MAY 11, 2008

I am sitting here Sunday morning(May 11th) now thinking back on the first week of fishing in amazement at all the action I have seen already. Some muskie spawning is still going on here on Pewaukee Lake and some very big fish are still very shallow. After I typed up the "Opener Report" last Monday I slipped onto the lake for the last hour of fishing. I can't even believe the action I had that hour. I started out fishing a little sweet spot I like because the wind was pounding in there all day. My first cast came back to the boat with a huge 50-inch plus fish following it, she took a swipe at my lure and missed it, I worked my bait back around past her head and down deep, she reacted like a hungry fish and chased the bait back up high and around the outside turn and tried to eat it again. Missed it again, "oh my god" I muttered under my breath as I kept up the high outside and deep by the boat ovals. After a few empty big ovals I was just about to give up when she came out from under the boat and ate my lure. I was on one knee and rod deep in the water so I could only set the hooks straight up, she started to strip drag straight away from the boat, I was working on pulling her head to one side so I could re-set the hooks deep into the side of her mouth. I know there is not much for hooks to dig into on top of a muskies mouth so getting hooks to slide would be possible and if they didn't it would only dig them deeper. Before I could get her head to turn she went straight up like a tarpon and tossed the bait. What a bummer, my first 50-inch fish hooked and lost in the first week of the season. The only good think about that is I still have time to get her, she is not going anywhere soon. After that giant fish I have to admit I was shaken but got back to work chasing muskies again.

I took a few deep breaths and got back to work, two casts later I stuck a low 30's muskie, half an hour later I had a 38.5-inch muskie eat a boat side sucker. This happens a lot in Spring, fish follow the bait all the way to the boat and then see the sucker and eat it. That's my one two punch for Spring casting. I will upload a couple solo muskie pictures I took Monday that work well if your alone and still want a picture of you catch. One is a tail hold and the other a release photo. Well that was it for my hour of fishing on Monday. Tuesday's clients Ben and Alex were the first people to get the shot at this big muskie, I hoped one of them might get hooks into her. We checked the spot where I lost her first but no fish, so we kept checking spots similar to the first one looking for big shallow muskies. A big pike for Alex was all we could get to eat in those areas, maybe because the wind switched and it was dead calm instead of windy on that side of the lake. Ben was the next to score after we switched sides of the lake to a windy point close to a spawning area. This muskie followed his bait to the boat and sank out of sight, "rip, rip, rip" goes the sucker rod and Ben soon had that muskie in his hands for a picture. Suckers and casting "The One Two Combo" that lets you get a second chance on those spring time muskies.

Wednesday was my chance to get back out and look around at some other spots I have not had a chance to fish. I found some very nice small mouth in a great muskie spot. Joe and I worked that spot over and I ended up catching a 20, 19 and 19-inch small mouth bass. Two other hits came but no hook ups, my guess was bass also. Working other areas showed some very nice muskies but only two hits that ended up with only story's. Cold water Spring hits are usually short nipping type hits, not hard core smashes like we get once the water warms up into the 60's. Thursday was another re con mission because I only had a couple hours to fish. I took out a friend to check out more new spots, of course we fished for the big girl first, LOL. We had action in every spot we fished, the muskies were following and even hitting. I stuck a 38 and had multiple others hit and miss my glide bait. My partner also had two fish hit his bait but lost them both. Short hits and lost fish happen even though the hooks are razor sharp.

No fishing Friday but Saturday was the Milwaukee Chapter of Muskies Inc Pewaukee Classic. I fished this annual tourney with my daughter Krysitina and son Mike. The three of us all moved fish all day with Tina scoring the biggest fish(39.5), I caught two muskies but they were short of legal, one by 3/4 of a inch, the other by a couple inches. By the end of the day we caught three muskies, raised 20, caught a smallmouth and a largemouth bass. Tina also had one hit and on for a few seconds that would have locked up 1st place for her. She took 2nd place out of all the 80 some people who were in the tourney. How proud of a dad do think I am today!!!

So here it is Sunday, Mothers Day, I am doing a quick update for those of you who check my site for info on Pewaukee Lake. I hope all of you can get out and get into this action while some big fish are still shallow. Please treat these fish with extreme care, they are already tired and beat up from the spawn. The baits used this week have been Gliders, twitch baits, spinners and suckers. I can tell you that throughout the day they change from one to another, do not get stuck with one pattern, your better off switching it up until you get them eating your baits. Some baits find fish, some get them to hit, mix it up and keep experimenting to find the best bait for that time of the day.

I will be on the water almost every day from here on out so if your looking to get on a pattern, learn a few good Spring spots or just want to go catch some fish, let Mike's Extreme Guide Service take the guess work out of it.

Have a great season everyone, see ya on the water!!!

THE 2008 MAY OPENER

How sweet it is to be back on the water again chasing muskies!!!

This year we are just a bit behind in water temps and some muskies are still finishing up spawning. Most of the muskies I raised looked unscarred and unusually clean. A few of the ones caught had some spawning marks but for the most part everyone that caught fish said they looked good this opener. Now this can be from a quick spawn or some have not spawned yet. All I know is there was plenty of action this opener.

With 50 to 51 degree water temperatures on Saturday morning I thought the day would start out slow and get better as the day warmed up. I can tell you now that it was just the opposite, the early morning bite was outstanding in the rain and when it cleared mid day, the action also slowed way down. My brother and I got off the water before dark due to family commitments so I don't know if the last light bite was good or not.

Sunday morning bite was slow with most people seeing fish but no hits. Some fish were caught but for most it was fun just to have action follows knowing the next fish might eat the bait. You never know with muskies, as long as you can get them to move on your presentation your in the game.

I didn't get the chance to get out early Sunday but enjoyed fishing with my daughter Tina in the afternoon. We set out on the water around 2pm and worked the North side of the lake looking for the warmest water and most active fish. High sky's kept the fish low and slow, the strong winds made boat control tough while we checked out the wind blown North shore. We moved a few fish but they were just slightly interested so we decided to check out a new spot. I headed to the West end to work the marsh area and on the first pass we had some action. The second pass we worked deeper and found more action but very boat shy fish, most likely from all the Opening Day pressure. I decided to try an old faithfully spot next and it proved to be consistent. I had a muskie take a swipe at a Slammer minnow bait but missed it. Another muskie was harassing the sucker we had boat side. Finally a muskie ate a sucker and we were more than ready for some action but after the hook-set the fish shook loose. OUCH, that hurt but that's fishing. Tina and I quickly re rigged the quick-strike rig with another sucker and we were ready for more action. About an hour later a muskie chased the sucker up to the top of the water and ate it just a yard from my feet at boat side. I quickly handed the rod to my daughter, she set the hooks and the fight was on. A scrappy three footer was soon in the waiting net. We both agreed it was a cool way to end an afternoon so we packed it in for the day. 9 follows, one lost fish and one three footer was ok with me.

Lots of action on gliders, twitch baits had the fish most active with many missed hits and lost fish. Suckers caught some fish but with the price of a sucker now I would almost bet most will buy a lure instead of a one time use sucker. I ran them because my brother Greg and I kind of take the opener less serious and enjoy the day. Greg will take a few casts here and there but for the most part relax, listen to the music, have a few beverages and enjoy being out on the water. Saturday was just about the least amount of boats I have seen out in years. I stuck to the center or East end of the lake because of the "No Wake Rule". I guess the West end was jammed with boats all day Saturday and Sunday. With water temps on the rise and 70's the next two days look for the action to get going soon. The spawn will be all done for those fish who are running late and for the early ones the bite will get going.

As for the weed growth, well, its just about to start. I have seen areas where it is starting but very little weeds. Look for that to get going in the next two weeks. By mid May you will start to see some good green weeds showing up in the usually weedy spots. I would bet the "Slow No Wake" rule will be lifted by next weekend if we don't get too much rain.

It's now Monday afternoon, I just got off work and trying to get this report out to some of you who are looking for some info on the Opening Weekend. The best advice is to try gliders first, then twitch baits, jerk baits and even bucktails. Let the fish tell you what they want. I had fish follow Slammers, Suicks, Undertakers, Jakes, Reef Hawgs, Suckers and even a bucktail. so you can see almost everything worked when casted where the fish are. That's the opener, not very lure shy or boats shy but that will change.