June 30th, 2009

Well with all that heat last week my first thoughts were to troll the weed edges to see how much the weeds had grown while I was on my vacation. I started Monday morning and quickly noticed the weed cutters were hard at work, floating weeds were everywhere. I worked down the weed lines trolling crank baits looking for active muskies and bait fish. All of the pan fish and bass will be done spawning after that heat. This will have the weeds full of fish until the water temperatures get to warm for them in the shallows. This last heat wave boosted the water temperatures into the 80's but that will drop back into the low 70's after a few days of wind and cool nights. Look for mid 70's to be average water temperatures this month, maybe upper 70's if it keeps hot and humid out.

Monday the 29th was way better than I could have hoped for. I started around noon working the weeds on the west half of Pewaukee Lake looking for active muskies and that's what I found. A low thirty's musky smashed my prop wash crank bait and drag screamed rip, rip, rip. A fast water release and I was back scouting until I was interrupted by the sound of drag again. This time it was a little better fish that hit the inside rod trolled just off the weed edge. Another quick reach over the boat and unhook the fish while it's still in the water. No picture means not even netting or touching the fish. Water releases are by far the best for the fish. So now it's mid afternoon and I am getting dialed into this weed line bite so I moved to the windy side and stuck a 34, 36 and 37-inch in the next two hours. Thinking this was just what I needed after a slow Canada trip I moved to another spot where the conditions were perfect. Bang the rod creek and drag starts to scream. Now I am excited because this could be Mr Big. Well it turned out to be a nice 40-inch class fish and that was just fine. A friend of mine was close by so he took a quick picture for me. It's hard to get a good picture by yourself most of the time. I will add a couple pictures to this report. Now it's after 5pm and I am pumped to get another fish but with people out casting I don't have the pleasure of running down the weed lines. I checked a couple spots and one was clear of boats. Working down wind I set up three lines and watched my Humminbird 1197SI side image unit to keep just 20 to 30 feet off the weed edge. I worked almost the whole area before a 38-incher ate the outside deep rod. SWEET, my 7th muskie of the day. I took a water shot of her and cut the hook so she could swim free. Not wanting to quit I set up on another wind blown weed line and trolled down the edge. This time it was the prop wash rod again. This upper thirty's fish came straight out of the water and stripped off a bunch of line before I could even get the rod out of the holder. Another 38 plus inch weed line muskie to finish off the night. I got a fast picture using the delay on my camera and back she went to grow up to make someone else's day.

Now Tuesday was not as good but 4 muskies and a lost big one was a good day in anyone's book. Tuesdays fish were 43, 35, 33 and 32. I fished hard most of the day Tuesday to get those fish. Seems like the cool down Monday night had the fish sluggish. Tonight is going to be cold also. I guess Wednesday will even be harder to catch fish with this 10 degree water temperature cool down. I sure hope the weather get back to normal because I can't wait to get everyone on this muskie action in July. I will try and get a early July report on my site but looking at my guide schedule I can't see much free time. I will do my best to help those who look forward to Pewaukee Lake reports on my site.

I can tell you Pewaukee Lake is going to be the hot lake for action. The muskies fishing is second to none in Southern Wisconsin. Okauchee Lake has the upper hand on bigger fish but not the numbers Pewaukee Lake can put out. As of the end of June I know of 9 fish over 48-inches caught and released in Pewaukee so far. Look for some good fish to show up after the 4th of July weekend. The full moon phase always seems to kick out a few trophy's. I will be out every day looking for that monster muskie everyone dreams about. I hope one of my clients get to feel that power.

So here it is the end of June and summer patterns are now established. Look for the casting bite to still be good early and late with trolling kicking in soon. I know I will be working the weed lines hard when I can. Trolling the flats and breaks will be next step I will go to when that time comes. For now enjoy the fish being close and catch able while casting. It will not be long before the trolling bite is in full swing.

June 26th, 2009

Well I wish I had all kinds of great story's about how good Canada was but I don't. We got up there on Friday night all prepared for the Saturday Muskie Opener. Water temps were on the rise big time and story's of muskies in the shallows had us pumped to get out. Saturday was outstanding for raising big fish but no hits. Between our two boats we had action from over twenty fish, ten were over 48-inches. Sunday started out the same way but quickly slowed as the day went on. More heat and sun the next few days had the spawn in full swing. Ten muskies caught between 43 and 30 inches was all we could catch in 5 days. With the water temps going up over 10 degrees in a week the fish were not thinking about eating, just spawning and resting. Post spawn is by far the hardest time to catch muskies. So we decided to turn our muskie trip into an action trip catching more pike than I guy could want. The trip turned into a vacation rather than a die hard muskie trip. That was ok with me since I needed a vacation to rest up. We never set an alarm clock after Saturday and that was just fine with me and the others.

So now it's time to get back into the great action Pewaukee Lake has to offer. Casting bucktails, top water baits, jerk baits and crank baits will be your best bet. Look for the weed line bite to be very good. Taylors Bay, the west end weeds, the narrows, river channel and the horeshoe will be rocking now. When I left it was very good in all these areas and the reports I got from everyone confirmed that. Trolling will also start to get better as the boat traffic and water temperaturs stays high. Please keep the high water temperatures in mind when your unhooking your fish. A quick release is needed now. As soon as you net your fish please keep it in the water and do all your work on the fish there. A quick photo and get the fish back into the water so it can get back into the cooler water below.

I am sorry for not getting back to those who sent me e-mails while I was gone. I was told I would be able to access my e-mails but that didn't happen. Cell phone access was not available either. Yes a true vacation it was but now I am home and back to reality. I got all the lake info from all my friends and fellow guides while we drove back on the lake status. I was only gone for a week but things change. This recent heat has the muskies in the weeds and weed lines seeking shade from all that hot sunshine. Some fish will start working out to deeper water seeking out cooler water temps.

June 18th, 2009

Here it is Thursday the 18 of June and I am just getting back on my computer to update my website. Fishing has been extremely good lately. It's hard to sit here and typing up this report because I could be fishing for one of the numerous big muskies we have seen this past few weeks. Last night was just another example of a big fish almost caught. I didn't get a look at this fish that hit a top water bait 30 feet from the boat but my client expressed his opinion of the power hit had when it grabbed the bait. He said it was like hooking a fish crib, one that was not going to move at all when you set the hooks. I did get to see the commotion on the surface when he set the hooks it looked like someone dropped a bath tub in the water. He didn't get to catch a fish that trip but had multiple chances on top water baits and a bucktail. His friend Todd did all the catching from the back of the boat. I took a few cast when I could and had my fair share of follows also. Todd ended up with two mid thirty's muskies and numerous follows on bucktails. All in all we raised 11 muskies and caught 2 but had a few others grab baits with no hook ups. One fish hit a top water bait 5 times without getting hooked. Hooks are razor sharp, the muskie just had problems getting the Headbanger in it's mouth.

I am adding this in Thursday night because I stopped working on this report and went out fishing with my friend Dave and his son. He called me and we talked about how good the fishing was. Before I knew it he had me talked into going out for a few hours before the storm hit. I launched the boat at 2pm and I had a nice 37-inch muskie smash my bucktail at boat side. The fight was on and water was splashing everywhere. A quick picture and the fish was released to be caught again. About a half hour later Shawn got a 40-inch muskie to eat his bucktail. A great fight with some powerfully runs soon ended with a quick net job. Now that was some good action to start our quick mid afternoon outing. After two wind switches and multiple follows we called it so I could get back to this report and pack for my trip.

The evening before I had Dr B out and we raised 10 and caught 3 fish. The evening before that I had a father and son out looking for their first muskie. Dad had the most action and ended up catching his first legal muskies while his son got to watch the whole thing at his side. That was a very rewarding outing for me to be a part of. With the water temperatures now in the low 70's these fish are just putting on a feeding spree. Most of the action is all weed related. I have been working the outside of the weeds casting over the weeds working our baits out off the weed edge. Another pattern I have been milking out is the river channel on the East end. This is an under fished area of Pewaukee Lake. I like to work the tallest thickest weeds closest to the channel. This is where a lot of fish set up as the traffic on the lake gets crazy. Look for that pattern to be good for a few more weeks until the trolling season get started.

Sounds like it's easy to catch them doesn't it? Well we all know it come in streaks and the weather dictates how long this streak is going to last. The 9th, 10th and 12th of June was a tough bite due to a cold North East wind off lake Michigan. This put a slow down on the action for some of my clients but we always had a few chances to score. Fish were following to the boat but not active enough to eat. This can be frustrating at times but it's part of muskie fishing. Look for the good action we have now to continue because the forecast calls for the warm spell to continue for a while. I will be going to Canada June 19th through June 28th so I will not be around to take any calls. I will try and check my e-mails from the lodge as often as I can. I will get a extra good detailed report done when I get back. I have a full week off when I get back so I will be all over Pewaukee Lake getting back in the grove. I will have the casting spot and trolling runs all dialed in by the 4th of July. This is my week to rack up some fish for myself, kids and friends. I do have a couple regulars that I gave half days to during that week.

July is getting booked up but I still have some very good dates left to fill. Early July will be great casting and I expect the later part of July to be the start of the trolling season for me. I will be doing casting/trolling combo's during the early to mid July dates. This is a great time to learn the lake and catch fish. If your interested in this please do not wait to get a date locked up. I can guarantee that these dates will be booked up very fast. I will open my e-mails from the oldest to the latest to ensure first come first served. I hope all of you can take some time out of your busy schedules and get out on the water and experience the great outdoors. I know I am going to this week in Canada. Good luck to all!!!