishing in five feet of water and could see the sand and weeds clearly. “The fish were scattered in the weeds.”
This is the first tournament that Lor has fished and plans to fish the September event on the river. His advice to others? “Fish hard and never give up!”
Crankin GB Eyes
FLW Cribs with Dusty Minke and Bill Shimota
Check out how the guys lived at Red Wing!
FLW Prefish with Dusty Minke
Had a great afternoon on the Mississippi chasing eyes.
Good Friday Eyes
Pete and John tackle the eyes on the Wisconsin River
Browns!!!!
Cam, Don, and Adam hook up with some Milwaukee browns on Sunday.
Choot!
Dad just got back from visiting his mom and sisters in Louisana, who are friends with Troy Landry. Check out this video of a gator he had killed earlier in the day.
Jig them up!
Some river and bay fish!
First Turkey for Cindy!
The excitement when Cindy shoots her first turkey is amazing! Makes you want to introduce someone new to hunting every day! Way to go Addison and Cindy!
A Bit of Everything!
If you have followed this site for awhile, you know that it is more about sharing techniques, ideas, or just a day on the water....as it really happens...vs constant numbers of trophy fish!
Big Bay Eyes!
Cam from Walleyes Xtreme Guide Service gets the big pigs Sat night!
Bow fishing solo!
Robert flys solo for carp!
More Walleyes...Mar. 15
Had fun with John and Pete at DePere Thursday!
Good Friday Eyes Choot! Jig them up! First Turkey for Cindy!
Sturgeon Bay Open is underway.....thanks to Upper Hand Scent for coverage sponsorship.
Shimota Takes 25th at FLW Erie
He was hoping for at least a top thirty, and ended up in 25th place. The second day of the Lake Erie FLW tournament started off fast and furious for Bill Shimota, who put three fish for 24lbs in the livewell in the first 20 minutes. Sitting in 18th place and 3lbs away from the day three cut at take off, he was feeling confident with the great start. That feeling didn't last long. "I was stubborn, and stayed on that spot too long," said the National Guard Pro, who failed to pull another fish off the spot. "I knew I could pull 40lbs off that spot. I could tell the difference between 5lb walleye and 9lb walleye on my Lowrance HDS. I knew they were still there"
It was 2:30pm before he put two more 3lb fish in the box at a back up spot. "I thought I could go there and easily go through ten bites in an hour for a nice limit, but the water had cleared there and we only had two bites."
Shimota was fishing in the Kelley's Island area pulling harnesses with puple blades and gold beads (editors note: Must be a Viking thing). He was pulling them at 1 to 1.4mph
www.walleyesxtremeguideservice.com
Serving Green Bay and Lake Winnebago Chain
Capt. Cameron Lewis
Fox River White Bass-Montello
After realizing that he had had a senior moment and left all his jigs, flies, etc. in the truck, dad decided to just work with what he had in the boat Friday afternoon working the Fox River by Puckaway. He launched at River’s End and worked towards the mouth casting the shoreline for nothing. I should mention that the river is VERY high right now and the shoreline is now backyards.
He then went upriver, only to find carp and gar spawning in yards. Further upriver he started working current breaks, eddy’s and backflows, where he found the white bass hanging on the current breaks. Casting his red and silver spinner, he managed to catch 28 keepers up to 17 inches long…oh and a nice smallie hanging out in a backyard.
Shimota in 18th at Erie FLW After Day One
After day one of the Lake Erie FLW, National Guard Pro Bill Shimota is sitting in 18th place, about 8lbs out of first and 3lbs from the top ten cut tomorrow.
For those not familiar with the FLW, the entire field, which is 123 boats at this tournament, will fish the first two days. After that, the field is cut to ten boats that compete on the third day.
Shimota had great prefishing, with conditions being much different than last year. The fish have been biting everywhere, and he figures he had a couple of days that his best five would have weighed 30-35lbs.
The key is to look for the right color of water, which is a blue-green. "There is a fine line between too dirty and too clean," said Shimota. Clean water could actually be a problem tomorrow, as a lot of his spots are clearing up.
Today was a lot of running and gunning for the Minnesota resident. He started out in his best spot and only pulled one small fish off of it.
His second spot produced a nine pound hawg. He was able to then fill out a tournament limit with a 21, 22 and another 22.
The bite then slowed and he hit a couple other spots searching for fish to upgrade with. The pressure to find big fish continued to build. He was due in at 2:30pm, and was finally able to upgrade two of his small fish with 27 inchers at 1:00pm.
So far he has found a couple of color patterns that seem to be hot, but more importantly it is critical to keep moving the baits in the water column to stay with the fish as they move.
He plans to head back to his big fish spot tomorrow. While there may be fewer bites, Shimota is confident that if he can get on them, they will be the fish he needs to secure a spot in the top ten.
Check out the weigh-in at 3pm EST/2pm Central on flwoutdoors.com to see if Shimota can make the top ten!
Green Bay Muskies
When state fisheries staff hit the water last week in search of Great Lakes spotted muskellunge, they weren’t sure how many they would find in their nets along the bank of the Fox River just south of Green Bay. It didn’t take long for them to realize they hit the jackpot.
DNR fisheries staff collect musky which made their way into the nets.
WDNR Photo
It took several hours on a sunny but windy day to handle 44 musky, some as large as 51.5 inches long and weighing as much as 37.5 pounds.
DNR staff harvesting eggs from a female musky.
WDNR Photo
Department of Natural Resources staff captured all the musky in four fyke nets set out the day before. Biologists worked quickly to gather data, sometimes taking a powerful tail slap in the process.
“These fish are fighters,” noted Steve Hogler, senior DNR fisheries biologist.
Each fish is weighed, measured and tagged. Biologists took a genetic sample and blood sample to check for viral hemorrhagic septicemia (VHS) disease, and eggs and milt are harvested from as many fish as they could.
“A lot of what we are able to do in a day comes down to timing,” Hogler said. “Are the fish spawning? How many of them are in the nets and how many females are at a point where we can safely harvest their eggs?”
On this day, four females provided approximately three quarts of eggs. Those eggs were then fertilized with milt from more than two dozen males to maintain diversity in the genetic pool.
“Seeing the musky, and the size of some of them, is satisfying. Two decades ago, you couldn’t find these fish here but with the help of musky clubs, we’re bringing them back,” Hogler said.
The fertilized eggs are now at the Besadny Fish Facility in Kewaunee where they will be raised to be approximately a foot long. DNR hopes to stock 3,000 fingerlings this fall at a several sites around Green Bay. Last year, 5,242 fish were raised and released.
Kid catches 15lb carp!
Cam and crew took some kids out for walleyes on the Wolf and got a bonus!
Walleye at Depere Mar. 11
Got out on a boat for the first time this year with Cam of Walleyes Xtreme Guide Service, Jim and Don. Had a great time catching walleyes most of the day!
MWS Video with Steve Paulsen and John Hynes
for more info go to fishtfm.com
Apitz and Hausauer win MWS Winneconne
Under sunny skies and a good breeze, the first MWS tournament of the year kicked off out of Winneconne, WI on Sunday. With 104 teams putting down their money and a good bite going on Lake Poygan, overall, weights were tight.
Walking away victorious were Louie Apitz and Scott Hausauer with five fish for 17.92lbs. The team was confident as they came into the tournament, as they had had good prefishing overall. Fishing a community hole on Lake Poygan, the duo figures they caught about 30 walleyes. Even though they were on a common spot with a lot of company, they believe they had the color pattern and speed dialed in just right to get the bigger fish to bite.
Speed and depth were important for the second place team of Jeremy Thull and Matt Bongert, with five fish for 17.50lbs. They didn’t have a lot of bites, but stayed at a high speed pulling Shad Raps on half mile long passes on Lake Poygan.
While father and son team of Dan and Jake McGuire have fished smaller tournies, this is biggest fifteen year old has ever been in . They put three in the box on their first two passes. It then slowed down until they hit a nice pod of fish later in the day. “Even though there were a lot of boats on Poygan, we weren’t by ourselves, but we weren’t in the pack. We were on the fringe of things,” said Dan. The team was fishing an area alone when they found the nice pod of fish. Shad Raps and Flicker Shads were key.
Inland fishing season opens May 5
Early warm-up means many fish done spawning and ready to feed
MADISON -- The early ice-out across Wisconsin lakes and rivers is good news for anglers venturing out for the May 5 inland fishing season opener: many game fish are done spawning or wrapping up and ready to take the bait, state fisheries biologists say.
“This has been the most extended spawning season I've experienced in nearly 30 years as a fish biologist,” says Terry Margenau, Department of Natural Resources fish supervisor based in Spooner. “This year the water temperatures hit 45 degrees and went backward. The result was a greatly protracted spawning period for fish in many lakes. Regardless, I expect that by the season opener fish will be active and feeding and we'll see a very good opener.”
The 2012 Wisconsin Fishing Report gives anglers a line on the size and numbers of fish populations in many of their favorite waters, but anglers may need to change tactics and where in that water body they fish.
Anglers may need to look in deeper water for walleye and in shallower water for bass than normal at this time of year, says Bob Hujik, fisheries supervisor for west central Wisconsin. “We got so warm and then everything stabilized and spawning dragged on,” he says. “But my gut is telling me our fish are still two weeks earlier than normal.
"The walleye are done spawning so they'll be feeding heavily and the bass waters warmed up and the fish are moving around in the shallows,” Hujik says.
Mike Vogelsang, fisheries supervisor based in Woodruff, agrees that anglers may have to change up tactics and look for fish in a little deeper water and near newly emerging weeds.
“Given that everything is about three weeks ahead, it would not be surprising if crappies are already in spawning mode so they may be an alternative fish to target if the walleye don't cooperate,” he says. “They will be found in shallow bays with weeds, or in areas of rushes which provide spawning habitat.”
Scot Stewart, district fisheries supervisor for southern Wisconsin, says that “fish populations are terrific in most waters.” Anglers should plan on fishing in the exact same waters they would normally fish in, but to expect fish to be advanced compared to a normal season.
Randy Schumacher, district fisheries supervisor for northeastern and southeastern Wisconsin reports that walleyes and northern pike are through spawning in northeastern Wisconsin. Muskellunge have just begun their spawning cycle. Musky anglers fishing southern zone waters may still find some muskellunge in spawning condition.
Largemouth bass fishing should be excellent as abundant sunny days have increased their metabolism, Schumacher says. Look for largemouth on the northern ends of lakes especially over dark-bottomed weedy areas, he says. Bluegills and crappies should be taking advantage of these early spring zones of warmer water temperatures and early food production as well.
Trout anglers in northeastern Wisconsin will find a mixed bag of water levels with the Northwoods streams of Marinette and Oconto counties exhibiting flows below normal while streams in the central sands of Waupaca, Waushara and Marquette counties are closer to water levels expected for the spring opener, Schumacher says.
Lower water levels in the north may make some smaller trout streams harder to fish by concentrating trout in deeper pools and increasing their awareness of angler movement along stream banks. Trout anglers may want to check out recent trout stamp habitat projects on the Mecan River downstream of Highway 21 and the Waupaca River in the City of Waupaca.
In southeastern Wisconsin, the early ice out has contributed to vegetation growing early which gets insects growing early, Schumacher says. “The bass have been drawn into the shallows earlier, especially when the sun is high in the sky. The bluegills and bass are feeding so it should be a really good opening day if anglers can find these patches of early growing vegetation.”
Season dates and major new regulations affecting musky anglers and others
The hook-and-line game fish season opens May 5 on inland waters for walleye, sauger, and northern pike statewide.
The largemouth and smallmouth bass southern zone opens May 5, while the northern bass zone opens for catch and release only from May 5 through June 15, with the harvest season opening June 16. Statewide, the harvest seasons for bass have a minimum length limit of 14 inches with a daily bag limit of five fish in total.
Musky season opens May 5 in the southern zone and May 26 in the northern zone. The northern zone is the area north of highways 77, 64 and 29, with Highway 10 as the dividing line. New this year is that the statewide minimum length limit for musky has increased to 40 inches from 34 in order to help boost natural reproduction. Research suggests muskellunge are more successful at producing young after their second or third year of maturity (up to 40 inches in length). The greater protection afforded by a higher length limit will allow more muskellunge to spawn more than once before they are vulnerable to harvest.
Also new this year, anglers must use a quick strike rig or a non-offset circle hook if they are fishing a minnow 8 inches or longer. When using a quick strike rig and a minnow 8 inches or longer for bait, anglers must immediately attempt to set the hook upon indication of a bite to avoid deep hooking the target fish.
The seasons for rock, yellow and white bass, panfish, bullheads and rough fish, catfish, cisco and whitefish are open all year. Check the “2012-2013 Guide to Wisconsin Hook and Line Fishing Regulations” for special regulations listed by county, for regulations on the Great Lakes and boundary waters, and for tributary streams to Green Bay and Lake Michigan. The complete guide is also available at DNR offices and license agents.
New discounted license seeks to lure back anglers
New this year anglers who have never purchased a fishing license -- or who haven't purchased one in 10 years -- can get a discounted “first time buyers” license. Lawmakers created the discounted license earlier this year and both residents and non-residents can take advantage of this opportunity. Residents' discounted license is $5 and non-residents' is $25.75 for the annual licenses.
There are also incentives for anglers to get new people to go fishing.
Also, for the second year, anglers can buy a one-day fishing license that allows them to take someone out to try fishing, and if they like it, the purchase price of that one-day license will be credited toward purchase of an annual license. The one day license is $8 for residents and $10 for nonresidents.
“It's a good entry level license that lets you do everything but fish for trout and salmon, where stamps are required,” says Mike Staggs, Wisconsin's fisheries director. “It's a great way to introduce a friend or family member to the fun of fishing.”
The one-day license is good until midnight on the day it is purchased. People can buy these new licenses and the 20 other different fishing licenses DNR offers in three convenient ways:
Over the Internet through the Online Licensing Center on the DNR website, at all authorized license agents, at DNR Service Centers (Hours for service centers vary; check the DNR website for service center days and hours of operation; DNR Service Centers are not open on Saturdays), or by calling toll-free 1-877-LICENSE (1-877-945-4236).
Wisconsin residents and nonresidents 16 years old or older need a fishing license to fish in any waters of the state. Residents born before Jan. 1, 1927, do not need a license and resident members of the U.S. Armed Forces on active duty are entitled to obtain a free fishing license when on furlough or leave.
