3-22-2013 Fri.

3-22-2013 Fri. 7:00 PM – 10:30 PM
Weather:
(1853) N5, clear, 29 ˚, 30.14 steady
H2O:
639.4, 13kcfs, 32 ˚, clear
Location:
Mississippi River pool 7, Trempealeau Dam
Caught:
Scott – approximately 20 walleye/sauger 1 – 16” walleye
Me – approximately 12 walleye/sauger
Partners:
Scott

Comments:

It was my first open water fishing trip of the season and it was somewhat of a spur of the moment outing. I met up with Scott at the landing for a late start trip. The ice had been off the landing for about a week, but there were still plenty of ice chunks floating around it.
We started out fishing the tail water area very close to the restricted access area in about twenty feet of water. We did not catch much there, so we drifted and moved into areas with twenty five to thirty feet of water and started catching fish. We caught fish fairly steadily until we were shrouded in darkness, then the bite fizzled.
We continued to catch a fish here and there, but the action really dissipated in short order. We continued to fish the deep water for another hour after darkness, but we had very little luck. The last area we tried was much shallow and had lots more flow, but this is where we had pretty good action on the walleyes. The bite was in less than ten feet of water and it was steady. We fished the ten foot depth range for about an hour and then called it a night.

Observations:

The fishing was good tonight, the conditions are still winter time, but spring cannot be too far off. The main channel is open, but pretty much anything else is frozen over. Lake Onalaska is still solidly frozen and vehicles are still driving out to the airport lights area.

3-16-13 Sat

3-16-2013 Sat. 12:30 PM – 8:00 PM
Weather:
(1553) W 8 G 16, overcast, 25 ˚, 30.02 steady, 22” ice
Location:
Upper St Clair, Minnisueing and Cranberry Lakes
Caught:
(combined) Lots of bluegills, we kept approx. 50 bluegills between 7 and 8”, and one 9” crappie.
Partners: Scott, Jake and Jeremy

Comments:

It was the second day of our up north fishing trip and I was in the mood for exploring. I awoke to an early sunrise and very cold bare feet as I stood on the edge of the cabin deck urinating into the 15 – 20” of snow that lay some two feet below me. With the cold morning temperatures and the somewhat clouded heads from the past evenings beer that was drank nobody in the group was too anxious to head to the hard water.
We woke up late, took our time with breakfast and around noon headed to Upper St. Croix Lake for what we hoped would be some better than average bluegills and crappies. I had read many reports on this lake, and most of them said the size structure of the pan fish were better than average, but the fish were hard to find. We found the second part of the equation to hold the most truth, we never did catch a fish in the hour we fished it.
The next lake on the radar was a lake just a few miles to the north called Minnesuing. This lake held a reputation as being a very good crappie lake. As we were heading onto the lake, most of the fishermen that were on it, were heading off. We stopped and talked to some of the fishermen as they were leaving and they explained to us why there were so many on the lake; there was a local ice fishing tourney and we were arriving just as the derby was finishing up. The report we got was that some fish were being caught and that some of them were nice sized, but the quantity of fish caught were very small. We fished this lake for approximately one and one half hours with only a very small crappie and one little pike to show for the effort.
It was nearing three o’clock and we figured we had enough for one last spot. We attempted to get to Chicago Bay on the Gordon Flowage, but the road to the park was gated, so we opted to hit one of our past fishing spots, Cranberry Lake.
We have caught bluegills here in the past, but the size structure has mostly been small. We found the lake and drove down to the access and the open water that was within yards of where we had to drive on. Scott was the driver on this trip and he was not overly excited about driving his less than one year old pick within close proximity to open, steaming water. We got on the lake fine and managed to get about six holes drilled before the auger was no longer wet with gas.
We were catching a few fish here and there, but it was not fantastic. I really wanted to drill some more holes but I no longer had the device to complete the task. Almost on queue with me getting antsy and wanting to drill more holes, our savior showed up. I have never seen this guy before, but he comes driving up parks next to me and quickly proclaims he is not a warden. He strolls over and immediately sense he had been indulging in a little too much of the fine drinking spirits. He introduces himself as Zip and asks how the fishing is going. I told him not that great and that we ran out of gas for the auger and could not drill anymore holes. He advised me to sit tight, and right at sunset the fish would bite just as fast as you could drop your line down the hole. I was a little skeptical on account of his mental alertness being just slightly past the point of no return. He assured me the bite would happen and that if we wanted auger gas he had plenty and would fill us up. Zip filled the auger up for us, we thanked him and off he went.
I drilled a couple more holes out into a little deeper water and waited for the sun to sink below the skyline. Just as Zip had promised, once the sun was below the horizon it was non stop action on some rather impressive sized gills. We ended the night with about fifty bluegills. Jake contributed about twenty five to the pile, I added about twelve and Jeremy and Scott caught the rest.

Observations:

The first two lakes we fished were a total bust, and the snow conditions on them did not allow vehicle travel except on plowed trails. Cranberry Lake however did not have as much snow and we were able to drive onto it with little difficulty. The local lakes still have 20 – 24” of ice on them, and there has not been any melting that has taken place yet.
I must include our little after fishing social hour at one of the local bars before we made the trek back to the cabin. We were a rather dull and tired group tonight, so being a little cocky; I decided we needed a little pick me up in the form of a shot at the Moose Junction tavern. Being the type that does not like to follow the same old beaten path, I purchased us each a shot of Bacon vodka. It sounded good to me and the picture of bacon on the label made it appealing. I will admit that was one of the worst ideas I have had in a while; that shot was one of the most awful shots I have ever had. In fact, it sent me right out the door to the closest snow bank. Fortunately I did not throw up such fine top shelf swill, but it did take me quite some time to gain control of my stomach and reappear in the bar.

3-15-13 Fri

3-15-2013 Fri. 12:30 PM – 7:00 PM
Weather:
(1553) NE 8, overcast, 25 ˚, 29.91 falling, 22” ice
Location:
Chippewa Flowage
Caught:
(combined) Lots of crappies, and two bluegills, kept approximately 25 crappies between 9 and 10”
Partners:
Scott & Jake T.

Comments:

We were on our annual ice fishing trip up to the cabin, and for the first time we were doing some fishing on Friday. I had scoured the internet looking for some information that may have pointed us in the right direction someplace up by the cabin, but no secrets were to be found! I had remembered watching an outdoor fishing show several weeks back, and it was based on crappie fishing the Chip. The show bragged of the fish growing qualities of this body of water and it was apparent in the number and size of the crappies they caught. The only tidbit of information I was lacking was an access point for the beginning of our adventure. I emailed a guide that I had chartered last summer for a fishing trip on the Chip. and he happily responded with some much needed info.
We reached our destination (Deer Foot Lodge) around 1130, got the scoop on the fish, loaded our bellies with a Bloody Mary and a burger and were fishing around 1:00PM. We were fishing in about twenty feet of water in an area that is known as shear pin bar. The marks on our locators were fairly numerous all day, and the active fish were also fairly numerous, the only drawback was that the size of the crappies averaged quite small.
It was a fun and successful start to our weekend fishing trip and we did end up with some nice fish up to 10.5 inches in length.

Observations:

The area we fished is a fairly popular ice fishing destination, but when I say popular it is by northern Wisconsin standards. There was probably four other groups of fishermen in the area we called home for the afternoon. Whereas if we were back in La Crosse at such an area that held so many fish we would have been accompanied by fifty to one hundred additional fish whores. The ice conditions were very good, the thickness was twenty plus inches and the snow cover was not thick enough to hinder our vehicle.

3-10-13 Sun

3-10-2013 Sun 12:30 PM – 6:30 PM
Weather:
(1553) N12, light rain, 36 ˚, 29.78 falling, 20” ice
Location:
Mississippi River – upper end pool 8
Caught:
(combined) Lots of bluegills, a few crappies, one perch, two pike 28 & 36”, several LMB

Partners:
Scott & John R.

Comments:

It was an afternoon fishing trip on a very nasty day. I have not been out ice fishing for approximately three weeks when I broke down with the air boat. Well, I had made my repairs and I was ready to go.
We were targeting a deep bay on the upper end of Pool 8 where the fishing is usually fairly consistent. Today was no exception. We caught all the bluegills we wanted, but the crappies were rather scarce. We also had some tip up action, but that was also quit scarce. We had no trouble marking and catching bluegills, they were everywhere.
The conditions were really rather horrible: we had rain, wind, and lots of water and slush on top of the ice. Today was the first time I had used my new Cabela's Guide Wear rain gear, and I was very pleased with its performance. The ice is still in very good shape, the main channel is still partially frozen and the back bays had twenty plus inches of good hard ice.

Observations:

We have had some thaws the past couple of weeks, but it still does look very much like winter around here. In fact, they are still driving vehicles out on Lake Onalaska. From the reports I have gotten the walleye fishing below the Genoa dam has been fantastic.

3-3-2013 Sun

3-3-2013 Sun 9:30 AM – 5:30 PM
Weather:
(1155) calm, clear, 21 ˚, 30.06 steady, 20” snow cover
Location:
Gilman, WI
Bagged:
Scott – one snow shoe
Partners:
Scott, Tom, / Dogs: Roxy, Lacey, Dirt
Comments:

Last week I was up in Fairchild looking for the elusive snow shoe hare, I found none and found very little sign of the white bunnies. Today I was on another hare expedition with Tom and a newcomer to the winter ghost hunt, Scott. We started out in an area that Dick had recommended. He had been to the area in late December hunting grouse, and said he had seen plenty of the gigantic tell-tale tracks of the white brush dwelling creatures. I love to hunt hares, but unfortunately wherever hares are present, wolves live in the same type of habitat. So, caution is the mode when running beagles in these areas. Wolves are a risk to the dogs, but realistically roads and cars are probably a greater risk.
The first spot we had hunted had lots of sign, but it had one big drawback; it had recently been hunted by snow shoe wearing Elmer Fud’s and there companion beagles. We decided to hunt it anyway, which was a mortal sin to our game bags. I had forgotten one of my hard earned lessons of past hare expeditions; it does not pay to re-hunt an area that you had previously hunted in the last day or so. These hares are wild critters, and if pressured they tend to vacate the area. This first spot produced nothing, not even a halfhearted run.
The second spot had quite a bit of sign and it had not been hunted lately. We had a few runs, but nothing was consistent. The conditions were not good for dog work. We had deep powdery snow, and there was no crust on top to support the weight of the boisterous little rabbit chasers. The runs were all short lived, and a hare was never produced by the dogs. After we covered the fairly small patch, Tom and I returned to the truck with dogs in hand. On the way back to the truck Scott bumped one of the hares we had probably been chasing and he managed to down it after four shots from his mighty twelve gauge scattergun.
The final spot we hunted was an area I had found a couple years ago but I had never hunted. This area had a lot of downed spruce trees from a past summer wind storm, and was a rabbit and hare’s Garden of Eden. A quick drive down the road, confirmed the presence of both hares’ and cottontails. Gear was donned and the dogs were readied. We were ready to go, but we had a flat tire on one of the dogs. Lacey was only using three legs; she must have hurt her right front leg on the last run. I was now in a conundrum; basically I had to decide if I was going to leave the best dog in the box and hunt with the other two, which have hardly ever produced a rabbit when they have hunted together or run Lacey and hope for the best. I knew with my limited exposure to Lacey that she was a driven dog, and I decide to see just how driven she actually was.
Lacey showed me very quickly that she is a very driven dog with lots of heart. She hunted on three legs better that the other two dogs combined. I was impressed with this little dog! We had a couple runs, but once again nothing was produced. I once again attributed it to the very deep powdery snow.

Observations:

Last Wednesday the running conditions were very good and today they were terrible and it showed in the results. We never did have a sustained run, and it was not on account of the lack of hares. The snow was very deep, powdery, and apparently not holding scent. Once again I was very impressed with Lacey; the dog is driven to run rabbits. I am not sure if I will get back to this area yet this winter season, but I definitely will be back next winter season.

2-27-13 Wed.

2-27-2013 Wed 9:30 AM – 5:30 PM
Weather:
(1215) N14 G22, light snow, 32 ˚, 29.71 falling, 8 – 12” snow cover
Location:
La Farge, WI
Bagged:
two cottontails
Partners:
Dick and (Tom - PM), Dogs: Roxy, Lacey, (Dirt – PM)

Comments:

It was Lacey’s test day, and she shined! Dick has been looking for a good beagle, and I found one for him.
We started out at our first spot early in the morning and we never left it till until quitting time late in the afternoon. It took about twenty minutes for Roxy and Lacey to get started, but once they did, they never looked back. Lacey was definitely the jump dog, but once a rabbit was up and running, Roxy was a big contributor to the chase. We had chases going on all morning. Not many rabbits were killed, mostly on account of them being so slippery. What I mean by that is these rabbits covered some ground and seemed to be quite intelligent and we seldom caught a glimpse of them. In fact these cottontails had the running characteristics of hares.
The last couple of hours Tom and his dog Dirt met up with us. I know Dirt is not the most flattering name, but I did not name him. After Tom and Dirt joined us it took about a half hour to get a rabbit moving, but once the dogs jumped one the action was quite awesome. The first rabbit they chased the run lasted for about one hour and must have covered about two miles of ground. I had never seen a cottontail cross such a large expanse of open ground, but this one crossed an open stretch that was at least three hundred yard wide, and it did it twice! I t was an awesome run and one that will never leave my memory. It did not end with the rabbit in a game bag; it ended with a rabbit in a log pile. Lacey tried her best to grub it out, but she was unable to. We figured she was able to see the rabbit on account of all the screaming and howling she was doing. I think the rabbit was too tired to run anymore, and it decided it would take its chances with sitting tight in the logs.
We ran a couple more rabbits, but never added any to the game bag. At the end of the day Roxy was so tired she could no longer run, she just walked from track to track and howled.

Observations:

Today was one of my top days for rabbit hunting, the conditions were good, the rabbits were fairly plentiful and the dogs were great. I cannot say enough good things about Lacey: she is a good jump dog, excellent trailer, minds well, and seems to be pretty smart. Lacey came from Ron Stayton’s kennel, and I have to say he raises some good rabbit dogs. Roxy is an excellent trailer, but her search and jumping ability are very poor. It definitely is better to have several beagles running so they can complement each other.