June 17th, 2006
Are you ready for the action Pewaukee Lake has to offer? Well it's time to get fishing for the king of the fresh water fish, the mighty muskie.
In the past two weeks the weather was been hot, then changed to cold and now back to hot. This has slowed the consistent action for most anglers. I spent plenty of time on the water to know the fish just adjust to the conditions. Knowing the predictable adjustments the muskies will make during the cold or heat will allow me to always put you on the fish. Tactics will change as the mood of the fish change. Most cold fronts will push the fish deeper into the weeds or out to deeper water. Cold snaps can turn the shallow bite off but the deeper water fish can still be active because the water temps there remain unchanged. I try to target the most active fish when I am on the water.
With the 2nd week of June ending soon and hot weather in the 90's predicted for the next few days the fishing will get very good. Don't miss out on the action. The big fish have just started to show up more consistently following Suicks, bucktails, top water and cranks. Working the weed edges and weed lines have produced the best the past week. Fish in the upper 40's and even a couple 50's have followed baits into the figure 8's boat side. It's only a matter of time before they get caught, photo'ed and released to fight again. Are you ready for that kind of action boat side?
Clients this past week had action casting and trolling. Jeff caught a 37 1/2-inch muskie casting a rubber sucker bait off the weed line into suspended bluegills, the injured action was just to much for a muskie to resist. Plenty of smaller muskie have been active and caught but the larger girls have mostly followed. This will change very soon as the water temps get into the mid to high 70's. The top water action has been ok to slow. Most nights we get a hit or two and follows. The hits seem to be short and light so hook ups have been less than 50%. Last night I was out with the Big O and he had a great hit, a good fish hit his Top H2O only to see a huge boil and just a tap from the fish.
Trolling has started to produce this past week after the cold front passed. I had a father and two sons out Monday for some pre-vacation action. Bud, Jim and Joe casted two of my most consistent spots without action the first hour of the outing. They brought out subs and treats for supper so I suggested trolling so they could eat and get back to casting when the sun started to drop. With no wind and clear water the fish were holding tight to cover or slid out to deeper water. I set up the lines and started working close to the areas we were casting but deeper. It wasn't long and a rod started to sing out drag, Jim was quick to get to the rod and the fight was on. A 37 1/2-inch muskie was the first muskie of the season for Jim and fun for sure. After a quick picture and release I asked if we should keep trolling or get back to casting. Trolling got the vote and I was quick to set the lines back up. We worked the outer flats and deep water points that were wind blown for the last 5 days, I call this "yesterdays wind" areas. Tonight was calm but days earlier it was blowing hard into these spots.
Joe got into the action just after dark when a rod started to sound off the sweet sound of drag. This is a better fish I told Joe as the fish stayed down deep in the water as it neared the boat. Joe handled the fish well and soon it tired and came up to the waiting net. 41-inches of mad muskie in the net was great to see because his little brother was heckling him about his 37 1/2 incher earlier. Joe carefully lifted the fish up for a quick picture and released her back to grow bigger for the next lucky angler. Bud was proud to see both of his sons catch muskies just before there annual muskie trip up north.
I just want to say Happy Father's Day to all the dad out there. I have got to get ready for my next outing so get your boat out or contact me so I can get you out fishing. Be safe and enjoy the great outdoors.
Mike's Extreme Guide Service