May 30th, 2004
Fishing has been a weird as the weather lately. Some days you will see plenty of muskies and even catch some, other days it is hard to get one to follow. The cooler days and nights have dropped the water temps in to the lower 60's. Warmer weather is needed to spark a good consistent bite.
The large mouth and small mouth bass have been very active this past week. I caught a nice 19-inch small mouth bass along with 13 other largemouth bass Wednesday while fishing for muskies with twitch bait. I did manage to catch a 34 ½-inch muskie after 4 hours work. The muskies have just been sluggish due to multiple thunderstorms and high water.
This past weekend (Memorial Day) was ok for some and down rite slow for others. Plenty of guys coming off the water with long faces. May 30th I had a 37 ½-inch muskie follow a Suick to the boat and turn away, seconds later it ate the sucker I had set-up on my quick-strike rig. Suckers are still producing!!!
I fished until dark that same night and trolled back because of the SLOW NO WAKE and scored a 38 ¾-inch muskie on a jointed Believer. That was a bonus fish but it's not uncommon to score a nice fish trolling after dark.
Some very nice fish have been caught and released this season so far. I know of a 52-inch and 47-inch that were released on Pewaukee. Plenty of quality fish are ready to start there summer feeding. A few warm days and some stable weather will trigger these muskies. Don't miss out on the action.
If its action fish you are after, bass and crappies should be your target. Limits of crappies have been taken out of the narrows and a few other places. The bass are in 3 to 7 foot of water and very active. Twitch baits, rattle traps, and live bait have been very good. Bass are in Taylor's Bay; the Rock Bar off Smokey's Muskie Shop and almost everywhere rocks & weeds are located. The Condo's and Walks Island also has some very good numbers of bass working the shallows.
Once the water temperatures move into the upper 60's fishing will take off. I think most of the muskie and walleyes are just waiting for some stable weather or consistency. This is a good time to plan your next outing. The fishing will only get better as the water warms. If you're looking for action fish and some fish to eat, its time to get out and fill up on the crappies and walleyes. A slip bobber set-up or split shot and hook will do the trick when tipped with a fat head or shiner. Look for deeper rocks with any weed growth around it, main lake points and even secondary breaks. I have seen plenty of walleyes stacked up in areas I have been muskie fishing and no one is fishing for them.
Action fish, bass, walleyes, or the mighty muskie, there all ready for you to give them a try. Let's get out and have some fun. Check with me to see if you can find a date you would like share with a friend or family. Take a kid fishing, you will remember it and so will they. I have everything ready for you to enjoy a day on the water. The only thing you need is the time to go. Good luck to all and see you on the water!!!
May 23rd, 2004
The muskie fishing has been as unstable as the weather. The month of May has been very hard on most of the muskie fishermen. Some of the best guides have been coming up with very little to show for their efforts. I have talked to plenty of fishermen in the last few weeks and have not got any good reports other than sporadic catches of one here and there. I have been fishing different tournaments in and out of Wisconsin but now its time to get back to what I do best, catching Pewaukee Lake muskies.
May 22 & 23 was the WMT (Wisconsin Musky Tournament) and the weather was nasty as can be. Pewaukee, Okauchee and La Belle were the three lakes you could fish in this tournament. Day one put out 6 fish on Pewaukee, 2 fish on Okauchee and 0 for La Belle. Day two number were 2 Pewaukee, 2 Okauchee and 2 Lac la Belle. 12 fish total for the 16 hours of fishing by close to 100 fishermen. That's the way this Spring has been with the changing weather patterns. We need some consistency for a few days to get things back to normal. Dan and I raised 11 legal muskies during tournament hours on Pewaukee, over 1/2 of them were in 39 to 42-inch range, one was a super tanker. Not one team scored a double, a 45 1/4-inch Okauchee muskie took 1st place and 2nd place was a 42 1/2-inch Pewaukee muskie. I had a 41-42 inch muskie try 3 times to eat a Undertaker and numerous other chances with other quality fish. That's tournament fishing, you win some and swallow your pride on others.
Well I can tell you that the fish are almost ready to go nuts. Water temps are in the mid 60's and almost completely recovered from the spawning process. This is the time we have been waiting for. The weeds are starting to coming up everywhere but are still way behind, its actually hard to find good weeds in most places. The muskies are starting to roam away from the spawning areas, lots of the fish I raised last weekend looked to be in great shape, no spawning scars or marks to be seen. Most of the fish we raised were on shoreline structure with rocks and weeds close to spawning areas. Look for fish to still be close to the three rivers that dump into Pewaukee Lake. Taylor's Bay has been the hottest area for active fish. The river by the yacht club is also a very good choice as is the west end marsh area. Look for this weekend to be the start of the good action.
Undertakers have been my hottest baits, twitch baits should also be very good if the fish get active, bucktails will soon be working if the weather starts to stabilize. Storm after storm is not helping anyone. Pewaukee Lake is under a emergency NO WAKE order as of today. This is so someone will not get hurt and might help keep the piers in place. Sunday most of the piers were at water level and the rivers were flowing into the lake at a maximum rate. Pewaukee lake is already a foot high and might be two by this weekend. Please keep your wake down, you don't know what's going to be floating around or what damage you could cause someone's property.
I wish I had the pictures of Justin's first legal muskie. I had the pleasure of guiding Justin to his 37 1/2-inch muskie May 8th. He is 12 years old and already a very good caster. We worked twitch baits, glide baits and suckers for the first 3 hours with no action. Then a sucker rod started to pull line and Justin was ready for action. I explained what to do and quickly helped him through the first hook set. His 37 1/2-inch muskie gave him a battle to remember. The fish kept pulling line and going under the boat but Justin had different plans. Soon the fish was in the net and congratulations were in order. After a few quick pictures with Justin's camera he released his first muskie and set his sight on the next. The second muskie almost came before we started to cast, a 40-inch class fish chased a sucker up to the top of the water. I showed Justin the muskie after the sucker and explained what was happening. The muskie followed the sucker for a while then decided not to eat. Justin did get another chance later that day when a muskie grabbed a sucker trailing the boat on a slip bobber. This was going to be his second of the day and he was ready for action. With a strong hook set the fight was on, the muskie went air born, then pulled drag as it went deep and then back up into the air. I was ready with the net and Justin was within 8ft for catching his second muskie. One last air born jump and the muskie shook the quick strike rig back at us. He looked as surprised as I was, after all of that, to loose a 40-inch class fish at boat side is a heart breaker. Justin looked at me and said "next time we will get her". What a great kid!!!
Pewaukee lake is under a no wake until further notice. This could be the start of a great weekend. No jet skies, wave runners, pleasure boaters or water skiing. Sounds like a quiet weekend for fishermen. I will be out all weekend to see what Pewaukee Lake has to offer me and my clients. Good luck to all and I will see you on the water!!!
May 1st, 2004 -- Season Opener
The Pewaukee opener was just what you could ask for, lots of fish and little fishing pressure. With the weather prediction of cold and rain people just didn't come out and fish.
We started out working suckers and casting close to spawning areas. My 6th cast of the morning got hit by a 35-inch muskie. After a quick battle she was released to fight again. The second muskie was caught only a hour later, this one measured just over the 30-inch mark. Both fish came off shoreline structure on a twitch bait.
Later in the afternoon my brother Greg had a muskie grab a sucker rod. Using my homemade quickstrike rigs, he set the hook as fast as he could to assure the fish would not swallow the bait. With a hard hookset the battle was on, the 37-inch muskie broke water and tail danced half way to the boat. I had the net ready and put the scoop on her. After I removed the hooks I reached for the tape to get a good estimate of length while in the net. RIP, RIP, RIP, went my sucker rod as I was reaching for the tape. Fish, I yelled and grabbed the rod out of the rod holder. With two quick hooksets the battle began, the 38.5-inch muskie fought hard, soon she was netted with the same net Greg's 37-incher was in. A true double, two fish in the same net at one time. I had to call a friend of mine and ask if he could come over to my boat and take a picture of our double.
How could this day get any better, two fish casting and two fish on suckers. Well it did, a hour later Greg caught a 37.5-inch muskie on a sucker off Walks Island. 5 muskies in one day on the opener.
Sunday I was quick to get out and was rewarded with a 33 1/2 inch muskie before the sun came over the trees. I continued to cast with a sucker rod hanging over the side of the boat. I worked shoreline structure because the weeds are all down and the new growth is very little at this time. The sweet sound of a clicker started to ring out and I was quick to grab the rod and set the hook. This fish gave me a fight that I will remember because she came close to getting in a pier and I was alone. Try to keep your boat from hitting a pier, fight a 40 1/2-inch fish with an attitude and netting her by yourself. Somehow it all worked out. I netted her, pointed the boat into the wind and left the trolling motor running to keep me off shore. I made the call to Jason again to see if he could take a picture for me. He was just down the shoreline and came over to snap a picture.
Two fish in two hours, can this be like Saturday? Well it might have if we stuck it out. Jason's batteries were low so he and Mark jumped into my boat after he pulled his rig out. We worked a few spots with no luck. I decided to try wind swept areas and that produced a 35-incher for Mark casting a twitch bait. I scored a 37-inch muskie on a sucker later that day to close out a great weekend.
9 muskies total for the opener out of my boat. Saturday I got a 38.5,35, and 30-inch, my brother Greg got a 37.5 and 37-inch. Sunday I got a 33.5,40.5 and 37-inch and Mark got a 35-inch. 4 fish casting and 5 fish on suckers.
If you're thinking about learning some of the spring patterns that will put more fish in your boat, keep reading my reports and maybe I can help you catch a couple more fish this season. If you would like to learn some of the tips and tricks used, book a day or 1/2-day on the water with me before the good dates are filled up. An outing with a guide can make your next trip out more successful. I can teach you patterns and tactics that took me years to develop. Learn the seasonal patterns that work from spring to fall and when to use them. Maybe you can catch a fish big enough to put on my web site, you will definitely have a leaning experience and will be a better fishermen on Pewaukee Lake after we are done with an outing. I will be glad to save a spot on the calendar for you. See you on the water!!!