fishing report for the last five days

I've fished with some friends and some clients the last five days and we've done pretty good but lost some nice ones. The largest we caught was a 46 1/2" fish and the smallest was a 38" with a couple in the middle of that. We just got a pretty good cold snap last night with a couple inches of snow so it wont be long for the lake to be open. If the nights get as cold as they are predicting the lake could be frozen by next weekend. That's not too far from a normal freezeup.

Good luck and be careful if you go out this late in the season,

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Originally Posted by Ty Sennett

I've fished with some friends and some clients the last five days and we've done pretty good but lost some nice ones. The largest we caught was a 46 1/2" fish and the smallest was a 38" with a couple in the middle of that. We just got a pretty good cold snap last night with a couple inches of snow so it wont be long for the lake to be open. If the nights get as cold as they are predicting the lake could be frozen by next weekend. That's not too far from a normal freezeup.

Good luck and be careful if you go out this late in the season,

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I have a couple of questions for you: With the season basically over what kind of an overall season did you have? I know you always catch fish but was wondering what you thought about numbers and quality of fish? Also do you think the big lowering of the lake this fall will have any consequences on the fishery?

I got a couple of fish when there but I did not see the amount of fish I usually see. I don't come up as much anymore as age is certainly taking toll as I like to fish hard and that is tougher everyear but guess I am lucky I can still do it all as many of my friends have passed or quit fishing. Of course if I can't have the fun in the evening I would probably quit fishing as that definitely keeps you going. I also hate all the millfoil leaving the lake. Hope to see you again next year.

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Originally Posted by ChipVet

I have a couple of questions for you: With the season basically over what kind of an overall season did you have? I know you always catch fish but was wondering what you thought about numbers and quality of fish? Also do you think the big lowering of the lake this fall will have any consequences on the fishery?

I got a couple of fish when there but I did not see the amount of fish I usually see. I don't come up as much anymore as age is certainly taking toll as I like to fish hard and that is tougher everyear but guess I am lucky I can still do it all as many of my friends have passed or quit fishing. Of course if I can't have the fun in the evening I would probably quit fishing as that definitely keeps you going. I also hate all the millfoil leaving the lake. Hope to see you again next year.

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Hey Chip Vet!!! You have a good winter!!! Let me know when you are up next year and maybe we can spend a day or two in the boat together!!! I got a new ride, I think you will like it!!

Buck Bin Laden

Hi ChipVet,
In regards to this season and fish quantity and quality - I saw a drop in the amount of fish I saw as well as 45+ inch fish that i saw or heard people catch. I think that was what alot of people experienced. Alot of the fish i saw were in the 35-40 inch range with biggest one I caught this year being 42. I did happen upon a 40lb class fish at the end of June but that was in a totally random spot and never saw it again the rest of the season. Beautiful fish!

Not sure if it is true or not but i was told as well as read some studies that with the cold spring and late ice out that the larger females sometimes forgo spawning and instead actually stay deep during the summer and live off their spawn.....could be the reason for all the smaller (possibly males) that people were catching and seeing this season. Also, the two biggest fish that i know were caught this year both came in 12+ feet of water. One being the 52.5 incher that was caught by a walleye fisherman in 14-15 feet of water and a 50.25incher that was caught in 12 feet.

As far as the lowering of the Lake - This will be the biggest draw down since 1994 I believe. I believe the 8-10 ft draw down will have huge benefits to the lake. first it will allow the main lake bars to be exposed and allow the sand to be oxidized and allow for sand fleas to hatch which then can be used as food for fish fry during spring spawning time. Also it will allow the thick crud weeds to die off and make the lake as well as the main lake bars healthier. It will also protect the shorelines and islands and grass patches and stumps etc... from erosion. It is amazing the kind of erosion that has happened the past 15-20 years. And for everyones info I have saw documents from when the chippewa flowage was formed and how much each winter draw down was and I saw anything from 5 feet to 24 feet up until the mid eighties. I think the draw down was definitely beneficial during that 60-65 year period. The flowage has had the most dramatic changes the past 20 years or so due to high water. So personally i think the winter draw down is going to be greatly beneficial.

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Originally Posted by buckbinladen

Hey Chip Vet!!! You have a good winter!!! Let me know when you are up next year and maybe we can spend a day or two in the boat together!!! I got a new ride, I think you will like it!!

Buck Bin Laden

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Buck - Were you hiding at your new place all summer. I saw you over Memorial day weekend at TMR and never saw you around again all summer. I hope the summer was good to you. Us poor school teachers have to sit in the classroom all winter long and dream about the day the Big Chip allows us to come back out and play with our toys.

Have a good one!

Are there any pictures of the 50"+ fish that were reported, and does anyone know if they were released?

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Originally Posted by andracke

Buck - Were you hiding at your new place all summer. I saw you over Memorial day weekend at TMR and never saw you around again all summer. I hope the summer was good to you. Us poor school teachers have to sit in the classroom all winter long and dream about the day the Big Chip allows us to come back out and play with our toys.

Have a good one!

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We were up quite a bit!!! Great place to hang out I'd say!!! Chasing whitetails right now!!! Hoep to see you again next year!!

Buck

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Originally Posted by JohnN

Are there any pictures of the 50"+ fish that were reported, and does anyone know if they were released?

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Yeah there are pictures of both. I saw them both. The 52.5 incher was caught in August at about 4 o'clock in the afternoon buy a couple walleye fisherman fishing the east side. The fish hit a walleye as the men were reeling it in and somehow got the hook hooked in its corner of its mouth. I know the guy who was fishing nearby who boated over to them to see if they needed help as he saw them fighting the fish and watched them land it and measure it. Really good picture of it at Indian Trail Resort and beautiful fish!. Also, the picture of the 50.25 is also at Indian Trail Resort and I believe was caught in August as well. That was caught on the west side on a bucktail. Very nice fish as well and YES both were released!!

That's awesome. I'm glad to hear it!

Denny at Deer Run Resort got a 50 incher in June on a Bucktail. There is a picture on their website.

Denny at Deer Run Resort got a 50 incher in June on a Bucktail. They have a picture on their website. They also got quite a few upper 40's fish.

Denny at Deer Run Resort got a 50 incher in June on a bucktail. They have a picture on their website. They also got quite a few upper 40's fish this year.

Overall my season was a little slower than normal. The largest was a 49 incher followed by a 48 1/2 inch and a 48 inch. I don't think I'll reach my normal goal of 100 fish from the Chip but I wasn't too far off. I'll tally my fish up tomorrow and see. I'm guessing upper 80's for numbers.

As for the lowering of the lake, I understand what they are doing but it's a total risk on the DNR's part. I like the idea of cleaning off the rock/gravel spawning areas for walleye recruitment but there could be a pretty good winterkill. This could make the milfoil go crazy in two years. Kind of like it was five or six years ago. Honestly, nobody knows what dropping the lake will do, myself included. After dumping all those walleye and muskie into the lake I'm not sure now is the time to experiment but it would be cheaper in the long run if the fish naturally reproduced.

Overall my season was a little slower than normal. The largest was a 49 incher followed by a 48 1/2 inch and a 48 inch. I don't think I'll reach my normal goal of 100 fish from the Chip but I wasn't too far off. I'll tally my fish up tomorrow and see. I'm guessing upper 80's for numbers.

As for the lowering of the lake, I understand what they are doing but it's a total risk on the DNR's part. I like the idea of cleaning off the rock/gravel spawning areas for walleye recruitment but there could be a pretty good winterkill. This could make the milfoil go crazy in two years. Kind of like it was five or six years ago. Honestly, nobody knows what dropping the lake will do, myself included. After dumping all those walleye and muskie into the lake I'm not sure now is the time to experiment but it would be cheaper in the long run if the fish naturally reproduced.

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Originally Posted by Ty Sennett

Overall my season was a little slower than normal. The largest was a 49 incher followed by a 48 1/2 inch and a 48 inch. I don't think I'll reach my normal goal of 100 fish from the Chip but I wasn't too far off. I'll tally my fish up tomorrow and see. I'm guessing upper 80's for numbers.

As for the lowering of the lake, I understand what they are doing but it's a total risk on the DNR's part. I like the idea of cleaning off the rock/gravel spawning areas for walleye recruitment but there could be a pretty good winterkill. This could make the milfoil go crazy in two years. Kind of like it was five or six years ago. Honestly, nobody knows what dropping the lake will do, myself included. After dumping all those walleye and muskie into the lake I'm not sure now is the time to experiment but it would be cheaper in the long run if the fish naturally reproduced.

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Hi Ty,
I get what you are saying and i think alot of people are wondering how the lowering will affect things but i look at it as the water was dropped annually for 65+ years from 5-24 feet so I don't think the 8 feet will have too much negative impact at all if any. I think alot of positives will come out of it. One thing that i think it will improve (if they decide to continue to do it annually) is the erosion and shoreline health improvement. I remember being a kid and fishing the flowage and thinking the flowage was so cool with all the exposed stumps etc and seeing old pictures and seeing how clean shorelines were and the thousands of stumps and islands and grass patches but over the past 20 years or so alot of the stumps have been destroyed from the ice from higher water as well as islands and grass patches and shorelines being destroyed. I really feel that having the shorelines and spawning areas and lake bars exposed will really help the health of the lake as well as the management and conservation of the lake not only in the present but for the future.

A quick interesting note. i recently saw a picture of the bridge area by Herman's back when they did work on the bridge back in the 70's (I believe) and the water was down 18++ feet and all you saw was little puddles here and there. Pretty crazy!!! Also the water was dropped 20+ feet several times back in the 20's and 30's with an average of over 10+ feet during the first 65+ years.

I am defintely interested to see the effects this winter's drop has next year.

I'm with you on exposing the spawning areas. I think that's a really healthy thing to do also. I just wish there was a way around winterkill. The last big drawdown killed a lot of fish. Don't get me wrong, there will be winterkill every year no matter what but drawing the lake down is just a risk you have to take to have good clean spawning areas.

By the way, I lost my spreadsheet on the fish I caught so now it's taking a little longer. Maybe my wife can figure out this computer program. I think I lost all my fish from early in the year. I can find some of them on Treelands and Deerfoot's musky chart but not all of them. That's why I'm a guide and not a computer technician. I had more big fish than I thought though.

I'm with you on exposing the spawning areas. I think that's a really healthy thing to do also. I just wish there was a way around winterkill. The last big drawdown killed a lot of fish. Don't get me wrong, there will be winterkill every year no matter what but drawing the lake down is just a risk you have to take to have good clean spawning areas.

By the way, I lost my spreadsheet on the fish I caught so now it's taking a little longer. Maybe my wife can figure out this computer program. I think I lost all my fish from early in the year. I can find some of them on Treelands and Deerfoot's musky chart but not all of them. That's why I'm a guide and not a computer technician. I had more big fish than I thought though.

There was also a 51 incher caught out of Deer Run Resort.