walleyemaxx
06-22-2010, 01:38 PM
Hi everyone,
Here's this weeks fishing report courtesy the Hayward Lakes vacation and Convention Bureau.
June 21, 2010
Hayward Lakes Area Outdoor Report
Steve Suman
Hayward's 61st annual Musky Festival starts this Thursday, June 24, and
runs through Sunday June 27.
The Hayward Lions' Dr. John Ryan Musky Festival Fishing Contest is June
25-27, and includes all Hayward waters. There is no entry fee, and all
children 12 years of age and younger who enter receive a free rod and
reel outfit.
The contest offers Adult and Children (12 and younger) divisions, and
awards first and second prizes in eight different fish categories.
Entrants must be present to win.
A complete list of contest rules is available on the Musky Festival
website.
The third annual free Family Fishing Fun Days are Friday June 25 and
Saturday June 26, from noon to 4 p.m., at Shue's Pond. DNR fisheries
biologist Frank Pratt, originator of the event, will be on hand to lead
the activities, though he is recovering from extremely serious injuries
sustained in an early May traffic accident.
"We will offer lure making, assisted fishing, fish identification,
casting games, demonstrations, fish printing with National Park Service
staff, and more," says Pratt. "This is a wonderful opportunity for kids
and their parents or guardians to fish together. The parents or
guardians receive fishing license waivers, and we even provide the
fishing tackle and bait. It's never been easier to try the fishing
experience!"
(Pratt is dedicated to introducing youth and families to fishing, and he
contributes considerable amounts of personal time to those efforts. Make
it a point to stop by Family Fishing Fun Days to offer thanks and wish
him well.)
June is peak nesting month for turtles. Watch for them as you drive
Wisconsin's highways and back roads, particularly near wetlands and
rivers. When safe conditions allow, move the turtles across the road and
(this is important) in the same direction the turtle is traveling.
Fishing Reports
Muskies:
Musky action is decent, and anglers are seeing - and catching - good
numbers of fish. Best success is in the late afternoon and evening
hours. Bucktails, Bull Dawgs, spinner and crank baits, topwaters,
plastics, and large suckers are the top choices. Fish shallow weeds and
weed lines, mid-lake bars and bar edges, and submerged weed beds. Depths
vary from 4-20 feet.
Walleye:
Walleye fishing is fair to good, and late afternoon until after dark is
the best fishing time. The fish remain scattered, and depending on the
lake you are fishing and the time of day, you can catch walleye in 5-30
feet or deeper. Leeches and crawlers are your best bet, fished on
harnesses, jigs, or under slip bobbers. Walleye suckers and fatheads
will also work, as will stickbaits, Beetle Spins, and plastics. Work
weeds and weed edges, rocks, breaks, and drop-offs. Troll stickbaits
during the day, and key on shallower water weeds and structure in the
evening hours.
Northern:
Northern action is very good in the bays, around shallow weeds, on
deeper weed lines, and over weed beds. Shallower water cover is great
for action with smaller fish; go to deeper water mouths of bays and
points for larger pike. Northern suckers, spoons, spinners and
spinnerbaits, chatter, crank, buzz, stick, and surface baits will all
catch pike. Learn to remove the y-bones - northern pike make great table
fare.
Largemouth Bass:
Largemouth are numerous, very active, and anglers are enjoying
exceptional action. You will find them holding in deep weeds, shallow
weeds, and lily pad beds, and near rocks, wood, piers, cribs, and
shoreline structure. Depths can vary from very shallow out 10 feet or
the second drop. The fish are aggressive and hitting
pre-rigged/Texas-rigged/weedless worms, X-Raps, crank, buzz, and swim
baits, spinners and spinnerbaits, topwaters, poppers, and plastic frogs.
For live bait, try leeches, fatheads, and crawlers on jigs, under
bobbers, and with split-shot rigs.
Smallmouth Bass:
Smallmouth bass are post-spawn and providing excellent fishing action.
Concentrate on rock/rock bars, drop-offs, points, hard-bottom/transition
areas, and cribs in 5-15 feet of water. Work those areas with tubes,
plastics, spinner and crank baits, leeches, worms, and Gulp! baits.
Crawdad color baits and actions can be particularly effective for
smallmouth bass.
Crappie:
Crappie action is fair to good. Depending on the lake you are fishing,
crappies could be in depths ranging from 5-25 feet (and suspending
anywhere between those depths) near weedlines, cribs, cabbage, wood,
brush, stumps, and floating bogs. Crappie minnows, leeches, waxies,
worms, and plastics - jigged, tipped on plain hooks, or dangled under
slip bobbers - are all working, and topwaters and small spinners are
also producing catches.
Bluegill:
Bluegills are done spawning but fishing continues to be good. You can
find them from very shallow water down to 20 feet or so, depending on
the lake. Look for weeds, cribs, wood, stumps, brush, and other
structure. Waxies, worms, leeches, crawler chunks, Gulp! baits, poppers,
and plastics on plain hooks or jigs, dressed jigs, and with or without
bobbers, will all catch bluegills. Go deeper for larger 'gills, and
sometimes minnows will help avoid smaller fish.
Upcoming Events
June 24-27: 61st annual Musky Festival (715-634-8662.)
June 25-27: Hayward Lions "Dr. John Ryan" Musky Fest fishing contest.
July 16-18: 36th annual Honor the Earth Powwow (715-634-8924.)
July 16-18: Birchwood Bluegill Festival (800-236-2252.)
July 23-25: Lumberjack World Championships (715-634-2484.)
Through July 31: Illegal to run dogs on WPA lands. (See regs.)
Aug. 1: Hayward Lakes Chapter Muskies, Inc. Kid's Fishing Day
(715-634-2921.)
Aug. 2: Application Deadline: Fall turkey; Sharp-tailed grouse; Bobcat;
Otter; Fisher; Horicon and Collins goose zones.
Aug. 19-22: 103rd annual Sawyer County Fair (715-934-2721.)
Aug. 27-29: Mega Bass Shootout at Musky Tale Resort (715-462-3838.)
For more information on area events and activities, see the Calendar of
Events, visit Hayward Lakes Visitor and Convention Bureau, or call
1-800-724-2992.
Here's this weeks fishing report courtesy the Hayward Lakes vacation and Convention Bureau.
June 21, 2010
Hayward Lakes Area Outdoor Report
Steve Suman
Hayward's 61st annual Musky Festival starts this Thursday, June 24, and
runs through Sunday June 27.
The Hayward Lions' Dr. John Ryan Musky Festival Fishing Contest is June
25-27, and includes all Hayward waters. There is no entry fee, and all
children 12 years of age and younger who enter receive a free rod and
reel outfit.
The contest offers Adult and Children (12 and younger) divisions, and
awards first and second prizes in eight different fish categories.
Entrants must be present to win.
A complete list of contest rules is available on the Musky Festival
website.
The third annual free Family Fishing Fun Days are Friday June 25 and
Saturday June 26, from noon to 4 p.m., at Shue's Pond. DNR fisheries
biologist Frank Pratt, originator of the event, will be on hand to lead
the activities, though he is recovering from extremely serious injuries
sustained in an early May traffic accident.
"We will offer lure making, assisted fishing, fish identification,
casting games, demonstrations, fish printing with National Park Service
staff, and more," says Pratt. "This is a wonderful opportunity for kids
and their parents or guardians to fish together. The parents or
guardians receive fishing license waivers, and we even provide the
fishing tackle and bait. It's never been easier to try the fishing
experience!"
(Pratt is dedicated to introducing youth and families to fishing, and he
contributes considerable amounts of personal time to those efforts. Make
it a point to stop by Family Fishing Fun Days to offer thanks and wish
him well.)
June is peak nesting month for turtles. Watch for them as you drive
Wisconsin's highways and back roads, particularly near wetlands and
rivers. When safe conditions allow, move the turtles across the road and
(this is important) in the same direction the turtle is traveling.
Fishing Reports
Muskies:
Musky action is decent, and anglers are seeing - and catching - good
numbers of fish. Best success is in the late afternoon and evening
hours. Bucktails, Bull Dawgs, spinner and crank baits, topwaters,
plastics, and large suckers are the top choices. Fish shallow weeds and
weed lines, mid-lake bars and bar edges, and submerged weed beds. Depths
vary from 4-20 feet.
Walleye:
Walleye fishing is fair to good, and late afternoon until after dark is
the best fishing time. The fish remain scattered, and depending on the
lake you are fishing and the time of day, you can catch walleye in 5-30
feet or deeper. Leeches and crawlers are your best bet, fished on
harnesses, jigs, or under slip bobbers. Walleye suckers and fatheads
will also work, as will stickbaits, Beetle Spins, and plastics. Work
weeds and weed edges, rocks, breaks, and drop-offs. Troll stickbaits
during the day, and key on shallower water weeds and structure in the
evening hours.
Northern:
Northern action is very good in the bays, around shallow weeds, on
deeper weed lines, and over weed beds. Shallower water cover is great
for action with smaller fish; go to deeper water mouths of bays and
points for larger pike. Northern suckers, spoons, spinners and
spinnerbaits, chatter, crank, buzz, stick, and surface baits will all
catch pike. Learn to remove the y-bones - northern pike make great table
fare.
Largemouth Bass:
Largemouth are numerous, very active, and anglers are enjoying
exceptional action. You will find them holding in deep weeds, shallow
weeds, and lily pad beds, and near rocks, wood, piers, cribs, and
shoreline structure. Depths can vary from very shallow out 10 feet or
the second drop. The fish are aggressive and hitting
pre-rigged/Texas-rigged/weedless worms, X-Raps, crank, buzz, and swim
baits, spinners and spinnerbaits, topwaters, poppers, and plastic frogs.
For live bait, try leeches, fatheads, and crawlers on jigs, under
bobbers, and with split-shot rigs.
Smallmouth Bass:
Smallmouth bass are post-spawn and providing excellent fishing action.
Concentrate on rock/rock bars, drop-offs, points, hard-bottom/transition
areas, and cribs in 5-15 feet of water. Work those areas with tubes,
plastics, spinner and crank baits, leeches, worms, and Gulp! baits.
Crawdad color baits and actions can be particularly effective for
smallmouth bass.
Crappie:
Crappie action is fair to good. Depending on the lake you are fishing,
crappies could be in depths ranging from 5-25 feet (and suspending
anywhere between those depths) near weedlines, cribs, cabbage, wood,
brush, stumps, and floating bogs. Crappie minnows, leeches, waxies,
worms, and plastics - jigged, tipped on plain hooks, or dangled under
slip bobbers - are all working, and topwaters and small spinners are
also producing catches.
Bluegill:
Bluegills are done spawning but fishing continues to be good. You can
find them from very shallow water down to 20 feet or so, depending on
the lake. Look for weeds, cribs, wood, stumps, brush, and other
structure. Waxies, worms, leeches, crawler chunks, Gulp! baits, poppers,
and plastics on plain hooks or jigs, dressed jigs, and with or without
bobbers, will all catch bluegills. Go deeper for larger 'gills, and
sometimes minnows will help avoid smaller fish.
Upcoming Events
June 24-27: 61st annual Musky Festival (715-634-8662.)
June 25-27: Hayward Lions "Dr. John Ryan" Musky Fest fishing contest.
July 16-18: 36th annual Honor the Earth Powwow (715-634-8924.)
July 16-18: Birchwood Bluegill Festival (800-236-2252.)
July 23-25: Lumberjack World Championships (715-634-2484.)
Through July 31: Illegal to run dogs on WPA lands. (See regs.)
Aug. 1: Hayward Lakes Chapter Muskies, Inc. Kid's Fishing Day
(715-634-2921.)
Aug. 2: Application Deadline: Fall turkey; Sharp-tailed grouse; Bobcat;
Otter; Fisher; Horicon and Collins goose zones.
Aug. 19-22: 103rd annual Sawyer County Fair (715-934-2721.)
Aug. 27-29: Mega Bass Shootout at Musky Tale Resort (715-462-3838.)
For more information on area events and activities, see the Calendar of
Events, visit Hayward Lakes Visitor and Convention Bureau, or call
1-800-724-2992.