This weeks fishing report

[Ty Sennett]

The walleye fishing has been tough out here. There are groups of walleye traveling around with the crappie so if the crappie move so do the walleye. If you get on the walleye there are some schools of 12 to 18 inch males that are grouping up so it can be fun but to find the larger females is pretty tough. The best bet is to fish deeper just to catch a few small ones. We had some tough walleye days but some great panfish and bass days this week. Not hard to catch panfish right now. Bring lots of baits. We did see a guy fishgt a big muskie for quite a while a couple days ago. He didn't have a chance with 6 pound line. Cool to see though.

Good luck everyone,

[MCR_at_BigMusky]

Thanks for the report. What’s the deal on Largemouth Bass right now? Can I and should I keep them?

[Ty Sennett]

I think the largemouth bass season is still closed. I'm not sure. I don't keep any and you don't need to keep them unless you want to. They aren't a problem out here. That whole bass are eating all my walleye is a joke. The bass are hitting good in the shallows though. By the time you get this it might be too late. I had some family up late last week so I didn't keep up on the fishing reports very much.

Hope you had fun up here. The weather was awesome.

[MCR_at_BigMusky]

Yes the weather was awesome! It was a great weekend to be up. The fishing was pretty good too. Over the weekend we caught 50 crappies, 15 Largemouth and 12 pike. We mainly fished the west side not far from camp. We found the crappies in wood in the deeper parts of back bays and bogs. We released most and some looked like they had not spawned. The largemouth were up on their beds biting pretty well. Some had some really distinct markings and other were so bland they had no side markings. The bass don’t open for a couple of weeks, but there is no size limit on the largemouth. I tried eating a few last year, but didn’t care for them. I’d rather eat a northern before a bass. Water temps were in the mid 60’s and there are some spots with some beautiful weed growth. I need to get back up very soon.

[Ty Sennett]

Sounds like you two had fun. Thanks for the picture and the update. I'm with you on eating the pike. Pretty darn tasty if I don't say so myself.

[shorts]

Although not proven yet there is a great deal of evidence showing that Largemouths and Walleyes do not thrive in the same body of water. There are a number of lakes around that are showing this trend and all of which used to be some of the best walleye fisheries around. Sissabagama, Upper Long, Island Chain of Lakes, (Balsam, Round, Butternut all in Polk County) just to name a few. I don't fish the Flowage but I do have friends that do and they say that the walleye population is down out there from years in the past hence which maybe the reason crappies and largemouths are doing so well there. I stay on Sand and for 25 years we maybe caught a half dozen largemouths and now the past couple years we have caught quite a few. I sure hope this lake does not fall victim to this as well. My advice is to keep them all! If you don't want to eat them I am sure someone or something will.

[Ty Sennett]

I'm going to throw my opinion in here. I don't want to offend anyone so I want to say it again........opinion.

I think the bass are a scapegoat for the DNR. Our DNR has absolutely no money. None! If a fishery isn't producing they can't stock more fish because they have no funds to do so. To save face the DNR has to blame the lack of fish on something because they can't provide a solution. The largemouth bass population was just as strong on the west side 30 years ago but you didn't hear of any walleye troubles then. 50 to 100 bass days were not uncommon back then. There are not as many bass as you think out here. Try to catch a largemouth bass on the east side. It's relatively hard to do with the exception of a few small bays. Two years straight now people had trouble catching bass for the "you catch em' we cook em' " deal that is set up to harvest bass and raise funds for stocking. That's people specifically trying for largemouth. There are times when it's easy but not always. The DNR also said the pike are eating all the muskie fry. They said that for years. Now research shows this not to be true. You cannot tell me that crappie and bluegill don't eat walleye fry. There is an overabundance of panfish out here that it makes it almost impossible for any fry to survive. Next we'll be asking to harvest panfish. Smallmouth bass don't eat walleye fry?.....................they eat whatever goes by them. But the DNR will tell you they don't because the former head of DNR here loves smallmouth fishing.

The lake changes constantly and one species will go on an upswing and then crash. If you really want to have a great walleye fishery and still have both tribal spearing and angler harvest then we(Wisconsin anglers) need to follow Minnesota in their stocking efforts to have a strong walleye fishery. We need to treat the lakes as put and take lakes until the numbers are strong enough to handle the year round harvest. Luckily the resorts now get it and are funding the walleye stocking efforts because they know if they wait for the DNR to do anything it will not get done.

When someone doesn't catch fish sometimes blaming other fish species isn't the solution, it's looking in the mirror to see who harvested the fish that were in the lake that is.

I know I contribute a lot of money toward the stocking program and that is one way to better a resource fast. Doesn't make me better than anyone but I do know it helps the resource and that's a start.

Again, opinion. If this offended anyone these are just my thoughts as someone that spends too much time on the water.

[MCR_at_BigMusky]

What I really don’t get is what the big deal is? Why are walleye so much more desirable than bass? It must be the food value? The bass are much more exiting to catch in my opinion. I think Ty is probably onto something when he says look in the mirror. I’ve been told to eat the pike and now to eat the bass. I do try to do my part, but the reality is most of those get thrown back in the lake and any walleye I come across get thrown in the livewell.
If there’s too many bass and panfish – stock more muskies! lol

[shorts]

I would have to agree on the whole DNR issue. It seems as if the issue gets so far out of control it takes more money to attempt to fix it than to have kept up with it in the first place. Whether it be fish, wolves, deer bear etc. As far as the walleye vs. the bass I do think that walleyes are very important to keep around not only to eat but also for the economy. Just like muskies, walleyes are not everywhere so people have to travel to find them and when they do the have to stay somewhere, eat somewhere, and also hire guys like Ty to help them catch them. I am not trying to argue either way but just like everyone else I would like to see our fisheries sustained.

[moquah]

I'm going to throw my opinion in here. I don't want to offend anyone so I want to say it again........opinion.

I think the bass are a scapegoat for the DNR. Our DNR has absolutely no money. None! If a fishery isn't producing they can't stock more fish because they have no funds to do so. To save face the DNR has to blame the lack of fish on something because they can't provide a solution. The largemouth bass population was just as strong on the west side 30 years ago but you didn't hear of any walleye troubles then. 50 to 100 bass days were not uncommon back then. There are not as many bass as you think out here. Try to catch a largemouth bass on the east side. It's relatively hard to do with the exception of a few small bays. Two years straight now people had trouble catching bass for the "you catch em' we cook em' " deal that is set up to harvest bass and raise funds for stocking. That's people specifically trying for largemouth. There are times when it's easy but not always. The DNR also said the pike are eating all the muskie fry. They said that for years. Now research shows this not to be true. You cannot tell me that crappie and bluegill don't eat walleye fry. There is an overabundance of panfish out here that it makes it almost impossible for any fry to survive. Next we'll be asking to harvest panfish. Smallmouth bass don't eat walleye fry?.....................they eat whatever goes by them. But the DNR will tell you they don't because the former head of DNR here loves smallmouth fishing.

The lake changes constantly and one species will go on an upswing and then crash. If you really want to have a great walleye fishery and still have both tribal spearing and angler harvest then we(Wisconsin anglers) need to follow Minnesota in their stocking efforts to have a strong walleye fishery. We need to treat the lakes as put and take lakes until the numbers are strong enough to handle the year round harvest. Luckily the resorts now get it and are funding the walleye stocking efforts because they know if they wait for the DNR to do anything it will not get done.

When someone doesn't catch fish sometimes blaming other fish species isn't the solution, it's looking in the mirror to see who harvested the fish that were in the lake that is.

I know I contribute a lot of money toward the stocking program and that is one way to better a resource fast. Doesn't make me better than anyone but I do know it helps the resource and that's a start.

Again, opinion. If this offended anyone these are just my thoughts as someone that spends too much time on the water.

I could not have said it any better!

We at times have a hard time looking in that mirror.

Steve K