Wednesday, August 10, 2005

Fishing report I fished Lake Keesus today with fellow outdoor writer Dan Durbin. Dan fishes bass tournaments and stays on top of largemouth patterns in lakes in and around Waukesha County. We did OK, considering a cold front had come through overnight and there was a fairly still (15-20 mph) NW wind. We fished deep weed edges with Senko worms rigged wacky-style, which means hooked once in the middle so they sort of flap both ends as they free-fall. We caught two good fish, maybe 3 and 4 pounds, and at least a half-dozen 12-inchers that looked like they all came out of the same mold. I had one pike bite-off and Dan caught a pike and had a bite-off. I also had a follow from a 30"+ pike, which would have been exciting to catch. The bass were all in 12-20 feet of water, most of them right on weed edges. Surface temp was hovering around 80, but we assumed there was a thermocline down somewhere around 10 or 12 feet. The bass felt warm to the touch, so they were not in super-cold water. There were a couple small boats fishing panfish in shallow bays, and one wake-boarding family showed up around 10:00 a.m. Otherwise, we had the lake to ourselves. Ourselves and one weed-cutter. We were surprised by the weed-cutter, since weeds are not extensive here. There are good weeds out to about 10 feet, but most of the shoreline drops off so fast that you don't see the extensive weedbeds found on other area lakes. All in all, it's a pretty lake with good opportunities for nice bass on weekdays. Piers and pleasure boats ring the lake, so I'll bet it looks like a waterpark on weekends. Later... 9:17:04 PM    comment []

So, you think you're a Yooper, eh? In case you want to learn more than most people have an interest in knowing about Michigan's Upper Peninsula and its special people, affectionately know as "Yoopers" among themselves and to much of the Western World, check out this site. Yooper friend Jim Junttila (Most, but not all, true Yoopers have Finnish names and can also be called Finlanders, although there are Finlanders in northern Wisconsin, too, and they are not Yoopers.) sent me the link, so I thought it was worth sharing, under the rubric of general enlightenment. Later... 9:07:28 PM    comment []