What an excellent time of year to be on the water – recreational traffic is at a minimum, the mosquitoes and flies are gone, and some exciting angling opportunities are happening right now, here in our area!
The rain as of late, while it has not affected water levels a whole lot, has increased the current. This increase in current, on both the rivers and the flowages they run through, helps to stimulate fish activity. In addition, the current tends to spur fish into more predictable and concentrated areas. Below are a couple "bites" to take advantage of in our region right now.
While walleye fishing was unbelievable earlier in the year, as summer progressed into autumn and dry conditions persisted, the marble-eyes in our area became more challenging to both locate and catch. Recent weeks have seen a considerable increase in both action and size. In fact, several fish in the upper twenty-inch range have been caught and released by local anglers within the past week alone.
If you're looking to get in on the action, right now is an excellent time to explore the waters of Lakes Wausau and DuBay, as well as the Wisconsin River and Half Moon. Begin by keying in on hard-bottomed areas containing current; this could mean below the dams, outlets of sloughs and channels, and neck-down areas where the channel and surrounding water narrow and thus create a funnel effect.
Live bait has been working very well as of late, with extra-large fatheads or small to medium sized sucker minnows being best. The conventional lead-head jig will do the trick; depending on the size of your bait or mood of the fish, you may also want to consider using stinger hooks should you begin missing fish on the hook-set. Slip-sinker rigs with live bait are also working well and should be used in conjunction with jigs.
Perhaps one of the autumn season's most pursued quarries, the mighty musky, has also been quite active as of late. As with walleyes, several very nice muskies have been caught and released not just in my boat, but the boats of other area anglers in the last week or two as well. While the activity on suckers rigged with quick-strike rigs has jumped considerably, live bait for muskies is not the only present option; we'll look at live bait, suckers to be exact, first though.
Any discussion of using suckers for musky fishing needs to have one basic premise – use ONLY quick-strike rigs. This is important for two main reasons: first, your hooking percentage will be the greatest when properly using a quick-strike rig. Secondly, the use of quick-strike rigs is the best way to ensure a successful release of a strong and healthy musky when using live bait. Depending on the number of anglers in my boat, I like to hang one or two suckers over the side, one close to the bottom and one closer to the surface. I then like to drag 1 or 2 more behind the boat suspended below floats; again, I stagger the depths at which I set them.
The keys to a solid hook set when using a quick strike rig begin with making sure the hooks are sharp and the sucker rigged properly. When a fish strikes, it is imperative to position the boat as quickly as possible making sure to get the boat as possible to being over the fish. An angler needs to determine which way the fish is facing and then on the hook set, set opposite – this will drive the rig into the fish and hopefully ensure a solid hook-up.
Whether you choose walleyes or muskies, smallmouth bass or crappies, right now is as good a time as any to be fishing locally. I'll see you on the water…
Tight lines,
Joel DeBoer
