Ron Meyer and myself decided to fish the Phillips Chain tournament again this year, we went out on Friday to scope out the waters and see if we could move any. All we moved were NorthernPike, so we decided we would fish the best looking weeds we found in the chain and those happen to be in Duroy. So Saturday we headed there and probably 15 other boats had same plan, we had to find a area where we were kind of by ourselves and started with Top water . First 15 minutes we had one follow and three blow ups on top water, as I turn the boat to go back over these fish I switch rods that had a 8/9 Spanky tied on and on my 2nd cast with it I hook up with a nice 40.75 Incher that would put us in the lead. That first 35 minutes of the tournament we seen 12 other fish get measured and everyone by us was having action, then that window closed and we didn’t see another fish get caught for the next 3 hours. We moved over to the island were in the pass we caught fish and on cue ( I was asking when would he catch one so we could leave the water and get lunch) Ron hook up with a 39.5 incher that would put us back into the lead. Well once we pulled the boat and went to the tornament headquarters we learned that another Window open and 6 more fish were caught and it drop us to 2nd place. The last window open at 4pm and lasted to 4:30pm and 10 more fish would be caught and one team double in the place we started and ended up winning the tournament on almost back to back cast. Oh Well thats how it goes in these tournaments when it two and your done, it would of been nice to kept on fishining since we knew where they were but when you have over 80 inches and you are leading you need to pull off and wish for the best, it turn out we ended in 3rd and cashed a check for $1,400 so at least it paid for the new rods I bought at St. Croix on Friday. Maybe next year we will get first place this was our 3rd top five finish here
Tim been out with me a couple of times and always finds a new way to not catch muskies, from pulling baits away from them or stop reeling or even not setting the hook . Well today the Muskies gave him no chance of screwing up by just crushing the Fat Bastard. Here is the pictures of his first two Muskies . Good job Tim and hope you get plenty more
Well it finally happened, Larry (Black Cloud) Emerson was finally able to put a fish in the boat. After loosing them or not setting the hooks or just pulling the fish out of the water and of course let’s not forget the huge Walleye he had on that was, well, a nice 45 inch log, He did it with this Bass! We will now move on too Muskies.
After a couple of misses and seeing some with tem minutes left in trip I seen a musky on the 360 behind the boat and told Bodie to cast back there and on the thrid rip of his rod it happened he put his first Muskie in the net, not bad for a Georgia boy. Congratulations again was glad I could make it happen
What another great trip with Tony, the weather wasn’t great but we manage to put the first muskies in the boat this year. we went 3-5 not bad for like six hours of fishing. Small baits and pausing them key for the day. Was great being in the baot again with Tony I hope we can do a couple more this year.
Lewis wanted to catch a walleye on his fly rods and I told him that would be a first for me, had Bass, Northerns & Muskies caught on fly rods in my boat but no one has targeted Walleyes. Met Lewis at launch and he brought 4 rod combo’s along for different depths, it didn’t take him long and he put a nice 19.5 inch SM Bass in the boat, wasn’t the target species he was after but gave him a nice battle. I move spots and fished little deeper and it happen he put his first walleye in the boat! Mission accomplished, he added 7 more and was more then satified.
Nice job Lewis looking forward to doing it again this July
What a great opener for us with putting over 100 walleyes in the boat and some nice big female being released and can’t forget PB for Isaac 27.5 incher with two broken wrist what a great weekend. We had to break ice to get were we wanted to go but we were the only ones there and wasn’t disappointed . We kept limit of walleyes 15-18 inches and next day targeted the perch and kept enough for couple meals.
Our plans had to change for this Bachelor party, when plans were made we thought we would be able to get on Smokie Lake and do some catch and release SM Bass fishing , but with there still being over a foot of ice on the lake we switch plans to go to Kentuck. Colin Crawford and myself check it out the day before and broke ice in the bay to get boat out to main lake and once we did we were able to put some nice Bass in boat. Next day my guys got lost going to launch and the other three boats were having a great time nailing the SM Bass we found the day before, by the time we got to join the party the bite was over. So went into search mode and was still able to get them some nice fish.
Was early November and with the water temperatures on the rise it didn’t make for a great day for us. The Muskies just weren’t active, I had 3 suckers out at all times and we didn’t even get a stiff. Dan did manage to catch his first ERC musky and had another hit, not one of my better days but it is musky fishing and anytime you can put one in the boat is a good day.
Congratulations to Nick on his first Muskie and it beat his PB by 4.5 inches a Northern he caught on Beaver Dam Lake . Nick was down and beating himself up after not getting a good hookset on the first one but made up on it on his next hook up and was rewarded with this nice 37.5 incher. Look forward to getting you that 40+ now, congratulations again.
Was a pleasure having Gary in the boat with me today he just moved to the Phelps area from the Hayward area and wanted to learn the Chain for Walleyes. Gary is a great fisherman and even wrote the book on Walleye fishing in NW Wisconsin and it didn’t take long for me to realize I would be out fish for this day. Gary is a live bait fisherman and knows how to jig fish and on our third spot of the day he put the largest Walleye in my boat for this chain a nice old big head 28 incher, I didn’t think this chain had any upper twenty inchers in it, but I was wrong again. Congratulations Gary on this accomplishment and it might be a little bigger for the next person who catches it. We didn’t keep any fish this day and was a pleasure fishing with Gary even thou he out fish me probably 8-1 was a pleasure showing him the chain and him proving me wrong. I look forward to our next trip.
Was great having these two in my boat again this year, well instead of muskies the target species this time was walleyes. Wasn’t the hottest bite of the year but these two manage a nice limit of walleyes and of course Dan’s one Crappie. Thanks again for the prime rib dinner and all the canned goodies you brought , can’t wait till next year.
Was my honor to take out these two vets Roy Vander Zander and Howard Wheeler Jr. and it didn’t take Howie long to get us on the board with this nice 38+ Muskie that hit a LakeX Fat Bastard in our first 15 minutes of trip. I was just setting out the suckers when that one hit, it was decided that Roy would be the first up on a sucker bite and 20 minutes later we had our first one on the sucker, the fish took a run away from us and told him to set the hook he fault it almost to the boat before it got off, what a disappointment would of been his first Muskie, well 10 minutes later I seen one on the SI and told them to cast back at it . Well the fish didn’t take their baits but did hit the sucker, Howie told Roy to take that one also, Well Roy didn’t get the best hook set and I notice when he was fighting this nice mid 40 inch fish it still had sucker in its mouth and I prayed it would stay on , as it was coming boat side and almost time to net it it came unpinned. We seen more fish but that was the last one that hit. Was a great four hours with them and what a great organization. Thank you both again for your service and can’t wait till next year to do it again.
James called and ask if I had opening and if he could fly fish for muskies I told him he wouldn’t be the first in my boat doing it but if he caught one it would be a first. Ask if it’s ok if his girlfriend could come also and told him no issue I could teach her how to us a bait caster. Well in the first 20 minutes Whitney caught her largest fish of her life a nice low 30 inch Northern on a Fat Bastard. James followed that up with the first Musky caught on a fly rod in my boat, only issue was as the fish went into the net he broke his rod. Not a issue I switch him over to a bait caster and he boated another nice Northern. Whitney had a hot follow on the Fat Bastard and was amazed how it came right to the boat but stop her bait and fish disappeared before we yelled to keep her bait moving. She was really depressed until this 38.5 incher hit a hour later and all was good again . Whitney had the two largest fish of her life and her first Musky. I had a blast with these two in the boat and I look forward of him guiding me for some trout in Montana next year. Hope to make this a annual event. Congratulations again on these fish.
Here is Judy’s largest fish of her life and for the boat today. Scott and her manage a nice limit of Walleyes and was a pleasure taking them out for the evening and teaching Scott a new technic. Always fun when some one catches their PB. Thanks again, and I always enjoy cocktails as I clean the fish, Judy you are the best!!
Sean brought his buddies up to the north woods for a little Walleye and Muskie fishing. The muskies weren’t real active today with the high sky and little wind but we did have a hot follow that a good figure 8 might of put one in net and also had another come and bump a bait boat side but wouldn’t open her mouth. Well at least the walleye bite was better and here is a couple of there bigger ones. Sorry Sean must of deleted yours. Thanks guys can’t wait till next year.
Well never fishing before and the rain didn’t stop these boys from Chicago catching there limits today and providing the rest of the group who were bass fishing with Tadpole a nice fish fry. No monsters but these are the best for eating. Good job today and thanks for not hitting me in the head . Was great to watch them catch their first fish and improve through out the evening at the end of the night the walleyes weren’t safe.
With the warming waters and little wind made it for a tough bite, on Saturday only 16 fish caught and Sunday only 2! Thank goodness we had one of the two and the big fish for the day. At least my partner can keep the fish on the line, my struggles continues with another loss fish on a Suick. One of these days my luck will change, at least my netting skills are still good. We ended up in 10th place and big fish for Sunday.
Tom called me and said he just bought new pole and reel like one he used in my boat and wanted to go out and try it. Well he was happy with it by the end of the day, Tom now can feel the walleyes when they bite. Check out the great selections of rods & reels that Justin offers at R & M Musky shop in Eagle River, WI. Good job Tom!
With only three musky caught and all in my boat we should of took the trophy again this year, but we didn’t manage to get one over the 34 inch rule. I need to check this rule book out again for this outing. LOL We actually had a great morning and Mikaela should of won it at 6:01 am on her fist cast. I had one that swirled at my Suick boat side and then it smoked her Fat Bastard 8 feet from the boat, only problem she didn’t set the hook and it even tore up the shrink tube on the last hook. about 15 minutes later she had another mid 30 inch fish charging her bait, nice big wake behind her bait and then the head appeared out of the water and mouth open and about to suck the bait in and Mikaela did a pre mature hook set. 10 minutes later Calvin had high 30 incher coming in and he did great figure 8, fished turn 3 times on it and was hot but didn’t eat. 30 minutes later I had one miss my Suick on a turn was low to mid 30 fish. 20 minutes later Calvin scores on his first of the day low 30 incher. The next hour we didn’t see a fish so I change lakes and told Calvin to put on a Bulldog that my partner on Monday night did good on and his fourth cast Calvin had his second of the day. I caught a small one (Suick) and we lost one other and seen 3 others. So not a bad morning .Well we didn’t win the Musky trophy again this year but for the third straight year I took the honors of taking the largest Northern. And it hit a Suick. Thank you Calvin and Mikaela for spending this morning with me, we will get the trophy back next year!!!
Ted Van Grinsven called me on August 12th and Ask if I had a opening during Labor day Weekend , he wanted to Give his son and grandkids a Christmas Present Early “Walleye Trip On Twin’s” They been fishing for Walleyes but can’t seem to get any to eat all to small, told him could take them on the 4th. Pick up Jim, Tyler & Luke at 6 am off their Grandfather Dock and we headed to where I been doing good last couple of weeks to only find out that the fish left this area, after some searching we did find some small schools to keep us busy. I showed them how important your Electronics are and how I use them. Humminbird SI & DI to find them and Mega 360 to stay on the schools. I showed them three different ways to fish for them and I think the smiles tell the real story. I love teaching and watching kids catch fish . Ted thanks again was almost like a Christmas gift for me, what a great family.
Don & Geoffrey wanted to catch some eaters so we did a morning trip and caught these in deep mud with Shiver Minnows and trolling crawlers. We caught over 30 fished and ended up with nine nice keepers between 15-19.5 inches. We had a bunch of doubles and even one triple. What a fun morning, looking forward to doing it again with you both.
I promised Dan after our Walleye trip that if he wanted his first Musky to come back and we get this off his bucket list. Well mission accomplished with this nice 37+ fish taken on a R&M Custom buck tail that Ashley just tied up for me. Great Job again Dan can’t wait for our trip this coming October.
The Walleye action still is good and the musky action was fair, the Musky Alliance Tournament put a lot of anglers on the waters up here so with the added pressure and weather made for a tougher bite. And the figure 8’s were the key, even if you didn’t see a fish following you needed to do the eights, they were coming in late and hitting. My customers learned this the hard way this past week, had seven misses at boat due to poor eight’s or pulling baits away from the fish because they didn’t see it at first. Tight line and do the EIGHT
John was one happy dad, his kids came in for his 54th birthday and they had a blast catching walleyes. Whitney was the queen of catching suckers and made me take pictures of these beautiful fish. She also won the $5 bet on big fish for the afternoon, great job Whitney and Happy 54th John was a pleasure taking out your family again
Will I ever get Steve to smile???? Caught over 20 walleyes and kept three for a dinner but still no smile in 3 hours of fishing from 9am till noon. I guess he should of wore a short sleeve shirt was pretty warm out. We caught these walleyes along weededges, every once in while we had to move because the Musky packs would come in and scare our walleyes, the last picture is of three muskies on my side imaging. Maybe next time I will get Steve to smile
It look like perfect musky weather tonight with storms rolling through and a minor at 5pm. Our fist stop didn’t produce so we went to a winding shore were we caught one in the PMTT and seen another and I had a nice mid forty fish nip my bucktail on the out side of the turn on the eight and instead setting back at her of course I rip it out of her lips. My struggles on Monday nights continue. I had one other hot one follow my buckail and seen one later on a top water bait called the Rumbler. Jonny was cast rubber all night and didn’t have a follow so last half hour he said he would show me how to catch one on a bucktail and he did , fish took it in his first turn on the eight. Shallow weeds were the answer again. For what was looking like a great night for Muskies only six fish were caught and our team had two. Maybe next Monday my luck will change!
Jared Adamovich and I decided to get into the PMTT together, this was the first tournament we fished together and it didn’t go to bad we ended up in 6th place. We caught two fish on Saturday and lost two and had two miss our baits and seen 9, these two fish had us in 10th place after day one. Day two started and we didn’t encounter our first fish until 9:30am and this big girl hit Jared Medussa after two pulls and after about ten seconds she came unpin, we both were stunned that she got off, but she was a smart girl and just kept her head out of the water shaking it back and forth the whole time. There was about a hour of silence in the boat and every once in a while a bad word was heard. After I gave him his time to grieve, I told him we still have two hours to get this done and on the next spot he hook up with a nice 39 incher. This fish also went nuts on top of the water the whole time until she laid in the bottom of the net, then we felt with this fish we would be in the money. We seen a couple more fish on my Humminbird 360 and even had a nice low 40 come in after our baits with about tem minutes left in tournament, but we ended the day 1-2. As we thought we ended up cashing a check and just missed out of the top 5 with the 6th place finish, not to bad for our first tournament together. Our plan was since I was running the boat I would cast the weeds with different bucktails and Jared would follow up with rubber, this tournament the rubber out produce the bucktails four to one, and fish in the net two to one. Water temps were 67-72 degrees and NE winds 3-7 mph and partly cloudy. Natural colors for the baits. Jared look forward to next year and great job again!
With no wind which made for a tough bite the brother team still manage to put a nice verity of fish in the boat. They just wanted action because they don’t like taste of fish so we didn’t keep anything . They manage 20 plus Walleyes, 5 Northerns but no crappies. We really could of used some wind but was a great time. Hope to see Clifford and his wife this fall
We went to ERC to walleye fish because Jared had a guide job Monday and we wanted to locate the Walleyes and after putting a limit in the boat of Walleyes we decided to cast for some Muskies and to our amazement they were on fire Saturday and Sunday. We boated 3 Lost 4 and seen like 20 more. I hope it stays like this all year. Small bucktails and jerko was the key baits over shallow weeds, water temp was 68-72 degrees.
Mike been living on this lake for over 20 years and he said he knew about 1 % of it and he wanted places were he could take his wife Mary out fishing and catch fish, they haven’t been doing so well. SO he hired me to learn spots for them, we started the afternoon out Crappie fishing and he manage to get a couple of meals of Crappies for them, showed him 7 different areas were they could catch crappies different times of the year. Then we went for Walleyes and John nailed this nice 19inch plus fish on his first cast. I showed him four other areas before we got blown off due to storms. He had so much fun he hired me again for when his son comes up July 5th. Mary said she never seen so many fish and could taste them now. I even caught a smallie when John let me fish other wise was putting bait on his hooks all the time.
Walleye action still good with a lot of males still using the rocks were the larger females are starting to move into the green cabbage weeds now. Out on tip the rocks 1/8oz. back jig tip with a small chub works best but can catch them with plastic and Ripping Raps.
Best bet in weeds use a weedless jig tip with fathead or Chub.
Another great opener in NE Wisconsin , my usual partner had to cancel due to sickness so I decided to do solo trip. The walleye action started a little slow but after finding them with my 360 it didn’t take long to put a nice limit (17″-19 3/4″) in boat. The smallmouth action was insane , so many 16-20 inchers I stop taken pictures of them. Also put some bonus perch in box 10-11 3/4 inches.
Colin Crawford call me and said they were milking and getting eggs for the Walleyes in Lac Vieux Desert and I should come over and see the operation that Robbie from the Hillside Resort put together to restock Walleyes in LVD. Was a great operation with a lot of help from LVDLA and WI & MI DNR. When I was there about 50 percent of the females were still to hard to get their eggs and I was amaze of how many Walleyes were 25 inches and up, with 28 inches being the largest. I just would like to thank everyone that help and next year you can count on me getting into that cold water also. In about a week these eggs should start hatching and these Fry will swim right back into the lake.
Jared & Myself met Jason at launch in Peshtigo today and headed West toward Oconto along the shore in 8-12 FOW looking for walleyes schools and every time we found a group I would waypoint them turn around and fish them. We ended up with about 30 Walleyes nothing huge. Largest 26 inches. Ripping Raps, Hair Jigs , and plastics all work.
We started out fishing the bay out of Peshtigo and headed South towards Oconto but with a SE 30-40 mph wind waves kept on growing and had 4-5 footers on bay, Jared even got a little seasick so we pulled boat and went to the Menominee river and ended up catching 16 walleyes all between 14-25 inches. Ripping Raps caught the bigger fish with jig and plastic catching more but smaller ones. The bigger females were still on edge of channel were the male and smaller females we found in six feet of water close to 41 bridge.
Water temp 36-38 so next week should be on fire here.
Good luck and tight lines
Today was opening day gun hunting and since I couldn’t be down on the land this year I decided to go and get some walleyes, One of my good customers was up North and not doing anything so I ask him if he wanted to go. We ended up catching about 10 smaller ones and only one keeper which would be the last fish in my boat for 2020. Fish were in 25-30 feet of water and the Moonshine Shiver Minnows still seem to be the best ticket.