Blown off the water.....

Late report but could serve good to some.

Made the 35 mile trek from Minocqua to fish my spots on Tuesday the 15th. Was on phone with Blue Monday afternoon, looking for the good word, and the fishing was turning on. We went. Early morning at north end (along turtle river channel) started off pretty well with five quick fish off a shallow mid-lake rock island. Fast start, alright, it's going to be one of those days I thought.

The tell tale sign it was going to be sub-par fishing was the fact the fish were barely picking up my football head/chompers hula grub combo. They were eating, but something was up. Not the usual fierce scrappiness I'm accustomed to.

The cold front was coming and it came. Along with it came 30mph winds and white caps. All within an hour.

From 6am til 12:30 my pal and I could only get 15 smallies. None of which had any size to them.

Winds were coming straight north and majority of my productive areas are along a southern shore - rocks, rock points, drop offs, small bars. They were getting creamed by the wind and virtually unfishable. Boat control was lousy as well.

I normally take lots of photos like Bill but didn't catch anything photo worthy.

Was planning on returning again a few days later on Friday for a re-do trip but those dam winds came back. I decided to spare myself another headache and some wasted gas, so my re-do trips won't take place now until first week of June. Hopefully a good post-spawn feed is encountered. Moral of the story is pick your fishing days wisely - especially if you fish from a smaller 16 foot low riding fiberglass boat.

Apparently Gillespie was out there the same day (15th) shooting a show with some locals. Hopefully his mic and audio set up was good enough to handle 30mph winds.

Much of the week was the same story. After an encouraging start last Saturday (2 muskies and about 10 smallies, every one of them 17" or better), the projected sunshine and more importantly light winds I had expected from the long-term forecast failed to appear. Spent most days fighting high winds and finding pockets of active fish here and there, but not the steady bite I was hoping for. Surface water warmed into the low 60s most afternoons, but was back to 59-60 every morning. That didn't change until Friday's heat wave - in the morning, they were very active on windblown rock points, with several fish barfing up crayfish on my carpet. By late afternoon, they were finally moving into the spawning locations in good numbers. Unfortunately, I had things to do back home and a minor trolling motor switch malfunction that made it difficult to maintain boat position in the wind, so I headed home Saturday morning. The next few days should be great, and with any luck there will still be some action next weekend - if not, time to break out the musky gear.

Pictures are posted, including some nice sunsets, birds, butterflies and a few bass...

Good stuff. Let's try meeting up for some fish in early June.