Local Column 10-29-07

 River Currents

    I usually don’t write that much about my local fishing exploits, but this week that’s exactly what I’m going to do. Last Thursday, local fishing guide and good friend, Wally Banfi, and I decided to go muskie fishing. We don’t get to fish together much because we’re busy guiding clients on the area lakes and working at our other trades. We planned to fish Madison’s Lake Monona for muskies, since we were hoping for the lake’s fall turnover hot bite and Wally had some recent success on this Madison Chain Lake.

There was a frost the night before at my Wisconsin River home and as I drove to Wally’s house the River was shrouded in a heavy fog from the warmer water temperature. We had planned to muskie fish Lake Monona and meet friend and local fishing legend, Pancake Bob Zownir, at the Olin Park boat landing at about 9:00 o’clock a.m. Now, that temperatures are falling we felt that we didn’t have to be on the water at sunrise. I didn’t mind a little extra Z-time and we felt that letting the water warm up wouldn’t hurt our chances for catching a muskie or two! We picked up a couple of big, dark suckers at the Wilderness Fish and Game store to rig up and have close to the boat in case we had a fish follow our baits to the boat as we casted.

When we arrived at Olin Park, everything that an angler doesn’t like was there! There was a strong east wind, the water was dirty, and there were floating weeds everywhere on the water’s surface. Plus, the lake hadn’t turned-over yet with the water temperature at 58 degrees. We even had trouble pulling the boat out of the water because the strong wind had blown weeds two feet high and wide at the landing. Wally needed 4-wheel drive to get through the weeds.

This was one of those days when you fished where you could, not where you wanted. The three of us wanted to fish Monona’s west shore and the Squaw Bay area, but we were limited to fishing the Monona shore on the south side of the lake. Wally, Bob, and I casted, jerked, and twitched every bait that you can imagine; Bull Dawgs, Smity’s, Bucher’s, Rapala’s, Mepps, CowGirls, and anything else that we had in our tackle boxes. But, we didn’t see a fish or have a follow for hours and hours. It looked like one of “those days” were the fish weren’t going to cooperate. See, not everyone catches fish everyday!

We dropped off Pancake Bob before 2 o’clock and decided to fish the north shore of Lake Monona where we thought we could get out of the wind and weeds. Wally and I rigged up our two suckers on the Bait Rigs Quick Set rig which allowed you to set the hook quickly on a muskie and hook it in the mouth, so that the fish could be released. Remember, CPR with muskies, catch, photograph, and release.

Wally and I hadn’t fished for more than 10 minutes when Wally noticed that one of our suckers was getting “nervous” and quite active. Suddenly, the sucker went airborne with a nice muskie behind it that caught the 15 inch sucker in mid-air. Wally handed me the rod and I reeled up the slack as Banfi positioned the boat for me to set the rig. I slammed the hook home and hooked a nice 40 inch plus fish that put on a great fight near the boat. This wasn’t a trophy, but a good, strong fish that didn’t want its photo taken and visit Wally’s new Ranger boat. I was dancing and hopping around the boat (Wally said that he never saw me move so quickly) trying to keep the fish out of the motor. After an excellent net job and a couple of high-fives, we had the fish. The Quick Strike rig worked great and the hook came out of the muskie in the net. It was a true muskie with beautiful markings. After a couple of quick photos, I released the fish and it swam away to be caught again.

The one thing about muskie fishing is that one fish takes you from a zero to a hero with one fish. Everyone is usually happy with one fish or even seeing a fish when fishing for muskies, while when walleye fishing, you need a limit to satisfy many clients. We had fished for over five hours and only caught one fish, but we were happy considering the conditions. Wally and I fished another hour and had another smaller fish hit a sucker, but it didn’t get hooked in the weeds.

The moral of this story is that you never know when you’ll catch a muskie, poor conditions don’t always ruin the day, be persistent, and turnover is coming any day soon. Once the lakes turn, fishing will improve as most species bulk up for the winter and go on feeding frenzy’s.

I went to bed Thursday night with a smile on my face and the memories that you get when fishing with friends. The muskie was great, but the commaderie and friendships garnered while fishing with friends is much more important! Take a kid, a friend, a neighbor, a father, or a mother fishing and they’ll be hooked for life and you’ll have memories that are never forgotten.

Lake Wisconsin is just starting to turn-on. The Lake doesn’t turnover because it has moving water. But, fish know winter is coming with the water now in the low 50’s. There have been some nice walleyes caught by hardy anglers at Okee. The trick is staying power and having the patience to cast baits for hours till you get that one big strike. The best bait is Rapala’s in the Countdown and Husky Jerk models and natural, gold, and firetiger colors. The 12 plus pound walleye recently caught came at 3 or 4 a.m.

There also are some walleyes and saugers being caught near the Ferry on bladebaits like Sonars and Zips. Soon, fishing will be good up near Tipperary and Bob’s Landing.

The Wisconsin River has been at a good level for some time. Smallmouth and walleyes are slamming crankbaits. Now, is also a good time to start wading near the river’s dams at dusk and throughout night. Fish move shallow to feed after the sun sets. This is big fish time.

Clements Fishing Barge (1-800-903-4963) on the Mississippi River near Genoa is having some of the year’s best fishing with many people catching limits of walleyes, saugers, and white bass. Clement’s now has cabins for staying overnight and is well worth the trip.

Last weekend, I never saw so many vehicles around the Lodi and Mazo Public Hunting Grounds. It was the Mazomanie Massacre! The DNR must be putting out birds and keeping hunters happy. It’s good to see so many of you out in the fall outdoor bonanza.

Bow hunters should also be happy with the crops being harvested, the leaves falling, and the cooler temperatures. The smaller bucks really seem to be moving! Good luck and be safe.

Does anyone have any local stories about wolves in the area?

River Currents

I usually don’t write that much about my local fishing exploits, but this week that’s exactly what I’m going to do. Last Thursday, local fishing guide and good friend, Wally Banfi, and I decided to go muskie fishing. We don’t get to fish together much because we’re busy guiding clients on the area lakes and working at our other trades. We planned to fish Madison’s Lake Monona for muskies, since we were hoping for the lake’s fall turnover hot bite and Wally had some recent success on this Madison Chain Lake.

There was a frost the night before at my Wisconsin River home and as I drove to Wally’s house the River was shrouded in a heavy fog from the warmer water temperature. We had planned to muskie fish Lake Monona and meet friend and local fishing legend, Pancake Bob Zownir, at the Olin Park boat landing at about 9:00 o’clock a.m. Now, that temperatures are falling we felt that we didn’t have to be on the water at sunrise. I didn’t mind a little extra Z-time and we felt that letting the water warm up wouldn’t hurt our chances for catching a muskie or two! We picked up a couple of big, dark suckers at the Wilderness Fish and Game store to rig up and have close to the boat in case we had a fish follow our baits to the boat as we casted.

When we arrived at Olin Park, everything that an angler doesn’t like was there! There was a strong east wind, the water was dirty, and there were floating weeds everywhere on the water’s surface. Plus, the lake hadn’t turned-over yet with the water temperature at 58 degrees. We even had trouble pulling the boat out of the water because the strong wind had blown weeds two feet high and wide at the landing. Wally needed 4-wheel drive to get through the weeds.

This was one of those days when you fished where you could, not where you wanted. The three of us wanted to fish Monona’s west shore and the Squaw Bay area, but we were limited to fishing the Monona shore on the south side of the lake. Wally, Bob, and I casted, jerked, and twitched every bait that you can imagine; Bull Dawgs, Smity’s, Bucher’s, Rapala’s, Mepps, CowGirls, and anything else that we had in our tackle boxes. But, we didn’t see a fish or have a follow for hours and hours. It looked like one of “those days” were the fish weren’t going to cooperate. See, not everyone catches fish everyday!

We dropped off Pancake Bob before 2 o’clock and decided to fish the north shore of Lake Monona where we thought we could get out of the wind and weeds. Wally and I rigged up our two suckers on the Bait Rigs Quick Set rig which allowed you to set the hook quickly on a muskie and hook it in the mouth, so that the fish could be released. Remember, CPR with muskies, catch, photograph, and release.

Wally and I hadn’t fished for more than 10 minutes when Wally noticed that one of our suckers was getting “nervous” and quite active. Suddenly, the sucker went airborne with a nice muskie behind it that caught the 15 inch sucker in mid-air. Wally handed me the rod and I reeled up the slack as Banfi positioned the boat for me to set the rig. I slammed the hook home and hooked a nice 40 inch plus fish that put on a great fight near the boat. This wasn’t a trophy, but a good, strong fish that didn’t want its photo taken and visit Wally’s new Ranger boat. I was dancing and hopping around the boat (Wally said that he never saw me move so quickly) trying to keep the fish out of the motor. After an excellent net job and a couple of high-fives, we had the fish. The Quick Strike rig worked great and the hook came out of the muskie in the net. It was a true muskie with beautiful markings. After a couple of quick photos, I released the fish and it swam away to be caught again.

The one thing about muskie fishing is that one fish takes you from a zero to a hero with one fish. Everyone is usually happy with one fish or even seeing a fish when fishing for muskies, while when walleye fishing, you need a limit to satisfy many clients. We had fished for over five hours and only caught one fish, but we were happy considering the conditions. Wally and I fished another hour and had another smaller fish hit a sucker, but it didn’t get hooked in the weeds.

The moral of this story is that you never know when you’ll catch a muskie, poor conditions don’t always ruin the day, be persistent, and turnover is coming any day soon. Once the lakes turn, fishing will improve as most species bulk up for the winter and go on feeding frenzy’s.

I went to bed Thursday night with a smile on my face and the memories that you get when fishing with friends. The muskie was great, but the commaderie and friendships garnered while fishing with friends is much more important! Take a kid, a friend, a neighbor, a father, or a mother fishing and they’ll be hooked for life and you’ll have memories that are never forgotten.

Lake Wisconsin is just starting to turn-on. The Lake doesn’t turnover because it has moving water. But, fish know winter is coming with the water now in the low 50’s. There have been some nice walleyes caught by hardy anglers at Okee. The trick is staying power and having the patience to cast baits for hours till you get that one big strike. The best bait is Rapala’s in the Countdown and Husky Jerk models and natural, gold, and firetiger colors. The 12 plus pound walleye recently caught came at 3 or 4 a.m.

There also are some walleyes and saugers being caught near the Ferry on bladebaits like Sonars and Zips. Soon, fishing will be good up near Tipperary and Bob’s Landing.

The Wisconsin River has been at a good level for some time. Smallmouth and walleyes are slamming crankbaits. Now, is also a good time to start wading near the river’s dams at dusk and throughout night. Fish move shallow to feed after the sun sets. This is big fish time.

Clements Fishing Barge (1-800-903-4963) on the Mississippi River near Genoa is having some of the year’s best fishing with many people catching limits of walleyes, saugers, and white bass. Clement’s now has cabins for staying overnight and is well worth the trip.

Last weekend, I never saw so many vehicles around the Lodi and Mazo Public Hunting Grounds. It was the Mazomanie Massacre! The DNR must be putting out birds and keeping hunters happy. It’s good to see so many of you out in the fall outdoor bonanza.

Bow hunters should also be happy with the crops being harvested, the leaves falling, and the cooler temperatures. The smaller bucks really seem to be moving! Good luck and be safe.

Does anyone have any local stories about wolves in the area?

River Currents

I usually don’t write that much about my local fishing exploits, but this week that’s exactly what I’m going to do. Last Thursday, local fishing guide and good friend, Wally Banfi, and I decided to go muskie fishing. We don’t get to fish together much because we’re busy guiding clients on the area lakes and working at our other trades. We planned to fish Madison’s Lake Monona for muskies, since we were hoping for the lake’s fall turnover hot bite and Wally had some recent success on this Madison Chain Lake.

There was a frost the night before at my Wisconsin River home and as I drove to Wally’s house the River was shrouded in a heavy fog from the warmer water temperature. We had planned to muskie fish Lake Monona and meet friend and local fishing legend, Pancake Bob Zownir, at the Olin Park boat landing at about 9:00 o’clock a.m. Now, that temperatures are falling we felt that we didn’t have to be on the water at sunrise. I didn’t mind a little extra Z-time and we felt that letting the water warm up wouldn’t hurt our chances for catching a muskie or two! We picked up a couple of big, dark suckers at the Wilderness Fish and Game store to rig up and have close to the boat in case we had a fish follow our baits to the boat as we casted.

When we arrived at Olin Park, everything that an angler doesn’t like was there! There was a strong east wind, the water was dirty, and there were floating weeds everywhere on the water’s surface. Plus, the lake hadn’t turned-over yet with the water temperature at 58 degrees. We even had trouble pulling the boat out of the water because the strong wind had blown weeds two feet high and wide at the landing. Wally needed 4-wheel drive to get through the weeds.

This was one of those days when you fished where you could, not where you wanted. The three of us wanted to fish Monona’s west shore and the Squaw Bay area, but we were limited to fishing the Monona shore on the south side of the lake. Wally, Bob, and I casted, jerked, and twitched every bait that you can imagine; Bull Dawgs, Smity’s, Bucher’s, Rapala’s, Mepps, CowGirls, and anything else that we had in our tackle boxes. But, we didn’t see a fish or have a follow for hours and hours. It looked like one of “those days” were the fish weren’t going to cooperate. See, not everyone catches fish everyday!

We dropped off Pancake Bob before 2 o’clock and decided to fish the north shore of Lake Monona where we thought we could get out of the wind and weeds. Wally and I rigged up our two suckers on the Bait Rigs Quick Set rig which allowed you to set the hook quickly on a muskie and hook it in the mouth, so that the fish could be released. Remember, CPR with muskies, catch, photograph, and release.

Wally and I hadn’t fished for more than 10 minutes when Wally noticed that one of our suckers was getting “nervous” and quite active. Suddenly, the sucker went airborne with a nice muskie behind it that caught the 15 inch sucker in mid-air. Wally handed me the rod and I reeled up the slack as Banfi positioned the boat for me to set the rig. I slammed the hook home and hooked a nice 40 inch plus fish that put on a great fight near the boat. This wasn’t a trophy, but a good, strong fish that didn’t want its photo taken and visit Wally’s new Ranger boat. I was dancing and hopping around the boat (Wally said that he never saw me move so quickly) trying to keep the fish out of the motor. After an excellent net job and a couple of high-fives, we had the fish. The Quick Strike rig worked great and the hook came out of the muskie in the net. It was a true muskie with beautiful markings. After a couple of quick photos, I released the fish and it swam away to be caught again.

The one thing about muskie fishing is that one fish takes you from a zero to a hero with one fish. Everyone is usually happy with one fish or even seeing a fish when fishing for muskies, while when walleye fishing, you need a limit to satisfy many clients. We had fished for over five hours and only caught one fish, but we were happy considering the conditions. Wally and I fished another hour and had another smaller fish hit a sucker, but it didn’t get hooked in the weeds.

The moral of this story is that you never know when you’ll catch a muskie, poor conditions don’t always ruin the day, be persistent, and turnover is coming any day soon. Once the lakes turn, fishing will improve as most species bulk up for the winter and go on feeding frenzy’s.

I went to bed Thursday night with a smile on my face and the memories that you get when fishing with friends. The muskie was great, but the commaderie and friendships garnered while fishing with friends is much more important! Take a kid, a friend, a neighbor, a father, or a mother fishing and they’ll be hooked for life and you’ll have memories that are never forgotten.

Lake Wisconsin is just starting to turn-on. The Lake doesn’t turnover because it has moving water. But, fish know winter is coming with the water now in the low 50’s. There have been some nice walleyes caught by hardy anglers at Okee. The trick is staying power and having the patience to cast baits for hours till you get that one big strike. The best bait is Rapala’s in the Countdown and Husky Jerk models and natural, gold, and firetiger colors. The 12 plus pound walleye recently caught came at 3 or 4 a.m.

There also are some walleyes and saugers being caught near the Ferry on bladebaits like Sonars and Zips. Soon, fishing will be good up near Tipperary and Bob’s Landing.

The Wisconsin River has been at a good level for some time. Smallmouth and walleyes are slamming crankbaits. Now, is also a good time to start wading near the river’s dams at dusk and throughout night. Fish move shallow to feed after the sun sets. This is big fish time.

Clements Fishing Barge (1-800-903-4963) on the Mississippi River near Genoa is having some of the year’s best fishing with many people catching limits of walleyes, saugers, and white bass. Clement’s now has cabins for staying overnight and is well worth the trip.

Last weekend, I never saw so many vehicles around the Lodi and Mazo Public Hunting Grounds. It was the Mazomanie Massacre! The DNR must be putting out birds and keeping hunters happy. It’s good to see so many of you out in the fall outdoor bonanza.

Bow hunters should also be happy with the crops being harvested, the leaves falling, and the cooler temperatures. The smaller bucks really seem to be moving! Good luck and be safe.

Does anyone have any local stories about wolves in the area?

River Currents

I usually don’t write that much about my local fishing exploits, but this week that’s exactly what I’m going to do. Last Thursday, local fishing guide and good friend, Wally Banfi, and I decided to go muskie fishing. We don’t get to fish together much because we’re busy guiding clients on the area lakes and working at our other trades. We planned to fish Madison’s Lake Monona for muskies, since we were hoping for the lake’s fall turnover hot bite and Wally had some recent success on this Madison Chain Lake.

There was a frost the night before at my Wisconsin River home and as I drove to Wally’s house the River was shrouded in a heavy fog from the warmer water temperature. We had planned to muskie fish Lake Monona and meet friend and local fishing legend, Pancake Bob Zownir, at the Olin Park boat landing at about 9:00 o’clock a.m. Now, that temperatures are falling we felt that we didn’t have to be on the water at sunrise. I didn’t mind a little extra Z-time and we felt that letting the water warm up wouldn’t hurt our chances for catching a muskie or two! We picked up a couple of big, dark suckers at the Wilderness Fish and Game store to rig up and have close to the boat in case we had a fish follow our baits to the boat as we casted.

When we arrived at Olin Park, everything that an angler doesn’t like was there! There was a strong east wind, the water was dirty, and there were floating weeds everywhere on the water’s surface. Plus, the lake hadn’t turned-over yet with the water temperature at 58 degrees. We even had trouble pulling the boat out of the water because the strong wind had blown weeds two feet high and wide at the landing. Wally needed 4-wheel drive to get through the weeds.

This was one of those days when you fished where you could, not where you wanted. The three of us wanted to fish Monona’s west shore and the Squaw Bay area, but we were limited to fishing the Monona shore on the south side of the lake. Wally, Bob, and I casted, jerked, and twitched every bait that you can imagine; Bull Dawgs, Smity’s, Bucher’s, Rapala’s, Mepps, CowGirls, and anything else that we had in our tackle boxes. But, we didn’t see a fish or have a follow for hours and hours. It looked like one of “those days” were the fish weren’t going to cooperate. See, not everyone catches fish everyday!

We dropped off Pancake Bob before 2 o’clock and decided to fish the north shore of Lake Monona where we thought we could get out of the wind and weeds. Wally and I rigged up our two suckers on the Bait Rigs Quick Set rig which allowed you to set the hook quickly on a muskie and hook it in the mouth, so that the fish could be released. Remember, CPR with muskies, catch, photograph, and release.

Wally and I hadn’t fished for more than 10 minutes when Wally noticed that one of our suckers was getting “nervous” and quite active. Suddenly, the sucker went airborne with a nice muskie behind it that caught the 15 inch sucker in mid-air. Wally handed me the rod and I reeled up the slack as Banfi positioned the boat for me to set the rig. I slammed the hook home and hooked a nice 40 inch plus fish that put on a great fight near the boat. This wasn’t a trophy, but a good, strong fish that didn’t want its photo taken and visit Wally’s new Ranger boat. I was dancing and hopping around the boat (Wally said that he never saw me move so quickly) trying to keep the fish out of the motor. After an excellent net job and a couple of high-fives, we had the fish. The Quick Strike rig worked great and the hook came out of the muskie in the net. It was a true muskie with beautiful markings. After a couple of quick photos, I released the fish and it swam away to be caught again.

The one thing about muskie fishing is that one fish takes you from a zero to a hero with one fish. Everyone is usually happy with one fish or even seeing a fish when fishing for muskies, while when walleye fishing, you need a limit to satisfy many clients. We had fished for over five hours and only caught one fish, but we were happy considering the conditions. Wally and I fished another hour and had another smaller fish hit a sucker, but it didn’t get hooked in the weeds.

The moral of this story is that you never know when you’ll catch a muskie, poor conditions don’t always ruin the day, be persistent, and turnover is coming any day soon. Once the lakes turn, fishing will improve as most species bulk up for the winter and go on feeding frenzy’s.

I went to bed Thursday night with a smile on my face and the memories that you get when fishing with friends. The muskie was great, but the commaderie and friendships garnered while fishing with friends is much more important! Take a kid, a friend, a neighbor, a father, or a mother fishing and they’ll be hooked for life and you’ll have memories that are never forgotten.

Lake Wisconsin is just starting to turn-on. The Lake doesn’t turnover because it has moving water. But, fish know winter is coming with the water now in the low 50’s. There have been some nice walleyes caught by hardy anglers at Okee. The trick is staying power and having the patience to cast baits for hours till you get that one big strike. The best bait is Rapala’s in the Countdown and Husky Jerk models and natural, gold, and firetiger colors. The 12 plus pound walleye recently caught came at 3 or 4 a.m.

There also are some walleyes and saugers being caught near the Ferry on bladebaits like Sonars and Zips. Soon, fishing will be good up near Tipperary and Bob’s Landing.

The Wisconsin River has been at a good level for some time. Smallmouth and walleyes are slamming crankbaits. Now, is also a good time to start wading near the river’s dams at dusk and throughout night. Fish move shallow to feed after the sun sets. This is big fish time.

Clements Fishing Barge (1-800-903-4963) on the Mississippi River near Genoa is having some of the year’s best fishing with many people catching limits of walleyes, saugers, and white bass. Clement’s now has cabins for staying overnight and is well worth the trip.

Last weekend, I never saw so many vehicles around the Lodi and Mazo Public Hunting Grounds. It was the Mazomanie Massacre! The DNR must be putting out birds and keeping hunters happy. It’s good to see so many of you out in the fall outdoor bonanza.

Bow hunters should also be happy with the crops being harvested, the leaves falling, and the cooler temperatures. The smaller bucks really seem to be moving! Good luck and be safe.

Does anyone have any local stories about wolves in the area?

River Currents

I usually don’t write that much about my local fishing exploits, but this week that’s exactly what I’m going to do. Last Thursday, local fishing guide and good friend, Wally Banfi, and I decided to go muskie fishing. We don’t get to fish together much because we’re busy guiding clients on the area lakes and working at our other trades. We planned to fish Madison’s Lake Monona for muskies, since we were hoping for the lake’s fall turnover hot bite and Wally had some recent success on this Madison Chain Lake.

There was a frost the night before at my Wisconsin River home and as I drove to Wally’s house the River was shrouded in a heavy fog from the warmer water temperature. We had planned to muskie fish Lake Monona and meet friend and local fishing legend, Pancake Bob Zownir, at the Olin Park boat landing at about 9:00 o’clock a.m. Now, that temperatures are falling we felt that we didn’t have to be on the water at sunrise. I didn’t mind a little extra Z-time and we felt that letting the water warm up wouldn’t hurt our chances for catching a muskie or two! We picked up a couple of big, dark suckers at the Wilderness Fish and Game store to rig up and have close to the boat in case we had a fish follow our baits to the boat as we casted.

When we arrived at Olin Park, everything that an angler doesn’t like was there! There was a strong east wind, the water was dirty, and there were floating weeds everywhere on the water’s surface. Plus, the lake hadn’t turned-over yet with the water temperature at 58 degrees. We even had trouble pulling the boat out of the water because the strong wind had blown weeds two feet high and wide at the landing. Wally needed 4-wheel drive to get through the weeds.

This was one of those days when you fished where you could, not where you wanted. The three of us wanted to fish Monona’s west shore and the Squaw Bay area, but we were limited to fishing the Monona shore on the south side of the lake. Wally, Bob, and I casted, jerked, and twitched every bait that you can imagine; Bull Dawgs, Smity’s, Bucher’s, Rapala’s, Mepps, CowGirls, and anything else that we had in our tackle boxes. But, we didn’t see a fish or have a follow for hours and hours. It looked like one of “those days” were the fish weren’t going to cooperate. See, not everyone catches fish everyday!

We dropped off Pancake Bob before 2 o’clock and decided to fish the north shore of Lake Monona where we thought we could get out of the wind and weeds. Wally and I rigged up our two suckers on the Bait Rigs Quick Set rig which allowed you to set the hook quickly on a muskie and hook it in the mouth, so that the fish could be released. Remember, CPR with muskies, catch, photograph, and release.

Wally and I hadn’t fished for more than 10 minutes when Wally noticed that one of our suckers was getting “nervous” and quite active. Suddenly, the sucker went airborne with a nice muskie behind it that caught the 15 inch sucker in mid-air. Wally handed me the rod and I reeled up the slack as Banfi positioned the boat for me to set the rig. I slammed the hook home and hooked a nice 40 inch plus fish that put on a great fight near the boat. This wasn’t a trophy, but a good, strong fish that didn’t want its photo taken and visit Wally’s new Ranger boat. I was dancing and hopping around the boat (Wally said that he never saw me move so quickly) trying to keep the fish out of the motor. After an excellent net job and a couple of high-fives, we had the fish. The Quick Strike rig worked great and the hook came out of the muskie in the net. It was a true muskie with beautiful markings. After a couple of quick photos, I released the fish and it swam away to be caught again.

The one thing about muskie fishing is that one fish takes you from a zero to a hero with one fish. Everyone is usually happy with one fish or even seeing a fish when fishing for muskies, while when walleye fishing, you need a limit to satisfy many clients. We had fished for over five hours and only caught one fish, but we were happy considering the conditions. Wally and I fished another hour and had another smaller fish hit a sucker, but it didn’t get hooked in the weeds.

The moral of this story is that you never know when you’ll catch a muskie, poor conditions don’t always ruin the day, be persistent, and turnover is coming any day soon. Once the lakes turn, fishing will improve as most species bulk up for the winter and go on feeding frenzy’s.

I went to bed Thursday night with a smile on my face and the memories that you get when fishing with friends. The muskie was great, but the commaderie and friendships garnered while fishing with friends is much more important! Take a kid, a friend, a neighbor, a father, or a mother fishing and they’ll be hooked for life and you’ll have memories that are never forgotten.

Lake Wisconsin is just starting to turn-on. The Lake doesn’t turnover because it has moving water. But, fish know winter is coming with the water now in the low 50’s. There have been some nice walleyes caught by hardy anglers at Okee. The trick is staying power and having the patience to cast baits for hours till you get that one big strike. The best bait is Rapala’s in the Countdown and Husky Jerk models and natural, gold, and firetiger colors. The 12 plus pound walleye recently caught came at 3 or 4 a.m.

There also are some walleyes and saugers being caught near the Ferry on bladebaits like Sonars and Zips. Soon, fishing will be good up near Tipperary and Bob’s Landing.

The Wisconsin River has been at a good level for some time. Smallmouth and walleyes are slamming crankbaits. Now, is also a good time to start wading near the river’s dams at dusk and throughout night. Fish move shallow to feed after the sun sets. This is big fish time.

Clements Fishing Barge (1-800-903-4963) on the Mississippi River near Genoa is having some of the year’s best fishing with many people catching limits of walleyes, saugers, and white bass. Clement’s now has cabins for staying overnight and is well worth the trip.

Last weekend, I never saw so many vehicles around the Lodi and Mazo Public Hunting Grounds. It was the Mazomanie Massacre! The DNR must be putting out birds and keeping hunters happy. It’s good to see so many of you out in the fall outdoor bonanza.

Bow hunters should also be happy with the crops being harvested, the leaves falling, and the cooler temperatures. The smaller bucks really seem to be moving! Good luck and be safe.

Does anyone have any local stories about wolves in the area?

River Currents

I usually don’t write that much about my local fishing exploits, but this week that’s exactly what I’m going to do. Last Thursday, local fishing guide and good friend, Wally Banfi, and I decided to go muskie fishing. We don’t get to fish together much because we’re busy guiding clients on the area lakes and working at our other trades. We planned to fish Madison’s Lake Monona for muskies, since we were hoping for the lake’s fall turnover hot bite and Wally had some recent success on this Madison Chain Lake.

There was a frost the night before at my Wisconsin River home and as I drove to Wally’s house the River was shrouded in a heavy fog from the warmer water temperature. We had planned to muskie fish Lake Monona and meet friend and local fishing legend, Pancake Bob Zownir, at the Olin Park boat landing at about 9:00 o’clock a.m. Now, that temperatures are falling we felt that we didn’t have to be on the water at sunrise. I didn’t mind a little extra Z-time and we felt that letting the water warm up wouldn’t hurt our chances for catching a muskie or two! We picked up a couple of big, dark suckers at the Wilderness Fish and Game store to rig up and have close to the boat in case we had a fish follow our baits to the boat as we casted.

When we arrived at Olin Park, everything that an angler doesn’t like was there! There was a strong east wind, the water was dirty, and there were floating weeds everywhere on the water’s surface. Plus, the lake hadn’t turned-over yet with the water temperature at 58 degrees. We even had trouble pulling the boat out of the water because the strong wind had blown weeds two feet high and wide at the landing. Wally needed 4-wheel drive to get through the weeds.

This was one of those days when you fished where you could, not where you wanted. The three of us wanted to fish Monona’s west shore and the Squaw Bay area, but we were limited to fishing the Monona shore on the south side of the lake. Wally, Bob, and I casted, jerked, and twitched every bait that you can imagine; Bull Dawgs, Smity’s, Bucher’s, Rapala’s, Mepps, CowGirls, and anything else that we had in our tackle boxes. But, we didn’t see a fish or have a follow for hours and hours. It looked like one of “those days” were the fish weren’t going to cooperate. See, not everyone catches fish everyday!

We dropped off Pancake Bob before 2 o’clock and decided to fish the north shore of Lake Monona where we thought we could get out of the wind and weeds. Wally and I rigged up our two suckers on the Bait Rigs Quick Set rig which allowed you to set the hook quickly on a muskie and hook it in the mouth, so that the fish could be released. Remember, CPR with muskies, catch, photograph, and release.

Wally and I hadn’t fished for more than 10 minutes when Wally noticed that one of our suckers was getting “nervous” and quite active. Suddenly, the sucker went airborne with a nice muskie behind it that caught the 15 inch sucker in mid-air. Wally handed me the rod and I reeled up the slack as Banfi positioned the boat for me to set the rig. I slammed the hook home and hooked a nice 40 inch plus fish that put on a great fight near the boat. This wasn’t a trophy, but a good, strong fish that didn’t want its photo taken and visit Wally’s new Ranger boat. I was dancing and hopping around the boat (Wally said that he never saw me move so quickly) trying to keep the fish out of the motor. After an excellent net job and a couple of high-fives, we had the fish. The Quick Strike rig worked great and the hook came out of the muskie in the net. It was a true muskie with beautiful markings. After a couple of quick photos, I released the fish and it swam away to be caught again.

The one thing about muskie fishing is that one fish takes you from a zero to a hero with one fish. Everyone is usually happy with one fish or even seeing a fish when fishing for muskies, while when walleye fishing, you need a limit to satisfy many clients. We had fished for over five hours and only caught one fish, but we were happy considering the conditions. Wally and I fished another hour and had another smaller fish hit a sucker, but it didn’t get hooked in the weeds.

The moral of this story is that you never know when you’ll catch a muskie, poor conditions don’t always ruin the day, be persistent, and turnover is coming any day soon. Once the lakes turn, fishing will improve as most species bulk up for the winter and go on feeding frenzy’s.

I went to bed Thursday night with a smile on my face and the memories that you get when fishing with friends. The muskie was great, but the commaderie and friendships garnered while fishing with friends is much more important! Take a kid, a friend, a neighbor, a father, or a mother fishing and they’ll be hooked for life and you’ll have memories that are never forgotten.

Lake Wisconsin is just starting to turn-on. The Lake doesn’t turnover because it has moving water. But, fish know winter is coming with the water now in the low 50’s. There have been some nice walleyes caught by hardy anglers at Okee. The trick is staying power and having the patience to cast baits for hours till you get that one big strike. The best bait is Rapala’s in the Countdown and Husky Jerk models and natural, gold, and firetiger colors. The 12 plus pound walleye recently caught came at 3 or 4 a.m.

There also are some walleyes and saugers being caught near the Ferry on bladebaits like Sonars and Zips. Soon, fishing will be good up near Tipperary and Bob’s Landing.

The Wisconsin River has been at a good level for some time. Smallmouth and walleyes are slamming crankbaits. Now, is also a good time to start wading near the river’s dams at dusk and throughout night. Fish move shallow to feed after the sun sets. This is big fish time.

Clements Fishing Barge (1-800-903-4963) on the Mississippi River near Genoa is having some of the year’s best fishing with many people catching limits of walleyes, saugers, and white bass. Clement’s now has cabins for staying overnight and is well worth the trip.

Last weekend, I never saw so many vehicles around the Lodi and Mazo Public Hunting Grounds. It was the Mazomanie Massacre! The DNR must be putting out birds and keeping hunters happy. It’s good to see so many of you out in the fall outdoor bonanza.

Bow hunters should also be happy with the crops being harvested, the leaves falling, and the cooler temperatures. The smaller bucks really seem to be moving! Good luck and be safe.

Does anyone have any local stories about wolves in the area?