Sturgeon Mania!!!!

This story begins with a trip to St. Paul, MN. Nick and I went to the Minnesota Muskie Expo in St. Paul, and it was awesome. We met Bob Mehsikomer and Jim Saric, to name a couple. Learned tons of stuff and bought some cool lures. Nick got a hell of a deal on a rod and reel. It was a trip to remember, Muskies, Cabela's, and fast food. Hell of a time!

But that is only the beginning.

On Monday night last week Nick, Nik, Jeremy and I went down to the Eau Claire city shops with some heavy poles and night crawlers. Ad boy did we get some big ones! The first fish on was on the end of my line, and it was the biggest fish I have ever caught. Nik lost one, I got one, Nick got one, Nick got two more, I could go on and on. Andy came down and caught one, and Jeremy caught 3 so far. For the next week we went fishing with worms for four nights and caught about 15 sturgeon, 1 catfish, countless mudpuppies, and 2 burbots (whatever the hell those are). But man, it was great. One day we all went to Half Moon Lake and Nick caught 2 bass.

Words cannot describe what this week was like, it was so much fun catching fish and hanging out with my buddies again, I have the feeling this year will be great.

Big Falls, Big Bites, Big nothing.

At it again, I have only 2 days left until my license expires so I wanted to get the most out of it on Sunday Afternoon. So Nick and I decided to try our luck down at Big Falls.
Situated on the Eau Claire River, Big Falls is a local swimming hole in the summertime, and a great fishing hole in the spring and fall. Last October, Andy and I went down there and caught a big Pike and a decent Walleye.
But Nick and I didn't share the luck of the Fall on Sunday, I was using a texas-rigged Berkley Gulp worm and Nick was using a spinnerbait. I got a few big tugs on the worm, but no fish. Nick felt absolutely nothing on the spinner, and when we both switched over to rattle baits, we also felt nothing.
The guy next to us was fishing with nightcrawlers and he caught some carp and a few smaller 'eyes, but nothing spectacular.
But we learned a lot, the water is still too cold for reaction baits, it's time to break out the finesse rigs and use those power worms to their fullest.
This weekend is the Minnesota Musky Expo!! Nick and I are going to be there to see Jim Saric and some other Musky legends. I can't wait!

'Till next time,
Good Fishin'

Joe

What the heck is a mud puppy?

So it's been awhile. Sorry about that, but I have been so busy trying to finish my basement at home that when I do get a chance to go fishing, I either forget to write about it, or just don't have enough time (then I forget again).
Two weeks ago Nick and I decided to try some late night fishing on the Chippewa River. We were across and downstream from the city shops trying to get that Friday night bite, but it didn't happen. We only fished for about an hour when we decided to pack it in.
Last Saturday night, Nick, Jeremy and I all went to Chippewa Falls and fished in our normal spot on the river. The water was very high and besides Jeremy getting his stuff tangled up in the dark, I tried to fish with a spinnerbait that I had rigged with a glow-in-the-dark blade, but again- not a bite. We left after about an hour and went home to drink some beer and relax in front of some WFN.
Then the coolest trip so far this year took place. Nick, Jeremy, Andy and I all took the long two and a half hour trip to Cabela's in Owatonna, MN. Boy we had a great time. We all got rigged up with some cool gear and we got our waders for the trip we are taking to Andy's place on fishing opener. We bummed around Cabela's for about 4 hours looking at their fish tanks, eating in their restaurant, and just making a wish list of all the cool gear we could find. Of course on the way back we had to stop at White Castle for some sliders. (It was Andy's first time!!!).

And now we come to the question at hand; what is a mud puppy? I have heard of these elusive creatures living at the bottom of lakes and rivers, big lizard looking like things just waiting for food to munch on.
So Nick, Nik, Jeremy, Nick's girlfriend Nicole, my wife's brother Steven, and I all went to the Chippewa to fish across from the city shops. It was the first day thisyear above 60 degrees, nd it was really nice outside. On the city shops side there were at least 30 people fishing, with one Lund boat and a canoe all in this one place. So we set up camp on the opposite side of the shops and started fishing with some small minnows. After 10 minutes, I reeled in my line and found that something was on the end. At first I thought it was a clam, but clams don't have legs. It was a mud puppy, and a big one! The ugliest thing I have ever seen on the end of my line. It was slimy, slippery, and down right gross. But I took it off the line, threw it back, and kept on fishing.
Bit unfortunately that was the only thing any of us caught that day. We fished for about 4 hours using mostly minnows and spinnerbaits.

Just a mud puppy. Google image one, I dare you. You will be having dreams of giant slimy salamanders invading your fisheries. Not a pleasant site.

Till next time
Good fishin'

Joe

Last minute scramble

Saturday February 28th
The last day you can fish within 500 feet of the Lake Altoona dam. It's showtime, Nick Nik and I all got our new gear, new tackle, tackle bags, and new baits. We are going to kill the northern and walleye. We almost got lucky last week, we're sure to have some shore lunch this week.

...

Nope, not a thing, just 3 lost lures, and a tangle of old line with a mystery bait inside. But it was fun, we had to slide down the hill on our rumps like silly 4th graders but we made it, almost didn't make it back up the hill though. But after some jumping, sliding, and Sparks drinking, we made it.

Now we have to wait until fishing opener in May to fish there again, but that's ok, out of all the times we have gone there, I have caught 1 fish, a sheephead, ugly thing. But we keep going back because it's a cool spot, and I see fish caught there all of the time.

Probably won't hear from me for awhile, I may get the courage up to go back out before opener, but if the weather stays like it is, probably not.
Of course I say that now, the "itch" will get the best of me by the end of this week.

Oh I almost forgot, next Sunday is Cabela's trip day. And the day the clocks have to be rolled forward so we get another hour of daylight (and I get another hour of homework time!!).

Yeah, I'll be out before opener.

Till next time
Good fishin'
Joe

Sooooooo close!

So Nick and I went fishing last Saturday and Sunday. On Saturday we went to the Chippewa River in Chippewa Falls and did not catch a thing. The weather was cold and the ice had started to form around the shore line about 5 feet out so it was difficult to cast. I was trying a glow jig head with a Gulp Shaky worm and Nick was using a chartreuse spinner. Nick got a couple of good hits on the spinner but did not produce any fish. I thought I was getting bites off of the Gulp worm but I think that it was mainly ice chunks floating down the river.
On Sunday we went down to the Altoona Lake Dam to fish in the pools on the Eau Claire River. On the third cast Nick had a fish on for about 5 seconds and then it let go. We could not tell if it was a Walleye or a northern that hit the bait (the same chartreuse spinner as before) but e both saw the fins sticking out of the water. I was trying the shaky worm again but did not produce any results other than snags. A couple other fishermen were down there fishing with live bait and I think they got a few to take home but I never saw any.

The fishing bug has caught me but good, and I cannot wait for it to get warmer up here and take the boat out for fishing. I keep on buying fishing lures and tackle to quell the urge, but I cannot find an end to this winter.
In two weeks time changes here in Wisconsin and we will have another hour of daylight. I hope that I can get some fishing in soon.
My son is 16 months old now, I cannot wait for him to start fishing with me and my wife Sarah, whom I just bought a nice reel for. We hopefully will have a lot of fun this summer fishing and just playing outside.
Maybe I can win the lottery and become a stay at home Dad. But wishful thinking aside;

Good fishin'

Joe

Woo Hoo! Ice Fishing Contest!

The 16th annual Big Wood Lake ice fishing contest was on Valentine's Day this year. It was awesome I went up to Sarah's grandparents house with ALL of my fishing buddies; Nick, Nik, Jeremy, Andy and of course Xavier. Sarah and Nicks girlfriend Nicole were there too; and my mom showed up and fished for awhile!

We'll start with the ride up. Sarah, Xavier, Nick, Nicole and I all rode up in my truck with the gear in the back. We borrowed one of my co-workers portable ice fishing shacks so the back of the truck was pretty full. Here's the funny part, Andy's girlfriend Liz was going to come, but she was exhausted from school and needed a break so she stayed home. She was going to drive her saturn up there and we would have plenty of room for everybody. But since she didn't come, Jeremy had to drive....with Nik and Andy....in his Ford Ranger. Needless to say it was pretty cramped for those three but they made it with a few stretch stops along the way.
The weather was good, not too cold, a little overcast, and not too windy. The big ice shack was out there and we took our borrowed shack out there along with Stan's (Sarah's grandpa) other portable shack. We put out about 12 tip-ups and all got comfy in the cold shacks and started fishing.

I remember a little saying; If fishing was easy, it would be called catching.

And we were fishing, the camera and Stan's vexilar found the fish, but they were not hungry. Nick and I were even jigging waxies right in front of their noses and they wouldn't bite.
So after a while my mom went inside to play with Xavier after she spent some time cooped up in the shack with Jeremy (that must have been fun...).

But there were some Sunfish biting. Nik got the first and second ones, Nick then got two watching the camera, I got one, Nik got a bass, Nick caught 2 more, Jeremy caught one, and finally Andy caught one. We caught one pike on a tip-up but that was it.

All-in-all it was a great trip. Grandma's chili warmed us all up at lunch and supper, and Sarah's grandparent are the mose welcoming family in the world. We all felt like we were at home and that was the best part. Not many fish, Andy got to take those home after some cleaning tips from Stan, and we were all tired after a "hard days work."

Till next time,
Good Fishin'
Joe

Sunday Fishin Blues

So on Sunday my buddy Andy and I went down to our spot on the Eau Claire River for some casting. The water was clear, and the ice was only 3 feet from shore so we could cast into the rapids and wait for the fish. And wait we did. Andy was throwing a curly tail grub with a 1/8 oz jig head and was not having any luck except the non-elusive snag. He did have a bite on at one point, but lost it after 5 seconds or so. I had no luck at all. I was using bright curly tails, natural color curly tails, fishing fast, fishing slow, fishing with spinners, all to no avail.
Not sure why the fish were not biting but it could have something to do with the clarity of the water, the temp, and the fact that the water was not very deep. We tried fishing deeper holes, but again, nothing there. Our friend Jeremy came down with his camera and took some picks.

So after about 3 hours of fishing we packed it up and I went to get my friend Nick for some ice fishing. Jeremy came with for moral support and we decided to go to Little Lake Wissota in Chippewa Falls. We go tout there and found the ice to be about 3 feet thick. Not bad, unless you consider that in my previous post One of the blades lost a screw so we were drilling with one blade. It took about 15 minutes to get through the ice with the 3 of us taking turns the whole time. After 1 hole, we "borrowed" some other holes that had nobody around them, dropped the camera, and no fish at all. In fact it was about 40 feet deep and the bottom was clean. We did find a big log, but that was it.

So after a long day of not catching anything again we packed it up after only an hour and headed home. Now I can look forward to Saturday when we all are going up to my hometown of Grantsburg to Big Wood Lake for the annual ice fishing contest. It should be good.

Till then,
Good Fishin'
Joe

Half -Moon Camera Fun

So once again I find myself bugging my friend Nick to go fishing at 11pm. I finally convince him and my other friend Kirk to go to Half Moon Lake in Eau Claire to see if we can catch those elusive crappie.
So we drill a few holes (with a hand auger), dump the camera down the hole to find the fish, and once again catch absolutely nothing. We saw a few panfish, one decent sized bass and a whole bunch of baitfish.
Did I even wet a line? No, I played with the camera the whole time. My arms are tired from drilling holes, not to mention that one of the screws on the auger blade was lost so we were drilling with one blade.
But did I have fun? Of course I did. Exploring the depths of lakes with that camera is fun and exciting. You never know what you will find. Giant logs in Dells Pond, a layer of crayfish larva in Lake Hallie, a school of bluegill and a decent sized Pike on Hallie, so much to discover and see that I could just use the camera all summer long and not fish. Just kidding. If I don't fish it drives me nuts.
I don't know what has happened to me in the last three years but I cannot stop thinking about fishing. It drives my wife crazy. But with all of the great fishing waters around the Chippewa Valley it's hard to not be enthused about fishing.

Well, till next time I have a bright idea,

Good Fishin'

Joe

What were we thinking?

So today my friend Nick and I got bored at about 11pm and decided to go fishing.

No, not ice fishing, but casting into the Chippewa River.

Yes we know this is Wisconsin, it's about -2 degrees outside, and it's almost midnight.

I don't need much sleep, so time of day is not a factor. Wait for the posts about our midnight catfish adventures in the summertime. I also have the clothing to suppress frostbite at least for a while, and I grew up in northern Wisconsin so cold is not too much of a factor. But were we really going to catch anything? No. We knew that, but hey, you have to try everything at least once in your life right?

It was cold, and the ice had re-formed around the shoreline so the only place we could cast was past 15 feet of ice into a pool. I can hear the pros laughing right now, but like I said, if you don't try something once, you won't learn (unless you read it in a book). We only fished for about 10 minutes as our fingers froze to the reels and the lines were forming icicles.

Definitely not doing that again, at least until it warms up a bit.

So no fish, but we did find an aluminum boat. The place we were at was by the paper mill dam on the City Shops side, just down Hobart Street. This is a popular place in Eau Claire for catfishing and sturgeon fishing. Last year we caught 7 sturgeon there at midnight using nightcrawlers.

Till next time,
Good fishin'

Joe

Yay First Post

Fishing is everything. My spare time is spent either fishing, learning about fishing, or watching the World Fishing Network (WFN). This blog is going to be an account of my fishing excursions in and around my home town of Eau Claire, Wisconsin.

I love fishing, am I good at it, sure I can catch fish but I'm no pro. I love trying new things, finding out they don't work, then going back to the basics. I get so caught up in the flash and flair of new fishing equipment I am beginning to think that fishing tackle producers make lures to attract me more than the fish!

I grew up in a small town in northern Wisconsin about a mile away from the St. Croix river, you could say that I knew what a fishing pole was before I learned to walk. My late father would take me and my brother to the river and fish for a few hours, take home our catch, then have supper. My Dad loved to fish, he had all the tackle you would ever need from bass, walleye, panfish and musky. He even had a bait shaped like a kitchen sink in his tackle box! I was very sorry to see my Father pass away last fall and I will miss fishing with him. Now I look forward to taking the bass boat he bought last year out with my Mother to enjoy my dads tackle and have some fun.

I have 3 main fishing buddies, Nick, Nic (spelled right) and Andy. Soon I will have a fourth as my Son gets older (he's one) and I cannot wait to take him out fishing. We all love fishing and have taken extreme measures to fish in the weirdest places around. Each place has to have a large steep hill to climb down or we have to get wet to be there.

This blog will be the account of me and my buddies fishing in the spots we have found, spots we have yet to find, and the fish that we catch.

The way I see it, even if I don't catch anything I still have fun.

Good fishin'
Joe