Chippewa Flowage Report from lg3

ok...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:
p.s. no, i dont have a mohawk. just funny lighting

Cold Front, 2008-05-09 02:42:54:
Which map do you guys use? I need to learn to catch a few 'eyes while I'm on the Flowage.(a couple of my muskie partners bought a trailer so now I have a place to cook) I'm from MN so usually if I can't pull a lindy rig or a spinner I can't catch walleyes. We did have good success on the opener in the west fork about a mile up from Musky Tale on jigs tipped with minnows. I'll be back for the opener on the 24th, I'd like to get a few eaters on the evening of the 23rd before the walleye gear gets moved to the bottom of the rod locker. I may keep one or two sticks up for twitching some husky jerks. I love to catch walleyes casting crankbaits. Walleye fillets would be better than the steady diet of frozen bar pizzas and chips that I've been living on while chasing the great, green ladies of the Chip. Rambling...it's time to go to sleep. Cold Front

Cold Front, 2008-05-09 02:50:27:
Yea, Yea...Duh! ... I found the map. What can I say I'm a carpenter these 'puters aren't always my best friend. I understand about "funny" lighting but mine shines in the middle instead of on the sides. Cold Front

CN, 2008-05-09 05:01:54:
17 days til we come up, looking forward to meeting you lg. From all this talk on F8.....spread out. I'm not to fond of casting distance boats either. To many good spots on the chip to fish all clustered up. Sounds like the bite is starting to get "some kind of normal". Again, great site. Take care

Jenni, 2008-05-09 08:11:34:
Hi Lar, Scott and I planned to drive up tomorrow and stay till Wed but the forecast is awful. Could you let me know what they are saying up there? He also has off the following week 19th-23rd so we are trying to figure out what week would be better... Thanks Jen

C Schwarz, 2008-05-09 09:00:08:
Sounds like everyone is up for the Treeland (CHTER Tourny) ;) Should be an awesome month of May for eyes. Glad you are doing well lrg.

Add comment

Chippewa Flowage Report from lg3

goin 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:
Larry, Well we didn't take any pictures, mostly because our fingers were cold, and chapped, from CATCHING FISH! :) We had an excellent trip. On Saturday, I was greeted by Mother leaving an inch of slush on my boat carpet, and it was snowing! Nice. But after a couple of poor spot choices, we caught one decent male, and he was still not ripe, so I said, "Pre-Spawn???", I have never done that here! So I went to a staging area, near a spawning flat, and we limited quickly on 14" to 16" walleyes, with most not quite ripe males. We basically worked that area until we left on Wednesday, and by the time we quite fishing, the fish were moving up, and in the mood for love. On Tuesday afternoon, we put a nice two person bag, in the boat, in about 2 hours, with the biggest a nice male, still milting, at 19.5", and the rest in the 15" to 18.5" range. Most of the fish hit 1/16th oz jigs, rigged with a cut down grub body, and a big Fathead. The bite was so light, that the guys with a little less refined "tail sucking walleye bit detection", struggled until the water warmed, and the bite got a bit more aggressive. When the dust cleared, we had limited every day, and we probably boated 100 walleyes, over 4 days of fishing, out of my boat alone. I could get to liking this late ice out thing :)

lg3, 2008-05-08 16:25:42:
TOFM, VERY VERY NICE. congrats on one heck of a trip. I dont remember if you mentioned. East side? West side?

dh, 2008-05-08 19:58:12:
Returned Wednesday from a successful trip - especially once the snow stopped Saturday morning!! Found fish every day - very similar to Old Flowage Master. Found them in 6-10 feet on some shorelines, mostly males in the 14-16 inch range. Most all were milting. Caught a couple females that we threw back. Ate a lot walleye and had a heck of a trip. This was on the West side. Thanks again for the great site. - Dave

lg3, 2008-05-09 01:59:32:
dh, glad you had a good time...and lots of fish! if you dont mind my asking...were you getting these shoreline fish in the middle of the day, or low light?

dh, 2008-05-09 06:24:10:
We were seeing the action at low light, early morning (5-7) and then in the evening as well. Congrats on a successful night last night!! - Dave

The Old Flowage Monster, 2008-05-09 08:14:00:
This year we fished the east side, exclusively. In more typical years we range all over the flowage, but with 40 degree water on Saturday, we knew we would find fish on the east side. One of the boats made the runs to the West Fork, Moore's Bay, and around Big Timber. I made one trip over to the far east side, but quickly came to realize I had left better fish in the NE quadrant, between the Big Chief, and Hay Creek, and stayed in that area for the rest of the trip. We did release a number of females, over 20".

Add comment

Chippewa Flowage Report from dnr

Upper 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]

Add comment

Chippewa Flowage Report from lg3

They 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]

Add comment

Chippewa Flowage Report from lg3

1. 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:
Back 2 back 26s hell of a job. I didn't make it up but the rest of the crew did really really well. Good luck Lar

C Schwarz, 2008-05-07 14:42:51:
Another little tid bit. The Chippewa Flowage has the last pure strain of walleye left in the state(maybe in the US). Most bodies of water got a mixture of fingerlings back when stocked. From rivers to lakes a 100 miles away. The fish stocked in the flowage came from the flowage. I will have to do some research but I would bet that natural reproduction is higher than 1%. As far as fishing "spawn" areas unless you are keeping them or hook them bad it does little harm....IMHO.

lg3, 2008-05-07 14:45:36:
I agree about the harm factor, C. And again, some of the percentages above are simply "what ive heard". Would love to see some science on it tho.

C Schwarz, 2008-05-07 14:56:45:
Interesting info

Greg T, 2008-05-07 15:19:36:
I'm guessing Mr. Pratt reads this forum on occassion and, if asked, might share some of the science of spawning, natural survival rates, purity of strain, and other interesting factoids with us. My own opinion is that we need to release the big females all year long. Not just the walleyes but also the crappies, sunfish and perch. We already do it with musky (by regulation) and bass (by custom)and it's clearly improved the numbers of both. I think it's also important to preserve what little diversity we have left and avoid the mixing of strains as much as possible. Each time we try to "improve" lakes by introducing other strains of fish we lose just a little something more...

lg3, 2008-05-07 15:24:45:
nice timing, Greg. Frank, the key words in my post were "MAY HAVE" :)

Jeff "Cold Front" VonHoltum, 2008-05-08 00:46:15:
The link in the above post "interesting Info" lists the walleye's primary recruitment in the flowage as natural. Is the type of stocking your post refers to considered natural recruitment.

lg3, 2008-05-08 00:52:52:
Cold Front...it always makes my day when you stop in. Just a WAG, but I'd say yes since the two main options seem to be stocked or natural. I'd only call the Flowage stocked if you had the word in quotes or with an asterisk. I agree tho..."natural" isnt the perfect word either.

DannyMAC, 2008-05-08 11:00:48:
All I got to say is LRGRAF for President! Heck of a note Lar. Thanks again for the great site!

lg3, 2008-05-08 15:27:10:
Danny...all *I* can say is LOL and thanks!

Add comment

Chippewa Flowage Report from lg3

Fred, 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]
[Read report from this day in 2007: 09:39 PM]
[Read report from this day in 2007: 11:05 PM]

Tom P, 2008-05-06 23:06:12:
I fish the Mississippi 95% of the time. We are coming up to fish the Chip the first week in June. I am so used to fishing current it tells you where the fish are going to be. Any time I fish a lake I really struggle. We do a lot of pitching 1/16 to 1/8 ounce jigs and plastics to current seams and structure. I would venture to say 90% of the big fish caught come from 2 to 6 feet of water. Does the Chip have a shallow bite early mornings or late evenings? Come June what type of structure and depth do I need to key in on? We do a lot of what we call dragging. Running a small 1/16 ounce jig and platics use the trolling motor to drag the jig just off the bottom. Usually speeds from .2 to .4 MPH would this be legal on the Chip? Thank You I have really enjoyed reading your reports and others input.

lg3, 2008-05-06 23:32:45:
Thanks for the comment. Yes, the Chip definitely has a morning and evening bite in the shallows. By the time June rolls around, there will be some nice weedbeds established - relative to these difficult (for me at least) patches we have now. The deep edges of the weedbeds are where you'll wanna be during lowlight. On the west side, these beds are - in my opinion - the best 'structure' there is. Humps are the other option and they seem to deliver dawn til dusk. However....what can I say...I'm still gonna stick to my oversimplified "more but smaller" fish on those humps. Keep checkin here tho... we'll have a good pattern established well before then.

lg3, 2008-05-06 23:33:46:
p.s. no trolling on the chippewa flowage. not yet at least.

Greg T, 2008-05-07 09:48:18:
After reading the opening weekend reports and talking to a bunch of people yesterday, I'm confused...There of plenty reports of full live wells and people talking about all kinds of fish jumping in the boat. I heard about people returning females full of spawn and lots of fish shallow (spawning patterns). But, I also heard an equal number of reports of tough days with little success and theories of fish that spawned on the lake edges before the ice was off. For me... I spent over 2 days looking in shallow water (under 18 ft) and on the creek edges and had limited success. Yesterday afternoon I moved out to 20 plus water and found 8 walleyes, but only one over 15". I'm confused and I think maybe the fish are too...

JB, 2008-05-07 11:32:29:
Hey Greg, from what I can tell, water temp seemed to be the differentiating factor on Saturday and Sunday. Up in the west fork, the surface water temp was 48-50 degrees (and that was early in the morning). That bite turned off around 1 on Saturday and 11 on Sunday. Both days we headed south and fished Moore's Bay and the west side of Big Timber Island as well as some other spots. Those spots were in the 41-46 degree temp for surface water...even in the shallows. Just my 2 cents, but what do I know.....

Add comment

Chippewa Flowage Report from Ivan

Netting spawning walleyes on Mille Lacs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nIqwZ43r6Ik

[Read report from this day in 2007: 03:32 PM]
[Read report from this day in 2007: 09:39 PM]
[Read report from this day in 2007: 11:05 PM]

Fred, 2008-05-06 22:15:09:
lg3 not sure where you are headed with the U-Tube from MN, but how many line anglers kept 6 W on Sat? I know a few. Oh, they claim their wife has a lic. I listened on the marine band as boat fisherman bragged about 9 in the box and we're culling". The Native Americans have treaty and we have regs.

lg3, 2008-05-06 23:02:20:
sounds like we need to get the DNR a marine band radio. not too smart, ill give you that.

DancesWithWalleyes, 2008-05-07 07:19:07:
I think he was trying to get a rise out of some of us. To me the vidoe is sad. To see all those prespawn females in those bins. remember if not for all the netting and spearing on the Chip the limit would be 5 not 3. Just remember, keep supporting your local Indian Casinos, lol.

JB, 2008-05-07 09:58:11:
Fred, it wouldn't have been difficult to limit out if you were fishing the west fork at the mouth of the Chippewa River. We limited, and while I wasn't keeping track of how many we caught, I would say that it was a minimum of 25 on Saturday and Sunday combined. I am sure some of the boats landed 50+ between the two days. Only thing is, most we caught and saw others catch were in the 12-14 inch range. Our largest was 17.

Ellie, 2008-05-07 17:42:02:
Regarding the video, while it was sad to see all of those large walleye in bins, I was happy to see them being cleaned. At one point a guy even states "for our elders". I remember, in years past, seeing TV reports and newspaper photographs of walleye that were speared or netted and then left in piles on the shore to rot. I feel slightly better knowing that these fish are someone's dinner.

Add comment