August 20, 2016 Sat

August 20, 2016 Sat 6PM-1245AM- flat head fishing with Buck and Scott
Location: Mississippi R. pool 7
Weather: (1953) NW12, some clouds, 68 °, 29.72
H2O: 8.65↓ 75 kcfs, 75°, dirty
Caught: Bait: meager supply! And we each caught one flat head between 7-8 pounds.

Observations: The River is going to continue to rise and it is still high, muddy and fast.

Bait catching was very difficult tonight. We did manage to boat three bluegills and one crappie that were in what would be considered that ideal size range. All the action came from one particular spot and within about a fifteen-minute window.

August 16, 2016 Tue

August 16, 2016 Tue 7PM-9PM- flat head fishing by myself
Location: Mississippi R. pool 7
Weather: (1953) S8, mostly cloudy, 82 °, 29.97
H2O: 8.53↑ 74 kcfs, 82°, clean, with floating weeds in sloughs
Caught: Bait: bluegills and one crappie

Observations: It was another stormy night. The approaching lightning show actually chased me in; it was quite spectacular! The water on the lake was quite clear, but the back slough I fished had lots of floating weeds fouling my lines. And the boat landing by the livery is a weedy mess, and now my rig also is.

I was able to catch bait tonight, but it was not super easy. Some of the bluegills were very nice sized, but again they did not come easy. I tried a new pan fish bait, the old fashioned Beetle Spin. I got quite a few hits on it but I found it very difficult to hook anything. My flat head-fishing trip was much shorter than I had envisioned. I got rained out after only being set up for thirty minutes. This summer has really sucked weather wise with all the rain and storms.

August 14, 2016 Sun

August 14, 2016 Sun 630PM-830PM- bass fishing with a little pan fishing mixed in, by myself
Location: Mississippi R. pool 7
Weather: (1853) NW7, clear, 80 °, 30.03
H2O: 8.11↑ 70 kcfs, 78°, Lake Onalaska is still clear
Caught: bluegills and crappies and one 13” LMB

Observations: The main lake area out by the man made islands is a total slop hole and it is actually quite gross.

The bass were either not active or I did not find them tonight. I did manage to boat a little one and miss several others. I dabbled in the pan fishing for a short time and was successful at that. I think they are starting to make their trek back to the dredge holes for the winter.

August 13, 2016 Sat

August 13, 2016 Sat 7AM-1030AM- Pan fishing with co-worker Dan Moen
Location: Mississippi R. pool 8, Jolivette Bay
Weather: (0753) N9, overcast, 70 °, 29.86
H2O: 7.81↑ 67 kcfs, 78°, main channel is very, very muddy
Caught: Many bluegills and one 13” LMB

Co-worker Dan wanted to pan fish, so I obliged with a morning trip. The main channel was a total mud out, so I had to seek out sheltered and clearer water. Once clear water was found the bluegills were both numerous and willing along the weed lines that abutted the deep

August 12, 2016 Fri

August 12, 2016 Fri 630PM-830PM- bass fishing by myself
Location: Mississippi R. pool 7
Weather: (1853) NW10, overcast, 72 °, 29.80
H2O: 7.1↑ 60 kcfs, +80°, getting dirty
Caught: 1-22” pike

Observations: The muddy water from the upstream floods on Thursday is starting to infiltrate our area.
It was a quick search for bass in waters that I have not fished for awhile, and it was a total strike out. I even went back to the area that had produced for me a couple days ago and it was also a bust. At least I think I determined that the fish were in a very negative mood.

August 10, 2016

August 10, 2016 Wed 630PM-830PM- bass fishing by myself
Location: Mississippi R. pool 7
Weather: (1853) S12, clear, 88 °, 29.92
H2O: 6.36↓ 50 kcfs, +80°, clear
Caught: 6 LMB 12-17”, 1-22” dogfish

Observations: The water is dropping fast, but wait, more rain is on the way, 2-3 inches is a matter a fact! I am getting so sick of it! The bass are in the slop but it seems as if the slop needs to be adjacent to some current. I am also catching them along the edge of the rice, which is a rarity for me.
Fishing was decent tonight. The frog bite was once again on and as usual a lot of fun. I did flip the edges a little bit and did have good success with that technique.

August 9, 2016 Tue

August 9, 2016 Tue 7PM-1045PM- bass and flat -head fishing by myself
Location: Mississippi R. pool 7
Weather: (1953) S8, mostly cloudy, 82 °, 29.93
H2O: 6.62’↓ 54 kcfs, +80°, clear
Caught: Bait: bluegills and crappies and one perch, 4 LMB 14-18”, 1- 13 lb. flat head

Tonight was a combination of bass fishing and flat head fishing. The bass fishing was very good for the limited time I was able to do it, and the flat head fishing was not too bad either. The smallish flat head I did catch slammed my bait and fought like a thirty pounder. I also lost another one to a snag.

August 8, 2016 Mon

August 8, 2016 Mon 7PM-1045PM- flat -head fishing by myself
Location: Mississippi R. pool 7
Weather: (1953) SE7, clear, 78 °
H2O: 7.08↓ 62 kcfs, 80°, clear
Caught: Bait: bluegills and one perch, one 5 lb. flat head

The bluegill fishing was pretty good out on the southern man-made island and the size was actually a little big for bait. I also bass fished Somners Slough for about five minutes and lost one decent bass on a frog. I also fished for flat heads in this same are and caught the one flat head.

August 7, 2016 Sun

August 7, 2016 Sun 930AM-1230PM- bass fishing by myself
Location: Mississippi R. pool 7 (Lake Onalaska)
Weather: (1153) SE3, clear, 75 °
H2O: 7.27↓ 62 kcfs, 80°, sloughs dirty and weedy
Caught: 4 LMB 12-16”, 1 pike 22”

Observations: Lake Onalaska is one weedy mess and almost stagnant!

The bass fishing was not great, but it was better than the fishing up at Hayward. Four of the five fish I caught were caught in the channel by the boat landing. And all fish were caught on a frog.

July 31 thru August 5 2016, musky, bass and pike fishing Hayward, WI

Location: Chippewa Flowage, mud and Callahan Lakes, Tiger cat Flowage, and Spider Chain.

Weather: (Avg.) 80°, sunny, light winds, storms Sunday and Thursday mornings.

H2O: Chippewa-relatively clear but dark, Mud and Callahan-relatively clear but dark, Tiger cat-clear, spider-clear. Temps. 77-83°

Caught: Myself: small mouth bass, large mouth bass, pike and one walleye

Observations: The Chippewa is relatively devoid of off shore weeds. The winter draw-downs have definitely decimated the mill foil. It is nice without the milfoil but there is not any other weeds taking its place. Fish need weeds to thrive and if there are no weeds I believe the flowages fishery is going to deteriorate. Also the large mouth population has plummeted, the catch and kill policy on these fish needs to stop.

Fishing the Chippewa was once again quite difficult. I did find some smallmouth on the south east side, but that was it for the bass. I never did catch a large mouth and from what I heard very few were caught. The Muskie’s once again eluded me, but I did catch some smallish pike. I did not fish this body of water too hard, mainly because I did fish some other lakes on account of the frustration factor of fishing it.

Mud and Callahan Lakes were tough fishing. I did catch a few pike and one 31 incher, but I did not catch any bass nor did I see any Muskie’s.

I did fish the Tiger Cat flowage twice and enjoyed it each time. The first time I caught a good number of bass and pike but I did not see any Muskie’s. The second time I lost a couple of very large bass and saw two Muskie’s. Andy also was along on this trip and he lost a decent musky at the end of the night on a creeper.
I fished the upper lake of the Spider Chain and caught a few hammer handles and saw two smallish Muskie’s.

July 24, 2016 Sun

2PM-930PM- Scott and myself musky and bass fishing
Location: Potters Flowage, Jackson County
Weather: (1455) W9 G16, 87 °, partly cloudy, 29.85
H2O: clear, normal pool, 80°
Caught: Myself: 2 musky 33 & 38”, 2 LMB 17 & 18”
Scott: 2 musky 33 & 34 “, 5 LMB (2) 20-21”, and 3 dinks

Observations: It is definitely mid-summer time on the flowage up here. The weeds are fully developed and the water is quite warm. In fact, the fish even felt hot.

It was a great day for muskies. We hooked four of them and landed everyone. In the musky competition I beat Scott out size wise. But in the bass category he had bigger fish and he also beat me in the numbers category. The bass up there are really impressive size wise, but the numbers seem rather low.

July 22, 2016 Fri

July 22, 2016 Fri 6PM-830PM- bass fishing by myself
Location: Mississippi R. pool 7
Weather: (Approx.) Hot, calm, 90 °, clear
H2O: 10.02↑, 91 kcfs, 82°, main channel and sloughs dirty and weedy, water in the mud lake area is clear
Caught: Not a dang thing!
Observations: The water is very high and quite dirty. There is also duck -weed everywhere. I would imagine that is caused by all the nutrient laden wash off from the land.

The fishing was tough; I never even caught a fish. I did hook into a couple of bass while throwing a frog, but both got off before I could boat them.

July 19, 2016 Tue

530PM-830PM- myself, Dick, Ike and Oz pan fishng
Location: Mississippi R. pool 7
Weather: (1753) S8, 86 °, clear
H2O: 9.06↑, 79 kcfs, 80°, dirty with lots of floating weeds
Caught: Bait: a few small perch and one sheep head

Observations: The water is once again high! The woods are starting to flood up by Trempealeau and mats of duckweed and celery grass are everywhere. Heck, we even saw a very large tree floating down the main channel.

Well this week it was Dick’s grand sons opportunity to do a little boating, swimming and fishing. Ike knew what to expect but Oz had never been on a boat ride before. Oz was quite crabby when he got to my house but those tears soon transformed into smiles once we were under way in the boat. The fishing was very tough, as was expected with the high water, but we all had a good time!

July 16, 2016 Sat

July 16, 2016 Sat 7PM-1AM- flat head fishing with Scott
Location: Mississippi R. pool 7
Weather: (2053) S8, 74 °, clear
H2O: 7.31↑, 62 kcfs, 76°, dirty with lots of floating weeds
Caught: Bait: bluegills and perch, Scott: 1-7lb flat head

Observations: The River is quickly rising and it is full of junk.

Scott and I both wanted to get out before the rising water made it hard to catfish, but we were too late. The high water has stirred up the weeds and made fishing very difficult. We had three bites tonight and only caught one fish. I broke a fish off on a snag at 1AM just before the storm hit. We did have a pretty good light show on the way in and fortunately for us the rain was not too bad.

July 15, 2016 Fri

July 15, 2016 Fri 530PM-910PM- bass fishing by myself
Location: Mississippi R. pool 8, Goose Island
Weather: (1753) E5, 77 °, sunny
H2O: 6.45↑, 51 kcfs, dirty, 78°
Caught: 2 LMB 16-17”, 1 pike 20”

I was back to Goose Island hoping to once again capitalize on the frog bite. The frog bite was non existent, but I did catch a couple of fish using a jig along the slough banks.

July 13, 2016 Wed

630PM-830PM-fishing with Dick, Nora and Jose
Location: Mississippi R. pool 7, Trempealeau area
Weather: (1753) W14, 84 °, sunny
H2O: 5.97↑, 44 kcfs, clear, 80°
Caught: Lots of perch and bluegills, Dick kept approx. eight perch and four bluegills.

Observations: The River is in great shape, but that is going to change within the next couple of days. There has been a lot of precipitation in the upper portion of the Mississippi River watershed and all that water is coming downstream.

Tonight was a night of fun fishing with Grandpa Dick and his granddaughters Nora and Jose. I had a lot of fun with those two girls. Nora got very good at setting the hook. She actually out fished grandpa Dick by about 30:1. Jose was so cute, she was just content to watch and throw the little ones back in. She has a great amount of patience for someone who is only four!

July 12, 2016 Tue

July 12, 2016 Tue 630PM-9PM-bass fishing by myself
Location: Mississippi R. pool 7, lake Onalaska
Weather: (1753) W15, 86 °, sunny
H2O: 5.5↑, 35 kcfs, clear, 82°
Caught: 1 pike 22”, 4 LMB 13-17”

The water clarity on the lake was very good, but it is getting very weedy. I am fairly certain that within the next 3-5 years the western portion of the lake will be completely weeded over in the summer. Fishing was pretty tough tonight. If it had not been for the brief three fish flurry at the end of the night, it would have down right sucked!

July 10, 2016 Sun

July 10, 2016 Sun 5PM-910PM-bass fishing by myself
Where: Mississippi R. pool 7
Weather: (1753) S10, 79 °, sunny
H2O: 5.76↓, 36 kcfs, clear, 78°
Caught: 3 pike 20-22”, 7 LMB 12-17”

Observations: The wild rice has really spread out onto the lake this year. The upper end now has some beds that area quite extensive.

I started the night out on the upper end of the lake and the Somners Chute area. I spent two hours searching and it was a wasted two hours.
I then headed up towards Trempealeau and found them once again in my secret little spot. If the water drops anymore I will no longer be able to get to this spot in my big rig. I had great action once again on a rubber frog. If I missed a bass and I was unable to coax it into hitting the frog again all I had to do was pitch a jig to the spot and wham, fish on!

July 9, 2016 Sat

July 9, 2016 Sat 530PM-12AM-flat head fishing with Tom, Ron and Larry
Where: Mississippi R. pool 7
Weather: (1953) S6, 79 °, overcast
H2O: 6.13↓, 43 kcfs, clear, 78°
Caught: bait, which consisted of bluegills and perch

Observations: We did not find much for bluegills along the channel rocks, but we did find the gills and perch in the weeds up by Trempealeau.

The bait catching was fun and easy, but the flat head catching was another story. We did have three bites, but the inexperienced flat head fishermen in the boat could not capitalize on them. I am thinking it is time to change over to circle hooks.

July 8, 2016 Fri

July 8, 2016 Fri 530PM-1130PM-flat head fishing with Norn and Riley
Where: Mississippi R. pool 9, Genoa
Weather: (1953) NW12, 75 °, clear
H2O: 6.3↓, 45 kcfs, clear, 78°
Caught: bait and 1 flat head approx. 5 lb.

Observations: We had a major may fly hatch tonight! The river is still fairly fast, but it is clean.

The fishing was not stellar tonight. I was fishing an area that I had never fished before so I had to wing it. The bluegills were fairly easy to catch on the rocks in front of the power plant. A couple of bites and one small flat head is all we could coax from the mighty river tonight.
I don’t think Riley will want to go out flat head fishing again. She was definitely freaked out from all the mosquitoes and may flies in the nighttime sky.

July 5, 2016 Tues

Where: Mississippi R. pool 8, East Channel
Weather: (1753) S16, 86 °, clear
H2O: 6.48↓, 48 kcfs, clear, 78°
Caught: bait and 1 flat head approx. 11lb.

Observations: The bluegills are now out on the main channel rocks.

The flat head bite was good tonight, but my outing was cut short by sever weather. I caught the one fish and missed three other bites. The misses were on account of the fish being in snags by the time I went to set the hook.

July 4, 2016 Mon

July 4, 2016 Mon 4PM-9PM-bass fishing with Scott
Where: Mississippi R. pool 8, South of Goose Island
Weather: S9, 75 °, mostly cloudy
H2O: 6.6↓, 49 kcfs, clear, 78°
Caught: Me: (Approx) 30 LMB 10-17”, 2 pike 22-24”
Scott:(Approx) 20 LMB 14-17”, 3 pike 20-26”, 1-20” dogfish

Observations: The area south of Goose Island, know as Shady Maple had extremely clear water. I also heard quite a few bullfrogs towards evening.
The bass fishing was extremely good tonight. I cannot ever recall catching this many bass using a plastic frog. One particular area had a bass positioned by almost every little clump of emergent vegetation.

July 2, 2016 Sat

July 2, 2016 Sat 8AM-230PM-whatever fishing with Norm
Where: Mississippi R. pool 9, Genoa area
Weather: (approx) calm, clear, 90 °
H2O: 7.54↓, 60 kcfs, dingy to clear, 79°
Caught: Me: 1-14” small mouth bass
Norm: 1-18” walleye, 1-26” pike

Fishing was once again tough out of Genoa. We caught a few fish and missed some but it was once again a dismal outing down here! Heck we could not even catch a fish, fishing on the bottom with a night crawler.

June 27, 2016 Mon

June 27, 2016 Mon 630PM-9PM-bass fishing by myself
Where: Mississippi R. pool 7
Weather: (1853) N10, mostly cloudy, 74 °
H2O: 7.46↓, 59 kcfs, clear, ?°
Caught: 3 LMB 14-15”, 1 pike 23”

Observations: The water is relatively high but it is clear.

It was an after work stress reliever fishing outing. My goal was to catch as many fish as I had caught on Sunday, but in a lot fewer hours. I tied my number from yesterday but I did not beat it. However I did have more bites, I just did not capitalize on all the opportunities.

June 26, 2016 Sun

730AM-730PM-bass fishing with Scott
Where: Mississippi R. pool 9, Black Hawk Island Park area
Weather: (1253) W12 G25, clear, 88 °
H2O: 7.32↓, 58 kcfs, Minnesota side dirty, ?°
Caught: bait: Me: 1-15” LMB, 2 SMB 12-14”, 1 rock bass
Scott: 2 LMB 14-15”, 1-15” walleye, 8 SMB 10-14”

Observations: The Minnesota side of the river was very muddy. But along the channel on the Wisconsin side the water was fairly clear.

Today was a marathon fishing outing with Scott, and I mean it was a true marathon! We started out fishing the Minnesota side and the fish were pretty much non-existent. I am very sure this was on account of the muddy conditions. I just have not figures out how to have consistent action during muddy conditions.
After about six hour of basically catching nothing, Scott finally came to the conclusion to try something else and hopeful find cleaner water. We moved to the Wisconsin side and found cleaner water and better fishing. But unfortunately for me I had lost my desire to fish anymore. Scott truly does not know or have enough sense on when to quit. I thought I was addicted, but he is well beyond addicted he is obsessed! I did try out my new sun protection garb that I go for father’s day, and I must say I did not mind wearing it.

June 22, 2016 Sun

June 22, 2016 Sun 7PM-11PM-cat fishing by myself
Where: Mississippi R. pool 7
Weather: (2053) SE9, cloudy with storms in vicinity, 75 °
H2O: 7.19↓, 57 kcfs, main channel and sloughs dirty, ?°
Caught: bait: 9 bluegills 5-7”, 2 flat heads 2 & 8 Lbs.

Observations: The rice is very thick this year and has spread to new areas on the lake. The rice plants are also starting to stand out of the water. The mosquitoes are just horrendous and can make for a miserable night if you are not prepared for them.

The night started out with the task of catching bait. It was not easy, but one of the man made islands held just enough active bluegills to satisfy my needs.
I fished two spots tonight on my favorite side channel off of the main channel. I quickly caught a fish at each spot, and that was the extent of the action. When the big fish bit, it hit so ferociously that the pole hitting the inside of the rod holder sounded like a baseball hitting the side of the boat.

June 19, 2016 Sun

June 19, 2016 Sun 4PM-920PM-bass fishing by myself
Where: Mississippi R. pool 7
Weather: (1753) S13, clear, 90°
H2O: 7.57↓, 61 kcfs, main channel and sloughs dirty,79°
Caught: 8 LMB 13-16”, 1 pike 25”

Observations: The water lilies are now blooming and the dragonflies and damselflies are numerous and darting here and there.

Fishing was very tough at the beginning of the outing. I caught one bass in the old river channel area on a frog and that was the extent of it.
After being frustrated for three hours I decided I needed to find some clean water if I was to have any consistent action. I headed up towards the Black River delta called Hammond Chute. The water up there was clear from the Black, but it was fast and held no fish. About the last hour of the night I found a good concentration of bass close to Hammond Chute. I caught them on both a frog and a jig. Once again the pitching technique shined!

June 17, 2016 Fri

June 17, 2016 Fri 630PM-9PM-bass fishing by myself
Where: Mississippi R. pool 7
Weather: S10, clear, 80°
H2O: 7.32↑, 58 kcfs, main channel and sloughs dirty,? °
Caught: 3 LMB 14-16”, 1 pike 25”

Observations: The water is very dirty right now. The key to catching fish is finding clean water. The aquatic vegetation is quite abundant and thick right now.

I fished the same areas I have fished the last couple of outings. The bass were not as numerous or as aggressive as they have been. Once again pitching was the go to technique.

June 12, 2016 Sun

June 12, 2016 Sun 6PM-9PM-bass fishing by myself
Where: Mississippi R. pool 7
Weather: S6, clear, 71°
H2O: 7.6↓, 61 kcfs, clear, ? °
Caught: 3 LMB 16-16”, 2 pike 24-26”

The cattails are starting to bloom and pollinate. I tried some cattail pods tonight and did not think much of them. The wild rice is still flat on the surface of the water.
Tonight I was trying a new technique: pitching. I was not too good at it but I did enjoy the action that it created. It was really quite fun. If I got a bite or caught a fish it happened as soon as the bait hit the water

June 11, 2016 Sat

June 11, 2016 Sat (AM) 8AM-2PM-walleye fishing by myself
(PM) flat head fishing with Scott
Where: (AM) Mississippi R. pool 4 Lake Pepin
(PM) Mississippi R. Pool 7
Weather: (AM) calm, clear, 94°
(PM) calm, clear, 80°
H2O: Pool 4, 9.8↓, 48 kcfs, clear, 75 °
Pool 7, 7.79↓, 63 kcfs, clear, 75 °
Caught: Pool 4, 1-14” LMB, 1-22” pike, 1-20” drum, 1-10” perch, 1-21”catfish, 2-SMB 6&15”
Pool 7 1-8lb flat head
Observations: I was 2-3 weeks too late for the peak of the walleye bite on Lake Pepin. The shallow bays were already weeded in.

The fishing was not very good on Lake Pepin; I definitely missed the good bite this year. The landing and lake were very crowded on account of a walleye tournament that was taking place out of Lake City. Ironically I went a little ways up the Chippewa River and that is where I caught two of my fish.
The flat head bite has definitely slowed! We only caught one fish and had a couple other feeble bites.

June 8, 2016 Wed

June 8, 2016 Wed 6PM-930PM-bass fishing by myself
Where: Mississippi R. pool 7
Weather: S3, clear, 76°
H2O: 8.1↑, 66 kcfs, clear, ? °
Caught: 9 LMB 14-17”, 2 pike 20-26”

Observations: The duckweed is really starting to grow and spread and it starting to form a canopy over the waters surface in areas without current.

The fishing was very good tonight. The vast majority of the fish were caught on a swim jig. Most of the fish were relating to shallow side channels and were hanging close to the weed edges. I did catch my first bass of the night on a rubber frog in the slop. This was the second bass of the year on a frog.

June 6, 2016 Mon

June 6, 2016 Mon 7PM-930PM-bass fishing by myself
Where: Mississippi R. pool 7
Weather: NW15, light rain, 65°
H2O: 7.7↑, 63 kcfs, dirty
Caught: 25” pike, 15” LMB, 14” walleye

Observations: The water is fairly high and dirty; which is quite normal for early June. The rice is on top of the water but it is not yet standing.

I wanted to hit one of my favorite spots on the Black River tonight. I was going to fish where the Black dumps into the Mississippi river about in the middle of pool 7. When I got there I was disappointed with the conditions; the water was high, fast and muddy. I did managed to scratch out a few fish tonight, but it was tough.

June 4, 2016 Sat

June 4, 2016 Sat 630PM-830PM-bass fishing by myself
Where: Mississippi R. pool 7
Weather: W10, cloudy, 70°
H2O: 7.6↑, 61 kcfs, dirty to clear
Caught: 1-23” pike, 16” LMB

It was an afternoon of I have to get out of this house and go fishing type of trip. I have been struggling of late trying to catch largemouth bass and tonight was no exception. The only area I had any action was out by Somners Chute.

June 1, 2016 Wed

June 1, 2016 Wed 7PM-12AM-cat fishing with Scott
Where: Mississippi R. pool 7
Weather: W15, 72°, clear
H2O: 6.92↑, 54 kcfs, 73 °, semi – Clear
Caught: Bait but no flat heads or catfish
The cat-fishing trip tonight was really a bust. First, we struggled to catch bait, and then we could not coax any cats into biting. It was the worst cat trip of the year. We are now at that time of year where the spawn will commence and the fishing will be spotty. I plan on taking it easy on the cat fishing over the next month.

May 30, 2016 Mon

May 30, 2016 Mon 4PM-830PM-bass fishing by myself
Where: Mississippi R. pool 6
Weather: (Approx.) calm, 82°, sunny
H2O: 6.58↑, 49 kcfs, 72 °, semi – Clear
Caught: 8 small mouth bass 12-17”, 2 LMB 16&17”, 1 pike 23”

The bass fishing was not fantastic, but I did okay catching small mouths. The fish were not on the main channel rocks with all the current but they were located on a side channel with rocks and reduced current. In fact I believe these fish were still on the spawn beds because I saw some that looked new. The majority of the fish were caught on a wacky rigged Senko.

May 28, 2016 Sat

May 28, 2016 Sat 430PM-2AM-flat head fishing with Scott
Where: Mississippi R. pool 6 and the Trempealeau R.
Weather: (2053) N7, light rain, 65°
H2O: 5.98↑, 36 kcfs, 69 °, semi – Clear, Trempealeau R. 5.71 →
Caught: Bait: Bluegills and rock bass (was very difficult)
Me: 1-12 lb. channel cat
Scott: 3 & 7 lb. flat heads

The summer season is in full progress with the start of the warmer weather and the thunderstorms. The fishing was pretty difficult tonight. The difficulty started with the bait catching, which was to the point of being stressful on account of the lack of action. The flat head bite was also tough. We managed one bite and one fish at each location we fished.

May 24, 2016 Tue

May 24, 2016 Tue 630PM-1045PM-flat head fishing by myself
Where: Mississippi R. pool 7, Lake Onalaska area
Weather: E3, clear, 70°
H2O: 5.95↓, 44 kcfs,? °, Clear
Caught: Bait (bluegills), 8 LB flat head

Observations: The river is still in pretty good shape: clear and with fairly low flows. The bluegills that were spawning on Sunday had disappeared tonight! Mosquitoes were everywhere tonight and quite numerous.

It was a mid week solo cat fishing outing by myself. I tried one new spot and also fished Somners Chute. The fishing was not great, but I had two bites and caught one flat head.

May 22, 2016 Sun

May 22, 2016 Sun 11AM-2PM-bluegill fishing by myself
7PM-11PM Flat head fishing with Scott
Where: Mississippi R. pool 7, Lake Onalaska (am) and side channels (pm)
Weather: (1253) variable 6, clear, 81°
H2O: 6.34↓, 50 kcfs, 68 ° clear
Caught: AM (me): 50 bluegills, kept 20
PM Me: 5 lb flat head, Scott: 3 lb flat head

Observations:
The water depth and the flow seems abnormally low for this time of year, but then again we are just getting to the thunderstorm season. There appears to be a large quantity of rice again this year. Most of it has not reached the surface but below the surface it looks like a grass field in many locations. The mosquitoes are starting to appear, but thankfully in low numbers. The iris plant are now blooming.

The bluegills are busy with their spawn and are quite easy to catch. The big flat heads are still elusive, but sooner or later we will catch one!

May 21, 2016 Sat

May 21, 2016 Sat 8AM-2PM-pike and bass fishing with John Riek
Where: Mississippi R. pool 8, Pool 7 by myself PM
Weather: (1253) calm, clear, 77°
H2O: 6.38↓, 50 kcfs, 68 °, clear
Caught: Me: 5 LMB 13-16” PM (by myself) 20” SMB, 20” pike
John: 3 LMB14-16”, 3 Pike 22-28”, 1 walleye 20”
Observations: Lawrence Lake and the Stoddard Bay is really becoming weed choked. The large mouth bass in Lawrence Lake appear to be done spawning. The bluegills are making their beds on Lake Onalaska.

Today I struggled to catch fish. Our main goal was to catch pike, but they were pretty uncooperative. If it had not been for my using a Senko and catching LMB I would not have caught much.

May 18, 2016 Wed

May 18, 2016 Wed 7PM-1130PM-cat fishing with Scott
Where: Mississippi R. pool 7
Weather: calm, clear, 60°
H2O: 6.57↓, 59 kcfs, 60 °, clear
Caught: Bait: mostly perch but also a few bluegills
Scott: 1-5LB flat head, Me: 1-8LB flat head

Observations: The river is in good shape: clear and not no too high. The Black River is low and very difficult to navigate even with the go- devil.

Bait catching in the channel was very easy, with the majority of the bait being perch. The flat head bite was not great but the two we did catch bit hard!

May 11, 2016 Wed

May 11, 2016 Wed 60PM-815PM-bass and pike fishing by myself
Where: Mississippi R. pool 7, Lake Onalaska area
Weather: (1753) calm, light rain, 60°
H2O: 7.29↓, 62 kcfs, 58 °, slightly dirty
Caught: 4 pike 20-24”, 1 SMB 13”

Observations: The weed growth on the lake appears to be spotty so far this year. However, that may change with some warmer weather.

I hit about four major spots tonight, and none of them were very good. The pike were caught off the weed edges on the lake and the smallmouth bass was caught off one of the man made islands.

May 8, 2016 Sun

330PM-8PM-bass and pike fishing with Scott
Where: Mississippi R. pool 7, Lake Onalaska area
Weather: (1753) W5, clear, 70°
H2O: 8.38↓, 73 kcfs, 58 °, clear
Caught: Me: 2 pike 20-24”, 2 LMB 12-15”
Scott: 4 pike 20-30”, 6 LMB 10-16”

Observations: The apple blossoms are fading and the lilac bushes are peaking. There is a distinct offshore milfoil weed edge on the northeast lakeshore, but it starts out about fifty yards offshore. The milfoil and weeds in general on the lake do not seem as abundant as they usually are.

Fishing was not too fantastic this evening. I think we would have done better had we stayed on the lake instead of venturing out by the main channel around the Somners Chute area.

May 8, 2016 Sun

May 8, 2016 Sun 330PM-8PM-bass and pike fishing with Scott
Where: Mississippi R. pool 7, Lake Onalaska area
Weather: (1753) W5, clear, 70°
H2O: 8.38↓, 73 kcfs, 58 °, clear
Caught: Me: 2 pike 20-24”, 2 LMB 12-15”
Scott: 4 pike 20-30”, 6 LMB 10-16”

Observations: The apple blossoms are fading and the lilac bushes are peaking. There is a distinct offshore milfoil weed edge on the northeast lakeshore, but it starts out about fifty yards offshore. The milfoil and weeds in general on the lake do not seem as abundant as they usually are.

Fishing was not too fantastic this evening. I think we would have done better had we stayed on the lake instead of venturing out by the main channel around the Somners Chute area.

May 7, 2016 Sat

May 7, 2016 Sat 8AM-11AM-bass and pike fishing by myself
430PM-11PM cat-fishing with Troy
Where: Mississippi R. pool 7
Weather: (AM) N9, sunny, 59°
(PM) N7, clear, 57°
H2O: (Mississippi R. Pool 7) 8.23↓, 71 kcfs, 61 °, clear
(Black R.) 4.31↓, 1.36 kcfs, 60, clear
Caught: (AM) 4 pike 20-30”, 2LMB 13-14”
(PM) me: bait-bluegills and perch, 1-5lb. channel cat
Troy: bait-bluegills and perch, 1-5lb. channel cat

Observations: I observed some carp spawning in the backwaters this morning. There is quite a bit of aquatic plant growth starting to appear and the fish seem to be relating to it.

The morning fishing was very peaceful and relaxing. The boat and fishing traffic was light and in general it was fun. I did catch a lot of fish this morning, but I did eliminate a good amount of unproductive water.
The evening fishing outing with Troy was a good time, except for the high school brats that were being brats. No need to go on, it did get rather disgusting with the group of six little shit heads! The cat fishing was fairly good. We did not catch any flat heads but we did have a fair amount of action and we each managed to catch a decent channel catfish.

May 5, 2016 Thr

May 5, 2016 Thr 5PM-8PM-bass and pike fishing with Nate Hoffman
Where: Mississippi R. pool 8, Dresbach Dam area
Weather: (1753) W5, clear, 70°
H2O: 8.38↓, 73 kcfs, 58 °, clear
Caught: Me: 1-12” sauger, 4 pike 22-38”
Nate: 1-12” LMB, 1-24” pike
Observations: The river is starting to recede and is very clear. The apple trees are blooming and the lilacs have started to bloom. The water level in Dresbach Bay is up into the bushes and slightly into the trees.

This evening’s fish hunt with one of my co-workers went pretty good. I originally wanted to target white bass, but they were uncooperative. The best area for us tonight was the bay on the Minnesota side up by the dam. Nate had a comparably sized pike like mine on, but he lost it at the boat. Unfortunately for my large fish it suffered a torn gill and had to be kept.

May 4, 2016 Wed

May 4, 2016 Wed 630PM-730PM-bass and pike fishing by myself
Where: Mississippi R. pool 7
Weather: (Approx.) NW10, sunny, 58°
H2O: 8.49↓, 74 kcfs, 58 °, clear
Caught: 2 LMB 12-16”

It was too nice of a night to ignore the urge to have a quick fix of fishing. It was a beautiful night and the fish somewhat cooperated.

May 1, 2016 Sun

May 1, 2016 Sun 930AM-1PM-bass and pike fishing by myself
Where: Mississippi R. pool 4, Nelson, WI
Weather: (1153) NE7, G17, partly cloudy, 55°
H2O: 10.15↑, 67 kcfs, 52 °, clear
Caught: Approx. 10 pike 22-27”

Observations: I did spot some lily plants that were completely leafed out under the surface of the water.

Everyone left me today, so I was the loner fisherman. I mainly fished the big bay just to the south of Wabasha. Fishing was pretty good on the western shore and the average size of the pike seemed bigger.

April 30, 2016 Sat

April 30, 2016 Sat 930AM-5PM-bass and pike fishing with Andy R.
Where: Mississippi R. pool 4, Nelson, WI
Weather: E14, G25, overcast, 51°
H2O: 9.92↑, 64 kcfs, 52 °, clear
Caught: Approx. Me: 12 pike 20-25”
Andy: 5 pike 20-29”

Observations: The water is extremely clear. The apple trees, dandelions and lilac bushes are all blooming.

Today was a pretty tough fishing day. We were probably fortunate to have been chased off the water by the rain before dark. The best fishing today was in front of the cabin. The best bait for the inactive pike was a Man’s Baby minus one.

April 29, 2016 Fri

3PM-730PM-bass and pike fishing with Andy R.
Where: Mississippi R. pool 4, Nelson, WI
Weather: (1553) N7, overcast, 54°
H2O: 9.6↑, 59 kcfs, 52 °, clear
Caught: Approx. Me: 10 pike 20-33”, 3 LMB 14-18”
Andy: 3 pike 20-24”
Observations: There is not a lot of aquatic vegetation yet springing to life in the backwaters. However, there is quite a bit of mill foil out in front of the resort. The cattail plants are beginning to send shoots skyward.

The weather was cold for the start of our annual pike fishing trip. I started the trip wearing long underwear and they stayed on while fishing the whole weekend.

The water was higher than it was last weekend; thank goodness for that. The fishing was not too bad tonight. The fish did not come easy but the action was fair.

April 26, 2016 Tue

April 26, 2016 Tue 615PM-745PM-bass and pike fishing by myself
Where: Mississippi R. pool 7, Lake Onalaska
Weather: (1853) E12, overcast, 49°
H2O: 6.03↓, 45 kcfs, 58 °, clear
Caught: 1 pike 24”, 3 LMB 14-18”

Observations: The redbud tree in the back yard is blooming and the lilac bushes in the front are close to it. The flowering crabs around the area are in full bloom. The water is so low in the back yard that my goat boat was no longer floating; it was resting on the mud!

It was a cold and breezy fishing night. I cannot complain though even with the bad conditions the fishing was pretty good. I tried multiple spots in a very short time, but I only had success at Ashley Point.

April 24, 2016 Sun

April 24, 2016 Sun 930AM-730PM-bass and pike fishing with Scott
Where: Mississippi R. pool 4, Nelson, WI
Weather: (1255) E10 G21, light rain, 55°
H2O: 7.6 →, 30 kcfs, 62 °, murky to clear
Caught (aprox.): Me: 15 pike 18-22”, 2 LMB 12-14”
Scott: 40 Pike 18-31’, 3 LMB 12-18”, 1 dogfish 24”

Observations: The water is extremely low up here and there is very little aquatic vegetation.
Today was an extremely frustrating day for me. I had contemplated bringing the goat boat, and I wish I had. The shallow draft and the lightness of that boat would have made navigating much easier. Maneuvering my big boat was very difficult on account of the shallow water. I was even forced to get out of the boat twice to push it off shallow areas.
The pike bite was pretty good, however the size of the pike were small. Scott had a good time catching the fish but it just added to my frustration!

April 23, 2016 Sat

April 23, 2016 Sat 545-745PM-bass and pike fishing by myself
Where: Mississippi R. pool 7 upper stump area
Weather: (1853) S14, clear, 69°, 29.96
H2O: 5.89↓, 43 kcfs, 62 °, murky
Caught: 2 pike 18-22”, 1 LMB 12”

Observations: Some of the early trees are really starting to leaf out. The rhubarb leaves are about the size of saucers. My red bud tree is also close to blooming. The cattails have started to send up their shoots.

Fishing was pretty slow tonight. I am not sure if it was because of the low water or the reduced visibility in the water on account of all the wind. Anyway, I really had to work for the fish I did catch. I never caught anything on the spinner bait, but the swim bait did catch a couple.

April 22, 2016 Fri

April 22, 2016 Fri 7PM- 1AM Walleye fishing with Scott and Steve Scauf
Where: Mississippi R. pool 8 Dresbach Dam area
Weather: (2153) NW5, clear, 49°, 30.13
H2O: 6.02↓, 45 kcfs, 61 °, clear
Caught (approx.) me: 2 white bass 14-17.5”, 2 sauger 10-13”, 4 walleyes 13-16”
Scott: 2 white bass 14”, 4 walleyes, 2 LMB
Steve: 4 walleyes 14-17”, 3 white bass 14-16”, 6 LMB 12-15”, 4 SMB 14-16”, 1 pike 23”, 1 dog fish 22”
Observations: The red bud trees along with the pear trees are blooming in the city, and it looks as if the apple trees are very close to blooming. It was a beautiful full moon tonight!

It was a much later night than I had expected, but that’s what you get when you go fishing with Scott and it is his boat. The walleye bite has definitely dwindled.
Tonight I experienced something I have never seen before; the bass were biting after dark. Steve was throwing a rattletrap off of the willow point by the dam and he was schooling Scott and myself. He was consistently catching both large mouth bass and small mouth bass.

April 20, 2016 Wed

615-8PM-bass and pike fishing by myself
Where: Mississippi R. pool 7 mid pool backwaters
Weather: (1853) SE8, light rain, 60°, 29.88
H2O: 5.98↓, 45 kcfs, 62 °, clear to turbid
Caught: 1 SMB 19”, 1 pike 22”, 1 LMB 14”

Observations: The plum trees are blooming and some flowering crab apple trees are close to blooming. The water is very low for this time of year and navigation is already a challenge. The sedimentation on this pool is very bad and worsens each year. The submergent vegetation (kelp) is profusely growing and is at the surface in most of the back bays.

Fishing was not particularly exciting tonight. The only dramatic thing that did happen was that I got stuck and had to get out and push it off the sand. However, I did catch one super sized smallmouth, which was quite the thrill. In fact I was very surprised I caught it where I did. It was caught out of an old decayed rice bed that was in about one foot of water. I never did have any consistency tonight; I just caught a fish here and there. I never did catch two fish in the same area, however I do think I lost another jumbo small mouth where I caught the nineteen incher.

April 18, 2016 Mon.

April 18, 2016 Mon. 6-830PM-bass and pike fishing by myself
Where: Mississippi R. pool 7 stump fields and mid lake areas
Weather: (1653) S8, mostly cloudy, 80°, 30.16
H2O: 6.46↓, 51 kcfs, 67 °, clear
Caught: 15 LMB 12-17”, 2 pike 20-25”, 1-20” dogfish

Observations: The tree buds are starting to pop and the bulb plants are profusely blooming. In certain areas there is lots of submergent plant growth. That same type of weed is littered all over the surface in some areas. I don’t know if it is because boat props had cut it or if it had just broken off from the main plant and floated to the surface. Also, I observed a pod of carp out on the lake spawning!
The fishing was not quite as hot as it was last night, but it was still good. I caught some of the bass where I caught them last night, but they were not there in the numbers as last night. As far as the pike fishing goes, it has not been good as of yet. I either have not been able to locate them or they just aren’t very active yet.

April 17, 2016 Sun.

April 17, 2016 Sun. 5-8PM-bass and pike fishing by myself
Where: Mississippi R. pool 7 stump fields
Weather: (1853) S6, overcast, 78°, 30.25
H2O: 6.7↓, 53 kcfs, 67 °, clear
Caught: 15 LMB 12-17”, 5 pike 20-24”, 3 dogfish 22-31”

Observations: Spring is finally here and with that said the mosquitoes cannot be too far off. The lily pads have not yet made it to the surface, but they are definitely developing on the river floor. The Rhubarb is beginning to leaf out and the lilacs are forming flower blossoms.

It was a very good evening of fishing! Things started out slow, but for the last hour I had the fish dialed in. It appears the fish are staging to make their move into the far back bays of the lake. Oh, and the dogfish were extremely active; fun fish to catch but not very fun to deal with after they are boat side. I have never had so much action from this prehistoric fish. I bet for the three I caught I probably missed ten. These fish are one mean critter with very powerful jaws, but I think I learned how to handle them tonight. Most of the fish were caught in extremely shallow water that averaged one to one and one half feet in depth.

April 16, 2016 Sat.

April 16, 2016 Sat. 1230-10PM-miscellaneous fishing with Scott
Where: Mississippi R. pool 8, Dresbach Dam and adjacent back waters
Weather: (1553) S13, partly cloudy, 81°, 30.20
H2O: 6.58↓, 53 kcfs, 62 °, clear
Caught: (approx.) me: 5 white bass, 4 pike 22-25”, 2 walleyes 24”
Scott: 4 white bass, 7 pike 20-31”, 1-18.5 SMB, 1-14” LMB

Observations: The water is still in a state of dropping and the water clarity is good. The maple and other early budding trees are starting to “pop” and the insects are out. We observed quite a few fishermen catching bluegills in slack water areas adjacent to the main channel and off the main channel.

It was our typical afternoon of competitive fishing between Scott and myself. Unfortunately I have to say Scott out fished me. I started out strong, but unfortunately for me Scott took the lead and never looked back. We hit the white bass where we caught them yesterday but they were not as numerous today. We targeted pike for several hours and never really got into any numbers. Yesterday I said I was done early season walleye jigging, but we tried it again tonight and had very little success with it.
Today I also did have the opportunity to help out a fellow boater. We came upon two fishermen in a boat that would not start. They asked if I would tow them to the boat landing and I said no problem. When we got there they offered me some money but I refused and said that someday they may need to repay the favor to me. It did take away a little time from our fishing but that’s what other boaters do, they render aid if necessary.

April 15, 2016 Fri.

April 15, 2016 Fri. 5-10PM myself and John Riek walleye fishing
Where: Mississippi R. pool 8, Desbach Dam
Weather: (1853) SE15, clear, 73°, 30.08
H2O: 6.91↓, 58 kcfs, 58 °, clear
Caught: (approx.) me: 8 white bass 12-14”, 1-14” small mouth bass, 4 walleyes 12-15”
John: 1 white bass, 2 walleyes 13-14”, kept 8 white bass
Observations: The river is dropping like a tub with the plug pulled and I expect the fishing to really pick up with the warmer weather and good water clarity.

It was an after work adventure with John tonight. I was targeting walleyes for the last time this spring. The walleye fishing has really died, but we did get into some white bass on a secondary slough that had a good sand drop.

April 14, 2016 Thr.

April 14, 2016 Thr. 6-8PM-bass and pike fishing by myself
Where: Mississippi R. pool 7 stump fields
Weather: S14, clear, 66°, 30.08
H2O: 7.1↓, 60 kcfs, 56 °, turbid - dingy
Caught: 4 LMB 13-16”, 1-20” pike, 1-24” dogfish

Observations: Spring has sprung; finally! The bulb plants and the magnolia trees are now blooming. The pond lily plants are starting to develop underwater in the back bays and in short order they will be on the waters surface.

Tonight I was expecting and hoping to catch a bass or pike or ideally both. And I did! The fishing was not fantastic, but there was enough action to keep me interested. The fish have not seemed to have made their journeys to the back bays of the upper reaches of the lake.

April 12, 2016 Tue.

April 12, 2016 Tue. 5-11PM-walleye fishing with coworker Nate (Nate fished till 9PM).
Where: Mississippi R. pool 8, Dresbach Dam
Weather: (1953) SE6, overcast, 50°, 30.21
H2O: 7.64↓, 65 kcfs, 45 °, clear
Caught: Me: Approx. 7 walleyes 13-22”, Kept 3 -15-16”, 1-5lb drum
Nate: 3 walleyes 13-14”, 1-2lb sucker

Observations: There is not too much to report on with the new signs of spring. However the next seven-day forecast is looking more spring like. The walleyes appeared to be spawning or spawned out. Lots of small walleyes were being caught just above the willow point.

Nate from work joined me tonight. We started out south of the bridge and had virtually no action there. All the action came from the willow point just downstream of the fishing float.

April 10, 2016 Sun.

April 10, 2016 Sun. 2-530PM-myself bass and pike fishing
Where: Mississippi R. pool 7, Trempealeau Lakes
Weather: W9, clear, 60°
H2O: 7.76↓, 66 kcfs, 46 °, very clear
Caught: 2-14” LMB

Observation: I had no pike action and the water in third lake is very clear.

Today I fished the Trempealeau Lakes area for bass and pike. I chose this area because I figured the water would be a little warmer in the sheltered area these lakes are in. And it was. The water was about four degrees warmer in the lakes than out on the main river areas. I fished with a suspending jerk bait and a finesse jig. I caught the two bass and a perch on the jerk bait and I lost a very nice bass on the finesse jig. I had no pike action

April 9, 2016 Sat.

April 9, 2016 Sat. 630PM-130AM-walleye fishing with Scott
Where: Mississippi R. pool 8, Dresbach Dam
Weather: (1953) SE18 G25, clear, 39°, 29.98
H2O: 7.9↓, 68 kcfs, 41 °, fairly clear
Caught: Me: walleyes 2-21” 1-15, 1- 14
Scott: Approx. 7 walleyes 13-16”, 1 – 12” sauger

It was a brutally cold and windy night to be out walleye fishing. I caught a couple of nice fish, but it was oh so slow! There is no way I would have fished that long if I would have been doing it alone. But, when you fish with Scott you are going to be fishing for the long haul. No one area was more productive than another; we just got a fish here and there.

April 6, 2016 Wed

. 630-1115PM-walleye fishing with Scott
Where: Mississippi R. pool 8, Dresbach Dam
Weather: (1753) NW16, light rain, 39°, 29.64↑
H2O: 8.48↓, 73 kcfs, 41 °, discolored
Caught: Me: 58” sturgeon, 5 walleyes 14-27.5”, 1-14” sauger, kept 2 walleyes.
Scott: 6 walleyes 12-21”
Observation: It is still very cold; spring has been put on hold! I did see a few tulips in Lacrosse that were blooming, but they were the exception.

It was a very successful after work fishing trip for us tonight. The weather was brutal (cold and windy) but the fishing was very good. My big walleye of the year came just before dark off of a flooded grass point in about three feet of water. The fish just slammed my Pulsar bait!
One half hour later in the same spot I hooked into the big sturgeon. It was a Forty minutes battle with lots of take by the fish and more give than take by me. Finally the fish tired and we were able to get it into the boat for a couple of quick pictures before releasing her. The last two hours of the night were not nearly as dramatic, but were good. I did notice the last half hour of our trip the intensity of the bite really picked up. Unfortunately it was a work night and I did have to get some sleep. It is always so hard to leave when the fish are biting.

April 3, 2016 Sun.

April 3, 2016 Sun. 4-730PM-pike fishing with Scott
Where: Mississippi R. pool 7, Brice Prairie area
Weather: (1753) N21 G25, sunny, 66°
H2O: 8.5↑, 74 kcfs, 46 °, turbid to clear
Caught: Me: nothing, Scott: lost small pike at boat side

Today I really did not expect to catch much, and we did not. However I was hopeful we would each catch a fish or two.
We combed the water and tried many early season pike holding spots but it was to no avail. Looking back I wish I had fished a slower presentation. Perhaps something like a floating Rapala or maybe a Fluke.

March 28, 2016 Mon.

March 28, 2016 Mon. 530-7PM-pike and bass fishing by myself
Where: Mississippi R. pool 7, Brice Prairie area
Weather: (1753) calm, sunny, 58°
H2O: 8.46 ↓, 73 kcfs, 49-52 °, clear
Caught: Noting

Observations: Still not too much sign of spring from the plant life. However, I did see some water lily leaves starting to emerge from the muck in one of the back bays.
I was very hopeful that fishing would be fairly decent tonight. I figured with the warmer day and water temperatures shooting up 8-10 degrees I would have more action than yesterday, but it was not! I started out north of the chute and made my way south to Ashley Point, but I found not active fish.

March 27, 2016 Sun

March 27, 2016 Sun. 330-7PM-pike and bass fishing by myself
Where: Mississippi R. pool 7, Brice Prairie area
Weather: (1653) NW10, overcast, 46°
H2O: 8.7 ↓, 75 kcfs, 42 °, clear
Caught: Almost one pike (lost boat side)

Observations: There is a ton of waterfowl around the river right now; the spring migrations are in full swing. The reed canary grass is staring to emerge on some of the islands and it is about one inch tall. The emerald ash borer beetles devastation is showing on the islands. I am no longer going to include the barometric pressure reading on my fishing reports, mainly because I have never seen a correlation between what it is doing and how well the fish are biting.
I fished for about two and one half hours tonight and explored an island for another hour. I did bring one medium sized pike boat side but was unable to land it. I don’t think I got a good hook set on it mainly because I was surprised to have gotten a bite.
The devastation from the emerald ash borer is very apparent on the islands. The woodpeckers have completely stripped the infested trees of their bark to get at the bugs. It doesn’t look like any ash trees will be spared!

March 25, 2016 Sat.

March 25, 2016 Sat. 130-7PM-walleye fishing by myself
Where: Mississippi R. pool 6, Winona Dam
Weather: (1453) S9, clear, 44°, 30.01→
H2O: 9.89 ↓, 79.7 kcfs, 42.5 °, clear
Caught: 1-15” sauger
Observations: The Gates are still open and water is very high. However, it is clear. The banks and hills are still snow covered from the snowfall the other day.

It was Good Friday and I had the day off, so that meant I was going fishing. Since the water was very high and the gates were open I did not expect much for action. But, as I look at it you never know. Sometimes I have some great fishing action when I least expect it.
If it had not been for the one sauger I caught the day would have been a complete blank. I was able to find some nice eddy spots with reduced current and fishable water, but the fish were either not biting or just were not there. It was a very slow day!

March 22, 2016 Tues.

March 22, 2016 Tues. 630-9PM-walleye fishing with Scott
Where: Mississippi R. pool 8, Dresbach Dam
Weather: NW6, clear, 59°, 29.16↑
H2O: 10.76 ↑, 102 kcfs, 42 °, dingy
Caught: Me: 1-11” sauger, 4 walleyes 12-13”
Observations: The water is very high and dingy and all the gates are up.

I did not expect the fishing to be great tonight and it was not! Two weeks ago I thought we were going to have an early spring, but that has all changed. The weather has turned colder and is probably even a little below average as of late. In fact, as I write this we are experiencing a blizzard and the area is expected to get 7-12” of snow tonight!
The fishing was pretty slow, but I actually had more action than I thought I would have. I did miss quite a few bites and I think that was on account of the water being so dingy and the fish being unable to clearly see the lure. The river was raging along quite fast, but fishing was not to bad if you found a little current break and fished the slack side of it.

March 20, 2016 Sun

March 20, 2016 Sun. 7-8PM-walleye fishing by myself
Where: Mississippi R. pool 8, Dresbach Dam off the wall
Weather: NW14, clear, 45°
Caught: 1-13” sauger
H2O: 10.11 ↑, 93 kcfs, ? °
Observations: The river is high and the gates are all open. The water at the upper landing is to the bottom of the turnaround curb. The lower landing is still useable. There is not too much sign of spring yet. The rhubarb along with the bleeding hearts are not barely starting to break the ground surface with their new growth.
Tonight I needed to get out a do a little bit of fishing someplace. I decided to keep the boat in the driveway and go the easy route and fish from shore. Well almost from shore. I went and fished off the wall at the Dresbach Dam. I caught one sauger in and hour. I possibly had another bite or two, but I am not totally sure about that. There were probably ten other fishermen fishing off the wall when I got there, and none of them were catching much. It looked like half were fishing for perch and the other half just didn’t know what they were doing.

March 17, 2016 Thr

March 17, 2016 Thr. 7-730PM-bluegill fishing
Where: Mississippi R. pool 7 behind house
Weather: W15, 45°
Caught: 2 small bluegills
H2O: 7.88 ↑, 68 kcfs, ? °

It was a quick little outing behind the house again. I keep expecting to catch some bluegills but it has not yet happened. Usually from ice out to around mid-April the little bay next to the boat landing is loaded with gills. Not this year! I did catch a couple little ones and had some bites, but it is definetly not a normal year for that spot.

March 15, 2016 Tues.

March 15, 2016 Tues. 5:30PM-6PM bluegill fishing
Where: Mississippi R. pool 7 behind house
Weather: E8, light rain, 49°, 29.58↓
Caught: nothing
H2O: 7.51 ↓, 64 kcfs, ? °

It was a quick walk behind the house to the river to see if any fish had moved in since last week. They had not! I did have a few bites, but I would have to say they were either small bluegills or shiner minnows.

March 12, 2016 Sun.

March 12, 2016 Sun. 9AM-230PM, snowshoe hare hunting with Zeta and Roxy and Nate and his dogs Ruger and Annie
Where: Crivitz, WI
Weather: (1215) E15, mostly cloudy, 43°, trace of snow
Bagged: Me: 1 hare
Observations: The snow did not completely disappear yesterday, but it did get extensively reduced.

Today we started out in a small spruce and tamarack swamp. We had several runs started but the dogs could not sustain anything. I am not sure what they reason was but it did seem a little icy right away this morning.
Around mid morning we moved to some higher ground that we had ran at the end of the day yesterday. The area was composed mostly of a clear cut that was probably around six years old. Nate kept Ruger in the box at this spot and also for the rest of the day.
We had one great run here, with the dogs just screaming on the hare. After a rather long and successful run the hare fell to dose of lead from my 410 shot gun. I had seen the white bunny three different times before I was close enough to make the shot.
We tried a couple other spots before the long trek home. Unfortunately no more hares were raised. It is with both sadness and relief that this is my last hunt of the year. I am always worried running hares, because where there are hares there are wolves. I am very thankful that we had no run in with those big critters and my wonderful dogs are safe and at home.

March 12, 2016 Sat.

March 12, 2016 Sat. 930AM-5PM, snowshoe hare hunting with Zeta and Roxy and Nate and his dogs Ruger and Annie
Where: Crivitz, WI
Weather: (1215) W5, clear, 59°, trace of snow
Bagged: Nate: 1 hare
Observations: Most of the snow is gone except for the sheltered and shaded areas. The lakes are still locked up with ice here, and unfortunately the ticks are also out!
I traveled over to the northeastern part of the state this weekend for some hare hunting with Nate (member or the Ragged Rock Beagle Club). The first two spots we hunted were thick jack pine groves that Nate had hunted earlier in the year. Nate said earlier they were plenty of hare there, but they seemed to have left when the snow cover disappeared. The day was not great, but we did get three good runs in.

March 9, 2016 Wed.

March 9, 2016 Wed. 6:30PM-930PM Walleye fishing by myself
Where: Mississippi R. pool 7 Dresbach Dam
Weather: W10, 45°
Caught: approx. approximately 12 sauger and 3 walleye, kept 3 walleye and 3 sauger
H2O: 5.98↑, 44.6 kcfs, ? °
I started out fishing the area where the boats lock through. I was targeting areas with little to no current and the current seam next to the bull nose. I caught a couple of sauger and missed a couple of other bites, but the action was pretty slow here.
Next I moved out into the current along the wall from the second bull nose up to the restricted area. The current was quite strong here, but it was still fishable. The action was not red hot, but it was decent. About half the fish I caught here came from casting upstream and the other half came from casting downstream. The bites I did get were not subtle.

March 8, 2016 Tues.

March 8, 2016 Tues. 5:30PM-6PM bluegill fishing
Where: Mississippi R. pool 7 behind house
Weather: SW12, 30°
Caught: approx. 4 bluegills 4-6”
H2O: 5.93↑, 43.5 kcfs, ? °
Observations: All the sloughs and areas with current are fully open. The bay where I fished next to the landing is still ¾ covered with ice.

The back bay behind the house and next to the landing is still mostly ice covered, but I was able to fish between the ice and the shore. The fishing was really slow and the fish I did catch were quite small

March 5, 2016 Sat

March 5, 2016 Sat. 8AM-230PM, ice fishing with co-worker Nate Hoffman//630PM-123OAM walleye fishing with Scott

Where: Ice fishing: Mississippi R. Goose Island//walleye fishing Trempealeau Dam

Weather: Ice fishing (1153): N10, overcast, 37°, 30.20↓, 10” of ice//walleye fishing (2053): S6, overcast 35°, 30.21↓

H20: 6.08↓, 46.1kcfs, 34°, clear

Caught: ice fishing: Nate-22” northern, me-nothing//walleye fishing: me-approx. 15 walleyes/sauger, Scott: approx. 20 walleye/sauger, kept 10

Observations: All the areas on the river with any amount of current are ice-free. Most of the snow is gone. Sheltered areas with not current and adequate depth for pan fish wintering areas are disappearing.

The first trip of the day was an ice fishing trip with one of my co-workers. The late winter ice conditions were just perfect to make it to a couple of the remote spots I like to fish when the sloughs are ice-free. With the open water I am able to take a boat to get to these spots. Whereas in the winter it is either dangerous to walk to them or the distance makes it prohibitive. Unfortunately I had issues with my motor and the boat to idea was scrapped. We did try a couple other areas around Goose Island that we could walk to. Unfortunately we only caught on fish. In retrospect this trip really sucked!
I wasn’t home for ten minutes from my ice fishing misadveventures , when I got a text from Scott asking me to go walleye fishing. I decided what the hell, even though I was tired and discouraged I needed to get some good fishing in. The fishing started out slow, but gradually improved as the night went on. It ended up being a late and tiring night, but the action was pretty decent.

March 1, 2016 Tues

March 1, 2016 Tues. 5PM-6PM, ice fishing by myself
Where: Mississippi R. lower landing at the Dresbach Dam
Weather: NW9, clear, 21°, 30.07↑, 12” of ice
Caught: nothing

I was on a brief scouting trip after work tonight. The fishing was not good and the wind was very cold. I did mark a few fish and managed to miss a couple of bites, but I believe they were just small perch judging by their actions. Sometimes this area will hold a good number of decent sized crappies, but today was not the day.

Observations: All the areas of the river with any amount of current are now ice free. However the sheltered areas still have an adequate amount of ice to easily support a fisherman.

Feb 27, 2016 Sat

. 10AM-5PM, snowshoe hare hunting with Zeta and Roxy
Where: Hannibal, WI
Weather: S 11, clear, 45°, 6” wet melting snow
Bagged: 3 hares

My once a weekend rabbit and hare hunts are winding down and soon they will be over for the season. The morning started out cold with some very crusty snow conditions. On account of the crusty snow and the possible damage it would do to the dog’s feet, I elected to do a little scouting for the first hour and a half. I did not find too much for sign and in the limited run time for the dogs they never located a hare.
Around noon I headed to a know spot with and abundance of hares. When I got to m first spot I made the mistake of trying to get off the road too far and ended up going into the abyss of a snow filled ditch. Since the dogs and myself were chomping at the bit to hunt, I said screw it and put off the inevitable of getting unstuck for a later time. In a very short time frame the girls had a hare up and running. After a two-hour chase and two missed shots the hare finally succumbed to the birdshot fired from my simplistic single shot .410 shotgun.
Now it was time to pony up and suffer the consequences of my misguided judgment. After two hours of digging and a rutted up ditch the truck was still unable to get enough grip to crawl out of the ditch. Just at the time I had given up in frustration and exhaustion a lost sales man comes along asking me for directions. I told him there was nothing down the road he was going but a dead end and a very probable situation just like the one I was in. Then he asks “and how is your day”! Not worth a shit was my reply.
The salesman Ryan gave me a ride back to the beginning of the road and to the nearest house with a big truck sitting in the garage. I was hoping to get lucky and find a sympathetic person to hopefully improve my day somewhat. Luckily I landed at the right spot and Dean was both sympathetic and very helpful. Dean had a big old diesel Ford and the big powerful truck hardly even strained as it pulled me up and out of the ditch. I tried to send Dean on his way with a couple of twenties, but he just laughed and said “are you serious”. Finally after some insisting on my part he agreed to take a single twenty but only if I gave it to his 8 year old co-pilot that was riding shot gun on this adventure.
I ended the almost perfect day with another two hours of beagle music and two more hares.

Feb 21, 2016

Sun. 11AM-430PM, ice fishing with Scott
Where: Mississippi R. near Winona
Weather: (1253) N7, clear, 42°, 12” of ice
Caught: me: Pike (2) 24-26”, LMB (1)-20”, Scott: Pike (4) 3) 31-34”, 1) 24”, various pan fish
It was only my fourth time out ice fishing this year and it was a good outing. I basically only tip-up fished the entire time whereas Scott also tip-up fished and jigged fished.
The tip-up action was pretty good and steady up until about the last hour and a half before dark. I don’t know if the bite slowed on account of us running out of decent sized shiners or if was on account of the time of day. We went through about fifteen shiners and at the end we were using some of the ones that we had already caught fish on.
The ice is still very solid and averaged about twelve inches thick. The snow has disappeared from the ice and is vanishing quickly from the woods.

Feb 20, 2016 Sat

Feb 20, 2016 Sat. 12PM-5PM, snowshoe hare hunting with Zeta and Roxy
Where: Fairchild, WI
Weather: W16, mostly cloudy, 42°, 8” wet melting snow
Bagged: nothing

I got my one-day of bunny chasing in this weekend. Today I traveled north in search of the white ghosts. The Fairchild area was god to me last year, but this year the hare numbers seem way down.
The first two hours we never found a hare to chase. Finally the girls rattled one out of its lair and the chase was on for the next three hours! That’s a very long time to chase one hare without putting it in your game bag or without the dogs losing the track. Towards the end of the day I captured the dogs and ended the chase. They wanted to continue, but it was time to go home.

Feb 18, 2016 Thr

Feb 18, 2016 Thr. 530PM-730PM, ice fishing for walleyes
Where: Mississippi R., Dresbach Dam
Weather: SE23 G33, overcast, 40°, 12” of ice
Caught: one 13” sauger

It was a short outing below the dam tonight. I knew it wouldn’t be a catching night, so I did a little experimenting with fishing locations. I tried about fifty yards to the south of the long wall and I also tried out form the landing.
I did not catch anything below the long wall, but I did catch the sauger out from the landing in about twelve feet of water. I did not mark as many fish tonight as I had the other day.

Feb 14, 2016

Feb 14, 2016 Sun. 230PM-5PM, rabbit hunting with Zeta
Where: Blair, WI
Weather: SE17, overcast, 19°, 8” of crusty snow with 1” of fresh powder on top
Bagged: one cottontail

It was a short hunt with Zeta this afternoon. I opted to leave Roxy at home on account of the crusty snow and the damage it would do to her feet. Roxy is so much more susceptible to cuts on her feet than Zeta is.
We had a chase start almost immediately. It was a great run and it lasted about two hours. Zeta did a great job! You would have thought that I could have figured out one of the routes the bunny would take and ambush it, but I never did. I did see it a couple of times and even missed what would have been a great opportunity if I would have been ready and seen it sooner. The Rabbit I did end up shooting was actually a stray (a rabbit that was not chased by the dogs but was kicked up or moved by them). I do not shoot strays, but sometimes you just don’t know. It was a great afternoon hunt with great conditions and great dog work.

Feb 10, 2016

Wed. 5PM-730PM Ice fishing for walleyes by myself
Where: Dresbach Dam
Weather: clear, calm, 5°, 12” ice
Caught: one 15” walleye

It was my fist trip of the season fishing for walleyes through the ice below any of the dams. With the mild temperatures and the high river flow rates this season ice fishing below the dams has just not been possible.
As it is the fishing locations below the Dresbach Dam were very limited. Generally I like to be fishing alongside the short wall but there is no ice there this year. As it was I was able to fish just below and in line with the long wall.
The first spot I fished was about ten feet deep. I marked several fish in an hour, but had no bites. The second spot I fished was about ten yards out farther towards the main channel and was about fifteen feet deep. I marked a few fish and caught the one walleye there.
I did have one of my younger friends Adam stop by and we fished for about a half hour longer with no bites. He had been fishing at the French Island Power Plant and had caught a couple small eyes.

Feb 7, 2016

Feb 7, 2016 9AM-4PM Rabbit hunting with Roxy, Zeta, Lacy and Scott
Where: Lafarge, WI
Weather: (1253pm) clear, 41°, W18 G28, 12 inches of powder snow AM, 8inches of wet settled snow PM
Bagged: me: nothing, Scott: one cottontail

It was Super Bowl Sunday, but I didn’t care, I was hoping to get some super rabbit chasing in. Things started off slow but as the day warmed and he snow melted the action heated up.
The amount of snow on the ground made rabbit hunting fairly difficult. With that amount of snow the rabbits don’t like to run to far and they will try to hole up quickly.

We did have a number of good runs over the course of the day. I had several rabbits within feet of me and I let them go. I mainly wanted to let the dog runs and I also tried to do a little video taping of th

Jan 31, 2016

Jan 31, 2016 10:00AM-4: 30PM Rabbit hunting with Roxy, Zeta, Lacy and Jeremy and his boys Eon and Colton
Where: Gilman, WI
Weather: (2:15pm) overcast, 37°, NW9, 8 inches of sugary snow
Bagged: nothing

I had invited Jeremy and his two boys to go along with me hare hunting today. Jeremy had gone with me many years ago, but the boys have never chased the winter ghosts.
We did not bag anything today, but all had a good time. Eon missed a “gift from god” (a grouse on the ground) and Colton missed the same hare twice and Jeremy missed it once.
The dogs really did not put on that good of a show today, especially Lacy. If I just run Roxy and Zeta together I have good runs but if I throw Lacy in the equation the runs are not consistent.

Jan 30, 2016

Jan 30, 2016 11:30AM-2: 30PM Rabbit hunting with Dick’s dog Lacy
Where: Ettrick, WI
Weather: mostly cloudy, 41°, S10, 3 inches of crunchy snow with 2 inches of powder on top
Bagged: nothing

Today was more about investigating potential rabbit hunting spots than hunting. It was an area that I have hunted in the past with some amount of success. Today, the bunnies were not here. I think the main reason for the lack of rabbits is the woods have started to mature and the brush is disappearing.
Lacy did manage to put together one respectable run until the rabbit got tired of being chased and holed up!

Jan 23, 2016

Jan 23, 2016 11:00AM-5PM Hare hunting with Zeta, Roxy and Dick’s dog Lacy
Where: Gilman, WI
Weather: Nice, partly cloudy, 25°, N 10-15, 8 inches of snow cover
Bagged: Two hares

Today I was hunting solo. I was however accompanied by my dogs Roxy and Zeta and Dick’s dog Lacy.
The first spot was a smallish area off Cemetery Road. I did not want to try and keep track of all three dogs at once, so Roxy and Zeta got the first period. Things started out relatively slow, but it did not take long to heat up. The girls did a pretty good job of running two different hares and I was able to bag both.
The next stop was Hooker Road. Lacy got the call for this second period and I ran her by herself. Things started off well with Lacy staying in contact with me for about the first three minutes, then she was gone! Thank goodness for GPS tracking collars. One look down at my display and I could see she was already two hundred yards away and moving farther out. The chase was on for me to catch her or at least catch up to her. Lacy is able to chase a rabbit, but she is not much of a search dog. She tends to hunt way too fast and just tries to cut a track and not necessarily jump a rabbit. Luckily for me she crossed a hot track and proceeded to run a hare for the next two hours. I did get a couple of glimpses of it and even managed to get a shot off at it, but I never did bag it. I actually had to catch Lacy and drag her through a tag alder swamp from hell.
For the final period I ran Roxy and Zeta. We managed to get a small run going just before dark, but I never saw or connected with this hare. I ended up pulling them off and getting them back to the truck. The conditions were quite good today. The snow was about eight inches deep with no crust. The temperature was also very comfortable with a high in the mid twenties. The area did not seem to have any new snow within the last couple of days and hare sign was very apparent and abundant.

Jan 16, 2016

Jan 16, 2016 12:30PM-4: 30PM Rabbit hunting with Zeta and Dick’s dog Lacy and Scott
Where: Lafarge, WI
Weather: mostly cloudy, 7°, W17, 6 inches of crunchy snow cover
Bagged: Me: two cotton tails, Scott: nothing

It was a cold rabbit-hunting day. The wind was strong, the rabbits were hard to find and the dogs could not smell. Even though it was quite cold, I was dress appropriately and did not notice it being that cold.
It was tough for the dogs however. The snow was very crusty, except for about ½ inch of fluff that was on top of the crust. The dogs were able to get around quite well, but their feet took a lot of punishment. The scenting also seemed to be very poor. They did have a couple of goods runs but for the most part they struggled.

Jan 10, 2016

Jan 10, 2016 10:00AM-3:00PM Tip up fishing with Scott
Where: Goose Island, WI
Weather: sunny, cold, -4°, windy, mostly bare ice
Caught: Me: nothing, Scott: 2 pike 18 & 26”

It was my first trip on the ice for the year and I wanted to fish for pike. We started out fishing the south end of Goose Island where I had success last year early in the season. After two hours and no fish and no excitement except for the three coyotes I saw it was time to move on.
Our next stop was a bay just to the north of the tubes in the middle of Goose Island. This spot proved to be a little better. That is for Scott anyhow; he managed to ice two pike and I missed one.

Jan 9, 2016

Jan 9, 2016 10:00AM-3: 30PM snowshoe hare hunting with my dog Zeta and Roxy along with Dick and his dog Lacy
Where: Fairchild, WI
Weather: cloudy, 17°, windy, 6 inches of crunchy snow cover
Bagged: Me: one show shoe hare

It was my first trip up to the Fairchild area this year. I was hoping that after the thaw and rain a few days ago the icy snow would be covered with at least a couple inches of fluffy snow. The main reason I wanted a fresh covering over the icy snow was to protect the dog’s feet and also to hold the scent of the hares that hopefully the girls would be trailing.
The first and only spot was a fairly thick and swampy area just to the south of Camp Globe road. This was a spot that produced well for us the last season. There was about six inches of crusty snow on the ground with about one inch of powder on top of that. Unfortunately it was not enough to protect the dog’s feet, but it was enough to hold some of the hare scent.
The first two hours were not too good; the dogs were not very successful in producing any sustained runs. I did however manage to bad one hare that they chased for a little bit. We tried to get the dogs out of the woods to go to another spot, but the girls had other ideas. On the way out they got another one running and this time the game was on. They ran this hare for over two hours and we never did connect on it. I did take a couple Hail Mary shots at it, but never connected. I was able to catch Zeta and Roxy and pull them off the track after about two and one half hours. But by this time their poor little feet were badly chewed up from the ice. Zeta was in extreme discomfort and pain and at the end she was just following Lacy and Roxy whining.
One condition in the woods that I noticed and that was very unusual for this time of year was the amount of open puddles of water in the woods. It definitely is starting out as a mild winter. At the end of the day I checked out a spot to the north of Camp Globe road down by the river. There were a few hare tracks here, but the main thing I noticed was the fresh sets of wolf tracks on the trail. With the absence of trapping the last couple of years I am definitely noticing a lot more wolf sign.

Jan 3, 2016

Jan 3, 2016 9:00AM-3:30PM Cottontail rabbit hunting with my dog Zeta, along with Dick and his dog Lacy and Tom and his dog Dirt
Where: Lafarge, WI
Weather: cloudy, 28°, windy, 6 inches of snow cover
Bagged: Me: three cottontails, Dick: three cottontails, Tom: 0

It was my second trip down towards Lafarge this year. I was hunting with Dick and Tom and their dogs. I only brought Zeta today; Roxy was still pretty wore out from the hunt the other day. She had ran very hard on Friday and she could hardly open one of her eyes. The poor girl is getting old and just plan gets whooped.
The conditions were very good and so was the running. Dick and I had a very good day, but Tom never fired a shot.

¬

Jan 1, 2016

9:00AM-3:30PM Cottontail rabbit hunting with my dogs Roxy and Zeta and Brian Doley
Where: Blair, WI
Weather: cloudy, 28°, windy, 10 inches of snow cover
Bagged: Nothing

Today we started out hunting Brian’s land, which lies, to the East of Blair. The last two years this spot has had a good population of bunnies, but this year we never chased a rabbit. There were a few tracks, but the dogs were unable to rout any out of their lairs.
Our next spot was just to the west of Blair. This area used to be a great spot, but the last two years it has been a bust! We did have one very long and interesting run though.
The girls chased and chased a rabbit. After about an hour it seemed as if the rabbit had ran into a hole. I could hear Zeta franticly barking from the same position for several minutes. I decided I had better go and investigate and to my surprise she had treed it.
The bunny had climbed up a leaning split hollow tree and was up in the tree about eight feet. Zeta was also up in the tree about five feet off the ground. I could see the bunny and actually touch it but I figured after all the trauma it went through it probably deserved to live. But before I could pull Zeta off it got nerved and climbed a little higher and launched itself out of the tree. The chase was back on! We allowed the chase to continue on for another fifteen minutes then we caught the dogs.
That bunny had nine lives. It survived being shot at three different times and it also survived its jump out of the tree!

Dec 27, 2015

Dec 27, 2015 10:30AM-4PM Cottontail rabbit hunting with my dogs Roxy and Zeta along with Dick and his dog Lacy
Where: Gilman, WI
Weather: sunny, 25°, calm, 1 inch of snow cover
Bagged: one cottontail and one grouse

It was my first trip of the year up to Gilman. We went first to one of my favorite spots, but it was a no go. Unfortunately it looked as if a group with dogs hunted it the day before. It was also here where Dick discovered he had forgotten his gun.
The rest of the day was much better than our start. I was able to bag a grouse with a very long shot from my trusty 410 shotgun. I also got one hare with a very neat headshot. The last chase of the day was a lengthy one. Since I had already bagged a grouse and hare I felt sorry for Dick and allowed him to use my gun. Dick was unable to bag this elusive hare even though it had come within feet of him. I guess that’s what age does to a person: it takes your mind and your sight!!!
One thing that I did notice today that was a little troublesome was all the wolf tracks on the road on the south end of the forest.