Mohawksin Bullheads

[Blind Robin]

Good morning everybody!

Has anyone here been getting harassed by really aggressive bullheads in Lake Mohawksin this year? For me, it doesn't seem to matter what bait or lure that I use, the result has been the same - bullheads!

In fact, it got so bad for me last week, that, in my anger, I swore off the lake and decided that I should go fishing on Alice or the Spirit instead. But when I calmed down, I remembered a rig that a fishing pal of mine had showed to me years ago that could make it past the bullheads without triggering a strike.

I have been successfully fishing these waters for 45 plus years and I can't ever remember having so many problems with bullheads. I have plenty of wonderful memories from fishing with great folks like the original Musky slayer - Howard Huff. For a good 15-20 years, nobody put bigger fish in the boat and drank more hard liquor over at the old Sportsman Bar as did Howard. I remember one outing with Howard when we had been working the stump field on the Mohawksin side of the Jersey trestle. It was just starting to get dark outside and we hadn't had a raise in hours, so we were about to hang it up. But Howard thought that he had seen some movement around one of these partially submerged large logs. So I rolled us close enough for Howard to take a few casts. As we approached the log, we could see that there was a mother Mallard duck with her chicks sitting on the log, and I said to Howard that, that was probably the movement in the water that you had seen. Howard said he was pretty sure it wasn't and then he opened his tackle box and pulled out a fake baby duck lure. He tied her up, took aim and plopped it in the water about a foot from the log. In an instant, it looked as if a bomb had gone off. The water exploded as this huge musky just smashed Howard's lure and the ducks on the log scattered everywhere screaming! This fish gave Howard one of the hardest fights that I had ever witnessed. So hard in fact, that Howard had me row over to the trestle where he then handed me his pole to fight the fish, saying he needed a break. He then got out of the boat and ran over to Sportsman's to get John ( for those of you who don't know, John was the owner of the bar) to bring his camera over to take a picture. Later I found out that Howard's real reason for going to Sportsman's was to get a drink. The alcohol beast really had a hold of Howard unfortunately, but that's another story. After about 10 minutes, both Howard and John arrived at the shore and I was just landing the fish at that moment. 56 1/2 inches! Truly a beautiful fish. Maybe some of you saw the picture as it hung in Sportsman's for years until the fire. Howard left me some great memories. God rest his soul.

Then there was good ol' Frank Shaff. A more dedicated perch fisherman had never been born.
Certainly not one that had graced the shores of Lake Mohawksin before. Nothing fancy, no tricks. Fishing line, hooks, sinkers and red worms, that was it. He didn't care what kind of rod and reel he had, I've seen him use a cane pole a few times and he caught just as many fish that way, too. Frank was all business on the water. He knew right were to go to pull his limit just about any time he wanted. Don't ever talk about Muskies with Frank though. He hated them with a passion. He believed them to be the curse of lake Mohawksin and that they would eventually destroy his beloved fishery. Frank sure did love his perch and the only food he loved more then perch was his wife's rotisserie chicken. Lots of great times with Frank on lake Mohawksin. God rest his soul.

But probably the greatest angler that I've had the pleasure of wetting a line with has to be Gary Wolf! All of you who know Gary, I'm sure, would agree with me. After 45 some years of fishing these waters, I can honestly tell you that I've struck out, got skunked, put up a big fat zero or whatever saying you like, about half of the time I go out. The only reason that I've even had that much success has got to be credited to Gary. You see, I've fished with him probably more than 200 times over these last 40 years and, of those times, there had never been one outing in which we came home without having caught some fish.

I swear, Gary could pull a fish up out of your cup of coffee if he wanted to. He alone has taught me more about fishing than all the fishing magazines and fishing shows put together. God bless him and give him many more years on the water.

Sorry about the tangent. This is my first time writing here and I feel like I've got so much to share with everyone that I get carried away and lose focus of what I was originally talking about. So, back to the issue of these nasty bullheads that are taking over. I don't know what causes a population boom for fish like the bullhead. The last time that I can remember ever seeing anything close to this was back sometime in the late sixties or early seventies. And then most of the problem was back in the Somo area for whatever reason. The Somo stretch produced alot of huge Muskies during those years as well. But I'm not sure that one thing had anything to do with the other.

Hopefully this is just one of those cyclical things that will pass and hopefully they're not causing any harm to the other fish populations. In the meantime, I'll share with you one of Gary's methods that he showed me years ago. It's got to be one of the craziest and most unorthodox rigs that I had ever seen, but boy does it get the job done! Especially good for walleye when gills, rock bass or, as in this case, bullheads are getting to your bait before the walleye does.

What you do is combine 2 or 3 baits together. And one of those baits needs to be something unique to the environment. For that, I would recommend either fresh salmon or fresh tuna. It's pretty easy to get. Just run into Nelsons before you hit the water and they almost always have one or the other available. You won't need alot of it because you'll be cutting it into small strips. And a bonus is, that whatever you don't use, you can cook up for yourself or freeze.

Now the way you set up your rig is almost as important as the baits that you choose. First of all, there will be no need to worry about the strength of line that you use. By no means will this be considered finesse fishing. Go ahead and use the heavy line, it just might save you a rig or 2 when you're hung up in the stumps.

So, the first thing on the line will be a nice heavy duty barrel snap swivel, or a leader with a snap swivel. ( I use the snap swivel to save time when swapping out rigs) Next, (you'll want to do this part at home to save time) you will need to set up a large 3 way swivel. Using 3 good quality strong split rings you will permanently attach your choice of 3 lures to the 3 way swivel. Get the kind of 3 way swivel that has a ring as its center (not the barrel type) By permanently attaching the lures to the 3 way swivel you will make this into a legal rig. All three of the lures are attached to each other by way of the swivel effectively making the whole thing into one lure. The lures you choose will depend on what you are fishing for, but for this example I'll use walleye as the target fish. That means I'll use one of my favorite jig heads, probably a 1/4 oz. size and then a #4 single hook Mepps Aglia in your favorite color. And lastly I'll put on a F9 floating Rapala. You can now attach the snap swivel to the middle ring of the 3 way rig. I like to attach it so that the Rapala is the middle lure. Make up 3 or 4 of these rigs ahead of time with different lure types and sizes. That way you'll have a few choices and a better chance of hitting with a winning combo.

Okay, now for the bait. Each of the lures needs to be tipped with 2-3 baits. On the jig head, place a 1-2 inch strip of salmon or tuna and then a minnow with 1/2 of a night crawler stuck in its mouth and hooking the crawler in the minnows mouth with the jig head. On the single hook Mepps, again start with the strip of salmon/tuna and then add a combo bait. Maybe a minnow with a leech in its mouth. Lastly, on the Rapala put on a strip of salmon/tuna on the first treble hook and then dress the rear treble with maybe a leech and a crawler. Gary told me never to use a minnow on the Rapala, and that was good enough for me, so I don't.

That's pretty much it. Now you just cast the rig out and reel it back in just fast enough to make your lures all work properly. The presentation of multiple baits really throws off the gills and rock bass and the salmon/tuna should put a stop to the bullheads. I guess that the foreign smell must turn them off? It doesn't seem to bother game fish though. In fact, it's quit the contrary. I think that the multiple baits and placing bait in the minnows mouths really gets these fish charged up.

One more tip for the walleyes--- Heavily salted minnows. They're like fat women and chocolate. They can't stop eating them.

Well that's it for me. I sure would like to hear from you folks with your sugestions on how to avoid these nasty bullheads.

Good luck to everyone!



I don't always drink beer.
But when I do -
I drink Red White and Blue Blind Robin

[Lucas lake]

Wow.

I've also noticed a large increase in the bullheads. Usaully while fishing for dogfish or eyes I have to put up with them. Nothing of any size, maybe 1 to 1.5 lbs at best.

I got a little lost in the anti-bullhead rig. I got the use of foriegn bait (scents) salmon and tuna. In fact I've used shrimp for dog fish and very seldom get bullheads, and in the same spot while using chunk gills for dogfish I'll get alot of bullheads. Back to the rig. Use a 3 way swivel with the top line attach a lure (rapala or mepps) and to that attach a piece of shrimp or Tuna. Then on the other line attach a jig with a minnow and crawler combo?

I'm not for sure but I believe I've got one of these rigs ( snaged while fishing by the Somo tressel.
Have you been keeping the bullheads? They are pretty good to eat, just a pain to clean. You clean them like you would a dogfish. Also try smoking them.

I've tried the worm in minnows mouth before and found this to work at times.
Not sure why but I believe other fish are trying to get the worm, just like you see while fishing for smallmouth bass and another bass is following that bass in and trying to get that bait in its mouth. 3 to 4 times I've caught 2 bass on the same lure.

Thanks for the stories of fishing on the Mohawksin back in the days. I do remember Sportsman bar (has to be 20 years ago). I still have good walleye action by the tressel there and the area where the road to it was taken down is good for a smallie know and then.

Tight lines

[Blind Robin]

Hey Lucas.

Thank you for your input. Just want to clarify how the "anti-bullhead rig" as you call it, is set up. BTW, I think I'll call it that from now on, too. The rig does not have ANY LINE attaching the lures to the swivel. All three lures are attached to the swivel with slit rings. This is important, because I do not believe it is legal to run multiple lures simultaneously from a single line. With this rig, the lures are all essentially attached to each other, making it into one single lure.

I've never tried shrimp, but I would imagine that it would have a similar effect as salmon or tuna.
I went up to Kings Dam late yesterday afternoon and made a couple of drift runs using an anti-bullhead rig with tuna and I was able to get two keeper walleyes and one small northern. I've had better days, but, most importantly, I didn't have any bullheads bothering me.

I'll eat bullhead, if someone else does the cleaning and the cooking. There used to be a fella in town that would smoke them for you at a reasonable price. I can't remember his name. It was back in the early seventies. He used to buy snapping turtles from anyone who caught one, too. But I remember that the bullheads did taste pretty good smoked and smoked crappies weren't too bad, either.


I don't always drink beer.
But when I do.....
I drink Red White And Blue.

Stay thirsty my friends.
Blind Robin

[Aquatic Arts Fishing Pro Shop]

Where are you guys catching the Bullheads on Mohawksin? We used to catch them off the docks at the shop (Aquatic Arts) but we have not caught a Bullhead for years. I fish crawlers and leeches up the river and have not caught one yet, Catfish but no Bullheads. I would love to get a few and smoke them. I know Nokomis and the Jersey have a lot of them and I would think so would Mohawksin.

Dave

[Blind Robin]

Hi Dave.

I'm surprised that you haven't been running into the bullheads! I've never seen them as thick as they are this year. Anyway, I've mostly run into them in the back bays when I'm working a weed line or jigging around stumps for walleyes or crappies. They are thick as thieves right now and it's hard to get a bait past them.

I like to fish late afternoon to early evening and the later it gets, the more active these bullheads get. Very frustrating at times. I've moved to deeper water to avoid them and that works as long as you're not still fishing. But if you're sitting in one spot, they're going to find you sooner or later.
And besides, I'm not looking to fish the deeper water at the time of day when I'm out there.

I've even run into them in the current up river. They prefer to hang in the slack water though. I should think that you could catch a bunch of them right along any slack water weed line. Any bait will do. They're cruising like a gang of thugs out there right now.

Good luck and keep as many as you can eat and then some.


I don't always drink beer.
But when I do,
I drink Red White and Blue

Stay thirsty my friends
Blind Robin

[Aquatic Arts Fishing Pro Shop]

Im gonna give it try this Sunday afternoon.
Thanks for the tips.

Dave

[Lucas lake]

Try the somo and also as you come out of the somo continue to hang right ( just past the island) and fish the weed beds in this area for walleyes and you'll catch bullheads. Late evening, first 2 hours of dark is best. I've caught them on crawlers, leaches, and minnows. It's to the point I've gone almost to all artificial at night to chase walleyes. Good luck and try em smoked. Tight lines

[Aquatic Arts Fishing Pro Shop]

Thanks for the Somo tip, Ill go catch em and make more room for the walleye's.
Dave

[Silverspring]

What's going on with all the bullheads? I don't recall ever catching many of them on Mohawksin or the Wis. river either.

Usually when lakes get a big bullhead population, it means that the lakes weed beds have become overgrown and are choking out other fishes habitat. Has there been a noticeable rise in the water temps over the last couple years? That's another thing that you will see happen along with increased numbers of bullheads.

I haven't fished the Mohawksin for almost 3 years now. So this is all news to me. Anyhow, good luck Dave! Hope you can put a dent in the population out there.

[Blind Robin]

Hi ho Silver.

That's a good question....what is going on with all the bullheads? Personally, I haven't noticed a change with the weeds in the lake. But, because I've spent so much time on the water, I don't know If I would notice any gradual changes from year to year. You might be able to notice the changes better, because its been 3 years for you. I also have no idea about the water temperature....never paid any attention to it.

Me and the wife just got back from a gambling run up at Lake of the Torches. Friday night, I was playing video poker next to this guy and we struck up a conversation about fishing. I started telling this guy about the bullhead situation on Mohawksin and he suggested something that I would've never considered. He said that he'd bet that someone was secretly stocking the Mohawksin with bullheads!

To make a long story as short as I can, it turns out that this guy is part Indian and he said that bullheads were considered to be one of the five sacred animals according to Chippewa legend.
He said that the five sacred animals were the Wolf, the Bear, the Beaver, the Turtle and the Bullhead.

Anyway, he's heard that there are Indians that raise bullheads in ponds and he thinks that's what's going on here. I'm not big on conspiracy theories and I don't know this guy from Adam. But, I thought I'd put this story out there and see if any of you have heard of or know anything about this sort of thing.



I don't always drink beer.
But when I do,
I prefer Red White and Blue.

Stay thirsty my friends.
Blind Robin

[JimL]

The bullheads probably came from Nokomis and Jersey flowage. The population on those lakes is huge. They are more bullheads in the last 5 years that I have ever seen. I don't know why there are so many of them on those two lakes.

[Aquatic Arts Fishing Pro Shop]

Well I tried for some bullheads tonight and no luck, fished some of the weeds going up to the Jersey Trestle, tried down by the mill and back in Bradley Park. I used crawlers and minnows. Maybe my angling skills are so far advanced that a bullhead cannot comprehend my presentation of the bait!!

Dave

[Blind Robin]

That's what I've also heard Jim.

There's got to be a logical reason for this. I know that the Nokomis has water level issues and maybe that has something to do with it. But there have been many, many low water years there in the past. So why is it just recently (last 5 years), that all these bullheads are showing up in the lakes? Maybe the Nokomis is to blame.

I might try to contact somebody within the DNR and see if they can shed some light on this situation.


I don't always drink beer.
But when I do.....
I prefer Red White and Blue

Stay thirsty my friends.
Blind Robin

[Blind Robin]

LOL Dave!

I sure wish that I had your problem, err talent. And that stretch leading up to the Jersey trestle has just been polluted with bullheads whenever I've been there. It's also one of the few places that I'll catch mud puppies too. That area has always had a strange feel to it. Can't put my finger on it, but I've also had some excellent fishing there over the years. It's one of my favorite areas to fish.

Well the bullheads obviously don't like you, but were you able to get anything else to take the bait, or was it a total bust?


I don't always drink beer,
But when I do....
I prefer Red White and Blue

Stay thirsty my friends.
Blind Robin

[JimL]

Blindrobin, I did contact the DNR about the bullheads. They said that it could be a natural cycle and we could in a period of high population on Nokomis and Jersey Flowage. He did also say that if it is not that an overpopulation of them could be a problem. He said next year they will be surveying fish populations in the area and might have more answers after that.

[Lucas lake]

Dave did you have a hook attached? This does make a big difference. Sorry just joking. Again try the area around the tressel as you enter the Somo. As you come out of the Somo onto MOhawksin fish the right side past the island. Find the weed lines the first 2 hours of day light. On another topic I have not been up over the last 5 days in the area. Any luck?. I was able to hook up with a buddy( Dan ) yesterday in the West Bend area Smith Lake) of the state and he nailed the biggest largemouth I've ever had in a boat. 23" and had to go 7#. It was a slob. Also got to do a float trip down the Milwakee river in the West Bend area and boated about 30 smallies in 3 hours plus a 35" northern. Never expected the northern. If all goes well at work I hope to get back soon. I need to get to my quest of getting that record(Dogfish) in the Mohawksin. Dave good luck and get'em smoked.

[Silverspring]

Wow Lucas, that's a big largemouth! Any pictures? Did you guys release the fish? Boy Lucas, you sure know how to put fish in the boat, eh?

Well good luck with chasing the dogs on the Mohawksin! I'll be gettin' up there soon myself. But now that the cats been let out of the bag, I think that the Mohawksin and the Jersey is about to experience a rush of bowfin fishermen hittin' the water like never before. Better stock up on shrimp.

[Aquatic Arts Fishing Pro Shop]

Wow What a Bass! sounds like you had a great day of fishing. Can't try for the bullheads untill Thursday.

Dave

[Lucas lake]

Wish I could say I caught them. Both of those fish my buddy Dan nailed, in a canoe and we did not have a camera. The bass would of been an awesome pic. I believe you could of put your head in its mouth, it was that wide. Hope to head up Friday to get some smallie and dogfish action in. My brother Kenny was out yesterday(on Mohawksin) and nailed two Dogfish, both around 27". Trust me neither where CPR'd, more like MID( made into gumbo).

[Blind Robin]

Howdy everyone.

Just thought that I'd pass this along.... When I was out on the Mohawksin today, I ran into Gary Wolf and sure enough, he was using one of those "anti-bullhead" rigs like the one I had described. He said that the bullheads have been giving him fits for the better part of July and that the rig seemed to solve the problem.

I also mentioned to him what Jim said here about the DNR's response to all the bullheads and he agreed that it was just probably a cyclical thing.

We made plans to hit the water together this coming Saturday, if it doesn't rain. It's always good to get out on the water with a quality fisherman like Gary. Maybe I'll get the chance to fish some of his secret hot spots.

I'll let you all know how it goes.

Hey Jim, what DNR office did you contact about this? I'm just wondering if you talked to someone familiar with these lakes or if it was someone in Madison?


I don't always drink beer,
But when I do.....
I prefer Red White and Blue

Stay thirsty my friends.
Blind Robin

[JimL]

I emailed Dave Seibel, the fisheries biologist for Lincoln and Langlade counties.

[Blind Robin]

Thanks for the info Jim. I should think that this guy knows what he's talking about.

BTW, how were you able to get his e-mail address? I think that's great that you were able to actually get someone to take the time and answer your question. When I said that I was going to try and contact the DNR about these bullheads, I was going to call one of the local field offices fully expecting to get an answering machine and then to never hear back from them. E-mail is a great option!

I don't always drink beer,
But when I do.......
I prefer Red White and Blue.

Stay thirsty my friends.
Blind Robin

[JimL]

Yeah, it was great they replied.

I used this link and just messed around with the search parameters to find who I was looking for.

http://www.dnr.state.wi.us/staffdir/SearchSubj.asp

[Blind Robin]

Thanks again for the info, Jim.

That DNR link is going to come in handy. I've got a couple of other issues besides bullheads, to discuss with them.


I don't always drink beer.
But when I do....
I prefer Red White and Blue.

Stay thirsty my friends.
Blind Robin

[Lucas lake]

Got up over the weekend and did not fair to well in my chase for a record dogfish. Was able to get out on Mohawksin Friday and Saturday and was only able to pick up 3 each day. Nothing over 8 pounds. We tried every thing. 4 of the 6 came on shrimp and the other two on chunk gills. Could not get on any Walleye in the two days. Spent Sunday and Monday a.m. fishing the Sugarbush chain of lakes up in Vilas county. Slow fishing there also.

I think we are in the dog days for the next couple of weeks. Good luck and tight lines.

[Silverspring]

Hey Lucas.

I have a friend that fishes the Sugarbush chain and he was just there this past week, also. Sounded like he had about the same amount of success as you.......Not very good.

He said that he also fished Pokegama lake (which is near the Sugarbush chain) and he caught quite a few snake northerns. He also caught a pretty big bowfin there, about 26 inches! He hooked into the bowfin right next to his boat. He knew the bowfin was there because it banged the bottom of his boat a couple of times. I've had that happen to me, as well. For whatever reason, sometimes bowfins will come up under your boat and announce their presence by banging into it. I've caught a number of them this way.

Thinking about, it's pretty funny, because there's no doubt that there are many anglers out there that have had this experience and wondered what in the hell was banging on the bottom of their boats. Well, wonder no more, it's just a dogfish letting you know he's there.

Sorry to hear that you were unsuccessful in breaking the bowfin record. It sounds like you have a little bit of an advantage over the rest of us in finding bowfins on Mohawksin because of your brothers knowledge. I wont be surprised then, when I read one day that you or your brother have got the new record.

As soon as I can clear my schedule, I plan to get there and give you guys a run for your money.