Sunday, October 3, 2004

Crex Invitational Waterfowl Hunt I'll be on the road for a couple days, participating in the 21st annual Crex Invitational Waterfowl Hunt in the Grantsburg area, some 360 miles northwest of home. A bit of a toot, to say the least. An honest 6-hour drive this afternoon, while the Packers unraveled at home. Anyway, for details on this outing, click "On the Road" over to the right ---> Back home Tuesday night... 9:52:21 PM    comment []

Mission accomplished - bring on the kings! It took Geoff Grainger and me a month to complete this project, but yesterday afternoon Geoff caught the last two rock bass needed for the Waterkeepers Alliance mercury contamination study. You can read all about it in the Oct. 8 issue of Wisconsin Outdoor News, or check my Sept. 14 post below for details. I met Geoff at 3:45 on the river in Ozaukee County, where he had caught a couple smallies and several small pike, but no rock bass. We were heading back to the trucks to try another spot, when I noticed something chasing minnows in a shallow run. We cast our mini crankbaits to the spot and had several hits. Geoff landed a rock bass, which we quickly bagged. Then I lost one, he lost another and finally he caught a second rockie. We bagged the fish, filled out the data sheet and headed for the trucks. Cheryl Nenn will ship those two fish to UNC Asheville tomorrow to join the five smallies and three rock bass we sent previously. I'll let you know the results of the study when we get them back. With a couple hours of daylight left, Geoff suggested we try for chinooks, so we headed for the Capitol Drive stretch of the river. Salmon were everywhere, and most anglers had left for the day. We couldn't get a taker, tho we worked a number of active fish as the daylight waned. Geoff caught a baby smallmouth on an Egg-sucking Leech. He just can't keep away from those guys! I finally hooked and landed a hen chinook that dripped eggs when we took her picture. At least one male stayed with her for half the battle. They must have been spawning when she hit the chartreuse Clouser Minnow. On the Berkely digital gripper scale, whe went 16 lbs. 12 oz., typical of this year's class of four-year-olds. As we left the river, the kings were moving upstream in pods of three or four fish. I imagine the parade kept going all night long. First chance I've had to fish for stream kings this season. Hope I get out again before they all die, but I've got a few other outings planned meanwhile. Later... 9:49:11 PM    comment []

Muskie/walleye action picking up in the North Check out this week's fishing report for northern Wisconsin. Fishing action is picking up for muskies and walleyes in the Eagle River area, now that the weather has cooled and lake temps are dropping. 9:34:06 PM    comment []