Any New Reports?

[nightlight]

Any new reports? I will be up on the Chip with my family July 9th to the 16th and have been checking the reports for musky. Any tips on lures to bring or areas to start in? Staying at the Lake Chippewa Campground. In the past have fished mostly the east side but willing to explore other areas to do some CPR!
Thanks for any help.
Ken

[Texas Dan]

I get the feeling that Ty is north of the border chasing the 50" plus fish.

Dan

[Ifishskis]

Thin profile bucktails like the Ghosttail have always been popular. Green blade with black hair is a popular choice . Double 10's seem to be getting their share of fish. And surface baits like the Pacemaker (not trying to plug Mr. Sennet's products but it is an awesome bait!), Topraider/Super Topraider or Magnum Hawg Wobbler are always perennial favorites. One lure I encourage EVERYBODY to check out is the Ducktail Lures Warrior jerkbait. I'm a big Suick fan but the Warrior goes through weeds like no other, and where there's weeds/wood and I'm throwing a jerkbait, the Warrior is on my line. It catches fish too!

Another thought would be to go to Jenk's Bait (it is Jenk's right?) on the corner of CC and B (north of the campground) and they'll have what's been producing. I'll be up there on the 16th....enjoy your trip and good hunting!

One tip I can give is to always fish with your back to one of the original main river channels.

IMHO - I don't think you need more than 10 baits in your boat to fish the Flowage.

[nightlight]

Thanks for the tips! I have my flowage green and black bucktails along with some orange and black. Pacemakers, topraiders and Lee lures. Boxes are ready to go.

I will be stopping at Pastikas and Jenk's on the way to the campground. I guess I am one big kid in a candy store when I walk in those places. Stopped at Jenk's several years ago when I thought the drag was blown on one of my Abu's. Turns out it was my line (one of the new braided superlines at the time) was spinning on the spool as I had no backing or tape holding the line on. Nice guy. Took all the line off and respooled it for free. Problem fixed. Of course I could not leave without buying a few lures.

I appreciate the report. I'll let you know how we do when we get back home.
Thanks, Ken

[Texas Dan]

I have been fishing the east fork of the chip for the last 4 days and it has been very tough. The water temps in the river vary between 78 and 83 degrees on the surface. Normal topwater presentations have not been productive, even though conditions seem ideal. I have noticed that the weed growth is thin for July, especially the coontail, but if you find coontail, you find the fish. The only consistent presentation has been light buzz baits such as boogerman or slopmaster - moved a very big fish about a half hour prior to sunset that must have felt the hook, as it did not go 15 minutes later.

This may not be helpful for the chip itself - so take it with a grain of salt. Good luck!

[nightlight]

Thanks Dan,
One more day til liftoff! Should be on the Chip tomorrow.
Ken

[deantre]

Was up from 2 - 9 July, the waters were pretty warm, High 70's in am and by 11 they would be up in the low 80's. Was out with Dave Dorazio for two evenings and even then did not move any fish. Threw mainly green bladed black bootails, and some topwater too. Stayed at Indian Trails and the only fish over that period were on the 4th, one was on a slopmaster. I finally had a fish follow twice on a mag tinsel bucher, then circled around and got it to hit burning the tinsel tail in, amazing how they are able to hit a lure with so many points and not get hooked well. I rolled it on the surface and created enough commotion to cause a nearby panfisherman to turn around to see what was going on. Was probably a high 30's fish, atleast it got me pumped up for my trip up again in a few weeks. One thought is that the temps need to stabilize to get the muskies out of their funk. Wonder what it will be like in aug though if the temps are already in the 80's, may have to fish in 12 foot outside the breakline with something like a depthraider or slowrolling a spinnerbait. Did see one jump on Church's fri morning about a 100 yds away, a high 30 fish. I worked around the area slowly closing in to where it launched itself, was a 2 ft deep patch of weeds, at about 10:30, water temp was 80. Also saw a huge snapping turtle there, wonder if it had nipped the musky? Good luck on your trip and keep us posted on your experience. Oh, yes, Ty is up in Canada, must have known it was going to be tough fishing and wanted to preserve his rep, ha ha. Dean

[nightlight]

Got back from the flowage tonight. The first three days we were up the water temps were in the low 80's. Fished early and late with no fish seen. Wednesday the weather cooled and water temps came down into the high 70's before getting down to around 75 on Friday. Saw one fish caught Wednesday night on Pete's bar and saw one Thursday morning on Little Pete's. Sounds like the fishing has been tough with the weather. Was getting hot and humid again today when we left for home. Water seemed higher than what I remember from my last trip and weeds seem to be a little behind. Tried topwater and bucktails of all sizes and colors. Smallmouth bass and panfish were sure biting which kept us busy when not fishing for muskies.
Thanks again for the responses.
Ken