Fishing Report 05/31/11

Memorial weekend has come and gone, and we FINALLY have the arrival of the opening of the 2011 musky season, as well as some summer-like weather! While Saturday started out cool and wet with local surface temperatures only 59-62 degrees, as the weekend progressed, the weather not only got better and better... but so did the fishing!

Panfish anglers looking to get in on the action should take heed – big numbers of fish are shallow and readily available. Local backwaters, bays, sloughs, and shorelines are the place to be right now for bluegills, with some random shallow crappies also in the mix. Mister Twister Lightnin’ Bug and Tiger Bug jigs suspended under a slip bobber and baited with a piece of Berkley Gulp! have been lights-out; in addition, a piece of worm or night crawler threaded on a #8 Mustad Double Fine Wire Live Bait hook will provide you with action all day long. The same presentations, albeit tipped with minnows, are what is working well for crappies. While there are some fish shallow, the best and most consistent catches of crappies are now coming from deeper wood or weed edges or while targeting nomadic schools of crappies.

Smallmouth bass are available in good numbers from stretches of sand/rock lined points and shorelines. A Mister Twister FAT tube rigged on a Mustad KVD Grip-Pin hook has been incredibly productive; shallower running crankbaits such as Rapala Clackin’ Cranks and Clackin’ Raps are also working very well. Pitching a weedless jig tipped with an over-sized fathead minnow, smaller chub, or night crawler into the various woody snags found on the Wisconsin River system is also accounting for plenty of big smallmouth bass. Anglers fishing during the low-light periods of morning and evening can expect good action using surface lures like the Storm Chug Bug or Rapala’s Skitter Prop, Skitter Walk, and Skitter Pop as the warm weather has seen the topwater bit has really heat up.

In addition to excellent smallmouth fishing, the walleye action has kept anglers seeking ol’ marble eyes busy. Some of the same blow-downs and snags holding smallmouth are holding nice catches of walleyes as well. Much overlooked, the weed bite is very much in effect right now for local walleyes. Regardless, weedless jigs tipped with live bait, whether casted or suspended below slip bobbers, have been top producers of fish. You’ll want to make sure you’re spooled up with a premium fishing line such as Sufix Siege to help avoid break-offs in the heavier cover. During the mid-day hours, vertical jigging deeper holes, cuts, and breaklines with a Mister Twister Multi-Colored Jighead tipped with a fathead minnow is also accounting for plenty of walleyes.

If you are an Esox angler, the action has been steadily increasing for both northern pike and muskies with the arrival of the warmer weather. The bulk of the active fish have been shallow, even as “skinny” as 2’-3’. Natural-presentation rubber-style lures such Musky Innovations Spring Dawgs and Regular Bulldawgs have been tough to beat, while down-sized bucktails like the Mepps Musky Killer have also consistently been producing fish of both species. While cooler water surface temperatures are quickly changing and as a result fish are attacking lures more aggressively, it is still imperative to use angle, direction, and speed changes to maximize the number of strikes you get on the water daily. As always when chasing the mighty musky, be sure to execute a proper figure-eight after each and every cast.

Catch and release continues to be an important aspect to maintaining the top notch fishery, especially for trophy northern pike, walleyes, smallmouth bass, and muskies in the Wausau area. A successful release begins by not playing a fish out to the point of exhaustion. Use of a quality net, such as those produced by Frabill, is imperative to safely contain your quarry while removing the hooks. If you must take a picture, do so quickly and get the fish back in the water. Support your catch upright until it is able to power itself away. Remember, CPR – catch, photo, proper release! I’ll see you on the water...

Tight lines,