4-29-2012 Sun
11:00 AM – 8:00 PM
Weather:
(1552) SE 8 G17, partly cloudy, 57˚, 30.13 falling
Water:
5.88 rising, 40.7 kcfs, 53 ˚, semi-clear
Location:
Mississippi R. Pool 8
Caught:
Myself:
Pike (19) 15 – 37”, LMB (5) 10 – 19” Scott: Pike (12) 17 – 37”, LMB (12) 10 – 20”
Partners:
myself and Scott
Comments:

Today it was Scott and I chasing the old bucket mouths and gators. We had very nice weather to start, but at the end of the evening we were fishing in the rain. We started off at the spot where Ben and I had left off just a couple of days earlier. I had thought of this spot as an early summertime pike spot, not a spring time spot. The pike and bass were very active here, and each of us caught one nice pike and one dandy bass. After a couple of hours I got my fill of this place, and started to get the exploratory itch.
Scott probably thought I was crazy to want to leave some active fish, and nice ones at that, but you see I love to see what is around the next corner. I believe that is why I am a successful fisherman. I almost always make it a habit of trying a different spot, or different bait on each and every outing.
We fished several different areas with limited success, but I did find one spot that is now imprinted in my memory as an early season pike spot and possibly a hard water pike spot.
The majority of the fish came on spinner baits, in fact that is all Scott threw. He even made it a point to show me the nice new Terminator spinner bait he had just bought. Funny thing is he did not even catch one fish on it. The first hook-up he had with it he broke the line setting the hook. I thought it was funny, but I do not think Scott was too amused! He did the exact same thing on another fish and spinner bait later in the day.
I threw a variety of baits today, but once again the spinner bait accounted for a good portion of my numbers. I did however catch fish on a swim bait, swim jig, rattle trap, and jointed Rapala.

Observations:

I was surprised by the lack of weed growth in some of the areas we fished.

4-28-2012 Sat
6:00 PM – 7:45 PM
Weather:
E 9, overcast, 45˚, 30.17 rising
Water:
5.93 falling, 41.1 kcfs, 53 ˚, clear
Location:
Mississippi R. Black Deer’s
Caught:
Crappie (7) 6 – 12”, LMB 16”
Partners: myself

Comments:

It was Saturday and the weather was cold and windy, but hey it was Saturday, so I had to go fishing! I wanted to mix things up a little bit, so I decided to give crappies a try tonight. I thought I was really onto something when I dropped my line, baited with a minnow, next to a tree in the water and almost immediately pulled in a twelve inch crappie. Unfortunately, that was the only really nice fish I caught. The fish were very shallow, and one of the crappies had the definite tell-tale black coloration that they only get when they are spawning. All the fish were caught on minnows. I did try a piece of crawler for a little while, but I had no luck with it.

Observations:

The water temperature has stayed around that fifty degree mark for quite some time now.

4-27-2012 Fri
6:00 PM – 7:45 PM
Weather:
E 14 G 24, cloudy, 54˚, 30.16 steady
Water:
6.09 steady, 43 kcfs, ? ˚
Location:
Mississippi R. Lake Onalaska
Caught:
Pike (4) 16 – 26”, LMB (4) 12 - 16 “
Partners:
myself

Comments:

It was a very windy and overcast night and a storm front was approaching, but I was ready for a challenge. Besides, I like to see if I can catch fish in all types of weather. The first hour I fished out on the main lake basin and I caught a couple pike, but it was miserable fishing. I love to fish pike in a moderate wind, but gusts to 25 were just too much for me.
After bouncing around for an hour with limited success, I decided it was time to try some sheltered areas. This proved to be a wise move both in comfort and the amount of fish I caught. Tonight I did try to break away from my favorite spinner bait, but I did not have success with anything else I threw.

Observations:

I did not take a water temperature reading, but I am sure it has once again dropped. I am starting to get excited for some flat head fishing, and once we get a couple of days in the seventies I am going to fish for them. I did see a report from Matt Carpenter that his nephew had caught a fifty pounder a couple of days ago.

4-26-2012 Thr
5:00 PM – 8:30 PM
Weather:
NE 8, clear, 56˚, 30.01 rising
Water:
5.96 rising, 41.4 kcfs, 56 ˚
Location:
Mississippi R. Dresbach Dam area
Caught:
Pike (4) 18 – 22”, 25 LMB (10) 10 - 16 “
Partners:
myself and Ben

Comments:

Ben and I took last week off on account of the weather, but we were ready to fish tonight. We met at the Dresbach Dam and our initial game plan was to fish rock structure within the immediate vicinity of the dam. I had received several reports of the small mouths relating to the rocks along the main channel and we wanted to give it a try.
The first two hours were rather mundane. We caught a few bass, but the size structure on what we did catch was small. After probing the rocks along with everybody else for a couple of hours a change was needed. We headed to a little more sheltered area with good depth and some structure. This move proved wise. We did pretty well on both bass and pike. We did not catch any big fish, but we did have pretty consistent action.

Observations:

The main channel was looking rather muddy. I believe this was on account of all the wind we have been having. I did observe a fisherman up by the float doing rather well on saugers. I was hoping we might have gotten into some white bass, but that did not materialize.

4-24-2012 Tue
5:30 PM – 8:30 PM
Weather:
Calm, clear, 70˚, 29.62 falling
Water:
6.33 falling, 49.8 kcfs, 62 ˚
Location:
Mississippi R. Lake Onalaska, WI
Caught:
Pike 25”, LMB (13) 10 - 20 “
Partners:

myself

Comments:

I got out for three hours tonight after work. With the nice warm day and little wind the water temperature took a nice hike upward. Fished the lake tonight and struggled the first couple hours, caught three bass in about four spots, I almost went home early. Started exploring and things improved greatly. I ended up with thirteen bass and one pike. One of the bass was my biggest of the season 20" otherwise most were 13 - 15". The pike was a twenty five incher. I was hoping to get into more pike, but they were either not active or not in the areas I was fishing. Most fish came on a spinner bait, but the big bass fell to a swim jig. All fish were released! I have seen lots of bass fishermen targeting spawning bass in the stumps.

Observations:

Surprisingly the lake is not weeded up; about the only weeds that are noticeable is milfoil. The phlox are blooming and the dandelions are blooming profusely.

4-22-2012 Sun

4-22-2012 Sun 11:30 AM – 8:00 PM
Weather: (4:13 PM) N 7, overcast, 52˚, 30.16 steady
Water: 7.86 rising, 34.8 kcfs, 53 ˚
Location: Mississippi R. North of home a few pools
Caught: Pike (60) 15 – 38”, LMB (4) 10 - 15 “(Scott and myself each caught 21 fish and Jake caught 18, with Scott having the big fish of the day).
Partners: myself, Jake and Scott

Comments

It was my second year of pike fishing north of home with Jake and Scott. Today we were pretty competitive and Jake even got a little pouty. I was recording every fish caught, not for competitive purposes but just for the sake of knowing how the fishing is from year to year. The weather was quite nice, although from time to time it did feel pretty cool. I had worn my long underwear and had a heavy coat along and I was thankful I had the forethought to dress warmly. We caught fish pretty much everywhere we tried, with the common thread being vegetation of some sorts close by. Most all fish were caught in less than three feet of water. One definite observation was the size of the fish. We had a lot of fish at around the twenty inch mark, with not many in the mid to upper twenties and only two over thirty inches. Last year the sizes of the fish were much bigger on average. I do not think the fish were overly aggressive on account of we all missed plenty of nippers. Scott stuck with a spinner bait all day. Jake started with a spinner bait and then he switched to a swim bait until all the tails got bitten off. He also threw a rattle trap a few times with no results. I have to say Jake got smarter this year, at least he swallowed his pride and used a leader. I mixed things up quite a bit today, I was tempted but I never did throw a spinner bait. The bait I used that saw the most playing time was a swim bait. I also threw a Gliding Rap with a couple of fish falling to it. I even tried a Senko at the end, but the pike did not even look at it. I also tried a Rapala Sub Walk with it accounting for one follow. Jake and Scott each had some equipment failure, with Jake braking his reel and Scott snapping his St Croix rod. Scott was still using his piece of **** reel from last year; the one that caused him to miss fish on account of the stripped out gears. It was grinding so bad it could easily be heard on every cast!

Observations:

The vast majority of the fish were rather small. Lily pads are starting to rupture the surface of the water. There were a large amount of pelicans in the upper end of the lake, which I have not seen here before.

4-20-12 Fri

4-20-2012 Fri 6:15 PM – 8:15 PM Weather: (0653) E5, clear, 32˚, 30.33 rising Water: 5.83 rising, 45.4 kcfs, 49 ˚ Location: Onalaska, WI Pool 7 Caught: Pike (5) 15 – 18”, LMB (2) 10 & 16 “, SMB 12”, Crappie 13” Partners: None Comments: My plan and goal was to find and catch some small mouth bass tonight. I did find one small mouth, but I did not stick with it too long. Those dog gone pike and bass are just too appealing to me. I was out close to the main channel and this was my first time out there this year. I have one quiet dead end channel that usually holds a good number of pike and small mouths this time of year and I just could not keep myself from fishing it. This area did hold a good number of small pike and a couple of large mouths. My highlight of the night was catching the thirteen inch crappie on a spinner bait. I do think this area was loaded with pan fish and I will definitely check it out again soon. Observations:

I am starting to see some emergent vegetation in the stump fields. The lilacs and the apple tree blooms are starting to wane.

4-17-2012 Tue

4-17-2012 Tue
6:15 AM – 8:00 AM – Turkey Hunting
12:00 PM – 8:00 PM - Fishing
Weather: (0653) E5, clear, 32˚, 30.33 rising
(1653) S 9, a few clouds, 58˚, 30.22 falling
Location: Trempealeau, WI (hunting), Nelson, WI (fishing)
Bagged: 21 pound gobbler
Caught: Pike (22) 17 – 34”, LMB (6) 13 – 19 “
Partners: None

Comments

The hunting that I did yesterday in the brutal wind, paid off today! I got to my spot a little after daylight and to my disappointment I heard no gobbling. I took a stroll down the hiking path and after about 10 minutes and a quarter of a mile I did hear a gobbler off in the distance. I set up in a clearing and hoped the bird eventually would respond to my sorrowful turkey imitations and close the distance to my shotgun.
The original bird I set up on never did budge, but within a short while I did have a lone hen come in. After playing quiet with here when she was too close, she would eventually wonder off and then would come back all agitated after I would do the talk with my own turkey language. This call me and let me go routine went on for around a half hour. I was fearful she would bust me and the game with any other turkeys would abruptly end, but as long as she was helping me call I did not care.
While this was taking place with her I could also hear a jake and an occasional gobbler fairly close by. The distressed hen eventually left and I now had the full attention of the sparring jake and gobbler. It did take about one and a half hours but I eventually lured the old tom into shotgun range and silenced his voice with one shot.
Next on the days agenda was a fishing trip a couple of pools north of home. I was on the water and fishing by twelve o’clock. I had fished this area in the past and had done quite well on pike early in the season. I started out fishing my old tried and true spots, except they were not so true. The first two hours I virtually struck out. I was suspicious of the water clarity and not the mood of the fish. You see the last couple of days had been terribly windy and the large shallow wide open expanses of river bottoms had been vigorously shaken, which made the water clarity very poor. I was certain there were fish around but they were not seeing my bait or were just uninterested on account of the poor clarity of the water.
After a couple of unproductive hours I started exploring and once I found some clear water my fish catching rate skyrocketed. I fished hard all day and caught a respectable amount of fish, but I always think I should have done better.
The fish I caught early largely fell to spinner baits, but later in the day a Mann’s swim bait really made the pike fall prey to the hook. The fish were not overly active and I could safely say I missed at least half of the strikes I did have!

Observations:

As early as the spring started out I am very surprised that the aquatic vegetation has been in the no growth phase the past couple of weeks. I did see some lily pads on top of the surface, but there were not many. The blooms on the apple trees appear to be in their final stage.

4-16-2012 Mon

4-16-2012 Mon
6:15 AM – 11:00 AM
Weather: W 24 G 33, light rain, 45 ˚ falling, 29.44 rising
Location: Trempealeau, WI
Bagged: Nothing
Partners: None

Comments

The weather was not what you would consider ideal for turkey hunting; it was windy and cold and the temperature was on the march downward. Why would anybody go turkey hunting, well you just never know. I have seen turkeys very active during windy conditions like we had today. Besides, I had taken vacation to hunt and that is what I intended to do.
I did not see nor hear any birds today, but I did get some very valuable scouting time in. I did find out there were not a lot of birds where I was hunting, but I did find an area that did have a fair amount of turkey sign.

Observations:

I was on the Black River today with the boat and that is the first time I had ever seen white caps on this narrow river. I was almost a little fearful the boat was going to be blown over the top of me while I was traveling against the wind.

4-15-2012 Sun

4-15-2012 Sun
6:15 AM – 11:00 AM
Weather: E 9, overcast, 61 ˚, 29.47 falling
Location: Barre Mills, WI
Bagged: Nothing
Partners: None

Comments

It was my second day of turkey hunting and I had less action than I did the first day out. It had stormed all night and the woods were quite wet. I had anticipated a lot of turkey talk, but I encountered very little. In fact, I did not hear any gobbling till 10:00 AM.
I do not know if the turkeys were still stunned by the storm last night or if they were being cautious on account of the wind and the wet conditions made the woods very noisy. I put on the miles this morning and I can definitely feel it right now.

Observations:

The woods are really greening up! I always prefer the first season because the woods and fields are usually still in the dormant stage, but that is not the case this year.

4-14-2011 Sat

4-14-2012 Sat
6:40 PM – 7:50 PM
Weather: Calm, clear, 67 ˚, 29.74 falling
Location: Mississippi R. Lake Onalaska – Western side
Caught: 2 – 16” & 1 – 10” LLMB
Partners: None

Comments

The conditions; calm, warm and an approaching storm front made it very hard for me not to get out for a little fishing. I have been waiting for some calm weather to get back over to the west side of the lake.
My usual spot on that side is very shallow this year and the bass or pike did not appear to be there. It was so shallow that in most places I could see the sand bottom. I did catch three fish in about two feet of water fairly close to one of my normal spots. The fishing was quite tough on account of all the debris floating on top of the water. It almost looked like old weed growth that had been stirred up by the wind or schools of carp. In either case after every cast my bait came back fouled up in weeds. I did try a spot on the east side of the lake along the south end of the dike, but I had no action there.

Observations:

There are still quite a few ducks on the lake, with scaup being in the majority. All the apple trees appear to be blooming quite profusely.

4-13-2012 Fri

4-13-2012 Fri
9:00 AM – 11:3 AM & 4:00 PM – 6:30 PM
Weather: S 22 G 32, overcast with rain in am, 55 ˚, 30.01 falling
Location: La Crosse Experimental Forest, and Shamrock area
Bagged: Nothing
Partners: Myself

Comments

I had planned on turkey hunting the last two mornings early before I started work, but I got assigned some training that started at 8:00 AM, so my early AM turkey plans evaporated. On account of having to work Saturday, I had today off, so this would be my first day in the woods.
Since I had worked so much the past two days, I was neither ready nor prepared for my first morning in the woods. On account of this I did not get to the woods till after 9:00 AM. I did have a tom respond to my pleading hen yelps, but while trying to get a little closer and find a good set up spot I think I spooked him.
In the afternoon I went north of Sparta to a location that I had not hunted for several years. The wind was very brutal and I did not hear or see anything.

Observations:

The oak trees are starting to sprout leaves and the underbrush is quickly in the process of leafing out.

4-8-2012 Sun

4-8-2012 Sun
5:15 PM – 7:40 PM
Weather: W 16, partly cloudy, 61 ˚, 30.07 falling
Water: 5.04’ steady, 55 ˚, 17.1 kcfs, turbid
Location: Mississippi River, pool 7
Caught: 4 LMB 10, 17, 13, & 14” / 4 Pike 29, 25, 19, & 31”
Partners: Myself

Comments

I had planned on getting out to some main channel areas and fish for large mouth but I never made it, the pike bite was too good! On the way out to the main channel I stopped and fished an early spring spot that can be very good for pike, and it was. The pike bite got me side tracked from my original small mouth mission.
It was a very windy night, so again it was not a finesse bite. I did try a swim bait with no success, so I had to revert to my old tried and true Terminator spinner bait.

Observations:

I am starting to notice some emergent vegetation in the back waters. Apple trees and lilacs are still in bloom, with the flowering crabs at peak.

4-6-2012 Fri

4-6-2012 Fri
9:00 AM – 7:00 PM
Weather: calm, clear, 53 ˚, 30.28 falling (12:53PM)
Water: 5.18’ falling, 52 ˚, 25 kcfs, clear to turbid
Location: Mississippi River, pool 8
Caught: 13 LMB 10 & 18” / 14 Pike 14 - 26”, 2 dog fish
Partners: Myself and Ben

Comments

It was Friday and we had the day off on account of it being a holiday for our company. I have wanted to hit some of my old boyhood early spring fishing spots down by Goose Island and Stoddard for several years now and today was the day. We started out around the Goose Island area and that is where we did the best.
We did catch fish pretty much everywhere, but we never did have any amount of fish in any specific area, except we did find quite a few small pike around the Target Lake area. We fished long and hard today and we had some beautiful fishing weather. Notice I did say fishing weather, not catching weather. Bluebird weather with no wind is not exactly what I would consider ideal catching conditions. It is almost hilarious, I do not like fishing in the wind but I do know from past experiences I do catch more fish when we do have some wind.
The hot bait today was again spinner baits, with a swim bait taking some pike at the end of the day. Ben is a big chatter bait fan, but he had limited success with them today. I tried a senko a few different times, but I do not think the fish were stacked up enough to slow down and fish one effectively.
We did take a little break and had a darn good burger at the Shell Horn in Brownsville.

Observations:

The water temperature had been dropping on account of the days and nights being cooler than they have been in the past couple of weeks. The water level down by Goose Island is extremely low, there is much exposed shoreline and stumps.

4-5-2012 Thr

4-5-2012 Thr
6:30 PM – 7:30 PM
Weather: SE 7, clear, 56 ˚, 30.10 rising
Water: 5.27’ falling, 52 ˚, 29.1 kcfs, turbid
Location: Mississippi River, pool 7
Caught: 2 LMB 12 & 15” / 1 Pike 23”
Partners: Myself

Comments

Tonight I fished the west side of the south barrier island. I have never really fished this entire stretch and I wanted to see if there were stumps, weeds, or fish. I did find some fish and weeds but no stumps. I caught a pike in the beginning on the north end, and then I got into a few bass about two thirds of the way down the island. I caught two bass and must have missed four others all in a small spot. It seems as if the cooling water temperatures have knocked some of the aggression out of the fish.

Observations:

The apple trees are blooming and the lilacs are partially in bloom; they seem to be in a state of confusion.

4-3-2012 Tue

4-3-2012 Tue
5:15 PM – 7:45 PM
Weather: NE 12, clear, 60 ˚, 29.97 rising
Water: 5.36’ steady, 55 ˚, 31.2 kcfs, turbid
Location: Mississippi River, pool 7
Caught: 3 LMB 2-13”, 1-17” / 1 Pike 32”
Partners: Myself

Comments

Tonight I planned to explore. Explore I did, but I did not catch anything exploring. It was once again brutally windy out on the exposed lake. I tried areas on the main lake, and some areas near the dredge holes, but the only places I could catch fish were my old standard fish holding areas.
I did learn something new tonight. I still do not like monofilament line. I tried some mono while fishing with a senko and had a hard time hooking the fish; there was just too much stretch. I have come to the conclusion that mono my only be good for crank bait fishing walleyes when some stretch and give is important to keep the fish hooked.

Observations:

The flowering apple trees are in full bloom, but the fruit apple trees in Terry’s yard have not yet bloomed.

3-31-2012 Sat

3-31-2012 Sat
2:00 PM – 7:00 PM
Weather: SE 8, overcast, 39 ˚, 29.90 falling
Water: 923.4’ steady, 47 ˚, clear
Location: Wisconsin River below the Nekoosa Dam
Caught: Two fourteen inch channel cats
Partners: Myself, Jay and Jay’s friend Brian

Comments

It was miserably cold! Jay and I had made the trip over to Nekoosa not to fish the famous walleye run, but to fish the amazing cat fish bite that takes place over here about the same time as the white bass are running. Jay’s friend Brian was the guide on the water today. Brian has dialed in the cats over here, but on account of the cold streak we have been having the last couple of days he was not very confident. The water temperature had plummeted ten degrees in just a couple of days and the whites were not running.
The first thing I noticed when we saw the river below the dam was the number of fishermen in boats and on the shoreline. It was incredible! Surely something must be biting I hopefully thought to myself.
Well not much was biting, we saw a couple of walleyes and catfish caught and we caught two ourselves and that was it. It was crazily cold and slow. We fished an amazingly long, cold four hours with not much to show for our efforts. When we did leave we pretty much had the river to ourselves with the other fishermen more than likely heading home or to the tavern.
One thing I was very impressed with was the landing. It had six ramps, two docks, portable toilets a hose to wash your rig off with and ample parking. It came with a five dollar fee, but with such a nice set up it is worth the price.

Observations:

The season does not look quite so advanced over here; I think it is on account of the nights generally being a little cooler in this sand country.

3-29-2012 Thr

3-29-2012 Thr
4:00 PM – 7:30 PM
Weather: E 15, G 21 clear, 57˚, 29.93 falling
Water: 5.94’ falling, 37.3 kcfs, 57 ˚, cloudy
Location: Mississippi R. Pool 7, Lake Onalaska, WI
Caught: Myself – two pike, and approx. 10 LMB, Ben – 2 pike and approx. 4 LMB
Partners: Myself, Ben

Comments

It was the first Thursday after work fishing night with one of the Holmen guys. I got about an hour of fishing in before I had to pick Ben up at the landing. During this time I put a couple quick pike in the boat and missed one bass. I was fishing the north bay out from the cut. The fish were there but the strong south wind made the conditions very tough.
After I picked Ben up at the landing we headed off in search of some calm water. We headed to the Sail Boat club which I like to hit very early in the spring on account of it warms up very quickly. Well did it ever warm up quickly, in fact the lily pads were already fully developed on the surface and the back bay was totally weed choked. Since the back bay was unfishable we hit the mouth of the bay and connected with some smallish lower teen length bass. Surprisingly not a pike made it boat side here.
The next stop was from Ashley Point north along the shoreline. It was dead except for the one nineteen inch beauty I boated about half way up the shoreline.
We finished off the evening fishing the lower channel with a pike and two bass making it boat side. On account of all the wind the water was pretty cloudy, so the only baits we scored with were spinner baits and chatter baits (flash and vibration were the keys).
When we got to the landing the excitement was not yet over. A gentleman and his young son were waiting for the last boat of the night, which just happened to be us. The guy had a dead battery and he wanted a jump. I told him I would help him out as soon as I got the boat out of the water. I beached the boat and told Ben to keep an eye on it as I went to get the truck and trailer. I got the truck and trailer and as I approached the landing I could clearly see that Ben was derelict in his duties. There was my boat floating out into the channel about ten yards from the dock. Ben was busy tending his tackle and poles which he had off - loaded onto the shoreline, and was totally oblivious to the plight of the boat.
When I asked Ben what he was doing he about freaked when he turned around and saw the boat being pushed away from us by the wind. He ran onto the dock and for a minute I thought he was going to jump in and try to get it back, but the only problem with that is Ben cannot swim. He did not know what to do and he felt very bad. I calmly told him to pick up one of his rods and cast out and try and snag the boat. Fortunately he hooked it on the first cast and with some diligent and painstakingly slow tugging he was able to get the boat back to the dock. We loaded up the boat, got the fella and his young son on their way with a jump start and parted ways both looking forward to our next fishing adventure.

Observations:

The weed growth in the back of the Sail Boat Club is unbelievable advanced. My red bud tree in the back yard is blooming and it appears as if the lilacs will soon be blooming.