![]() ![]() Chippewa Flowage Report from lg3Then-Current Conditions - 51F / 11C | Clear - 8:53 PM CDT May. 8ok...first of all, I promised an exciting F8 update...and an exciting one it is! We have weeds...FINALLY. It wasn't til today that I found a good bed comin out from the shoreline. So thats the update - which wouldn't have been AS exciting...unless we had a report of fish around those weeds. ...and we do. I got about 12 fish this evening (10-15 inches...exactly what ive been lookin for...eatin size!) but I have to speak of them in the context of some useless chat - its my first day on a pattern (knock on wood)...so you HAD to expect that! anyway, as simple as it sounds, it seems the majority of my problem has been that I've failed to realize how late the bite is right now. it must be the fishs' longer commute into the shallow waters where the weeds are. haha I've been comin in around 8-8:30....which is what I've always done in the past. uh uh. thats when the bite is STARTING right now. for the last couple nights, I havent been exactly sure what was going on. as I come in from where ever, I always like to make one quick sweep of f8. but the past couple nights, when i came in, I couldnt even fit my boat in there - so I didn't try. I had tried it in the early evening and the weeds weren't there anyway - so I figured the late guys would meet the same fate. Today I was committed. Ok, truth be told, after the past few nights, I was one part embarassed, one part very confused, and two parts pissed. I was NOT going to leave the lake tonight without my limit - and with my new stern light, I had that option. The traffic jam began building around 7:30. There was only one boat in F8 at this point....but Twin Island, Milwaukee Bay, the Kitchen, and especially the Sands were lund-lined. From where ever I was, I peeked over to my favorite spot. That one boat wasn't exactly, precisely, and perfectly IN my spring spot upon F8. So of course, within minutes, I was. Cast, cast, cast. 20 minutes. One small walleye. Not too small to go unnoticed tho. Very possibly a coincidence actually....but either way.... within 10 mins, there were three new boats to my right, and three new boats to my left. Then, it became musical spots. There were even a couple tools using their trolling motors to weave - within casting distance -between the boats until they'd see someone catch a fish at which point they suddenly slow down. Now, normally, I wouldnt talk like this - or even think like this, honestly. And I do apologize, but keep in mind - 1) some of these guys were truly irritating, 2) again, today is a big day for me after the past few depressing outings, and 3) as you may have read, I was nominated for President today (read below)...so the way I see it, a tad of (overt) pride in my fishing is humble in comparison, right? So yes...there were seven other boats...almost all within casting distance. The one guy who was there before me caught two walleye...one other guy caught a bullhead...and I don't think anyone else got anything but northern. These guys may know F8 - heck, they've been there a few nites now ...but see...I'm convinced....F8 doesnt know THEM! These fish were so happy to see me again, the ones I kept spread their fins to help me filet them! Ok...im getting carried away.... onto the details. 7 feet of water exactly, lure bumpin around the small hump that comes out of the south end of the tiny lil mini-bog-islandish-thing (not on the map). that hump...or bar...separates the island from the main weedbed. if im too far south, i just get northern, if im too far north, its a crapshoot. anyway, right now, you end up casting about 20 feet out from that island. as that weedbed grows out, ill just follow that bar out. last year , she held fish until September. now, i HAVE cheated, based on what I'd been hearing, and I've skipped the minnows and im already using cranks. I already mentioned that I was gonna try to replace the countdown with the husky jerk this year....and let me tell you...fish or no fish...i LOVED this lure the first time i threw it. So....I still cant figure out how you day fishermen are doin it....but there's nothing new about that! lar fishpic in the album....and here's a battleship nightvision spycam pic looking at the boats SE. more tomorrow (nite).
[Chippewa Flowage Map Coords: f8] [Read report from this day in 2007: 10:00 PM] lg3, 2008-05-09 01:01:28: Cold Front, 2008-05-09 02:42:54: Cold Front, 2008-05-09 02:50:27: CN, 2008-05-09 05:01:54: Jenni, 2008-05-09 08:11:34: C Schwarz, 2008-05-09 09:00:08: Chippewa Flowage Report from lg3Then-Current Conditions - 61F / 16C | Clear - 1:53 PM CDT May. 8goin out in an hour or so. say a prayer, wouldja? [Chippewa Flowage Map Coords: f8] [Read report from this day in 2007: 10:00 PM] The Old Flowage Monster, 2008-05-08 16:22:06: lg3, 2008-05-08 16:25:42: dh, 2008-05-08 19:58:12: lg3, 2008-05-09 01:59:32: dh, 2008-05-09 06:24:10: The Old Flowage Monster, 2008-05-09 08:14:00: Chippewa Flowage Report from dnrThen-Current Conditions - 61F / 16C | Clear - 11:53 AM CDT May. 8Upper Chippewa Basin fisheries report (Price, Rusk, Sawyer Taylor and inland Ashland and Iron counties) - The opening of the general fishing season on Saturday May 3 found that nearly all lakes were ice free -- with the exception of some of the large, deep lakes around the Hayward area. However, snowy and cold conditions put a bit of a damper on fishing success and most anglers reported some action during the morning hours. The weather did moderate by mid-afternoon on Saturday and anglers did enjoy some fair success. Walleye success was generally slow as most anglers had a hard time finding fish. A few nice catches were reported and the best success came on jig and minnow combinations fished near rocky drop-offs. [Read report from this day in 2007: 10:00 PM] Chippewa Flowage Report from lg3Then-Current Conditions - 52F / 11C | Clear - 8:53 AM CDT May. 8They sent me the wrong state, but its still just what I needed. Here's some fun from our friends at Rapala. Haha...I just read my post from this day last year. I really do get off to a horrible start every year. Oh well. [Read report from this day in 2007: 10:00 PM] Chippewa Flowage Report from lg3Then-Current Conditions - 47F / 8C | Overcast - 6:53 AM CDT May. 71. Greg noticed the apparent split among anglers' success right now. Obviously, there is a "split" every day as some people are gonna catch some fish and some aren't, but I'd agree that there is more disparity right now. Also, I think we're now getting close to post-spawn transition, so id think there are some "confused fish" now. 2. DancesWithWalleyes posted about native harvesting during the spawning season. Knowing Ivan, I don't think he did this to get a rise. Not wanting to speak for him, I think he was just showing us something interesting...period. 3. JB posted about how some boats are bringin in 50 fish on the West Fork recently. ***my two cents*** I don't think its too far a stretch to tie all of these aspects together. If you do think it is, this would be a good post to skip. To my frustration (just cuz I did want to talk about it), I've avoided saying anything even remotely on this topic, but one thing Ivan's post did for sure was bring MY thoughts to the surface here. I'd love to hear yours as well. This is the first year I've fished the Flowage while the walleye are spawning. Maybe you've noticed in my posts, I haven't been overly excited about it. I think the words I used here the other day were "damned whatever you do". While this feeling had been lingering since the middle of opening day when I started to figure out what was going on, dragging a 26 inch female in by the gullet the day after opening was kinda the clincher. You'll never again hear me say this about two 26's in a day ... but it wasn't fun for me. Not because I thought I was ruining the fishery, but it was more of a problem I had with a "respect" for the individual fish. Trust me, i know how non-sensical/hypocritical that sounds from me...whatever! I personally decided that ... I'm here all season ... I don't want to go into or around the spawning areas. I can CPR all I want, but its not fool proof, not anchor proof, not pressure proof - and less than 100% harmless isn't worth it to ME. I don't think I'm alone; ask the muskie guides here on the lake what they think of the proposed catch and release muskie fishing during the spawn. I really want to make clear that I don't blame anyone for fishing these areas. This isn't meant to be judgemental - or "holier than thou". Here, I'll admit, I may have culled, myself, one or two fish in the past. And...make sure you are sitting...I even drive my truck over all the frogs on the road during THEIR peak season (no, not on purpose). I'm not taking any fanatical stance here. I know from talking around that this last week was the most fun some fishermen have had in their lives. I think that's great...and I think the Flowage can handle it. The regs are the regs, and there's a reason for them - specifically the opener date. While unusual, this isn't the first time this has happened here, and the lake survived just fine - largely due to the fact that much - if not most of the walleye reproduction here on the Chippewa Flowage is not natural. The Flowage is "stocked" heavily - with it's own offspring. Walleye are netted and squeezed every year. The eggs are brought in to hatcheries, raised to fingerlings, and at least 10% of them are brought right back here. I can't even guess what percentage of the walleye out here started their lives this way, but from what I understand, hatchery eggs have a survival rate in the high 90% range, and natural reproduction is closer to 1%. Anyway, bringing this tangent back......yes, I think that some of the disparity Greg mentions is the boats in the spawning areas (bringin in 50 fish) vs. those on the humps and weeds looking for "the stragglers" - again tho, Im not sayin its the only factor. Now....saving the best item for last... If WE have the right to harvest spawning fish, there's one group that has even more of a right in my opinion, and that is the Native community. Again, harvesting by the Native community 1) has been going on literally forever by Flowage standards, and 2) is also actively accounted for. A lil factoid...few areas have dealt with spearing controversy more peacefully than Sawyer County - and that is for a large part thanks to Moose Speros (of Tiger Musky Resort fame) who, back in the day, worked to negotiate the rules for sharing this resource. As many of you know, this is why sport anglers have a limit of 3 walleye here and not 5. My point is...harvests by the Natives, just like those of anglers, aren't happening blindly or in a vacuum. So thats that...good luck to all. I'll continue to let you know how I do with the growing number of stragglers (i.e. the males who arent having any luck "gettin some") as we enter the more traditional spring. Live well, Lar
Steve Schwarz, 2008-05-07 13:21:49: C Schwarz, 2008-05-07 14:42:51: lg3, 2008-05-07 14:45:36: C Schwarz, 2008-05-07 14:56:45: Greg T, 2008-05-07 15:19:36: lg3, 2008-05-07 15:24:45: Jeff "Cold Front" VonHoltum, 2008-05-08 00:46:15: lg3, 2008-05-08 00:52:52: DannyMAC, 2008-05-08 11:00:48: lg3, 2008-05-08 15:27:10: Chippewa Flowage Report from lg3Then-Current Conditions - 65F / 18C | Light Rain - 8:53 PM CDT May. 6Fred, the below post was Ivan's. Mine today comes in late, as I was out exploring (read: not catching fish) today. as for the netting vid. amazing and jealous are the words that come to mind! apparently, tho...the secret is the blue rubbermaid bins? i got some of those, ya know. [Read report from this day in 2007: 03:32 PM] Tom P, 2008-05-06 23:06:12: lg3, 2008-05-06 23:32:45: lg3, 2008-05-06 23:33:46: Greg T, 2008-05-07 09:48:18: JB, 2008-05-07 11:32:29: Chippewa Flowage Report from IvanThen-Current Conditions - 69F / 21C | Overcast - 6:53 PM CDT May. 6Netting spawning walleyes on Mille Lacs http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nIqwZ43r6Ik
[Read report from this day in 2007: 03:32 PM] Fred, 2008-05-06 22:15:09: lg3, 2008-05-06 23:02:20: DancesWithWalleyes, 2008-05-07 07:19:07: JB, 2008-05-07 09:58:11: Ellie, 2008-05-07 17:42:02: Welcome to the
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