Finally...Snow!



We will have a very white Christmas here in Wisconsin's norhwoods. The long thin legs of the whitetail deer enable them to deal with drifts up to two feet, but they much prefer open trails.

Where is the ice?



It's Monday, December 17, 2012 in Vilas County, Wisconsin. Here in the northern most county of the state, a half hour south of Lake Superior, it rained over the weekend. By now we normally have a foot of ice and the big lakes are ice shanty towns. What's up?

The ten day forecast is for seasonal cold. Daily highs in the twenties. We are now past the second big thaw of the winter. When the ice forms. I encourage fishermen to have patience before venturing out. Four months of safe fishing should soon be upon us.



We opened Christmas presents early this year. My wife gave me a neat pair of well designed mittens that fold open to become fingerless gloves. She also gave me a wall rack so I would no longer have to hoist our kayak onto ceiling hooks for winter storage. My fishing partner of 44 years is looking out for me!





Wisconsin's Best Fishing Team Manifesto



The boastful "Wisconsin's Best" title of this blogsite is meant to be blustery fun, but there is some evidence to support it. We are among the 20% of fishermen who catch 80% of the fish. Fish of all types and size, from quality panfish to tackle busting Muskies. We do this by following one simple principle, a piece of Bubba-proof wisdom...

FISH WHERE THE FISH ARE!

Our strategy is to go to the bottom of the food chain and work our way up. By concentrating on panfish we catch far more than our fair share of trophies. That's because at some point the big guys are going to show up to eat the little guys. Fortunately, most days it does not take all that long.

We start were the bait lives. Wish it were really all that simple. We are also constantly aware of depth, wind, light, water clarity and temperature. Personally, I pay special attention to the angle of the light, and somehing instinctual I call surface tension. Birds also tell us a lot about what to do. And It doesn't hurt that I literally grew up in the hometown river and streams and have probably logged more time in and on water than 99% of men my age.

Most days our live well will be full by noon. We will have caught a hundred or more fish, enjoying great action on ultralight tackle. We will also have caught several large fish worthy of the table or a trophy photo. 

If you are an experienced angler with several established honey holes, you can reliably target the big guys with some regularity. You don't need us. But if you are still learning your way about thousands of lakes in our north woods, then you might want to heed our simple food chain strategy.

For current tips and reports, start checking this site mid-April. We'll provide real help for those who want it. You'll discover, as have we, that crappy weather is usually the best time to fish. Sunny days are best for sun tans and your Kindle. My, how I do love clouds. You'll follow us from small, shallow murky lakes in the early spring, to clear, deeper water mid-summer, and some of the best feeding banks in fall where big and small fish gather to prepare for winter.You'll learn that though we have thousands invested in boats and gear, 90% of our fish are taken on a 16th ounce jig and crappie minnow.

In the next few weeks I plan to discuss a range of topics. For example, I hope to convince my very good but sometimes stubborn partner that, when jig fishing, the angle of the cast and retrieve is often more important than where the cast lands, and that it seems to change one day to the next. Sometimes hour to hour. I don't understand the science of this, but trust me, it makes a huge difference in the number of strikes. Despite the backlashes, there are days when casting direct into the wind is the only way to go.

Another topic I want to look into closely is the height of your boat seat and it's affect on your ability to maintain and observe line tension. I believe strongly that this is an important and often overlooked  factor.

Come January I will be cleaning and oiling reels, re-organizing tackle boxes and studying maps. More to follow on this after the holidays. Spring can't come fast enough!

One last thing. We catch a lot of fish, and we carefully release virtually every one of them. Only the smallest fraction find their way to the table or freezer. Preserving our resources, and especially improving habitat and conditions on our small home lake are priorities.



Global Warming?



Okay, I admit it, our area is warming. During the past ten years northern Wisconsin has been in drought. Our lake level has gone down every year but one. Here in Vilas Conty, on the state's northern border, we still shovel a lot of snow, but the nights we experience wind chills of 45 have diminished.

This year our lake did not freeze over until the end of November, then we had a four day thaw. So here we are on December 4, when ice fishing season normally starts in full swing, with open water.

Its not all bad...for us. The ice fishing season this year will be short, but the total number of gorgeous days, ideal for outdoor activity in our beautiful north woods, is growing. When my daughters visit us in the summer they not only enjoy all that is here, but they also escape the suffocating mid-summer heat of Kansas City which can average more than 100 degrees.

Boomers looking to retire might well conside our area, especially while real estate is value priced. Expect to pay a serious premium for waterfront property. If you can, it's worth it.

I strongly encourage all Democrats to live your green agenda immediately. Buy a Chevy Volt. Turn down your thermostats. Send any money your guilt ridden conscience compells you to the United Nations. I would think that 52% of the populace making these and many more sacrifices would be a good test and a great first steps. If our lake levels then rise and temperatures drop, over the next ten or so years, we'll get the message and join you. But we will still need our gas guzzling SUV. The Volt won't cut it in the land of cold, snow and ice, and certainly won't tow the boat.



Thanksgiving Dinner



Diane and I had Thanksgiving dinner this year...just the two of us. Indoors all was perfect. Outdoors, with a high temperature in the mid 50s, the day was exceptionally beautiful...amazing for northern Wisconsin in late November.

With the gun hunt in full gear, there was standing room only deer at our feeder. Hopefully, this great ten-point buck...the best I have seen this close-up in ten years... will survive to visit us again.

Critter Cam

Our back yard is host to a great variety of wildlife. Most frequent sightings include deer, chipmunks, squirrels, and raccoons. Flying squirrels pay nocturnal visits. Bears are very rare. In fact, only one has ambled though in the past ten years. We are frequented by many types of birds...chickadees, finches, black birds, crows, and blue jays. At intervals we see wild canaries, hawks and eagles. 

We refresh the deer feeder with shelled corn daily year around. Fall through spring we keep our bird feeder filled with sunflower seeds. Late spring to late fall we scatter shelled or cracked corn in the lake shallows for ducks. However, we curtail duck feeding in September to encourage normal migration, and we stop filling the bird feeder during the summer months when squirrels and raccoons become overy aggressive.

Peak feeding time is twilight when a steady stream of critters come through the yard.

Recently, we purchased a Bushnell trail camera to capture the activity after dark. It works very well, snapping hundreds of photos of everything that moves. It is fun wondering just what might show up. So far we have seen bucks like the one above that are hesitant to show themselves in daylight. The streaks in the foreground are snowflakes in slow motion.

No Ice Fishing This Winter



Last January I learned a tough lesson about ice. If blanketed with the rigth kind of snow, it can be open even on calm water and sub-zero temperature.

I took one step too many into an open hole covered and completely hidden by about three inches of thick snow. In an instant I had raked the sharp edge of the ice over my shin which came to a high impact stop just below the kneecap.

Now, eight months later, I have learned I need knee replacement. The damage from the fall, now healed, aggravated and accelerated arthritis that was already at work.

In advance of surgery I need to do physical therapy and lose a lot of weight. Venturing out back on the ice this winter would be more than foolish.

I will miss the fishing, but I would miss being able to walk at all should I endure another fall.

When I get well and back on snow covered ice, it will always be with a metal probe.

Beware the Fearless Musky Hunters

Diane and I catch our fair share of big fish by chasing the little ones. Instead of flogging the water for hours with huge musky baits, we have caught several over the past ten years while perch fishing. Despite the fact that we use light tackle, six pound line, and tiny jigs, the number of hook ups we have had with muskies has been very good.

The musky usually grabs the perch near the boat in about ten feet of water. We have fought them up to five minutes without actually having them hooked. Diane had one peel off a hundred yards of line this summer. To stop the run I tried to reach in and tighten the drag on her reel. Bad idea. I lost her fish...a fact she has been slow to forgive.

Occasionally, we actually get lucky and the hook in the perch catches in the side of the musky's mouth. We don't always boat them, but below are a couple we caught and released a while back.

Catch of the Day

Gotta start somewhere.  Here's Diane with a nice smallmouth bass caught summer 2012.

Not to be outdone, Art got one almost as big.

Mid-summer, Emily caught this largemouth on her first cast.