FISHING REPORTS:
The colors are freakin' awesome guys. I know the last couple of years were crappy but this year, ka-boom. Even if you can't fish you may just wanna take a drive down one of the many colorful roadways here in the northwoods. And the fishing has been pretty good too, although not ka-boom.
As the water temps continue to try and make it into the 50s, the musky sucker bite continues to get better. Guys are taking out medium, large and extra large suckers every day now. I've heard that some places have a shortage and are selling them for up to $13 and more. Not us. We got plenty of wild caught suckers and they are $8, $9 and $11 for the M, L and XL respectively.
As the lakes painfully inch towards turnover the livebait bite will start to go to the minnow from the crawler. It might be a while though as we just had a few days with sun, calm winds and highs knocking the dust off of 80! So deeper the fish go. I was on a flat the other day where there is one spot that is 2 feet deeper than the rest of the flat. And sure enough, a pile of fish were hunkered down there. Just 2 feet mind you. But when the weeds start dying and the oxygen starts to diminish you gotta go where you can breathe. Once turnover takes place then the oxygen gets dispersed again and the fish get a little more spread out.
My guess is we got about two more weeks of the good crawler bite we been having. As the water temps start to get into the mid to low 50's range the minnows will be king again. But light jigs, the same ones you used with the crawlers, will still be the ticket. Unless of course you need to get into the 40-50 foot depths.
Top water presentations are still hot right now. To me this is the most exciting type of fishing there is. Watching that bait twitch or wabble or splash across the surface and then see it explode -- really cool. But remember to wait for the weight. Don't set the hook on the splash or too many times you will come up with an empty plate.
On a personal note Linda and I would like to thank you for a fantastic summer. We love seeing old friends and making new ones as we work the shop. You all know Linda. She's the nice one that no one can figure out how she could have gotten hooked up with me. But anyways, thank you. We are both looking forward to a great fall heading into the stiff water season with you in mind.
Our jumbo crawlers come directly from Canada. We are doing our
best to keep the prices low. We do have 100 count crawlers for only $21 and bulk crawler flats for only $60. To order your flats
in dirt or bedding please call ahead at the Minocqua shop at 715-358-5130. If you don't get a response, as they are very busy,
you can always call back or call me at 715-892-2751. Also remember your 1st scoop of crappie minnows is always only $2 with any purchase. Leeches are done this year. The warm weather we got in June ended the trapping season then and we finally ran out last week. Our minnows come direct from trappers in central Wisconsin. Right now we have crappie
minnows, fatheads, XL fatheads (tuffys), Mud Minnows, Walleye Suckers, Northern Bait Minnows, Redtail Chubs, & Blacktail Chubs. We also have a good selection of medium ($8),large ($9) & XL ($11) wild musky suckers. There will be a musky sucker shortage again this year but we will do our best to keep you informed and well supplied. All our suckers are wild caught.
No middleman! Fresher and lower priced.
-----------------------------
Jeff Bolander, owner of Dewey, Catchem and
How Bait Shop and Guide Post at www.DeweyCatchemAndHow.com
Reports at www.UpNorthFishing.com
Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/DeweyCatchemAndHow
Check out my Up North fishing and resort web sites at
www.UpNorth.info
Jeff Bolander <jeff@deweycatchemandhow.com>
- Thursday, September 24, 2020 at 12:57:27 (PDT)
The fishing is still pretty good. The weatherman has made conditions a little tougher but them gilled critters are still coming over the side of the boat. Water temps are dropping fast. For those of you that hoped we might be able to fish in 70 degree water until January you be disappointed. It always gets cold in the northwoods and we can wish all we want but it ain't happening. (darn)
But that's a good thing. As the water cools the fish start to realize that winter is a comin. The worst the weather is out the better the bite will become. That's natures law. What we are seeing now are fish heading even deeper, if they have that option. They are getting more active and aggressive in places. Crawlers are still king but minnows are starting to work a little too. Of course leeches have been off the table for a few weeks now but that crawler bite remains strong. Half a crawler on a light jig produces many many species. I sat with a client the other day and we popped 6 species in one spot in a half an hour. All on the aforementioned crawler and jig worked slowly thru the weeds or over the rocks.
I've been asked many times if I only use live bait. Of course not but when something is working why change. But when something is not working, move on to something else. That happens a lot. This time of year I start to migrate over to large plastics. Rib worms, jerk baits, sticks, senco, and all kinds of grub tails pulled thru, over and around the weeds. And the latest fad is snap jigging. But they all work kind of the same way. A larger profile that gets the fish's attention or curiosity up. Then while working the bait the fish will usually hit it on the drop of some kind. That's why the snap jerk works so well. Keep your line tight on the drop as that's where you'll feel the bite 90% of the time.
As the weather morphs into fall so will the fishing pick up even more. If you have deep water on your lake of choice that's where you want to fish. If you don't then find the greenest weed edges you can find. And if what your doing ain't working, for goodness sake, try something else.
Oh, and what are those big fish called? Oh yeah, Musky. The musky fisherpeople are starting to come out of the woodwork now. And they should be in for a great fall. The summer was a banner year for Musky. Numerous reports of multifish days filled the social media. Right now they seem to be along or just inside the weed edges. Any bait that will put you in that strike zone is the choice du jor. And don't forget to drag a musky sucker on a quick strike rig. I think you're crazy if you don't. And remember, Musky season goes up until 'Ice-Out' this year, whenever it may be.
Have a great Labor Day and please be safe. We want to see you year after year after year!
FYI. Two major DNR regs to be aware of are that they extended the walleye no harvest rules on the Minocqua chain
and changed the Manitowish Chain from a size exempt water to the normal state 15" rules.
FYI 2, our jumbo crawlers come directly from Canada. Crawlers went up this year for a myriad of reasons. We are doing our
best to keep the prices low. We do have 100 count crawlers for only $21 and bulk crawler flats for only $60. To order your flats
in dirt or bedding please call ahead at the Minocqua shop at 715-358-5130. If you don't get a response, as they are very busy,
you can always call back or call me at 715-892-2751. Also remember your 1st scoop of crappie minnows is always only $2 with any purchase. Leeches are done this year. The warm weather we got in June ended the trapping season then and we finally ran out last week. Our minnows come direct from trappers in central Wisconsin. Right now we have crappie
minnows, fatheads, XL fatheads (tuffys), Mud Minnows, Walleye Suckers, Northern Bait Minnows, Redtail Chubs and Blacktail Chubs. We also have a good selection of medium and large musky suckers. There will be a musky sucker shortage again this year but we will do our best to keep you informed and supplied. All our suckers are wild caught.
No middleman! Fresher and lower priced.
-----------------------------
Jeff Bolander, owner of Dewey, Catchem and
How Bait Shop and Guide Post at www.DeweyCatchemAndHow.com
Reports at www.UpNorthFishing.com
Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/DeweyCatchemAndHow
Check out my Up North fishing and resort web sites at
www.UpNorth.info
Jeff Bolander <jeff@deweycatchemandhow.com>
- Thursday, September 03, 2020 at 14:46:28 (PDT)
Hammertime continues but the hammer is getting smaller. The bluegills, perch and crappie are on fire. I finally got a day off a few days ago and headed out wif the da wifey. First time we've out in quite a while. Now normally she will fish with me but it's never her idea. Know what I mean? We headed out in the evening and caught a few bass, walleye and bluegills. It was slow by my standards but she had a good time (she said). So I talked her into going out again the next day, telling her we would go whenever she was ready in the morning. (If you rush her it's no good) So we headed to the Minocqua chain and lucky for her (and me) it was big bluegill day. In 3 hours we boated over 50 gills and 10 smallmouth. She got the biggest smallie but the best part was she pounded the 9-10" gills. She was giggling and saying how much fun this is. I agreed. 1/32 oz pink jigs tipped with a half of crawler was the ticket. Those big gills bang the bait and fight really well. We kept 10 and honestly as it turned out we could have kept just 6 and it would have been enough table fare for just the two of us. We caught very few dinks. It always amazes me that how the same size fish are active during a bite.
A few days before I was guiding on the Rainbow flowage and the bite was slow but the fish were big. Crappies up to 13", many perch up to 12", an 10.5" bluegill, a few smaller walleye and a lot of bullheads. Again, small pink jigs and crawlers worked the best.
Now when I post in these reports that a certain color worked the best or a certain bait worked the best, we didn't just fish with those methods. I am always using something different than the client is using just to see if something else would work better. When visitors to the shop ask on how to use or work a bait I tell them to keep trying different presentations and when you catch a fish, keep doing that. Many times while I'm moving the boat slowly from one spot to another someone might catch a fish. I would point out to them that the fish just told them something. Replicate that presentation as that seems to be the way they want it.
I got a couple of more days off before the schedule fills again next week so if you want to get out, call me. If you don't, I'm gonna head out to a few lakes I haven't been on in a while to see if they are giving up any fish. I'll let you know what I find. LATER!
FYI. Two major DNR regs to be aware of are that they extended the walleye no harvest rules on the Minocqua chain
and changed the Manitowish Chain from a size exempt water to the normal state 15" rules.
FYI 2, our jumbo crawlers come directly from Canada. Crawlers went up this year for a myriad of reasons. We are doing our
best to keep the prices low. We do have 100 count crawlers for only $21 and bulk crawler flats of 500 for only $60. To order your flats
in dirt or bedding please call ahead at the Minocqua shop at 715-358-5130. If you don't get a response, as they are very busy,
you can always call back or call me at 715-892-2751. Also remember your 1st scoop of crappie minnows is always only $2 with any purchase. Leeches are done this year. The warm weather we got in June ended the trapping season then and we finally ran out last week. Our minnows come direct from trappers in central Wisconsin. Right now we have crappie
minnows, fatheads, XL fatheads (tuffys), Mud Minnows, Walleye Suckers, Northern Bait Minnows, Redtail Chubs and Blacktail Chubs. We also have a good selection of medium and large musky suckers. There will be a musky sucker shortage again this year but we will do our best to keep you informed and supplied. All our suckers are wild caught. No farm raised.
No middleman! Fresher and lower priced.
-----------------------------
Jeff Bolander, owner of Dewey, Catchem and
How Bait Shop and Guide Post at www.DeweyCatchemAndHow.com
Reports at www.UpNorthFishing.com
Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/DeweyCatchemAndHow
Check out my Up North fishing and resort web sites at
www.UpNorth.info
Jeff Bolander <jeff@deweycatchemandhow.com>
- Thursday, August 27, 2020 at 13:24:33 (PDT)
Hey, what can I say, the fishing bonanza continues. Lots of species in the usual places are coming over the side of the boat. We did 8 species one day! I'll give you a few of the examples.
I had a young newlywed couple in the boat who wanted to catch perch and crappie. Off to the Lac du Flambeau chain we went. We found the perch on mud edges of deep weeds and used 1/32 oz jigs tipped with a half crawler. We caught 50 but only kept about 10 in the range of 9-13". The crappie were in 18-20 feet of water suspended 7-10 down. We caught them on gulp 1" minnows swum thru the aforementioned depth. And to our pleasant surprise the big bluegills were smacking those minnows too! Again, 1/32 oz jig, no larger.
On another day with an older newlywed couple who wanted action we headed to a deep clear lake in Minocqua to get some of those smallies worked up. We popped over 70 of them in our short trip but the bite didn't really start until around 10am. Again, the 1/32 oz jig, orange that day, with a half crawler was the ticket.
One more example. I had another senior newlywed couple on board (I'm changing the boat's name to the Love Boat) and they wanted to see if they could catch some walleye. So we headed out to St Germain and fished the deep weed edges with, you guessed it, 1/32 oz jigs and crawlers. We got about a dozen walleye but nothing big enough to keep but we did pop a bunch of nice big perch and bluegill. On top of that a nice 20" northern that completed the fish fry bag nicely.
So get out there, lighten up on the tackle and hammer those little goomers. I know this streak has got to lag a little sometime down the road but hopefully not too soon. And yes Greg, I know Rattl Traps are the best. LATER!
FYI. Two major DNR regs to be aware of are that they extended the walleye no harvest rules on the Minocqua chain
and changed the Manitowish Chain from a size exempt water to the normal state 15" rules.
FYI 2, our jumbo crawlers come directly from Canada. Crawlers went up this year for a myriad of reasons. We are doing our
best to keep the prices low. We do have bulk crawler flats for $60. To order your flats
in dirt or bedding please call ahead at the Minocqua shop at 715-358-5130. If you don't get a response, as they are very busy,
you can always call back or call me at 715-892-2751. Also remember your 1st scoop of crappie minnows is only $2 with any purchase.
We have received our last leeches of the year. I'm sure they will be gone by the weekend. If you want some you better hustle. Our minnows come direct from trappers in central Wisconsin. Right now we have crappie
minnows, fatheads, XL fatheads (tuffys), Mud Minnows, Walleye Suckers, Northern Bait Minnows, Redtail Chubs and Blacktail Chubs.
No middleman! Fresher and lower priced.
-----------------------------
Jeff Bolander, owner of Dewey, Catchem and
How Bait Shop and Guide Post at www.DeweyCatchemAndHow.com
Reports at www.UpNorthFishing.com
Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/DeweyCatchemAndHow
Check out my Up North fishing and resort web sites at
www.UpNorth.info
Jeff Bolander <jeff@deweycatchemandhow.com>
- Thursday, August 13, 2020 at 11:25:56 (PDT)
Fishing has been REALLY good lately. All the species are being very cooperative right now. That does not mean you don't have to put in your time and effort to do so. But if you do you should be catching fish. Small jigs and live bait worked very slowly is always a great choice. It's very common to have the folks in my boat be in awe of how small a jig we use and how slow we work it. It produces fish. And big ones! As long as you can feel the jig you are in contact with the fish.
For the most part deep weeds have been the place to catch those fish lately. On any lake I'm looking for the deepest weed lines next to deep water in that lake. There you will find almost every species. And that depth will be different with different lakes. One lake we were on a couple of days ago the weed line is at 5'. The next day the lake we were on the weeds ended at 15'. But the results were the same. Find those green weeds and you'll find fish. It's not unusual to put 5-7 species in the boat in one spot. It's a bonus is if you also find bait fish gathering in that area. Fish below them and around them. The fish follow those clouds of minnows like I used to follow the ice cream truck when I was little. (Ok, I still do)
A shot one today but if you can take advantage of the incredible weather and great fishing we got going on now, do it. The water is still rising from all the rain but water temps are getting back to normal at around the mid 70's. See ya!
FYI. Two major DNR regs to be aware of are that they extended the walleye no harvest rules on the Minocqua chain
and changed the Manitowish Chain from a size exempt water to the normal state 15" rules.
FYI 2, our jumbo crawlers come directly from Canada. Crawlers went up this year for a myriad of reasons. We are doing our
best to keep the prices low. We do have 2 dz jumbo crawlers for $6.75 and bulk crawler flats for $60. To order your flats
in dirt or bedding please call ahead at the Minocqua shop at 715-358-5130. If you don't get a response, as they are very busy,
you can always call back or call me at 715-892-2751. Also remember your 1st scoop of crappie minnows is only $2 with any purchase.
We have the lowest leech prices around which come direct from Minnesota. We now have medium to jumbo leeches that we sell by
the dozen, 1/4#, 1/2# and full pound. Our minnows come direct from trappers in central Wisconsin. Right now we have crappie
minnows, fatheads, XL fatheads (tuffys), Walleye Suckers, Northern Bait Minnows, Redtail Chubs, Blacktail Chubs and medium and large Musky Suckers.
No middleman! Fresher and lower priced.
-----------------------------
Jeff Bolander, owner of Dewey, Catchem and
How Bait Shop and Guide Post at www.DeweyCatchemAndHow.com
Reports at www.UpNorthFishing.com
Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/DeweyCatchemAndHow
Check out my Up North fishing and resort web sites at
www.UpNorth.info
Jeff Bolander <jeff@deweycatchemandhow.com>
- Thursday, July 30, 2020 at 13:27:34 (PDT)
You know, one of the questions I get asked a lot is when is the best time to come fishing in the northwoods. My answer is always "between the middle of May to the middle of June." Well not this year. We are now in the middle of hammertime. It's like its the end of May, beginning of June. Everyday we go out now we catch a PILE of fish. 5-8 species is the norm now. Our methods vary, more on that in a bit, but the outcome is the same, a livewell full of future fillets. But I believe we haven't even hit the best bite yet. Some of my favorite haunts are still behind schedule.
Normally bluegill pester the heck out of us. Those little devils can dictate how we fish. Sometimes the leeches and crawlers have to be left in the cooler cuz the gills just eat them up before they can get to the intended quarry. Not this year. Just over the last few days have the gills started biting, to the point of annoyance. Its good to see though as that means those bigger dudes will follow. We caught some real nice gills today but to get to the bass and walleye we had to switch to plastics. And we did and we did!
The perch are starting to get active on those deep green weedlines. We been putting a dozen or more in the livewell everyday now. Nice ones too, in the 8-12" range. Of course some places we gotta catch a million dinks before we get a big one but hey, that's all good in my book. Light 1/32 oz jigs and half a crawler.
Walleyes are just starting to come into the weeds next to or in the mud. They are eating bugs and those little perch we talked about. When you start catching a bunch of little perch spend some extra time there trying for Walleye. We been getting a few Walleye on half a crawler. It is still a very light bite though. Pay attention as your jig comes thru those deeper weeds, 15-25', as the bite will come as the jig is tipping thru on the bottom of the patch. Let 'em take it a little and when you feel the weight instead of the nibble, set the hook.
Northern have been on fire all year but now even more. We popped over two dozen a few days ago throwing spinner baits and chatter baits. Beautiful healthy fish. 7 feet of weeds in mud was our ticket that day. And there wasn't much wind on a sunny day so we saw most of the hits. Lots of fun.
The methods we are using vary. The most used I guess is a 1/32 or 1/16 lime or orange jig with a half of crawler. Sometime it takes 3/4 of a crawler but most of the time 1/2 will do. Throw that rig right into the weeds and slowly, I mean slowly, bring it thru the weeds. Look for green weeds close to deep water. Sometime the fish are right on the edge of the weeds, sometimes in and sometimes outside of them. Using my Livescope I can normally see where they are at. Although it can be extra frustrating when you can see them swimming around and they still won't bite.
When you fish plastics, twister tails, tube baits and worms, again, go slow. Remember a crawler or little minnow doesn't move very fast in the water. I had a family in the boat the other day and the best method was to throw the crawler out outside the weeds, let it set and wait for the fish to come out and get it. The Mom in the boat put 3 bass in the boat over 4 lbs. She was a fisherwoman for sure. Great touch and concentration.
Alright, that's it for now. Come on on up kids. The fishing is great and the weather has been incredible. Drive safe, be safe and leave some for next time.
FYI. Two major DNR regs to be aware of are that they extended the walleye no harvest rules on the Minocqua chain
and changed the Manitowish Chain from a size exempt water to the normal state 15" rules.
FYI 2, our jumbo crawlers come directly from Canada. Crawlers went up this year for a myriad of reasons. We are doing our
best to keep the prices low. We do have 2 dz jumbo crawlers for $6.75 and bulk crawler flats for $60. To order your flats
in dirt or bedding please call ahead at the Minocqua shop at 715-358-5130. If you don't get a response, as they are very busy,
you can always call back or call me at 715-892-2751. Also remember your 1st scoop of crappie minnows is only $2 with any purchase.
We have the lowest leech prices around which come direct from Minnesota. We now have medium to jumbo leeches that we sell by
the dozen, 1/4#, 1/2# and full pound. Our minnows come direct from trappers in central Wisconsin. Right now we have crappie
minnows, fatheads, XL fatheads (tuffys), Walleye Suckers, Northern Bait Minnows, and Blacktail Chubs.
No middleman! Fresher and lower priced.
-----------------------------
Jeff Bolander, owner of Dewey, Catchem and
How Bait Shop and Guide Post at www.DeweyCatchemAndHow.com
Reports at www.UpNorthFishing.com
Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/DeweyCatchemAndHow
Check out my Up North fishing and resort web sites at
www.UpNorth.info
Jeff Bolander <jeff@deweycatchemandhow.com>
- Friday, July 17, 2020 at 11:45:57 (PDT)
I can't believe it's the 4th of July holiday already. Where the heck did June go! With nothing much else to do fishing has taken over the northwoods. Lots of new people to the sport are trying their hand at something many of us already love. It's a lot of fun setting a child, or an adult for that matter, up with their very first fishing rig and baits or taking them out for their first guided trip in my boat. It's how a lifetime of memories are made. A rod and reel, jig and a piece of crawler with a fishing biting will bring a smile to anybody's face!
So how's the fishing? Well the weed growth has really surged in the last few weeks. Water temps are in the 80's in some places. With the warm weather and all the sun we have experienced the weeds have made up for their slow growth start. With the sun being so high in the sky for so much of the time lately the fish are buried deep in those weeds. Find yourself a good weedless jig, there are many to choose from, and throw your leech, worm, plastic right in that thick patch. Work your bait very slowly and gently work it through those weeds. All of a sudden you'll feel something different and that most likely will be a fish grabbing your bait. SET THE HOOK! Even if it turns out that it was only weeds, so what. Better to hooks weeds than to not hook a fish. A guiding legend of the Northwoods, Tommy Zinda, used to say, "if you're not picking weeds off your jig you aren't where the fish are at."
The other place to find your quarry now a days is on deep mud flats. Usually the deepest part of the lake. Fish will be beating the bottom kicking up bugs to eat. Especially where the sand or gravel transitions into mud. Get down there with drop shots, bottom bouncers and your favorite bait rig. Vertical jigging will work too but obviously you can cover a lot more ground moving around.
Bluegills seem to be right in the middle or end of the spawn on most lakes. Crawler pieces, panfish leeches and small plastics will produce. Depending on the lake, don't be afraid to fish 15-25' deep in the weeds for them. They like the nice cool oxygen filled deep water too.
Hey everybody, have a happy and safe 4th. Be smart, safe and slow down. And one more thing. Please remember boat launches are for launching and loading your boat to or from its trailer. Loading or unloading your boat with gear should be done in the parking lot. If someone offers to help you cuz you're holding up the show, let them. They probably know what they're doing and maybe you could learn something.
FYI. Two major DNR regs to be aware of are that they extended the walleye no harvest rules on the Minocqua chain
and changed the Manitowish Chain from a size exempt water to the normal state 15" rules.
FYI 2, The Lac du Flambeau reservation is open to visitors again.
FYI 3 We have plenty of fresh leeches and jumbo crawlers in. To order your bulk leeches or flats of crawlers
in dirt or bedding please call ahead at the Minocqua shop at 715-358-5130. If you don't get a response, as they are very busy,
you can always call back or call me at 715-892-2751. Also remember your 1st scoop of crappie minnows is only $2 with any purchase. Our minnows come direct from trappers in central Wisconsin. Right now we have crappie
minnows, fatheads, XL fatheads (tuffys), Walleye Suckers, Northern Bait Minnows, Redtail Chubs and Blacktail Chubs.
No middleman! Fresher and lower priced.
-----------------------------
Jeff Bolander, owner of Dewey, Catchem and
How Bait Shop and Guide Post at www.DeweyCatchemAndHow.com
Reports at www.UpNorthFishing.com
Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/DeweyCatchemAndHow
Check out my Up North fishing and resort web sites at
www.UpNorth.info
Jeff Bolander <jeff@deweycatchemandhow.com>
- Thursday, July 02, 2020 at 10:33:52 (PDT)
More good news. We are just starting to see the bite pick up after the spawns.
Our weather has been up and down like a 6 Flags roller coaster. Temps in the 90's then only in the 40's in a few days. And then back up again and then down again and back up, well, you get the picture. Because of this wild temp fluctuation I'm afraid a bunch of bass and crappie have missed their chance at renewing their seed. Of course it depends on the lake but an awful lot of crappie, bass and even northern pike have had spawn in them when they hit the filet board. Too bad. But on the good side the gills, walleye and musky seemed to have done real well in that department.
The past few days have brought the first normal bite for fish off the spawn. Bass, crappie and walleye seem to be feeding pretty well right now. Most seem to be on the deep weedlines. Find the green weeds and minnow clouds and you'll find fish below them. We caught some really nice ones in 15-20 feet of water today. Of course it was a pretty clear water lake. Including a nice 23.5" walleye caught by 5 year old Orli. That fish was probably older than she was.
The bite has definitely turned to crawlers and leeches. Minnows are fine but for most of the waters i fish the crawler and leech are king. Plus they are much easier to manage this time of year. Water temps are inching towards the 70 mark, slowly this time, which should bring a sustained bite.
Get out there and enjoy some of the best fishing of the years. Lots of finned fiends to yank your line right now are active.
FYI. Two major DNR regs to be aware of are that they extended the walleye no harvest rules on the Minocqua chain
and changed the Manitowish Chain from a size exempt water to the normal state 15" rules.
FYI 2 - the Lac du Flambeau reservation is open again to non-residents.
FYI 3, our jumbo crawlers come directly from Canada. Crawlers went up this year for a myriad of reasons. We are doing our
best to keep the prices low. We do have 2 dz jumbo crawlers for $6.75 and bulk crawler flats for $60. And these are JUMBO! To order your flats
in dirt or bedding please call ahead at the Minocqua shop at 715-358-5130. If you don't get a response, as they are very busy,
you can always call back or call me at 715-892-2751. Also remember your 1st scoop of crappie minnows is always only $2 with any purchase.
We have the lowest leech prices around which come direct from Minnesota. We now have panfish to jumbo leeches that we sell by
the dozen, 1/4#, 1/2# and full pound. Our minnows come direct from trappers in central Wisconsin. Right now we have crappie
minnows, fatheads, XL fatheads (tuffys), Mud Minnows, Walleye Suckers, Northern Bait Minnows, Redtail Chubs and Blacktail Chubs and Musky suckers. No middleman! Fresher and lower priced.
-----------------------------
Jeff Bolander, owner of Dewey, Catchem and
How Bait Shop and Guide Post at www.DeweyCatchemAndHow.com
Reports at www.UpNorthFishing.com
Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/DeweyCatchemAndHow
Check out my Up North fishing and resort web sites at
www.UpNorth.info
Jeff Bolander <jeff@deweycatchemandhow.com>
- Thursday, June 18, 2020 at 11:58:03 (PDT)
Well, this past week went pretty much as predicted. The Crappie in the Minocqua, Lac du Flambeau, and St. Germain areas were very catchable. But the best is yet to come. Most lakes were giving up Crappie in the northern shorelines near wood or green weeds. Some of the larger deeper lakes are just getting started. But stage 5 of the spawning process is right around the corner.
Remember, as with any spawn there are basically 5 stages.
Stage 1, a few weeks before they actually drop eggs, is a heavy feed time and fish are suspended in deeper water near their spawning areas.
Stage 2, heading to the beds, a few days before dropping eggs, is when the males and females are making and scouting beds, light feeding.
State 3, the spawn, the days when they are dropping eggs, the males are in light feed while the females aren't normally feeding at all.
Stage 4, post spawn, a few days after dropping the eggs, the females are starting to recover and the males are protecting the beds, feeding is light but the males are protecting the beds by attacking anything that he perceives will threaten the hatch.
Stage 5, post spawn staging is a week or so after dropping the eggs, the females are recovered and feeding heavily and the males start to leave the beds and put on the feed bag, too.
It's like this for most species. Most crappies are in stage 3-4 right now. The bluegills seem to be mostly in stage 2 right now. Bass are in stage 2-3 and northerns are confusing. So depending on your lake there should be a species you can catch. And individual fish can be in different stages even on the same lake.
Now I said Northerns are confusing. I said that because a bunch of the Northerns we boated this past week or so have been full of spawn, milk and eggs. Not sure why? Maybe just a bunch of non-conformists?
The walleye, mostly, seem to still be in stage 4. Still not a heavy feed. I saw some caught walleye a couple of days ago and they looked like snakes, not a thing in their belly. But, that will change.
As an illustration on how presentation matters, I was out with a father and son last night and they normally fish with heavier jigs. As always, I started with 1/32 oz jigs tipped with plastics. We caught fish all over the place. Not hot and heavy but steady. After a couple of hours I switched the father to a 1/16 oz jig (unintentionally) after a break-off. His pole went silent until he noticed the jig change and we switched him back to a 1/32 after which his pole got very noisy again. It matters folks. Some days it could be the opposite. If you ain't catching nothing try something different.
Here comes another empty minnow bucket. Gotta go!
FYI. Two major DNR regs to be aware of are that they extended the walleye no harvest rules on the Minocqua chain
and changed the Manitowish Chain from a size exempt water to the normal state 15" rules.
FYI 2, our jumbo crawlers come directly from Canada. Crawlers went up this year for a myriad of reasons. We are doing our
best to keep the prices low. We do have 2 dz jumbo crawlers for $6.75 and bulk crawler flats for $60. To order your flats
in dirt or bedding please call ahead at the Minocqua shop at 715-358-5130. If you don't get a response, as they are very busy,
you can always call back or call me at 715-892-2751. Also remember your 1st scoop of crappie minnows is only $2 with any purchase.
We have the lowest leech prices around which come direct from Minnesota. We now have panfish, medium/large mix and large/jumbo mix leeches that we sell by
the dozen, 1/4#, 1/2# and full pound. Our minnows come direct from trappers in central Wisconsin. Right now we have crappie
minnows, fatheads, XL fatheads (tuffys), Mud Minnows, Walleye Suckers, Northern Bait Minnows, and Blacktail Chubs.
No middleman! Fresher and lower priced.
-----------------------------
Jeff Bolander, owner of Dewey, Catchem and
How Bait Shop and Guide Post at www.DeweyCatchemAndHow.com
Reports at www.UpNorthFishing.com
Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/DeweyCatchemAndHow
Check out my Up North fishing and resort web sites at
www.UpNorth.info
Jeff Bolander <jeff@deweycatchemandhow.com>
- Friday, May 29, 2020 at 12:04:33 (PDT)
I was interviewed on the radio this morning by a local newscaster. He basically wanted to know two things. The Musky Opener and the drop in business because of COVID-19. With the Musky opener being this Saturday he wanted to know how hot was the Musky bite is, how deep is the Musky tradition and what is the difference between the Walleye angler and the Musky angler.
Let's talk about how business has been affected by the COVID-19. We have been open for over a month now. We have had visitors from the southern part of the state and southern states and nothing has changed. The number of folks that have tested positive for the virus has gone up one in the Vilas and Oneida counties combined over the last 60 days. Our business was slow in late March and April as it always is. The restaurants and other small businesses that weren't deemed as essential as the big box stores have had it tough. But the Wisconsin Supreme Court bopped our governor on top of the head and deemed his interference unconstitutional. Something that most clear thinking individuals already knew. So now the restaurants and other small businesses are now allowed to be open without government harassment. And the people are coming in droves. With their liberty restored they are free to make their choice on how they spend their time. And they are doing it responsibly I might add. I surprised the interviewer by telling him that our business was triple what it was the year before on gamefish opening day weekend and the month of May has more than doubled last year. People are back and enjoying life, and we all know that includes having a fish bend your rod.
As far as the Musky opener, like last year it's a little early. Most lakes are seeing the Musky just getting off the beds and recovering from their yearly spawn. There will undoubtedly be those out there chasing the toothy critter this weekend as some Musky fisherman only live for Musky fishing. But as I told the interviewer, the real story this weekend is Crappie. Crappie, Crappie, Crappie. With the warmer temps and the sunshine we've been getting most lake temps are around 60 somewhere on the lake. That's the magic number as you know. Right now you'll find Crappie in 6 inches of water out to the first break depending on what lake you are on. Find the warmest water with green weeds or wood on the North end of the lake and you'll probably find Crappie. Small minnows, plastics and hair jigs are doing the trick. As always, windows are small but they are furious when open. If you want to catch a meal of Crappie, now is the time to do it. YEAH!
Time to go put some more Crappie minnows in a bucket for someone. Come on up and enjoy the northwoods. Be smart, be healthy and throw some back for next time!
FYI 1. Two major DNR regs to be aware of are that they extended the walleye no harvest rules on the Minocqua chain
and changed the Manitowish Chain from a size exempt water to the normal state 15" rules.
FYI 2, the LDF Rez is still closed to non-residents. Rumor has it it might open back up on June 1.
FYI 3, our jumbo crawlers come directly from Canada. Crawlers went up this year for a myiad of reasons. We are doing our
best to keep the prices low. We do have 2 dz jumbo crawlers for $6.75 and bulk crawler flats for $60 in dirt. To order your flats
in dirt or bedding please call ahead at the Minocqua shop at 715-358-5130. If you don't get a response, as they are very busy,
you can always call back or call me at 715-892-2751. Also remember your 1st scoop of crappie minnows is only $2 with any purchase.
We have the lowest leech prices around which come direct from Minnesota. We now have panfish, medium/large mix and large/jumbo mix leeches that we sell by
the dozen, 1/4#, 1/2# and full pound. Our minnows come direct from trappers in central Wisconsin. Right now we have crappie
minnows, fatheads, XL fatheads (tuffys), Mud Minnows, Walleye Suckers, Northern Bait Minnows, Redtail Chubs and Blacktail Chubs.
No middleman! Fresher and lower priced.
-----------------------------
Jeff Bolander, owner of Dewey, Catchem and
How Bait Shop and Guide Post at www.DeweyCatchemAndHow.com
Reports at www.UpNorthFishing.com
Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/DeweyCatchemAndHow
Check out my Up North fishing and resort web sites at
www.UpNorth.info
Jeff Bolander <jeff@deweycatchemandhow.com>
- Thursday, May 21, 2020 at 16:30:27 (PDT)
I took a little light-hearted guff from guys for not posting a report last week. But unfortunately there wasn't anything to report (and I forgot). Nothing changed, the Opener was ok, kinda, and the weather last week was crap. Oh well. Not this weekend. We got some prime conditions coming up for the next 10 days or so. Warmth, low to medium winds and sunshine. Not to mention that the "Stay at Home Order" has been found to be unconstitutional and so has been lifted. Let the fishing guide jobs begin! Yeah!
There have been a few fishermen out this past week with mixed results. One of the constants was those fishing for walleye at night did pretty well throwing crank baits or some drowning minnows under lighted bobbers. One guy and gal I know that do well don't even hit the water until around mid-night. Another constant were the folks fishing below the dams. They did pretty well, some doing so well they came in to buy a scoop or two of large fatheads every day. And what is so common this year but a mixed bag on species. Never know what it is until it breaks the surface.
I hit a couple of lakes yesterday for a few hours in the middle of the day and had my Livescope with me. I wanted to see where the crappie and bluegill were. On one lake I found them schooled up in 15-25 feet of water. I expect that to change in the next few days. The water temp was 48-51 degrees. The other lake was pretty much the same but they weren't quite as deep as that lake didn't have the deep water like the first one did. But I could tell they were staging, getting ready to do their thing. On the first lake I was also able to locate some bass and pike, both in shallower water, 5-10". They were abundant and weed and rock related. I threw a small triple tail on a jig for a little while and quickly caught a couple of crappie and a small pike. They were great table fare for that night.
The next ten days should be dynamite folks. As long as the lake temps rise gradually we should be in for a fishing bonanza. And after the cruddy winter we went through, we deserve it. Get out there and enjoy it.
FYI. Two major DNR regs to be aware of are that they extended the walleye no harvest rules on the Minocqua chain and changed the Manitowish Chain from a size exempt water to the normal state 15" rules.
FYI 2, our jumbo crawlers come directly from Canada. Crawlers went up this year for a myiad of reasons. We are doing our best to keep the prices low. We do have 2 dz jumbo crawlers for $6.75 and bulk crawler flats for $60. To order your flats in dirt or bedding please call ahead at the Minocqua shop at 715-358-5130. If you don't get a response, as they are very busy, you can always call back or call me at 715-892-2751. Also remember your 1st scoop of crappie minnows is only $2 with any purchase. We have the lowest leech prices around which come direct from Minnesota. We now have medium to jumbo leeches that we sell by the dozen, 1/4#, 1/2# and full pound. Our minnows come direct from trappers in central Wisconsin. Right now we have crappie minnows, fatheads, XL fatheads (tuffys), Mud Minnows, Walleye Suckers, Northern Bait Minnows, Redtail Chubs and Blacktail Chubs. No middleman! Fresher and lower priced.
-----------------------------
Jeff Bolander, owner of Dewey, Catchem and
How Bait Shop and Guide Post at www.DeweyCatchemAndHow.com
Reports at www.UpNorthFishing.com
Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/DeweyCatchemAndHow
Check out my Up North fishing and resort web sites at
www.UpNorth.info
Jeff Bolander <jeff@deweycatchemandhow.com>
- Thursday, May 14, 2020 at 12:30:02 (PDT)
Ok. Let's talk Opener. It's a little more exciting this year than most, I think. With the tough winter bite and crappy ice conditionsmost of the winter and that virus thing we won't dwell on, it's been a long winter season. But we got a bunch of stuff going for us this year. With the tough winter the normal pressure on fish was not as great which means a lot more are available for us now. We've got some real steady weather we've been experiencing which always helps the bite. The weather for Opening Day is forecast to be great, maybe up into the 70s and south winds from 5-10 mph. And all the ice is gone already and a lot of the piers are in. Nothing closed that I know of around here.
What will be baiting? WHO CARES! Something will be. Crappies have been fairly active, bluegills a little less and perch not too bad. Northerns have been pestering the heck out of folks and the bass are starting to come on. Walleyes are being caught by accident too which is a good sign. All of this depending on which lake or flowage you are on.
What bait should you use? Which ever one you feel comfortable with. Crawlers, leeches and minnows are always popular. Stick baits, small plastics and hair jigs are also very popular this time of year. One young fella that was in here this morning has been drop-shotting and he said he's been tearing them up. So there is a cornucopia of methods that are working out there right now. Use your tried and true and then for kicks and giggles try something new. It might become you new tried and true.
Where should I fish? That formula is pretty consistent with all lakes. Find the warmest water with the greenest weeds with the most bait available and there will be your quarry. The warmest water on any lake is normally gonna be the north end which gets most of the sun. The only exception might be is if you have a heavy north wind for a few days in a row where that warm water might be blown south. Other spots are where creeks and rivers come into a lake as they will be carrying oxygen and bait as well. But green weed edges in the 10' feet of water range is probably gonna be where you should start. Another popular and productive thing to do at this time of year in the evening is to throw minnow type stick baits and plastics in the shallows where those big girls and boys are working on the beds or chasing forage.
So many options this year. I love it. First time in a few years where we aren't dealing with ice conditions. So get out there, make some memories and enjoy what nature has given us. Be safe, be smart, be healthy and catch a big one.
FYI. Two major DNR regs to be aware of are that they extended the walleye no harvest rules on the Minocqua chain and changed the Manitowish Chain from a size exempt water to the normal state 15" rules.
FYI 2, our jumbo crawlers come directly from Canada. Crawlers went up this year for a myiad of reasons. We are doing our best to keep the prices low. We do have 2 dz jumbo crawlers for $6.75 and bulk crawler flats for $60. To order your flats in dirt or bedding please call ahead at the Minocqua shop at 715-358-5130. If you don't get a response, as they are very busy, you can always call back or call me at 715-892-2751. Also remember your 1st scoop of crappie minnows is only $2 with any purchase. We have the lowest leech prices around which come direct from Minnesota. We now have medium to jumbo leeches that we sell by the dozen, 1/4#, 1/2# and full pound. Our minnows come direct from trappers in central Wisconsin. Right now we have crappie minnows, fatheads, XL fatheads (tuffys), Mud Minnows, Walleye Suckers, Northern Bait Minnows and Blacktail Chubs. No middleman! Fresher and lower priced.
-----------------------------
Jeff Bolander, owner of Dewey, Catchem and
How Bait Shop and Guide Post at www.DeweyCatchemAndHow.com
Reports at www.UpNorthFishing.com
Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/DeweyCatchemAndHow
Check out my Up North fishing and resort web sites at
www.UpNorth.info
Jeff Bolander <jeff@deweycatchemandhow.com>
- Thursday, April 30, 2020 at 13:00:59 (PDT)
A short update for you today. The store has been pretty busy the past few days. The ice is gone or almost gone everywhere right now. The fisherpeople have been pounding the crappie, perch and bluegill. No one bait is magic as usual but everything from small minnows, crawlers, wax worms, spikes and small plastics are working. It seems to be getting better every day. It's a nice run up to the Opener which is greatly anticipated this year. More on the Opener in a couple of days. Remember, we are open so come on in and let's talk some fishing. As always, be smart, safe and healthy.
Our jumbo crawlers are directly from Canada. Crawlers went up this year for a myriad of reasons. We are doing our best to keep the prices low. We have 2 dz jumbo crawlers for $6.75, and bulk crawler flats for $60.
Your 1st scoop of crappie minnows is only $2 with any purchase.
We have the lowest leech prices around which are direct form Minnesota. We will have medium to jumbo leeches
in a couple of days. We also sell leeches by the pound. Our minnows are direct from trappers in central Wisconsin.
No middleman! Fresher and lower priced. To order your crawler flats in dirt or bedding please call ahead at the Minocqua shop at 715-358-5130.
If you don't get a response, as they are very busy, you can always call back or call me at 715-892-2751.
-----------------------------
Jeff Bolander, owner of Dewey, Catchem and
How Bait Shop and Guide Post at www.DeweyCatchemAndHow.com
Reports at www.UpNorthFishing.com
Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/DeweyCatchemAndHow
Check out my Up North fishing and resort web sites at
www.UpNorth.info
Jeff Bolander <jeff@deweycatchemandhow.com>
- Monday, April 27, 2020 at 15:51:40 (PDT)
Boy, what a winter for ice fishing. We didn't think it could get much worse but now we have COVID-19 issues to deal with. And at this time we have a state government that thinks it's ok to congregate at Walmart or a Liquor store but not at their local state boat landings. Sheesh. But let's not go there cuz it just gets me and everybody else all riled up. We gotta use our heads here people. Our freedoms are at stake not to mention our livelyhoods. Please no more personal attacks. Everybody really wants the same thing. Let's get back to getting mad at someone for stealing our fishing spot or coming to close to us on a jetski while we're fishing. Ah, memories.
The fishing right now is unknown. We are right in the middle of not having enough ice to walk on and to much to put a boat on the water. What fishing there is is being done on the rivers and smaller shallower lakes. And by smaller I mean 100 acres or less and by shallow I mean 10' or less. The water temps on the open water is in the mid to lower 40s. Our weather forecast says we should be in the upper 50s pretty steady now to the Opener. Most of the lakes around here should open up this week.
Speaking of the Opener, I was just asked on a Radio interview if we'll have one. Well I can tell you for sure we will. And it's gonna be great! I don't care what the weather is or how the fishing is shaping up it will be great to get out there and continue the tradition. Only difference is we'll have to pay attention to social distancing and hygiene more than we might have in the past. No problem, right! More on the Opener coming in future reports.
As far as the store goes, we are open starting Wednesday the 22nd from 7am to 6pm. Come on in, browse, look around for that magic bait and talk about some fishing. We'll have a full compliment of minnows including the bigger ones as for the first time this year we can fish for bass (catch and release only) after April 1. Our crawlers should be arriving from Canada this weekend. I talked to the Canadian crawler supplier this morning and he informed me that the prices will be higher, up 40%, than last year because they are having a hard time getting pickers to work the fields as those pickers usually come from outside of Canada. But keep your distance though and don't feel offended if we don't shake your hand and are continually wiping down the surfaces with disinfectants.
Let's stay positive and get through this together. Don't let what one person or group says represent a whole people. For example, don't think that the northwoods doesn't want folks from the southern part of the state or any other state come and visit us. It's not true. Just be smart about it as we don't have the medical resources that you may be use to from where you came. Later!
-----------------------------
Jeff Bolander, owner of Dewey, Catchem and
How Bait Shop and Guide Post at www.DeweyCatchemAndHow.com
Reports at www.UpNorthFishing.com
Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/DeweyCatchemAndHow
Check out my Up North fishing and resort web sites at
www.UpNorth.info
Jeff Bolander <jeff@deweycatchemandhow.com>
- Monday, April 20, 2020 at 11:22:55 (PDT)
As it is usual for this time of year, and the approaching "late ice", the fishing is improving greatly. When the oxygen-filled water starts to run into the lakes thru the holes and cracks the fish get energized and start to feed again. It has been a while, for sure. I haven't had a chance to get on the water the past week so I'm going by what my experienced fisherpeople are telling me. The one consistent piece of advice is fish early and late in the day. The type of baits working are many. As usual, everybody is employing the only method that works (for them). The ice conditions are still very good with little or no snow on top. Get some cleats for those slick areas. You don't want to break a hip!
As far as the state shut-down goes, here's where I stand. I want to endorse the idea of minimizing unneeded contact to slow the spread of the Coronavirus. Social distancing is important. With that said, Dewey Catchem and How will be open Tuesday thru Saturday. I will not have any employees working. Myself and my wife have to be here to continue to set up for the open water season. I did read the Stay at Home order and we do fall under some of the essential business categories. But I urge you, if you need a fishing license or bait to catch fish to feed you family or to get you exercise then please come in and do so. But please leave the "shopping around" or "just looking" for another time. There will be plenty of time for that when this situation runs its course. We want everybody to be safe and healthy and staying active is a big part of that.
-----------------------------
Jeff Bolander, owner of Dewey, Catchem and
How Bait Shop and Guide Post at www.DeweyCatchemAndHow.com
Reports at www.UpNorthFishing.com
Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/DeweyCatchemAndHow
Check out my Up North fishing and resort web sites at
www.UpNorth.info
Jeff Bolander <jeff@deweycatchemandhow.com>
- Tuesday, March 24, 2020 at 11:25:38 (PDT)
Oh man. You talk about nice weather. We had a fantastic weekend. Lots and lots of fisherfolks out. Sunny warm, not too windy. There must have been over 100 people at one gathering I saw on stacks bay on Saturday. I'm not sure catching fish was as important to them as having a good time. It's the one thing that ice fishing has all over open water fishing. The social aspect. Getting a bunch of folks together, young and old, and having a party on the ice is awesomely fun.
I fished three lakes over the weekend. Not a bit of slush to be found. Snowmobiles and ATVs are getting around easily and I've even seen more than a few trucks and cars out there. Although I still would not advise that everywhere, pick your spots wisely. There's a lot of hard pack out there which makes it quite enjoyable to move around.
How's the fishing? It's really picking up. As usual the advice is lake dependent but for the most part if there's deep water that's probably where you are gonna finder the hungry ones right now. If there isn't any deep ones look for the deepest, greenest weeds you can find. Most action has taken place at low light periods of the day but you can still pop a few during the brightest parts, just deeper or really buried in the weeds. On a scale of 1-10 last week was a 5 but the past few days have been 6-7. We're still waiting for that late ice feed bag but it's not quite here yet. The bite windows are small but as always there are exceptions. There were a couple of guys this morning that were popping the crappie pretty good at 11am with clear blue skies in 10' of weeds. Very small jigs are key right now and something that sparkles or glows will help get their attention. Notice I haven't mentioned any fish in particular here. That's cuz in one way or another you can apply all these incredible words of wisdom to all species. It's like your first 8th grade dance. If you want that shy cute one to come over and ask you to dance you better stand out from the crowd in some way. BTW, why was it always the boys job to ask the girls to dance? Um, I digress.
Get out there kids. We got until March 1 to fish for the game fish. Then we'll have to wait until May Opener to do it again. So you got one more weekend to bag the big one and the weather looks like it's gonna be great again!
We still got the END OF SEASON CLEARANCE SALE going on. Inventories are small but we still have a few shelters and electronics left at really special pricing. Check out the web site for examples on how you can save right now.
Later, I'm going fishing!
-----------------------------
Jeff Bolander, owner of Dewey, Catchem and
How Bait Shop and Guide Post at www.DeweyCatchemAndHow.com
Reports at www.UpNorthFishing.com
Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/DeweyCatchemAndHow
Check out my Up North fishing and resort web sites at
www.UpNorth.info
Jeff Bolander <jeff@deweycatchemandhow.com>
- Monday, February 24, 2020 at 12:51:09 (PST)
Yea, good news! The lakes are really firming up in the northwoods thanks to very little snow and some really cold weather. It was -9 this morning and it's gonna be colder tomorrow morning but very quickly jumping back up into the 20s. Love it. I will finally get to fish some my favorite spots starting tomorrow. Again, yea! There are still some slushy spots out there and still don't let thoughts of driving cars and trucks out there enter your mind. But the amount of decent spots there are to fish now have tripled. Snowmobiles are traveling well and some ATVs and side-by-sides are starting to get out now, too.
Ok, the bite. It's still getting better from the frustrating one it was over the past few weeks. I was out a couple of days ago and I still caught more panfish on the Crappie Fire Balls than I did live bait. They still want to nip at the worms where as the Fire Balls get sucked right on. I put them on the smallest Tungsten jig I can. If that bluegill takes any breath at all I want him sucking in that jig. I did also try some Beaver Tails and they got nipped at like the worms did, but more often it seemed. I'm going to experiment with them more. One guy told me he cuts them short and then cuts the end up the middle to create a little forked tail that will wave at the fish. The Beaver Tail is buoyant so that should work just fine. I was on a Minocqua Chain lake and boy did I slam the Walleyes. I was just dropping down a small jig with a large fathead on it. It was exciting watching that walleye come in from 15' away on my Livescope to get that minnow. Still, like the panfish, most walleye would come in quick, look for a short time, and then leave. On the Livescope I could actually see their fins when they turned and swam away.
Well that's it for today. I think the bite is about ready to turn on. I can feel it in my bones. Of course, I am an optimist. But still, they gotta start soon.
Hey our END OF THE SEASON CLEARANCE is going on right now. Lots and lots of mark downs on everything. Even if you don't need it for this year, buy at the lowest prices of the year for next season. Some of the hotter deals we have on our NEWLY REDESIGNED web site. We have a shopping cart on there now so you can buy what you want and we'll ship it to you. The pricing of most of the items on the site includes the shipping. Check it out and let us know what you think! Thanks again for all your support!
-----------------------------
Jeff Bolander, owner of Dewey, Catchem and
How Bait Shop and Guide Post at www.DeweyCatchemAndHow.com
Reports at www.UpNorthFishing.com
Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/DeweyCatchemAndHow
Check out my Up North fishing and resort web sites at
www.UpNorth.info
Jeff Bolander <jeff@deweycatchemandhow.com>
- Thursday, February 13, 2020 at 14:10:28 (PST)
The warm weather we had a few days ago dropped the snow levels on the lakes. The cold weather the past few days has firmed up the slush in a lot of areas. The ice situation is the same as it has been for the past few months. All the areas that are frequented with fisherfolks are firmed up. But those areas are now a bit treacherous on foot because of the frozen foot and tire tracks. The areas that are unused are still full of slush. It's not going away folks. We checked the boat landing on Lake Tomahawk in Lake Tomahawk and it was slush almost to the knees. There are a few tracks out from the landing but not many. Well, it is what it is.
The bite has been average at best. Different species on different days in different depths on different baits. Me and clients were on a well known bay yesterday and marked hundreds of fish. 99% of them just ignored our efforts. But what did work were crappie balls. No, no, no, not those. These are Crappie Fire Balls in different scents that are shaped like and have the consistency of fish eggs. They are a real pain in the a** to put on but they out fished the grubs and worms 10-1. And while the fish just gently nibbled the live bait they popped the crappies balls pretty good.
It is the same MO as always. Look for green weeds, especially ones next to mud flats, and you'll find fish. You may have to throw everything at them right now to entice them to bite but bite they will. Windows are small but exist. Most northerns, bass and walleye we've caught have been during low light periods. Get out there and enjoy yourself!
As far as store specials go, our "END OF SEASON CLEARANCE SALE" begins today and runs through the end of February. Lots of deals on the stuff you use. Keep checking our Facebook page for more details and short-lived hot buys. It's all while supplies last.
-----------------------------
Jeff Bolander, owner of Dewey, Catchem and
How Bait Shop and Guide Post at www.DeweyCatchemAndHow.com
Reports at www.UpNorthFishing.com
Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/DeweyCatchemAndHow
Check out my Up North fishing and resort web sites at
www.UpNorth.info
Jeff Bolander <jeff@deweycatchemandhow.com>
- Thursday, February 06, 2020 at 10:35:45 (PST)
There's a bit of good news concerning the ice conditions question in the Minocqua, Lac du Flambeau and St Germain Wisconsin areas. With the colder weather and lack of snow we have been experiencing lately the ice conditions have improved. For the most part there is very little slush and ATVs and Snowmobiles have been getting around pretty well. There are still many layers of ice and slushy ice. Now, I'm not saying it is completely safe everywhere but folks are fishing almost everywhere now. I still wouldn't even consider driving a car or truck out there yet. The ice is probably thick enough but with the layers that exist you have a good chance of breaking through one of them and getting stuck. That's no fun either. So stick with the lighter transportation for now and you should be able to get to most of your favorite spots. YEAH!
The fishing for the most park has been below average as of late. There are still fish coming up thru the holes but the windows can be painfully small. We were out a couple of days ago and we caught fish but there were a lot more that sniffed our baits and took a pass. It's inevitable this time of year. I normally think of January as the August of the winter months. Small windows during the transition to the pre-spawn bite. Aw, who cares, let's go!
Most of the action seems to be still green weed related. No hot baits as usual but many are working if you put in your time. The low light of late afternoon and evening seems to be the best window of the day. Spend your time before that looking for fish that may not be active but then return to those spots for that evening bite. It can be amazing. To illustrate how lake bites can be different but the same, I had two guys come into the shop today, at different times, one saying he got crappie in weeds of less than 8' and the other mentioned he got his at 28'. But both bite windows were at the same part of the day. Different lakes, different depths but same bite window. Wouldn't it be nice to know why that is and be able to predict it?
Time to hit the ice. If you see me out there make sure you say hi and tell me ALL about your hot spots and secrets! Yeah, right.
-----------------------------
Jeff Bolander, owner of Dewey, Catchem and
How Bait Shop and Guide Post at www.DeweyCatchemAndHow.com
Reports at www.UpNorthFishing.com
Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/DeweyCatchemAndHow
Check out my Up North fishing and resort web sites at
www.UpNorth.info
Jeff Bolander <jeff@deweycatchemandhow.com>
- Friday, January 17, 2020 at 14:00:53 (PST)
For Minocqua & Lac du Flambeau area lakes the question is still "How's the ice?" I tell ya, it's like a certain Clint Eastwood movie. It's good, bad and ugly but like the whole movie it's great. There are a ton of places out there to fish. The inconsistent job mother nature did of building the ice this year commands us to stay in spots we know and fish in areas that are well used. Don't be venturing out into areas you're not sure about otherwise you might be unpleasantly surprised. The overall slush conditions are much better now and travel is easier than even a few days ago. Many ATV and snowmobiles are out pulling the gear around. Be smart and have a great time out there.
The fishing continues to be average to better than average. The success of fisherpeople varies greatly from lake to lake and from day to day and from hour to hour. I'm going out with clients tomorrow and I know we'll catch fish but I have not too much of an idea of when, how or where the fish will be. But we'll figure it out once we get out there. After all, that's the fun part. We'll start by drilling holes to find the green weed edges next to mud flats or rock bars. Then we'll set tip-ups inside and outside of that weedline. Then we'll jig for action fish while we keep an eye out for flags flying! That's all good. When jigging for action fish I'll start with spoons like the Kastmaster, Leech Flutter Spoon and Rippin' Raps. Sometimes I tip them with bugs and minnow heads while sometimes I fish'em naked. The fish will let me know what they want. If those draw the fish in but doesn't get them to bite then I'll go to a tungsten small fly jig, punch jig, waxie jig or nymph jig. I usually tip these with spikes or mousees. I'm sure wax worms would work too but I'm allergenic to those guys. As soon as I see a fish on my locator that comes up to the bait and then swims away, I change it. If they don't want it why should I keep it down there.
Time to go check my lines and sharpen my hooks for tomorrow. You do this every time, right? Shame on you! Have fun out there!
One more thing. Don't be like the guy that came in here today and said that he paid $20 more for an auger at a big box store than he would have paid here. Remember, we will match and usually beat anybody else's price on in stock items.
-----------------------------
Jeff Bolander, owner of Dewey, Catchem and
How Bait Shop and Guide Post at www.DeweyCatchemAndHow.com
Reports at www.UpNorthFishing.com
Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/DeweyCatchemAndHow
Check out my Up North fishing and resort web sites at
www.UpNorth.info
Jeff Bolander <jeff@deweycatchemandhow.com>
- Thursday, January 09, 2020 at 13:48:43 (PST)
For Minocqua, Lac du Flambeau, Boulder Junction and St Germain areas. This is a tough report to put together. Everybody wants to know the ice conditions and if the fish are biting.
The easier question to answer is, "are the fish biting?" Yes they are. And when I say 'they' I mean fish in general. Bite windows are small but during a day long fishing expedition you should be able to catch fish as long as you aren't too particular about what you're going to catch. My advice is to go after all species and catch the ones that bend your pole or flip your flag. I myself am always happy with that. The usual bugs and meat are working along with a myriad of other methods. There is NO one way or hot bait.
Now for the ice question. Arrg. We just got another 6-12" of wet snow in the area. This fell on top of the almost 1" of rain we got the two days before. Sloppy, sloppy, sloppy. The ice at the bottom of all this hasn't changed. Don't ask me how much ice there is cuz there is no firm answer. There are A LOT of places to fish. And there are a bunch places that could be dangerous. Be very cautious as if it is first ice. A couple of guys came in the shop this morning and as they were spudding yesterday one of the guys went thru. Only waste deep so they got him out. But there was 8" of ice 10 feet away from where he went in. Another group that are fishing on another larger lake, just down the road from where the guy went in, said they were all over the lake with four-wheelers and saw 8" everywhere. Go figure.
Bottom line, fishing is good, conditions are a crap shoot. Fish where everyone else is and be safe. There are plenty of those places. Put a halt on the 'exploring new ice' expeditions until we get the cold weather that is coming.
Well, that's it for 2019. We at Dewey Catchem and How have a lot to be thankful for and it's all because of you, our clients and followers. You are the reason we do this. It's our love and passion. We pray that you can count your blessing as well as endure your trials. Here's to an even better 2020 for all of us!
-----------------------------
Jeff Bolander, owner of Dewey, Catchem and
How Bait Shop and Guide Post at www.DeweyCatchemAndHow.com
Reports at www.UpNorthFishing.com
Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/DeweyCatchemAndHow
Check out my Up North fishing and resort web sites at
www.UpNorth.info
Jeff Bolander <jeff@deweycatchemandhow.com>
- Tuesday, December 31, 2019 at 10:48:22 (PST)
There is actually good news to report for this weekend. With the colder weather we've had and winds picking up the slush is going down. Ice thickness is the same or thicker and most lakes are improving a great deal in the travel area. It's still a very mixed bag out there. You still need to be careful and practice all the normal safety precautions. And as far as the bite goes it seems to be holding steady. Still not a lot of sampling reports available but those that are out are bringing some back. This weekend should be a great start to kick off the Christmas/New Years holiday period.
-----------------------------
Jeff Bolander, owner of Dewey, Catchem and
How Bait Shop and Guide Post at www.DeweyCatchemAndHow.com
Reports at www.UpNorthFishing.com
Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/DeweyCatchemAndHow
Check out my Up North fishing and resort web sites at
www.UpNorth.info
Jeff Bolander <jeff@deweycatchemandhow.com>
- Friday, December 20, 2019 at 13:05:24 (PST)
Well we just got another 8" dumped on us. But at least it's a light fluffy snow. It won't add a lot of weight to the ice and it will blow off of a lot of the ice. Ice conditions haven't changed much. Depending on the lake there can be as little as a couple inches of slush to a good foot of it. The ice underneath is layered with the bottom section ranging from 4-8". The secluded bays are still your best bet but a few guys are venturing out now and finding good ice towards the main basins. As always, be very cautious. More snomobiles and 4 wheelers are running around out there. But the real rush to the ice will probably start this weekend. Light winds, decent temps and clear skies will jump start that ice-fishing-bug for many. I hope to be a part of it.
The bite is still really good. Panfish of all kinds are still aggressive using a myriad of methods. My favorite right now are the tungsten fly jigs from VMC and Northland. I also like to use small jiggers like the Kastmaster, Leech Flutter Spoon, Euro-tackle minnow, Jiggin' Raps and Rippin' Raps. Tip these with bugs, minnows, minnow heads or nothing and you'll catch something. As always, find the green weeds. Very important now as that's the only place your gonna find bait that the fish you want are after.
Northern have been very active lately. Jig or put a good sized minnow on a tip up and that toothy critter will come find it. One method a group did real well on the other day was Northland's smaller quick-strike rig with small trebles and flashy blades rigged with larger suckers and shiners. A few bonus walleye were caught in there with them.
Gotta go shovel again. With the decreased number of fisherpeople so far this year we are still bursting at the seams with great gear. Lots of great specials and give-a-ways are available. And remember, we will beat ANYBODY'S legitimate price on in stock merchandise.
-----------------------------
Jeff Bolander, owner of Dewey, Catchem and
How Bait Shop and Guide Post at www.DeweyCatchemAndHow.com
Reports at www.UpNorthFishing.com
Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/DeweyCatchemAndHow
Check out my Up North fishing and resort web sites at
www.UpNorth.info
Jeff Bolander <jeff@deweycatchemandhow.com>
- Thursday, December 12, 2019 at 14:05:51 (PST)
Answering the "how much ice?" question is tough right now. There are just not enough folks out there drilling holes. We got two big storms last week that dumped over 24" of snow on us. The good news is most of the big lakes had open water on them even after the storms so the ice they're making is good ice where the lake was open. The ice in the secluded bays, 5-7", is still there but, top down, it's covered up by slushy snow, then a couple of inches of ice then a couple of inches of water and then the original 6" of ice. That's where you'll find the fisherfolks now. The big question is, what is the ice like in that transition area where you go from the old 6" of ice to the new ice formed over the previous open water. It could be 6" in the bay and 6" in the middle and maybe only 2" on the way out there. I'd be spudding all the way. The weather forecast looks good for ice making over the next 10 days. Very cold days, wind and not to much mention of snow. Let's keep our fingers crossed. And hopefully a few of the popular landings will be plowed to allow access.
So how's the fishing. Still very good! Those bays with the 6" are in 5-10 feet of water and the panfish and other toothy critters are still aggressive. All types of jigging spoons, jigs and jiggin raps are still working well. Tip them with lots of spikes or waxies, chena bait, scented plastics, minnows or minnow heads. And here's a tip. If you don't get a bite with bugs on change to minnow. And keep switching back and forth. It works.
I'm jealous of the folks fishing right now cuz I can't get out for a few more days. This weekend is the last weekend of our Black Friday sale. Lot's of folks coming in to see the latest gear along with their old favorites and some surprises, all specially priced. Included in the many giveways is a full CLAM suit valued at over $400! Don't miss out! Hope to see y'all there.
-----------------------------
Jeff Bolander, owner of Dewey, Catchem and
How Bait Shop and Guide Post at www.DeweyCatchemAndHow.com
Reports at www.UpNorthFishing.com
Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/DeweyCatchemAndHow
Check out my Up North fishing and resort web sites at
www.UpNorth.info
Jeff Bolander <jeff@deweycatchemandhow.com>
- Thursday, December 05, 2019 at 13:38:12 (PST)
Well, we got dumped on pretty good here in the northwoods. 12" or more of heavy wet snow fell the day before Thanksgiving. And of course everyone wants to know how it affected the ice conditions. One word, SLUSH. I traveled around a little this morning and found more than a few folks out there fishing. Even saw one group using a snowmobile to pull their gear. There is definitely slush out there. You can see it surrounding every hole. But the ice thickness doesn't seem to have been affected. The skimmed over ice is shoved down into the lake so stay away. But the 6-8" stuff is ok and fishable. Just make sure you know where you are going and you have tall rubber boots to wear.
I understand that there is open water around the Minocqua pier next to the bridge. Fish are being caught there the same way as under the ice -- small jigs and spoons tipped with your favorite meat. Bring a long net in case you get a big one!
Black Friday is tomorrow and yes our 2nd Annual Black Friday Weekend Sale is on. Here's a few samples of the savings we are offering. There are too many to list them all.
We are giving away a full CLAM Flotation Parka and Bib suit
CLAM Shacks come with up to $30 in CLAM clothing credits
CLAM Hubs come with and extra CLAM Ice Anchor kits
CLAM Parkas and Bibs come with $20 CLAM accessories credits.
OTTER XT-Over Shacks come with up to $99 Otter accessories credits
CLAM 120v LI Augers are $100 off
ION G2 LI Auger is $100 off
ION Original and ION X Augers come with an extra Battery
Strikemaster 40v Augers come with an extra Battery
All Eskimo, Lazer, K-Drill and HT drill augers are specially priced
Marcum LX7 LI 8" comes with a Marcum RECON5 camera
That's just a partial listing. We are also giving away free t-shirts, hats and beanies with some purchases. Get here early while the selection is great.
-----------------------------
Jeff Bolander, owner of Dewey, Catchem and
How Bait Shop and Guide Post at www.DeweyCatchemAndHow.com
Reports at www.UpNorthFishing.com
Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/DeweyCatchemAndHow
Check out my Up North fishing and resort web sites at
www.UpNorth.info
Jeff Bolander <jeff@deweycatchemandhow.com>
- Thursday, November 28, 2019 at 14:38:45 (PST)
Good new, good news. Good news number 1. There's a bunch of places to get on the ice out there and the fish are biting VERY well. I'm not going to list the baits that are working the best because it would be easier to list the ones that aren't. I can't think of any that aren't. And the fun part is the ice is good and clear so you can watch the action below while in your shack. That's a blast.
Good news number 2. And the other good news is there's still Musky fishing going on. The big clear lakes are still accessible and they are producing some big fatties. Suckers are still going out of here on a daily basis and the guys are in a hurry to get back out there. Wonder why?
Panfishing has been great in the morning and then seems to taper off around noon. It then picks up late afternoon into the evening. Walleye fishing has been either on or off. When it's on it's definitely during low light periods thru the over night. Northerns are active all day. Minnows, bugs, spoons and jigs have all been working.And as always FIND GREEN WEEDS!
First ice is always the best time of the year to put fish on the ice. But PLEASE be careful. No Ice is perfectly safe ice. Take a spud, throw bag, a buddy and be careful!
The shop is pretty set for ice fishing now. There's a lot of cool new gear this year and we'll have it all at the best pricing you'll find anywhere. We guarantee it. Lots of free merchandise with shacks, augers and other electronics. Just about everything comes with something to sweeten the deal. Our most popular has been the Strikemaster Lithium 40V auger 8". We're selling it at $549 and including an extra battery valued at $149. We sold out of our early winter shipment quickly but talked Strikemaster into sending us more. Get'em while they last! Big Black Friday weekend sale next weekend. More details in this report next week! It's gonna be big.
-----------------------------
Jeff Bolander, owner of Dewey, Catchem and
How Bait Shop and Guide Post at www.DeweyCatchemAndHow.com
Reports at www.UpNorthFishing.com
Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/DeweyCatchemAndHow
Check out my Up North fishing and resort web sites at
www.UpNorth.info
Jeff Bolander <jeff@deweycatchemandhow.com>
- Thursday, November 21, 2019 at 15:52:50 (PST)
BANG! Ice fishing season is here to stay. Put away the boats (sob) and long rods (sob) and musky suckers (sob sob). It's time to drill some holes. Let's get the warning out of the way right here. Take a spud and a friend who doesn't owe you money with you cuz early ice, while productive, is very dangerous. Be careful, please. The reported thicknesses have varied greatly. Some of the bays have 6" on them while you can see open water to the main basin. The winds will keep it that way for a while. But not for long.
The guys that are out on the ice are whacking them. Walleyes, northern, & all kinds of panfish are being caught. Now, granted, it's a small sampling of fisherfolks but it is what it is. Minnows, crawlers and jigging spoons are working well. Yes, I said crawlers. Worms work very well in the winter folks. Meat is meat to the fish and a crawler is very meaty. We don't use them much in the winter cuz they tend to freeze pretty easy. But a chunk of crawler is one of the best panfish baits you'll find under the ice.
Kind of a short report today but if you got the itch, northern Wisconsin has the ice for that itch. Because of what the weatherman has planned for this week, this weekend should be a boon for putting your favorite species on the ice. And for those of you thinking about hiring a guide to take you out and have some fun, I have openings throughout the winter.
We've got the store all set up for ice fishing. Only a few more shacks to build and we're done. We just received some Garmin Panoptix today with some Livescopes coming in a few more days. Awesome technology. A little pricey, but wow. There's a lot of cool new gear this year and
we have it all at the best pricing you'll find anywhere. We guarantee it. Free hitches with most
shacks, free cameras with some locators and free additional batteries with most electric augers. If you have any questions about anything call the shop in Minocqua at 715-358-5130. If you don't get a response as we can be very busy, you can always call me at 715-892-2751.
-----------------------------
Jeff Bolander, owner of Dewey, Catchem and
How Bait Shop and Guide Post at www.DeweyCatchemAndHow.com
Reports at www.UpNorthFishing.com
Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/DeweyCatchemAndHow
Check out my Up North fishing and resort web sites at
www.UpNorth.info
Jeff Bolander <jeff@deweycatchemandhow.com>
- Tuesday, November 12, 2019 at 16:30:10 (PST)
Can you believe it. Ice is coming any day now. We went from a sucker shortage to having plenty but now its real tough to be out. Lots of bays and small lakes are skimmed over and some the big lakes have some ice at the landing. Most folks are in the woods right now and not many on the lakes. BUT, for those that are on the lake the musky, walleyes, perch and crappie are snapping.
Suckers are a key bait right now as it's difficult to throw baits in this weather. A couple of casts and your rod guides are frozen up. Most musky are migrating a little deeper now while some are still found on the GREEN weed edges. This weekend could be the end of the musky hunt on open water for this year. The temps look to be decent while the winds will be there but not so strong as to drive you off the water. It won't be long before you'll see folks chasing the mighty toothy critter under the ice. If you've never caught a big Musky under the ice you gotta try it. It's just as exhilarating as open water. To see the fish go back and forth under the hole and wondering how you're gonna get it through the hole and then having it shoot up through the hole like a geyser, WOW! But remember, the season for Musky closes at the end of November.
Walleyes are hitting pretty good, too. Depending on the lake you'll find them in the deeper holes, next to GREEN weeds and off rock humps. Suckers, chubs and large fatheads and the ticket. They want meat right now. Some days the bite has been hard and others it has been that delicate summer bite. Pretty tough to feel when your hands are freezing. I don't normally suggest certain baits but the Jiggin Raps, Shiver Minnows and Kastmasters have been bringing success.
Crappies and perch have been good, too. Depending on the lake the crappies are probably suspending but moving shallower as the sun goes down. They want meat too. Don't be afraid to use large fats and heavy bottom bouncers as they can be very aggressive right now. Perch seem to everywhere. Nice ones, too. You'll catch them using the same tactics as the walleyes and in the same locations, too.
Northerns have been on fire. After a summer of not much action those slimy devils have been making up for it. Any minnow, large or small, or any bottom bouncer has been turning them on.
That's it for now. Keep watching these posts here and on FB and LakeLink for more info on our BLACK FRIDAY weekend sale. We are gonna have some dynamite specials on the best ice fishing gear out there. There's a lot of cool new gear this year and
we'll have it all at the best pricing you'll find anywhere. We guarantee it. Free hitches with most
shacks, free cameras with some locators and free additional batteries with most electric augers. The shop is totally switched over to ice fishing now. Come and see first hand what's new for the 2019-20 ice fishing season. If you have any questions about anything call the shop in Minocqua at 715-358-5130. If you don't get a response as they can be very busy, you can always call me at 715-892-2751.
-----------------------------
Jeff Bolander, owner of Dewey, Catchem and
How Bait Shop and Guide Post at www.DeweyCatchemAndHow.com
Reports at www.UpNorthFishing.com
Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/DeweyCatchemAndHow
Check out my Up North fishing and resort web sites at
www.UpNorth.info
Jeff Bolander <jeff@deweycatchemandhow.com>
- Thursday, November 07, 2019 at 10:51:11 (PST)
It looks to be monsoon season here in the northwoods. Man, have we been getting the rain, day after day after day. One night the rain filled an 8 inch deep wheelbarrow in my driveway! That's a lot of water. Cooler temps are arriving now along with the rain. Normally this time of year the water temps have been in the 50 for a while and we're experiencing the onset of turnover on many lakes. Not so far this year. Water temps have just started getting into the 50's. A week ago I was fishing with clients and the heat was nauseating. Not this week. Even the flowages are plum full including the Manitowish Chain where there is no drop in water levels yet. But here we go.
We've been catching walleye everywhere. Not a lot of them but a few, mostly smaller. We've caught them in the shallow rocks, weeds and mud flats along with some deeper first drop offs. And it still seems to be a crawler bite. Minnows are catching some but the crawler is still kicking butt... For now. Of course every lake is a little different.
Bluegills and crappie have been very active for us. Again, mostly in the 10-20 feet of water with weeds, green weeds, at the bottom. Again, crawlers are king here, too, with plastics a close second... For now.
Small mouth and large mouth bass have been making a comeback lately. Smallies have been mostly in the rocks on 15-20 feet of water while the largemouth have been in the thicker green weeds at almost any depth. But it depends on the lake. Crawlers, again, are king... For now.
A big change is knocking on the door as it does every year at this time. When the water temps start to get firmly into the 50's the minnow bite will pick up. Worms will always work for bluegills but the crappie, perch and other game fish will start to crave the minnow. Every time out now I take both types of bait with me cuz I know if I leave one kind behind that's the one that the fish are gonna want, right? And again, every lake is different in so many ways. But one thing is consistent. Stay in those green weeds. If you pull up brown or browning ones, move along till you find green ones.
As far as store specials go, we are nearing the end of our "END OF SEASON CLEARANCE SALE". It will continue until the end of this month. Up to 50% off of gear you use. Then we will start setting up the ice fishing displays. There's a lot of cool new gear this year and we'll have it all at the best pricing you'll find anywhere. We guarantee it. Free hitches with most shacks, free cameras with some locators and free additional batteries with most electric augers. We've already sold 3 of them.
You've probably heard that Musky suckers are in short supply. Well not here. We have hundreds in stock and at the lowest prices in the northwoods by a bunch. They come straight from our trapper. No middleman! Fresher and lower priced. We even have some leeches left. If you have any questions about anything call the shop in Minocqua at 715-358-5130. If you don't get a response as they can be very busy, you can always call me at 715-892-2751.
-----------------------------
Jeff Bolander, owner of Dewey, Catchem and
How Bait Shop and Guide Post at www.DeweyCatchemAndHow.com
Reports at www.UpNorthFishing.com
Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/DeweyCatchemAndHow
Check out my Up North fishing and resort web sites at
www.UpNorth.info
Jeff Bolander <jeff@deweycatchemandhow.com>
- Sunday, October 06, 2019 at 08:34:50 (PDT)
The end of the busy summer has arrived. Lots of great weather, great people and great fishing was had in the northwoods these past months. With that said it doesn't mean that the good times are over. No, no. They is justa changin!
Lake temps are cooling to the mid 60s, shallow weeds are starting to brown and the day light hours are dwindling. This is good news in many ways. The good news is the bite will get better each day on quality fish. And the main word to remember is "deep". Every good sized fish will be found in deeper water now. Why? Because that's where most of the steady temps and oxygen are. Well, actually it's because that's where the bait fish are and so goes the varmints that eat the bait fish. As the lake temps go down, so do the fish. Then turnover and then, well, we'll save that for another report.
Right now on most lakes the walleye are still on the weed edges. Crawlers and leeches are still working the best in my boat. And the bite is pretty hard. I waited too long on a couple of bites last week and got bit off. And they were definitely walleye bites. Arg. I'll never get used to losing a good one. Many baits will work in catching the walleye but at this moment they are not real active so most cranks and too fast for them. Live bait and plastics worked slowly by and through the weeds are producing the best. Also look for change in bottoms next to humps.
Bass, small mouth and large mouth, have been off again and on again. Most of the big smallies we have been catching have been on the deeper humps in the lake, 30-40 feet deep. We'd park the boat right on top of the shallowest part of the hump and then cast the plastics or live bait tipped jigs all around it. 1/32 oz has been the ticket over heavier jigs daily. Some days the winds pick up and we have to put on the 1/16 to be able to feel the jig. I know guys don't like to use a 1/32 oz jig to get down 30 feet but those who do catch fish. The large mouth are buried in the weeds, deep weeds. Find the deepest weeds in the lake and there you'll find the large mouths. All the large mouths we caught the other day were in a minimum of 15'.
Northerns are finally starting to come around, too. We still don't have to fish for them but at least we're catching them along with bass and walleyes. As those water temps keep dipping the northern bite will pick up.
Panfish have been great for us. Big gills, perch and crappie have been coming over the side of the boat quite a bit lately. Deep grass and wood in 15-25 of water have been the ticket. We've been using half a crawler and mini-mites. Yesterday we got over 3 pounds of crappie, bluegill and walleye fillets for the clients fish fry. That's good stuff.
I just ordered another bunch of leeches from our trappers in Minnesota and quantities are getting low. I'm not sure how much longer we'll be able to get them so if you want them you better get them now. Also, September is Customer Appreciation Month and we celebrate with a YEAR-END CLEARANCE SALE. We are clearing out all the summer inventory at big discounts to make room for the winter gear, some of which is already here! A lot of items are buy 2 and get one free. Discount are as high as 50% off. And as usual remember we have 2 dz jumbo crawlers for $5, your 1st scoop of crappie minnows for $2 with any purchase and we are loaded with Musky Suckers. You can always call me at 715-892-2751 if you have any questions or concerns.
-----------------------------
Jeff Bolander, owner of Dewey, Catchem and
How Bait Shop and Guide Post at www.DeweyCatchemAndHow.com
Reports at www.UpNorthFishing.com
Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/DeweyCatchemAndHow
Check out my Up North fishing and resort web sites at
www.UpNorth.info
Jeff Bolander <jeff@deweycatchemandhow.com>
- Tuesday, September 03, 2019 at 12:55:29 (PDT)
I finally got a couple of days off so I thought I'd get you caught up on how the fishing is here in the northwoods. We had a pretty solid cold front come thru here a week or so ago. Some real nasty property damage was done by those storms just south of us. In fact, we couldn't get the normal amount of minnows we normally get from our trappers as they still don't have any electricity. Yikes. I've been a few days with out electricity and found it was no fun at all. I wish the best for all of you inconvenienced by the storms that rolled thru. Godspeed.
The fishing has slowed very little if at all because of the front. In some ways it has gotten better. I give it a 7-8 right now. The northerns have picked up. The cold front dropped the surface waters temps down about 5-9 degrees which the northern like. They been biting most everything. Spinner baits, chatter baits and larger minnows have worked well for folks. I still find that the best way to catch them is to go bass fishing and they'll show up to check out the disturbances in the water. They'll hit those wacky worms as furiously as the bass do.
Walleyes have picked up some too. Half a crawler on a 1/32oz jig put a limit in the boat for me and my clients the other day. If you'll check out the Facebook page you'll see in another outing that we also got some real nice walleye in the thick weeds fishing for bass with plastics.
Bass are hitting like it's the middle of June. Half a crawler and jig normally work but all manner of plastics will probably out fish the crawler combo right now. Top water baits are the most exciting but you can't beat working a big plastic worm, stick, craw or minnow if you want real involvement in the pursuit of the bite.
Bluegills have been biting really well. But if you want the bigger ones you need to get in the deeper wood or weeds. We got some really nice ones the other day with clients along with some dandy crappies in about 15-20 feet of water. The deeper we got the bait down the bigger the gills. And the crappies were all the way down as well.
Which brings me to my tip of the day, so to speak. Three different days me and clients were on three different lakes and on each lake the method of operation was basically the same. Little fish on top and bigger fish on the bottom. But if you went to far you were snagged up in the wood and thick weeds. How to cope. Here's what we did. We started with small chunks of worms but the little guys hit them right away. So we went to a heavier jig so it would zoom right past them to the depth we wanted. Another way to get past the little guys was to use minnows. The little guys would sniff them but usually not eat them. One more way was to put on 2" gulp minnows or plastic grub tails. Again, they would nip at them but not eat them, unless of course they were the bigger size of gill we wanted. All these methods would get the bait down to the wood or weedline and the crappie, bass and northerns would partake of the baits willingly. Now, how to do get the nice fish outa the wood when they are right inside of it without losing a bunch of jigs? Easy. You don't. Cost of doing business, I say. About the only thing you can do is be as vertical as possible and hope the fish comes straight up on the hook set.
Speaking of which, time to get back to business. We have an unexpected amount of small crawlers so we are putting them on sale at $6 for 36 ct. That's only $2 per dozen. And as usual remember we have 2 dz jumbo crawlers for $5, your 1st scoop of crappie minnows for $2 with any purchase, and the lowest leech prices around. Our jumbo crawlers are directly from Canada, leeches directly from Minnesota and our minnows are direct from trappers in central Wisconsin. We also sell bulk crawler flats for $45, and leeches by the pound. No middleman! Fresher and lower priced. To order your flats please call ahead at the Minocqua shop at 715-358-5130. If you don't get a response, they are very busy, you can always call be at 715-892-2751. Also our Top Shelf Shimano reels are specially priced and include free shipping if you need it. Tranx, Curados and Stradics are included.
-----------------------------
Jeff Bolander, owner of Dewey, Catchem and
How Bait Shop and Guide Post at www.DeweyCatchemAndHow.com
Reports at www.UpNorthFishing.com
Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/DeweyCatchemAndHow
Check out my Up North fishing and resort web sites at
www.UpNorth.info
Jeff Bolander <jeff@deweycatchemandhow.com>
- Saturday, July 27, 2019 at 09:13:00 (PDT)
Sorry it's been so long since I've filed a report but I have been with clients almost everyday and even doing some double headers to keep up. The guiding and the 2 bait shops have been rocking, thanks to all of you!
As you know, most of the time I head out we target anything that bites. Every once in a while we target a specific species but I've come to find that if you take what the lake will give you you tend to be much happier on a consistent basis. I've fished lakes three days in a row and found the bite to be completely different each day. Nothing you can do about it. I think it's a lot of fun accepting the challenge each day of finding the combination to the bite. And of course, there is a certain satisfaction in doing so.
Example. I fished three trips in two days with two gentlemen from Japan that are over hear learning how to set up a Jim Beam distillery in Japan. We caught many more than a 100 bass, plus other species including walleye and crappie, during our trips but many lessons about fishing were learned. Each trip the location conditions changed. The bait of choice changed many times throughout the day. And even the best plastic of the moment changed often, too. Even the method of presentation for an individual plastic would change. For example one of the "go to" plastics was a purple and black B'Fish'N rib worm. But sometimes the fish wanted it slow or fast or twitched above the bottom or even on the surface. We'd catch four or five one way then bang, we had to change. We used a lot of different baits and most caught fish. One guy changed his bait at least 20 times each trip whereas the other guy hardly ever changed. The difference in the amount of fish caught by each one was minimal.
In another example, yesterday we were throwing crawlers after smallies. We were doing ok putting quit a few smallies and large mouth in the boat. But I usually am always trying something different than what the clients are using just to see if there is a better method. I threw a few different plastics with not much luck. But when I tied on a PBnJ colored Senco worm, that did the trick. They were all over it. Neither client had ever whacky wormed before so the lesson began. Soon they were popping them too. They enjoyed the different, more involved, approach to catching fish.
The lesson here as always is be flexible, try new things and enjoy the hunt.
Oh that's right, the fish report. Crappie are suspending in deeper water now, bluegills are finally off the beds, SM bass are heading to deeper lines, LM bass are in a little deeper weeds, biting perch are still mostly shallow, walleye are very deep for the most part, and northern are mysteriously shy.
Learn a new presentation and get out there and have fun! And as usual remember we have 2 dz jumbo crawlers for $5, your 1st scoop of crappie minnows for $2 with any purchase,
and the lowest leech prices around. Our jumbo crawlers are directly from Canada, leeches directly from Minnesota
and our minnows are direct from trappers in central Wisconsin. We also sell bulk crawler flats for $45,
and leeches by the pound. No middleman! Fresher and lower priced. To order your flats please call ahead at the Minocqua shop at 715-358-5130. If you don't get a response, they are very busy, you can always call be at 715-892-2751.
-----------------------------
Jeff Bolander, owner of Dewey, Catchem and
How Bait Shop and Guide Post at www.DeweyCatchemAndHow.com
Reports at www.UpNorthFishing.com
Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/DeweyCatchemAndHow
Check out my Up North fishing and resort web sites at
www.UpNorth.info
Jeff Bolander <jeff@deweycatchemandhow.com>
- Friday, July 12, 2019 at 09:34:29 (PDT)
The fishing continues to get better in the northwoods as the sun has been shining more and the weeds are starting to come in nicely. Everyday we have been out is an improvement over the previous day. There are a few bugs hatches in the area so keep an eye out for those. If you see a bunch of dead bugs on the top of the water it would be well advised to go to another lake as the fishy's bellies are probably already full.
One of the of the ways we are blessed in the northwoods is an abundance of lakes to choose from. No matter the lightness, temperature, wind or bug hatches there seems to always be a lake that's willing to give up her quarry. For example, I had clients out on the Lac du Flambeau chain a few times this past week and one of my favorite lakes on that chain was coated on top with a bug hatch. The fish weren't active. We headed over to another lake on the chain and immediately got into a bunch of active fish. Crappie, perch, smallies and others were coming into the boat quite regularly. Each day this week I've taken clients to a different lake because of the wind and sunshine and in all cases it's worked out pretty well. Match your lake to the conditions.
Sometimes the difference between drowning bait and catching fish could be fishing the right shoreline on the lake you are on. Rule number one is fish the shoreline that the wind is blowing into, if you can. Yesterday we were out on a Woodruff lake and we started on a few normally hot spots. The fish weren't cooperating at all. The wind had not come up yet. I moved us to the other end of the lake into a shaded area and boom, we caught fish. That lake was pretty clear and since no wind, we needed to find somewhere that had shade, weeds and wood for shelter for the fish. After a few hours the wind picked up, clients took a potty break and we headed back to the original spots where we were not successful. With the wind now blowing, we caught fish. Match your lake location with your conditions.
A few notes, water temps are in the high 60s or low 70s, crappie are done spawning, perch are still active, bass and bluegill are heading to the beds and walleyes are still on deep weeds. As far as live bait goes, the bite is still evenly spread out between leeches, crawlers and minnows but the leeches and crawlers are coming on strong. As far as artificial baits, the ones that are working are too numerous to mention. Anybody that tells you they are using the only thing that works is right as far as they are concerned but favorite baits are like rear ends, everyone has one. I gotta tell ya, I love trying out new baits. I think it's fun learning new techniques.
That's it for now. Thanks again for all your positive feedback. Even the negative stuff is educational. We all live and learn. And as usual remember we have 2 dz jumbo crawlers for $5, your 1st scoop of crappie minnows for $2 with any purchase,
and the lowest leech prices around. Our jumbo crawlers are directly from Canada, leeches directly from Minnesota
and our minnows are direct from trappers in central Wisconsin. We also sell bulk 500 ct crawler flats for $45, and 100 ct flats for $15,
and leeches by the pound. No middleman! Fresher and lower priced. To order your crawler flats please call ahead at the Minocqua shop at 715-358-5130. If you don't get a response, as they are usually very busy, you can always call be at 715-892-2751.
-----------------------------
Jeff Bolander, owner of Dewey, Catchem and
How Bait Shop and Guide Post at www.DeweyCatchemAndHow.com
Reports at www.UpNorthFishing.com
Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/DeweyCatchemAndHow
Check out my Up North fishing and resort web sites at
www.UpNorth.info
Jeff Bolander <jeff@deweycatchemandhow.com>
- Wednesday, June 12, 2019 at 10:58:38 (PDT)
Ok, it's June 2 and I'm out musky fishing in full ice fishing garb. Jeez. Com'on! But I still had a smile on my face and so did the client. We were fishing, after all! Sometimes the weather makes it tough but it still better be fun or you're doing it wrong. GET TO THE CRAPPIES! I know, sorry. Crappies, depending on the lake are mostly just finishing or are done with the spawn. We've seen them chasing minnows in the shallows and over deeper water, depending on where the minnows are. My advice is to do a couple of things to find those green speckled devils. Watch for balls of bait fish on your locator even when zooming across the lake. Also look for minnows breaking the surface on any calm waters. When you find the bait fish you'll find the crappies right now. The question is not where the crappies are, it's where are the minnows.
Walleyes are still a tough bit but only if you're looking for them shallow. Again, depending on the lake, they are mostly in deeper waters during the day. Find the sand grass in the 20+ feet of water and you'll find some walleyes. They are still hitting the shallow rocks and muds in the low-light hours but for the most part they are deeper than you'll expect them to be. We caught a nice 22"er the other day in 20 feet of water but only 5' below the surface. It happens!
Perch seem to be still in the shallows chasing minnows. We caught some nice ones the other day and the bigger males were still milking. That was surprising. What a mess they make in the boat, eh?
Bluegill are starting to roam the shallows a little more now. Thank goodness, cuz I love those things. Crawlers and little plastics and bugs were working.
The northerns are still active on just about anything. I sat the boat on top of a pile bluegill with clients the other day and after we caught a bunch of them on crawler pieces we put on some small fatheads to see if there was anything else down there. Popped two northerns, one nice walleye and a few bass right away. That was fun.
Speaking of bass, they are starting to head to the shallows too. Not real active on the beds yet but are starting to show up to stake out their territories. Minnows and minnow-like lures seem to work the best.
Most lakes the water temps are in the mid 60s with the bigger lakes still struggling to get the 60. Minnows are the kings of live bait right now but leeches and crawlers are still effective at times. Plastics outfished live bait a few times the past week so keep an assortment of them on hand too.
That's it for now. If you have any other questions on how the lakes are faring you can always message me or stop in one of the shops and we'll tell you what we know. And as usual we have 2 dz jumbo crawlers for $5, your 1st scoop of crappie minnows for $2 with any purchase,
and the lowest leech prices around. Our jumbo crawlers are directly from Canada, leeches directly from Minnesota
and our minnows are direct from trappers in central Wisconsin. We also sell bulk crawler flats, $45,
and leeches by the pound. No middleman! Fresher and lower priced.Jeff Bolander, owner of Dewey, Catchem and
How Bait Shop and Guide Post at www.DeweyCatchemAndHow.com
Reports at www.UpNorthFishing.com
Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/DeweyCatchemAndHow
Check out my Up North fishing and resort web sites at
www.UpNorth.info
Jeff Bolander <jeff@deweycatchemandhow.com>
- Monday, June 03, 2019 at 13:13:46 (PDT)
Crappie, crappie, crappie, crappie. If I had a nickel for every time someone mentioned crappies this past weekend, I'd have a lot of nickels! We sold so many crappie minnows my trapper had to make a trip from central Wisconsin to bring us more on Sunday night. That doesn't happen very often. That's pretty much all the fisherfolks were looking for this past weekend were crappies. And some found them. Depending on the body of water, they seem to be either waiting in the first break weeds for the water temps to rise so they can hit the beds, or they are up shallow wondering why they are there, cuz it's so cold. It's a confusing time for them there crappies. But... Warmer weather is a coming. The forecast for this week is very favorable for the spawn to start. Good thing too, cuz some just might miss their chance if this goofy weather had continued.
The flowages and dark water lakes seem to be the best choice as their water temps are still right up there, 55-61, compared to most of the lakes in the area, 52-55. Problem with the flowages is the water levels a rather high with all the rain so the square acreage of water has gone way up making it a little tougher to find what you are looking for. But all it takes is a little sunshine to warm up the dark water of the flowages.
There are more than a few lakes that are doing very well with the crappies right now, especially the ones with dark water. One guy just texted me a photo of 15 nice ones he got in shallow water on live bait. Another guy showed me the ones he got in 5' of water on popping plastics with a bobber. So put your crappie thought caps on and get at it, cuz it starts now and should be good for a while now. Heck, after they leave the beds is when the real action starts.
Walleyes and the rest have been tough. We need some sunshine to get those weeds growing to boost the oxygen in the water so the walleye will get active. I really think after last weeks cold-down and hardly any sunshine for days on end they are all tired and lethargic. I was on a popular Lac du Flambeau lake on Memorial day and there were no weeds to speak of at all. The the ones that were on the second break were rather brown. That makes it not only tough for the walleyes but for the northen, bluegill and everything else.
Ok, recap. Weather conditions are getting better, more oxygen will be in the water, the fish will become more active and more fish will be caught. The crappies are ready to rock, the bass are staging and eating for pre-spawn and bluegills aren't far behind. Sounds like a good forecast! Get up here and go get'em!
A small request -- if you need a flat in bedding please give us a day or so heads up so we can have it ready for you when you need it. If you want them in dirt that's no problems as we normally have over a hundred flats in stock. And as usual we have 2 dz jumbo crawlers for only $5, your 1st scoop of crappie minnows for $2 with any purchase,
and the lowest bulk leech prices around. Our jumbo crawlers are directly from Canada, leeches directly from Minnesota
and our minnows are direct from trappers in central Wisconsin. We also sell bulk crawler flats, $45,
and leeches by the pound. No middleman! Fresher and lower priced.
-----------------------------
Jeff Bolander, owner of Dewey, Catchem and
How Bait Shop and Guide Post at www.DeweyCatchemAndHow.com
Reports at www.UpNorthFishing.com
Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/DeweyCatchemAndHow
Check out my Up North fishing and resort web sites at
www.UpNorth.info
Jeff Bolander <jeff@deweycatchemandhow.com>
- Tuesday, May 28, 2019 at 14:51:40 (PDT)
After a great week of putting the hurt on crappies, walleye and northern, the weekend came and scared them all away. But alas, not is all lost. Like the terminator, "they'll be baaack..." The cold temps over the weekend, highs barely making the 40s, 15-20 mile an hour winds and cloudy skies, made a tough go of it for anglers. A few were out but not many. But the forecast looks promising. Warmer temps and more normal winds should increase the bite and put the fish back on their spawning schedules.
Remember, when fish are on their beds they aren't hungry, just protective. That's not the best time to catch them. If you do see them on the beds, and I'm talking crappies and bass as the they are the only species not finished spawning, they are protecting the beds from potential predators. The main threats are minnows and other small fish. So throw those small minnows or small plastics that resemble minnows at the beds. Throw them past the beds and bring them back to the bed. Then you have a chance of them grabbing the bait to kill it or move it away from the bed. I have watched many of fish, especially bass, pick up a piece of plastic out of their bed and move it away, drop it, and then go back to their patrol duty. It's pretty cool. The best time to target these fish is the week before and the week after the spawn. That's when they are feeding. For the crappies I think it will be sometime this week or weekend, depending on the lake. The bass are still pre-spawn and are just starting to hit the buffet line before they hit the boudoir.
Northern are still everywhere. Minnows, crawlers, leeches, cranks, spinnerbaits and plastics will get them. Just work your bait slowly through the greening weeds. Keep your bait higher in the water column cuz the northern is always looking up above for a meal.
Walleyes have been very good lately. The key to remember here is they are moving to different depths during the day depending on temps and sun light. Early and late in the day they will be shallow while during the day they will slowly inch their way down the water column to a depth that keeps the sun outa their eyes. We've have the best luck on bigger minnows lately but we've still caught them on cranks and plastics matched to the depth they are at. Keep looking for green weeds and eventually you'll find them.
Well today I turned 62 and I'm gonna treat myself to a rare afternoon of fishing by myself. It's always weird not having someone's hook to bait! I'm heading to a lake I've driven by a 100 times but never put my boat in. I wonder if there is fish in there? Hopefully I'll find a new honey hole or two. And thanks for all your kinds words on-line. It makes everything we do while guiding and at the bait shops worth while.
And as usual we always have 2 dz jumbo crawlers for $5, your 1st scoop of crappie minnows for $2 with any purchase, and the lowest leech prices around. Our jumbo crawlers are directly from Canada, leeches directly from Minnesota and our minnows are direct from trappers in central Wisconsin. We also sell bulk crawler flats, $45,
and leeches by the pound. No middleman! Fresher and lower priced.
-----------------------------
Jeff Bolander, owner of Dewey, Catchem and
How Bait Shop and Guide Post at www.DeweyCatchemAndHow.com
Reports at www.UpNorthFishing.com
Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/DeweyCatchemAndHow
Check out my Up North fishing and resort web sites at
www.UpNorth.info
Jeff Bolander <jeff@deweycatchemandhow.com>
- Monday, May 20, 2019 at 09:39:23 (PDT)
Well here we go. I promised a couple of readers I'd let them know when the water temps got to 60. And on a lot of lakes they have and by looks of the forecast, they are gonna stay that way. I was on a flowage yesterday and the temps were 59 to 60 everywhere. Another lake the day before and the temps started at 55 and were rising quickly. And consequently the fishing success is rising too.
Crappie fishing is very popular this time of year. And they are popping right now. There is no one right way to get them as some guys are getting them in 10" of water and some are getting them on the 10' weed line. But they are there, schooled, and feeding. Feeding windows are still small but there are a lot of windows. Fishermen are buying two scoops of minnows at a time right now and the usual small plastics are working well as well. This is only gonna get better so can get out there and catch a few. And I know this falls on deaf ears sometimes but please let those big mamas go. You know why.
Northens are still hot. Their usual aggressiveness is a lot of fun. A brutal hit next to the boat by even a little one will put a smile on you face. Throwing crank baits, spinners or any kind or minnows will catch them. They are everywhere right now. And, of course, very tasty.
Walleyes are also starting to turn on. Many smaller males have been caught but the big gals are just starting to get active. They are getting over the spawning process and, if not already, soon will be on the prowl. Big minn0ws, big cranks, big leeches and jumbo crawlers are the ticket. As by buddy Tommy Zinda used to say, "right now they want a meal, not a snack!"
After last night's short trip out with the wifey we'll be eating northern and walleye tonight. We kept one of each. Fished with a Rapala FO7 FT and a Livingston lure. Pretty cool those Livingstons. We have them in the shop if you'd like to check them out. And as usual we have 2 dz jumbo crawlers for $5, your 1st scoop of crappie minnows for $2 with any purchase, and the lowest leech prices around. Our jumbo crawlers are directly from Canada, just had 100 flats delivered yesterday, leeches directly from Minnesota and our minnows are direct from trappers in central Wisconsin. We also sell bulk crawler flats, $45, and leeches by the pound. No middleman! Fresher and lower priced.
Get out there and have some fun!
-----------------------------
Jeff Bolander, owner of Dewey, Catchem and
How Bait Shop and Guide Post at www.DeweyCatchemAndHow.com
Reports at www.UpNorthFishing.com
Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/DeweyCatchemAndHow
Check out my Up North fishing and resort web sites at www.UpNorth.info
Jeff Bolander <jeff@deweycatchemandhow.com>
- Tuesday, May 14, 2019 at 11:23:22 (PDT)
Another anticipated Opener has come and gone. The weather was great and the fishing was pretty good depending on the body of water. Here's where we seem to be right now from my experiences and reliable reports. The darker bodies of water, like the flowages and some reservation lakes, the water temps are near or at 50 degrees. A lot of the walleyes being caught are all spawned out. The bigger clearer lakes like Minocqua, Big and Little Saint Germain, Big and Little Arbor Vitae, have just lost their ice so their water temps are in the low 40's still. The walleyes there seem to be in the middle of the spawn or just getting at it. The smaller lakes like Mid, Little John and Arrowhead, Lost and Found, the water temp is in the mid to upper 40's and the walleyes are right in the middle of the spawn. Expect these conditions to gradually move forward in the spawn over the next week or two as the water temps continue to rise. If you want walleyes now get to those bodies of water that the temps are the highest on as the males should be feeding after the spawn and they will soon be followed by those bigger females. The larger minnows and baits seem to be working the best.
In the meantime the pike have been pretty active. Small or big, they are coming on stronger each day. Today we actually caught half of them on crawlers, as well as XL Fats and Blacktail chubs. When we used the crawlers a few perch got in on the action, too.
The forecast for fishing is looking really good. The walleyes are about a week away from becoming very active on most lakes. Get out there in the evening, if you can, with a Fire Tiger Rapala, casting those rocky shorelines. Of course many other baits will work as well but the FT Original never goes out of style.
A quick note about the Dewey Catchem and How bait shops this year. We have basically shut down our wholesale bait operations and moved that pricing into the bait shops in Minocqua and Arbor Vitae. For example, you can now get jumbo night crawlers for only $5 for 2 doz and $2.75 for 1 doz. And these are all in Fat n Sassy bedding. Another example is $2 for a scoop of crappie minnows. And these are everyday prices. Plus, if you join our BAIT BUCKS program, which is free, you can save even more. For every $100 you spend over time you get a $10 credit. There are a few exceptions but not many. We invite you to take advantage and sign up today.
Get out there and have some fun folks. It's gonna get better every day now. And if you're not having fun, you're doing it wrong!
-----------------------------
Jeff Bolander, owner of Dewey, Catchem and
How Bait Shop and Guide Post at www.DeweyCatchemAndHow.com
Reports at www.UpNorthFishing.com
Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/DeweyCatchemAndHow
Jeff Bolander <jeff@deweycatchemandhow.com>
- Sunday, May 05, 2019 at 16:21:55 (PDT)
Warmer weather is upon us. HOORAY!! This weekend is suppose to be sunny and into the 60's so if you still got the ice fishing itch you better scratch it pretty quick. I'm thinking we got another 2 weeks or less left of ice before we got open water. I just looked at the forecast and there aren't even any nights that will get below 32 and there's a lot of rain predicted. Maybe for the first time in a few years we'll have some open water a week or so before the Opener. I'm good with that.
There haven't been very many folks out there fishing lately. We are in the 'only the diehard' times of ice fishing. But there is still plenty of ice but a lot of shore lines have pulled away, a long way in some cases. As always the north ends warm up first so please be careful.
For those that have been out, the fishing has been very good. Lots of nice crappie, gills and perch are being taken in a myriad of ways. Not a lot of minnows going out the bait shop door. Mostly plastics, spikes, waxies, mousees and chena bait. And it seems that every fisherman has their own way of icing fish, and it's the only way that works. Always puts a smile on my face when 5 different guys come in and tell me that and they all fish a different way. And you know what? They are all right.
If you can get out and enjoy this weather and the good bite, be careful. And if you get time come on in the shop and see all the new rods, reels and latest and greatest fandangle baits and accessories for this open water season. There are some pretty cool stuff. Later!
-----------------------------
Jeff Bolander, owner of Dewey, Catchem and
How Bait Shop and Guide Post at www.DeweyCatchemAndHow.com
Reports at www.UpNorthFishing.com
Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/DeweyCatchemAndHow
Check out my Up North fishing and resort web sites at www.UpNorth.info
and see piles of fish photos at Up North Fishing Photos at
www.UpNorthFishingPhotos.com
.
Jeff Bolander <jeff@deweycatchemandhow.com>
- Friday, April 19, 2019 at 10:38:32 (PDT)
The cool weather slowed the fishing over the weekend as the bite windows got smaller. We actually made ice over the last couple of days. Plenty of folks out there though and conditions continue to improve. There were so many folks out on Stacks Bay that the trucks were parked out to the highway! A lot of pent up demand still exists.
A few reports I got yesterday indicate that the crust and slush are completely gone on some of the smaller lakes and should be short lived on the larger ones. That's great news. I'm guessing we should have about 2 weeks of safe ice fishing coming up. The forecast shows plenty of warm weather coming in the form of the 50's. Whether we get sun or rain or not will determine how much time we have left on the ice. Remember, the big danger this time of year is just because you got out there doesn't mean you'll get bask. Some shorelines and landings are already pulling away. Bottom line is I think it looks good for a open water Opener this year. That would be nice for a change.
As far as the fishing goes it's been a 6 on a 10 scale. For a while last week it was a 10. Like I said, folks are still catching fish just in smaller windows. The same baits are working. Bugs and minnows on a plain hook or your favorite jig are the ticket.
In the shop I'm constantly asked where the hot lake is and where the fish are at and my answer is usually the same. You never know until you get out there. There is no magic answer and never a hot lake. There are only the 'find'amentals that exist. One day I counted 10 guys that came in and told me about the "only bait" that would work and they were all different. But it's true. There are so many variables in fishing that have to be put together to be successful that 10 guys, or 100 guys, could be doing it the "only way" that works. I say that's why fishing is great. When you figure it out, even if it's only for 10 minutes, it's very self satisfying.
FYI, we almost have the whole shop turned over to summer fishing now. If you want to see and touch the latest and greatest stuff com'on in! We start work on the aquarium this week, too. It's going to be about 1000 gallons filled with local game fish. The little kid in all of us is really looking forward to that! Now we just have to figure out a reason to put in a train set...
-----------------------------
Jeff Bolander, owner of Dewey, Catchem and
How Bait Shop and Guide Post at www.DeweyCatchemAndHow.com
Reports at www.UpNorthFishing.com
Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/DeweyCatchemAndHow
Check out my Up North fishing and resort web sites at www.UpNorth.info
and see piles of fish photos at Up North Fishing Photos at
www.UpNorthFishingPhotos.com
.
Jeff Bolander <jeff@deweycatchemandhow.com>
- Tuesday, April 02, 2019 at 10:13:44 (PDT)
Wow. What a difference a week makes. Last week was warm enough but still it was a chore to fight thru the slush and crusts on the ice. For all intent and purposes this past weekend was a godsend, allowing pent up demand for ice fishing to resume. The slush is way down and only about a couple of inches below the crust. And that might be gone completely by mid week. And the best part is the fish are cooperating. Oxygen rich water is seeping down thru the holes and cracks in the ice and giving those little devils a breath of fresh air, so to speak. Many great catches on bluegills, crappies and perch were coming in the shop over the weekend. You know they're doing well when they come in for bait more than once a day!
There's no real magic in catching them. Find the green weeds, drop a small jig down there tipped with a soft plastic, bug or small minnow and you should find success. The reports I got were that each fisherman had his secret bait and they differed greatly. That told me you need to be flexible. Color mattered, from hour to hour and day to day. Many reports of one guy catching fish and the guy next to him catching nothing. So what's the difference, jig, color, line, presentation? Probably all of that. Normally, and I mean normally, I find that anything will catch fish as long as your presentation is correct. Sometimes it takes experimentation to find out what the preferred presentation is. I know, too much work, right. Well, which guy do you want to be, the one catching the fish or the other one? I thought so.
The fishing, ice conditions and weather should be improving steadily over the next week or two, barring any hurricanes. So get out there and soak up that spring sun.
Bait Shop FYI. We still have a couple of K-Drills and Pistols left and are pricing them to go away. 8"ers are $189 and the 6"ers are $169. Have fun! Later!
-----------------------------
Jeff Bolander, owner of Dewey, Catchem and
How Bait Shop and Guide Post at www.DeweyCatchemAndHow.com
Reports at www.UpNorthFishing.com
Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/DeweyCatchemAndHow
Check out my Up North fishing and resort web sites at www.UpNorth.info
and see piles of fish photos at Up North Fishing Photos at
www.UpNorthFishingPhotos.com
.
Jeff Bolander <jeff@deweycatchemandhow.com>
- Sunday, March 24, 2019 at 14:41:29 (PDT)
As we enter the last week of game fish season which closes at midnight on March 3rd, we have pretty poor ice fishing conditions. Ice thickness is great but with the almost 30" of snow we've gotten over the last week or so, the snow depth and slush are really inconvenient. Basically there is no good vehicular travel on the ice right now. Everything will get stuck, even those big track machines. Your only chance to get out there now is to go out on a well used and packed snowmobile trail and get off a short distance to fish. Water will come up thru your hole right away so make sure you are wearing good waterproof boots that can traverse at least a foot or so of water.
As far as the fishing goes, it's hard to tell. You can't move very much cuz it's just too much work. If you go out for a few hours it can take you an hour to get setup on your first hole which does make you want to move to another very often. Not a lot of folks out right now. Those that are don't seem to be catching very much consistently. A few good reports here and there but not many. The good news is I fished 5 times last week and the fishing improved each day. But I gotta be honest, not very much action.
With the thick ice and snow, light conditions are dim, no pun intended. The weeds are dying faster now and those dying weeds give off carbon dioxide. That makes the fish very lethargic, just as you and I would be if we were short on oxygen. But the fish are still there, just not moving much. One of the answers if to find deeper water and green weeds. Those green weeds will be giving off oxygen so the fish attracted to them will be much more active.
So if you see someone doing the snow dance, slap'em in the back of the head and say "enough already!" We need to start doing the sun dance and melt some of this snow pack down. We only have a little more than two months before the Opener on May 4th!
-----------------------------
Jeff Bolander, owner of Dewey, Catchem and
How Bait Shop and Guide Post at www.DeweyCatchemAndHow.com
Reports at www.UpNorthFishing.com
Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/DeweyCatchemAndHow
Check out my Up North fishing and resort web sites at www.UpNorth.info
and see piles of fish photos at Up North Fishing Photos at
www.UpNorthFishingPhotos.com
.
Jeff Bolander <jeff@deweycatchemandhow.com>
- Monday, February 25, 2019 at 11:34:43 (PST)
You know, sometimes the weather stinks, the fishing stinks, the ice conditions stink and so on. NOT NOW! The past couple of weeks have been a lot of fun. The ice is thick, strong and mostly drivable. The snow cover is minimal so even cars are driving out. The weather has been mostly tolerable with not too much wind. And the fish have been cooperating very nicely.
Ok, that's the good news. The bad news is, THERE ISN'T ANY. Us ice fisherpeople live for these times. Active fish and great ice and weather conditions like I haven't seen in a long time. This weekend is suppose to get up into the 40s with sun! I better put the sun screen back on the store shelves. There were two guys sitting in the front seat of their cars today fishing.
As usual we have been selling everything type of bait in the store and most folks are reporting success. They must be having success as we ran out of minnows on New Year's weekend and had to have our trapper bring another load on Sunday. Tip ups tipped with shiners and walleye suckers are popping flags all day but the prime time is still after the sun goes down till when the sun comes back up. Walleyes, and some nice ones, have been active. Crappie too, have been on the night bite. Crappie are being taken with crappie minnows, rosie reds and lots of different types of plastics, depending on the forage. The other day we got a bunch on black or red wedgie plastics and today I got them on brown VMC tungsten nymph jigs and plastics. ANd bluegill are chasing all the bugs especially if your jig has a little hair or thin plastic on it.
Now mind you, as I always preach, stay flexible. A few days ago I changed baits a dozen times during the trip. When something isn't working I change. Change the bug, the color, the presentation, the minnow, whatever. Today was the same. My go to VMC Fly Jig did OK but when the fish got bashful I switched to four different presentations before I tried the VMC Nymph jig. That was the ticket. Then after hot and heavy for a while the bite stopped and I went to a few other things and then Perch Talker ended up working for a while. You can never tell until you try it. If I could get out tomorrow I'm sure I would have to start the process over again. I love it.
Hey, get out there. This perfect ice fishing storm is sure to end sometime so take advantage while you can. Linda and I are eating fresh bluegill, crappie and perch tonight. That's what I'm talking about! Check out the Facebook page for a list of local tourneys coming up.
-----------------------------
Jeff Bolander, owner of Dewey, Catchem and
How Bait Shop and Guide Post at www.DeweyCatchemAndHow.com
Reports at www.UpNorthFishing.com
Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/DeweyCatchemAndHow
Check out my Up North fishing and resort web sites at www.UpNorth.info
and see piles of fish photos at Up North Fishing Photos at
www.UpNorthFishingPhotos.com
.
Jeff Bolander <jeff@deweycatchemandhow.com>
- Thursday, January 03, 2019 at 14:31:32 (PST)
Not much has changed since the last report. We had a small stretch of above freezing weather which put our ice manufacturing on hold for a few days but it allowed a lot of folks to really enjoy their time on the ice.
There's pretty much 8" of ice everywhere right now, if not more. Does that mean that all the ice is safe out there? NNOOOOOO. Be smart people. No matter what the ice conditions are there are always spots that aren't safe. Know where you are going. Be safe and please take safety equipment with you! Ropes, picks and extra warm clothes don't take up that much room in your mode of transportation. And always fish with someone you owe money to so they won't hesitate to save you.
The fish catching has been average, a 6 on a scale of 1-10. The only guys that seem to be hammering them are the guys that are staying out late to very late. They put some nice fish on the ice this week. That's one of the perks of ice fishing is to be able to fish in three different locations at the same time per person, cover a lot of water. And that's what you have to do sometimes to find the fish. I remember when I lived in Manitowish Waters we would fish this one area where the lake bottom was like a valley coming up to shore. We would set our tip-ups at 20' all the way up to 5', in pairs, every 10' feet or so. It was fun to watch them go off from the deeper water to the shallows as it go darker out and then reverse as the night went on. It was like dominoes falling in very slow motion.
This is the last report before Christmas so I wanted to take this time to wish you a happy one. Drive safe, hug your friends and family and get out on the ice if you have time. It's not entirely about catching fish, it's about making memories. Later! Ho ho ho...
-----------------------------
Jeff Bolander, owner of Dewey, Catchem and
How Bait Shop and Guide Post at www.DeweyCatchemAndHow.com
Reports at www.UpNorthFishing.com
Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/DeweyCatchemAndHow
Check out my Up North fishing and resort web sites at www.UpNorth.info
and see piles of fish photos at Up North Fishing Photos at
www.UpNorthFishingPhotos.com
.
Jeff Bolander <jeff@deweycatchemandhow.com>
- Friday, December 21, 2018 at 07:47:50 (PST)
What a great start to the ice fishing season. Average ice conditions are around 8" of great clear ice, the weather has cooperated with cold nights and the heavy snows have stayed away. I know you snowmobilers don't like hearing that but once those snows hit, your trails will be fantastic because of the solid foundation. Quite a few snowmobiles and ATVs are out on the ice moving around. I heard tell of a truck or two also, but I wouldn't do that. And the fishing has been pretty good!
Walleyes have been ok with not to many taken but when they have turned on the fisherfolks hammered them. One guy that comes into the shop often hit double figures for fish over 20" the other night. Don't bother asking me where, eh? Another frequent shopper came in with a bucket of bluegill and perch and they were dandies. He only kept two bluegill and both were over 10"! He ate good that night.
Early season MOs are normal right now. Early and late for most everything and overnight for walleye. Lots of reports about hitting the ice before 7am or earlier and being done by 9am. Now you'll get windows during the day but those low light windows are happening right now. The normal baits are all working, spikes, waxies and glow jigs for panfish while minnows on tip-ups for walleyes and northerns. More than a few guys and gals have been using our large northern suckers and chubs with great success. Quite a few fish over 30 have been caught, most released.
Overall right now it's a good report and I believe this weekend and the following week is gonna be dynamite. Consistent temps and sunshine always seem to bring out the best under the ice. Plus with temps almost in the 40s on Saturday, it's party time on the ice. So what are you waiting for?
Just to let you know, most of the Otter and Clam shacks we had were sold over the past couple of weeks. We do have a few of the new models left. What's left is all there is for the most part for this year as most of the good stuff can't be re-ordered, they're gone for the year. I know there are some retailers out there that have previous years models left but they don't have all the bells and whistles the new ones have, that's for sure. Come check them out before they are all gone. Also, we just got in another shipment of Clam clothing and gear to replenish our stock. We are still offering up to $50 gift certificates on some items. There are lots of new goodies for ice fishing this year and we got them. We are the exclusive northwoods distributor of the Gill-O-Tine. Come take a look. It's awesome.
Linda and I are very grateful for all the support you have shown us this Christmas season! Be safe everyone and have a great time out there.
-----------------------------
Jeff Bolander, owner of Dewey, Catchem and
How Bait Shop and Guide Post at www.DeweyCatchemAndHow.com
Reports at www.UpNorthFishing.com
Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/DeweyCatchemAndHow
Check out my Up North fishing and resort web sites at www.UpNorth.info
and see piles of fish photos at Up North Fishing Photos at
www.UpNorthFishingPhotos.com
.
Jeff Bolander <jeff@deweycatchemandhow.com>
- Friday, December 14, 2018 at 15:51:36 (PST)
The freezing the lake tops weather persists in the northwoods. Lots of good ice all over the place. Most lakes are froze over and are continuing to make new ice every day and night. That's good news for those of us that missed out on fishing this past fall because of the weather. Reports are coming in all positive for those who are out. Walleyes, northerns and panfish are coming thru the holes. BUT BE CAREFUL! Not all ice is good and safe ice. There can be springs under the ice any where. So know where your going, spud the ice, take a friend you owe money and a good rescue kit including ropes. Later guys. Have a safe Thanksgiving.
Speaking of Thanksgiving it's time for our Black Friday Weekend Sale. We will open at 5pm on Thursday and at 7am Friday Saturday and Sunday. All electronics, augers, clothing, shanties and hubs are on display INSIDE for your inspection. Gift Certificates of up to $50 are included on selected merchandise. Go to our Facebook page to see a few pictures of what we have up so far. We have another semi showing up tomorrow with even more stuff. See you there!!
-----------------------------
Jeff Bolander, owner of Dewey, Catchem and
How Bait Shop and Guide Post at www.DeweyCatchemAndHow.com
Reports at www.UpNorthFishing.com
Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/DeweyCatchemAndHow
Jeff Bolander <jeff@deweycatchemandhow.com>
- Tuesday, November 20, 2018 at 17:08:00 (PST)
Here come da ice, folks! Not much news in the fishing realm as most folks have put the boats away and started getting their ice rods and tip-ups tuned up. One good report came from a group of guys who were fishing the river with suckers and just hammered them. They put out 3 suckers under bobbers and as they went to get the fourth ready all the bobber were down. Three fish at once. All but one netted. The biggest one got away (always).
The ice report is pretty good. The mill pond in Minocqua froze over a few days ago and by tradition that means Lake Minocqua will freeze over in 7-10 days. Time will tell. We sure have the weather for it. Single digit lows almost every night now. Lots of boat landings are froze shut and a lot of the popular bays are skimmed over and thickening. I'll try to keep you updated on the ice conditions on our FB page, maybe even some photos.
Won't be long now. Our first load of Golden Shiners, Rosie Reds, Spikes and other winter specific bait will be on hand this weekend. Come on in and say hi and check out our remodeling. We're almost done. The CLAM and OTTER shelters are all setup inside, specially priced and ready for your inspection. See you soon!
-----------------------------
Jeff Bolander, also known as 'How' of Dewey, Catchem and
How Bait Shop and Guide Post at www.DeweyCatchemAndHow.com
Reports at www.UpNorthFishing.com
Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/DeweyCatchemAndHow
Check out my Up North fishing and resort web sites at www.UpNorth.info
and see piles of fish photos at Up North Fishing Photos at
www.UpNorthFishingPhotos.com
.
Jeff Bolander <jeff@deweycatchemandhow.com>
- Wednesday, November 14, 2018 at 11:41:32 (PST)
Dodging rain drops, snow, sleet and high winds is never a whole lot of fun. But for those that are doing it they are bagging some nice fish. Mostly musky and mostly on suckers. Nobody notices how cold it is out when your fighting a fish so to keep warm you just need to catch more, right?
I haven't been out much myself the past few weeks as we are updating the new Minocqua shop with new floors, ceilings and signage. So I can only tell you what I've been told by the few brave soles out there. Now mind you we have had some of the meanest weather I have ever seen on the northwoods. But some are ignoring it the best they can and coming up with some nice musky. All sizes of suckers on quick strike rigs are catching the toothy critters. I'm asked often what size sucker to use. I myself would use a smaller-large one but you know opinions are like bluegills -- there are a lot of them. We probably sell 5% small, 30% medium, 50% large and 15% extra large. And each fisherman swears the size they use is the best.
How are the other fish doing? Walleyes are doing pretty good right now but ya gotta go real deep. A couple of my regulars say they are at least 40' to 60' deep now. That's a long ways down. What if your lake doesn't have deep water like that? Find the deepest hole and fish in it and around it.
Panfish are ok now on lakes that don't have real deep water. Perch, bluegill and crappie are on deep weedlines near wood and rock if available. But feeling the bite of those little devils that far down is tough. This time of year I usually put a braid like PowerPro on the spinning rod with a 3-4' fluorocarbon leader. As you know braids have 0 stretch so the smallest nibble even at 40' is detectable. Watch that rod tip and line so you can detect up hits too.
One species that's going pretty good right now is whitefish. Guys are out chasing them on a few of our lakes with pretty good success. Swedish Pimples, Kast Masters, Shiver Minnows and Hyper Glides, all with small treble hooks tipped with waxies, are doing well. Ya gotta be there when the sun comes up though. The bite is usually done by 9am.
Time to get back to work. Got one more Otter Shelter to put up in the Ice Fishing area. We have a bunch of stuff on display already. Just about every Clam and Otter shack there is and all the electronis from Humminbird, Vexilar, and Marcum are in with a few more on their way. We also have the latest in electric augers and drill adapters from K-Drill, Jiffy, StrikeMaster and ION. Eventually we'll have them all set up so you can touch and feel them and see them run. Come on over! We're getting two more skids of stuff tomorrow!
-----------------------------
Jeff Bolander, also known as 'How' of Dewey, Catchem and
How Bait Shop and Guide Post at www.DeweyCatchemAndHow.com
Reports at www.UpNorthFishing.com
Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/DeweyCatchemAndHow
Check out my Up North fishing and resort web sites at www.UpNorth.info
and see piles of fish photos at Up North Fishing Photos at
www.UpNorthFishingPhotos.com
.
Jeff Bolander <jeff@deweycatchemandhow.com>
- Thursday, October 25, 2018 at 16:15:28 (PDT)
After the LONG winter we had I promised to never complain about warm temperatures this past summer. It was really hard not to though as the northwoods turned into a daily windless sauna setting records for the number of days above 80 degrees and humidity above 90%. My boat set a record for number of occupants that jumped into the lake to cool off! And now fall is kicking our butts with temps in the 30s and 40s, wind and rain. I know the fish don't care but man o man has it been uncomfortable above the water line. And I'll be honest with you, the fishing has been just as tough as the weather.
But fear not my little fishing diehards, this will all change soon. Remember I always preach weather consistency helps the fish find their way to your bait. Doesn't namatter if it's super warm weather or super nasty weather, the fish will adapt and get active. By this weekend I expect the fishing to be really improved. I got a feeling the bite is gonna turn in to something more normal for this time of year. All species will start to realize that summer is gone and it's time to think about putting on the feedbag before winter chases away all those easy meals that warm water provides. Actually, crawlers are still working better than minnows but that is starting to change. But you still better take both. Even during the nasty cold weekend we just had the crawlers out fished the minnows 10-1 for all species. That surprised even me, a devoted crawler guy.
And don't forget the plastics! Ring worms and grub tails thrown right into the thick of the weeds will produce fish. The few times I dropped the camera into the water for a look-see it was visible that the fish were not only tight but inside the cover. You couldn't even mark them on your electronics but they were there. And now is definitely the time to drag a musky sucker. Even if your crappie fishing, put a sucker on a quick strike rig and you might just have the fish of a lifetime come into the boat.
FYI, we have a truck load of ice fishing equipment at the Minocqua location. We are setting up a bunch of flip-overs and tents so you'll be able to shop inside, out of the elements. We have shanties and huts from Otter, Clam and Shappell. I think we have just about every size and brand of auger out there, power and hand. Feel free to come in and browse as anything that gets purchased or ordered before the first week in November will be at special pre-season "show" prices. Oh, and I hear Santa is coming to visit us early in December! More on that later!
-----------------------------
Jeff Bolander, also known as 'How' of Dewey, Catchem and
How Bait Shop and Guide Post at www.DeweyCatchemAndHow.com
Reports at www.UpNorthFishing.com
Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/DeweyCatchemAndHow
Check out my Up North fishing and resort web sites at www.UpNorth.info
and see piles of fish photos at Up North Fishing Photos at
www.UpNorthFishingPhotos.com
.
Jeff Bolander <jeff@deweycatchemandhow.com>
- Tuesday, October 09, 2018 at 16:36:11 (PDT)
Looks like that Gulf Coast heat and humidity is finally gonna leave us. Back to normal temps with highs in the lower 60s and lows in the 40s are forecast. But more importantly what does this mean for fishing. Good news of course. Crawlers are still king but a few minnows are working for some folks. Leeches were also a good bait but they are gone for the year now. Cooler air temps mean cooler water temps and that brings the fish up a little shallower and the beginning signal of colder nights and days ahead. (I just can't say the rest yet) All the same baits you have been using are still gonna work but you must make an adjustment for how deep the ACTIVE fish are. For example, crawlers will still work but instead of throwing them on 20' rock humps you'll eventually be throwing them on 10' rock humps. And now you also need to start looking out for dying weeds. If you pull up some brown or browning weeds, move on. Browning weeds use up oxygen while green weeds give it off. Where would you rather be?
I had someone suggest that I take this space to answer a few common questions I get in the shop. So here goes:
I was asked, "I see in other guide reports that they use minnows while you are still using crawlers. Why?" I know some guides will only use minnows to keep their boats cleaner. Some will only use them because they are using slip bobbers and minnows have better action under a slip bobber than crawlers do. Some folks use too heavy a jig which takes away from the crawlers presentation but not from a minnow. Some don't like to have to deal with small panfish biting their crawlers while they know the panfish won't bother a minnow (normally). All are valid points. I use the crawler because everything will bite them, they are easier to keep in the cooler in the boat, cost is lower, more versatile because you can vary the lengths so easy, and more versatile because you can throw, pitch, jig and drag them in more ways than a minnow. There are no wrong answers here. It's all about presentation which is sometimes different on a daily or hourly basis.
One more I was asked, "On a certain fishing show there is a guy who uses "XYZ" brand baits when he catches fish. Do you?" For this particular XYZ bait my answer was no. Why, because I use other types of plastic that work very well. I have used the XYZ bait but others I have used and continue to use have worked very well for me. I tried the XYZ bait but never really got the hang of it. So I go back to my tried and true. I go crazy when someone comes into the shop and says 'such n such' bait is the only thing that works. I find that very hard to believe. Over the past week my boat used 18 different baits to catch fish. 18! If I listed each bait that each type of fish was caught on during the past week the reports would be pages long. You can come into the shop, pick out a bait, I'll show you how to use it and I'll bet you 35 cents you'll catch fish with it.
Ok, that was fun. I'll answer some more questions next time. Send me some if you want them included here. In the meantime, get out there. I heard they're biting!
-----------------------------
Jeff Bolander, also known as 'How' of Dewey, Catchem and
How Bait Shop and Guide Post at www.DeweyCatchemAndHow.com
Reports at www.UpNorthFishing.com
Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/DeweyCatchemAndHow
Check out my Up North fishing and resort web sites at www.UpNorth.info
and see piles of fish photos at Up North Fishing Photos at
www.UpNorthFishingPhotos.com
.
Jeff Bolander <jeff@deweycatchemandhow.com>
- Tuesday, September 18, 2018 at 11:36:36 (PDT)
The weather pattern is starting to change. Sometimes we wondered if the 'Mississippi' type weather we were having was going to end. Hot, humid, blue-bird-skies and hardly any breeze became the norm in the northwoods. Well as most of you know that's not the norm for the northwoods. Water temps on almost all of the lakes got to the brink of 80 while some passed that mark. Except maybe large mouth bass not too many species like that warmth around them. So what do they do? Head towards deeper water. The main quandary in that is if they head too deep, say 30+ feet or more, and you catch a fish down there, no matter what they are you will probably kill them on their way up thru the water column. The water pressure at 30-60 feet is much much higher than it is at 10-20 feet. When you bring that deep dweller into the boat it's stomach will be in its mouth and it has a very high chance of not surviving. So my boat does not fish for them.
The good news is the surface temps are starting to drop a bit. Most lakes are now in the low 70's and those deep dwellers are starting to move up a little. I use northerns as my barometer on this. If they are active I know the water is cooling down. On one of my smallie lakes a couple of days ago we had two bite-offs in places we haven't had bite-offs in months. That's good news. Not for the wallet but for the live well!
Still the bait of choice is the crawler. Bits of crawler for panfish and a half for bass and walleye. Sometimes you need to go bigger. The other day we had to throw full crawlers to entice the bass, but that it did, in droves. Ribs worms have worked well in the deep weeds and minnows and twister tails for crappie. It's been a little of a mixed bag lately but each day seems to have its own king of baits while each day it seems to change to something a little different.
One bait that has come to my attention is a diamond jig made by one of our locals. We have them exclusively in our shops and they are pretty cool. They are a cone looking jig with a diamond looking sparkle on the head. That sparkle seems to attract a lot of fish. Jake Jacobs got first place in one tourney two weeks ago and second last week and that jig is all he used. I have not put them on a line yet but I will in the next couple of days.
Get out there and have some fun folks. Drive safely this coming Labor Day and I hope you'll find time to stop in and say hi!
----------------------------
Jeff Bolander, guide and owner of Dewey, Catchem and
How at www.DeweyCatchemAndHow.com
Reports at www.UpNorthFishing.com
Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/DeweyCatchemAndHow
and my Up North fishing and resort web sites at www.UpNorth.info
and see piles of fish photos at Up North Fishing Photos at
www.UpNorthFishingPhotos.com.
Jeff Bolander <jeff@deweycatchemandhow.com>
- Monday, August 27, 2018 at 10:50:34 (PDT)
Where does the time go? Almost the middle of August already! Didn't we just get on the lakes after the late ice? Oh, well. The report is still better than average. Everyday I go out we catch 5-7 different species of fish in a myriad of ways. The fishing in general has slowed since last month but we are still putting great fish fries together. If you get a chance check out the Facebook page where I try to keep up with the nice ones being caught. The greatest pleasure I get is watching young and old smile and giggle while putting fish in the boat.
Walleye are a little slow but started to pick up over the past few days. A half a crawler on a 1/16 oz jig pulled slowly thru the thickest weeds has been the best presentation. Many other kinds of fish are there too, bass, perch, bluegill, etc., but you gotta get thru them to get the walleye.
Weedless jigs are sometimes necessary but small jigs can work just as well if you learn to gently pull it thru the weed stalks. Practice will teach you the difference between a weed stalk pressure and a fish bite. Once you master it you will become a weed fisherman for life. I have three kind of weedless jigs in my tackle box. Jack's jigs, Northland Weedweasels and the Slo-poke. I use them all depending on the situation and type of weeds we're pulling thru. They each have their advantages over the other. I also make small modifications to them before I use them. Next time your in one of the shops ask me and I'll show you what I do to them to make them work even better.
Crappie have been a consistent producer lately. Small Powerbait Grubtails, Mini-Mites, Crappie Scrubs, Gulp Minnows and real minnows and crawlers have all been working. One trip we got 6 over 12" in 9 feet of water. The next time out we got a bunch more in nothing less that 18 feet of water. You gotta look for them every time out. Same with the gills and perch. Different day. Different location. There is one exception to this rule. If the lake is like Little Saint Germain in St Germain where 75 percent of the lake is 10-15' feet deep, not much will change from day to day. The only thing that could change there is colors, speed and proximity to the weed line.
Large mouth bass are still in or near the deep or shallow weedlines. Top water baits like frogs, poppers and buzz baits are a blast this time of year. But when using these baits wait until you feel the weight of the bite before you set the hook or you could get a face full of top water lure.
Time to get back out and enjoy this gorgeous summer we've had so far. Remember, if you're too busy to fish, you're too busy.
-----------------------------
Jeff Bolander, also known as 'How' of Dewey, Catchem and
How Bait Shop and Guide Post at www.DeweyCatchemAndHow.com
Reports at www.UpNorthFishing.com
Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/DeweyCatchemAndHow
Check out my Up North fishing and resort web sites at www.UpNorth.info
and see piles of fish photos at Up North Fishing Photos at
www.UpNorthFishingPhotos.com
.
Jeff Bolander <jeff@deweycatchemandhow.com>
- Friday, August 10, 2018 at 08:59:47 (PDT)
I was reprimanded by a shop visitor that I hadn't posted in a couple of weeks again. Sorry. Just soooo busy with both shops and guiding almost every day now. I've fished the Boulder Junction, Minocqua, St Germain, Arbor Vitae and Lac du Flambeau lakes. But not much has changed. Water temps are knocking the dust off of 80.
Weather has been pretty steady and high skies and humid almost every day. That makes for really good fishing. It doesn't matter what type of weather it is as long as it is consistent, fish like it. Winds changes in stable weather can change things but only where you fish. Fish those weed blown shorelines folks. Fish where the bait is and eventually it makes its way into the wind blown shorelines. Even if the fish are in 20 FOW they will usually be on the wind blown side.
Weed edges right next to that deep water has been key for finding fish. Find those deep weeds and grass and you'll probably find fish, all kinds. So many people are afraid to fish in those 20-40 FOW. That's where the fish might be. I see people fishing shorelines in the middle of the day with high skies and calm conditions and they're not catching anything but little ones. In the meantime my boat has been inching out into deeper water as the sun gets higher and we're still pounding the big ones. The other day with clients on a relatively clear lake we started catching fish in 6 FOW. 4 hours later we were still catching fish in 25-30 FOW.
One more tip before I close. I taught a young fellow how to wacky worm and ned jig the other day. I know a lot of folks wacky worm but ned heading is pretty cool too. It's a 3-4" piece of plastic that floats and makes you wanna order a pizza because it is garlic infused. You put it on a ned head jig and it sits vertical to the bottom. Twitching it makes it look like a crayfish or minnow nudging the bottom. Keep you line taught and you'll feel the fish suck it right up. It's a lot of fun for bass and walleyes. Com'on in the shop and we'll show you another way to have fun.
Here comes a lady with a bucket. Gotta go!
-----------------------------
Jeff Bolander, also known as 'How' of Dewey, Catchem and
How Bait Shop and Guide Post at www.DeweyCatchemAndHow.com
Reports at www.UpNorthFishing.com
Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/DeweyCatchemAndHow
Check out my Up North fishing and resort web sites at www.UpNorth.info
and see piles of fish photos at Up North Fishing Photos at
www.UpNorthFishingPhotos.com
.
Jeff Bolander <jeff@deweycatchemandhow.com>
- Saturday, July 07, 2018 at 12:27:40 (PDT)
All in all we've had a beautiful early summer weather-wise. Catching fish or not it's hard not to enjoy a day on the water with this weather. And yes, fortunately the bite has stayed very good on almost all species. But as usual there seems to be a different dominate species each day. I never could figure out how you could catch mostly walleye one day, the next mostly bass and the next mostly bluegill, on the same lake with the same presentations. Good question. Solve that one and you could get rich.
The only weather we've had lately that affected the fishing were the storms we got that poured 8-10 inches of water on our northwoods. Those really sent the flowages into a mucky flow and a lot of lakes too! I fished one lake today that is normally pretty clear but it looked like a lake in southern Illinois, all brown and mucky. We had to have the bait right in front of their noses to get a bite as the visibility was pretty bad.
Crawlers and leeches have been the bait of choice in my boat lately. Minnows work but are hard to keep alive in the warm weather. The plastics are starting to work better too. Small twisters to large rib worms and wacky worms are producing fish. Cranks are still working pretty good but mostly for me the surface baits have been king in this arena.
Knock on wood I hope the bite continues. It's been a very good year so far and looking at the weather coming up I see no reason why it can't continue. The basic advice stays the same. Fish green weeds next to deep water, the higher the sun in a cloudless sky go deeper, the less wind there is cast out farther and for goodness sake, HAVE FUN!!!
-----------------------------
Jeff Bolander, also known as 'How' of Dewey, Catchem and
How Bait Shop and Guide Post at www.DeweyCatchemAndHow.com
Reports at www.UpNorthFishing.com
Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/DeweyCatchemAndHow
Check out my Up North fishing and resort web sites at www.UpNorth.info
and see piles of fish photos at Up North Fishing Photos at
www.UpNorthFishingPhotos.com
.
Jeff Bolander <jeff@deweycatchemandhow.com>
- Saturday, June 23, 2018 at 14:19:58 (PDT)
I know its been longer than usual for a report but I gotta tell you the fishing has been really really good! My excuse for my lack of reports is we've been too busy fishing and then cleaning those fish. But here's the key. If you hit the lake and look for any fish, not any particular fish, you will probably be successful right now. Each day the lake has given us something a little different with some great surprises thrown in!
For example one day we hit the water looking to teach a couple of guys how to catch fish, any fish. We ended up popping a bunch of bass and some super nice walleye in places I have never caught walleye before. Today we went after walleye on a lake we normally catch lots of walleye. We only caught one but we popped a bunch of small mouths and kept 17 beautiful perch! What fun!
Ya gotta stay flexible folks. Just about everything in the box is working nowadays if you know how to use them, meaning presentation. One day it's crawlers and the next it's crankbaits, in the same spots! Colors matter, presentations matter, locations matter. If you're not catching fish, change something. Sounds simple, sometimes it is. We came off a lake today with what turned out to be 2 pounds of fillets and the two groups of people at the landing were complaining they didn't even get a bite. I asked them what they were doing and each gave the same answer. The same thing all day! Me and my clients must have changed bait and presentations 20 times until we found something that finally produced fish. Flexible. Be that way!
When you come into one of our bait shops go ahead and ask for advice. We would be happy to give you some suggestions on how you could change things up and be successful. Some will work and some won't, depending on the day. But hey, we're flexible! If you're not having fun you're doing something wrong...
-----------------------------
Jeff Bolander, also known as 'How' of Dewey, Catchem and
How Bait Shop and Guide Post at www.DeweyCatchemAndHow.com
Reports at www.UpNorthFishing.com
Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/DeweyCatchemAndHow
Check out my Up North fishing and resort web sites at www.UpNorth.info
and see piles of fish photos at Up North Fishing Photos at
www.UpNorthFishingPhotos.com
.
Jeff Bolander <jeff@deweycatchemandhow.com>
- Thursday, June 14, 2018 at 16:39:41 (PDT)
What a month, eh? We go from ice to 60 degree water temps in less than a week! No spring for us this year, that's for sure. But nobody's complaining. After that gruesomely long winter we will take anything that includes a dose of warmth and sun. But what does this mean for fishing?
Walleyes are done spawning pretty much everywhere. What they want now is, as Tommy Zinda used to put it, a meal -- not a snack. You wanna catch nice walleyes now you need bigger minnows and 3-5" plastics and crank baits. Sure you'll catch the occasional one on smaller fatheads but right now big is better. Most are still in shallow water chasing those meals. Look for green weeds next to deeper water.
Crappies are in the middle of the spawn. Some lakes they are done and others they haven't started. Small plastics run thru their nesting grounds are working. Also small minnows under slip bobbers are working. Most of the fish I've caught and seen so far are in that 7-11' range about 1-3' under the surface. Another tip is to watch the surface near warn water shorelines for disturbances in the water. There is where they may be.
Bass are also in the spawn. Smallies are in the rock piles, sand bars and the such next to deep water. Twister baits, minnows and cranks can entice them right now. Remember to throw all the smallies back until Father's day weekend. Large mouth you can keep right now. The large mouth's spawning ground are more wood and weed related in shallower water. Same types of baits will catch them though. A tip, if you see a bass on a bed you can't get to move with a crawler or bug bait, use a minnow or minnow looking crank as minnows are a threat to their beds and eggs.
Bluegills are getting ready to spawn on most lakes. I had one guy tell me he was catching gillsand crappies in the same bed area the other day. Bugs, worms and fly jigs work the best.
Northerns have been kinda of quiet for me this year. VERY unusual as it seems they take half my "walleye intended" jigs this time of year. But that could start at any time now.
FYI, our 2nd shop is up and rocking now. We got a few more details to finish but I think it looks great. Remember it is right across the street from Paul Bunyan's. Our goal is to have a complete selection of all the hottest baits for our area. I believe we have accomplished that. If we haven't, let us know! We are open at both shops at 5am everyday. Here comes a guy with a bucket, gotta go!
-----------------------------
Jeff Bolander, also known as 'How' of Dewey, Catchem and
How Bait Shop and Guide Post at www.DeweyCatchemAndHow.com
Reports at www.UpNorthFishing.com
Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/DeweyCatchemAndHow
Check out my Up North fishing and resort web sites at www.UpNorth.info
and see piles of fish photos at Up North Fishing Photos at
www.UpNorthFishingPhotos.com
.
Jeff Bolander <jeff@deweycatchemandhow.com>
- Wednesday, May 23, 2018 at 09:24:32 (PDT)
WHAT'S THE ICE THICKNESS?? WILL LAKE X BE OPEN BY THE 'OPENER'? Lots of phone calls and e-mail filled with these questions and ones similar. Well I am surprised at how fast the ice is leaving. Lots of smaller lakes are wide open and the bigger ones are opening. Let me adjust my magic prognosticators hat for a second. There. I think the ice around the Minocqua area will be gone by the end of this weekend. There. I said it. I COMMAND "BE GONE ICE!"
----------------------------
Jeff Bolander, guide and owner of Dewey, Catchem and
How at www.DeweyCatchemAndHow.com
Reports at www.UpNorthFishing.com
Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/DeweyCatchemAndHow
and my Up North fishing and resort web sites at www.UpNorth.info
and see piles of fish photos at Up North Fishing Photos at
www.UpNorthFishingPhotos.com.
Jeff Bolander <jeff@deweycatchemandhow.com>
- Thursday, May 03, 2018 at 15:40:49 (PDT)
Can you believe this winter. It won't go away! At least without kicking us in the butt a few more times first. We'll be MAKING lake ice all this week. Temps above freezing are a week or more out. The hot conversation now is the debate over whether we will be cutting holes in the ice to catch walleyes on this year's opener!?!
I have been taking some time off the past week or two and will be back in the northwoods after this weekend. So I obviously haven't been fishing but here's what my buds say is going on. The perch and crappie bite has been inconsistent. That in and of itself is consistent. But most luck is seen during the last few hours into dark. Not many of my buds have been fishing early so it could be good then too. Most crappie are suspended over deeper water, about 1-3 feet below the ice. The perch are still banging the mud for bugs and stuff in deeper water. Clicky-clack lures are working well right now tipped with bugs or small minnows. Plastics are a close second. Gills are also banging the mud but in shallower water. One guy told me his magic elixir was a fly jig with spike/mouse/spike. Had to be in that order. He didn't mention what colors. I guess that would have been TMI.
Well my time off has been filled with fighting red tape, crossing I's and dotting T's (I know). If you haven't heard, Linda and I have purchased the old POPOV building across the street form Paul Bunyun's. Hopefully by the Opener it will become the second location of Dewey Catchem and How Bait Shop and Guide Post. Along with the stress of opening the new store comes the excitement of not only offering more product but a more diverse product to our customers. Some of the highlights are 16 big minnow tanks for more wild minnows and leeches on hand, 3 times as many fishing lures and jigs as we now have at the Arbor Vitae store, an ol' time popcorn cart making free popcorn all day, a planned 1000 gallon fish tank holding all the species of the northwoods, and a few other surprises. It's gonna be great! We start work on remodeling the place on the 13th of April. Stop by and say hi if you see our vehicles there. But don't stay too long or we'll shove a paint brush and broom into your hands!
Later kids. Time to get back at the red tape!
-----------------------------
Jeff Bolander, also known as 'How' of Dewey, Catchem and
How Bait Shop and Guide Post at www.DeweyCatchemAndHow.com
Reports at www.UpNorthFishing.com
Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/DeweyCatchemAndHow
Check out my Up North fishing and resort web sites at www.UpNorth.info
and see piles of fish photos at Up North Fishing Photos at
www.UpNorthFishingPhotos.com
.
Jeff Bolander <jeff@deweycatchemandhow.com>
- Tuesday, April 03, 2018 at 10:00:30 (PDT)
I didn't post last week and I almost wasn't going to this week as there just isn't much change in the 'fishing the northwoods' world. The bite is average at best and that combined with the weather makes for very uncrowded lake conditions. This weekend shouldn't be much different with below zero temps in the morning but some sun in the afternoon.
But all this should change. The weather forecast shows highs in the 20s all next week and beyond and that should help. From reports to the shop the perch have been turning on a little bit. And that's good news as a lot of folks like to chase perch but they have been very quiet lately. There's no magic to this folks. Sometimes the fish aren't active and don't feed very hard. But with warmer temps and longer days the fish realize that the spawn is coming soon and the feed bags will go back on.
I'm really looking forward to this week. It has the making of a real comeback for the bite in general. Lots of great tourneys are coming up including the high school state championship is next weekend. We will have longer hours for those weekends and I will announce those in next week's report.
Ice Tourneys coming up:
16th Annual Fishing Tournament on Plum Lake on Plum Lake on Saturday February 10th, 6am to 3pm, Benifits Sayner-Star Lake Lions Club projects, Call 715-542-3789 for more info
2nd Annual Bob Lemmer Memorial on Lake Kathrine on Saturday, February 17th. 9am to 3pm. Benefits Angel on My Shoulder. Call 715-358-7572 for more information
12th Annual Lake Tomahawk Family Fisheree on Lake Tomahawk on Saturday, February 24th. Register starts at 7:15am and fish from 8am to 3pm. Call 715-370-4652 for more info.
5th Annual Carrol Lake Ice Fishing Tournament on Carrol Lake on Saturday, February 24th. Registration starts at 7am at the boat landing and goes till 3pm. Benefits Angel on My Shoulder. For more info call 715-356-6961
-----------------------------
Jeff Bolander, guide and owner of Dewey, Catchem and
How at www.DeweyCatchemAndHow.com
Reports at www.UpNorthFishing.com
Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/DeweyCatchemAndHow
and my Up North fishing and resort web sites at www.UpNorth.info
and see piles of fish photos at Up North Fishing Photos at
www.UpNorthFishingPhotos.com.
Jeff Bolander <jeff@deweycatchemandhow.com>
- Thursday, February 08, 2018 at 14:04:46 (PST)
Hello fisherboys and fishergirls! After a wonderfully warm and not too windy weekend last weekend we got another one coming this weekend. It's nice to not have to scoop your holes out every 15 minutes. But the difference in this weekend from last is the snow storm we got last Tuesday. This kinda heavy 8-12" blanket put on top of the ice has pushed some water up through the cracks and holes to produce a little slush on top. From what I understand it's not as bad as we thought it was gonna be. But there are still some bad spots so be careful or you'll spend your day pushing your mode of transportation out of the slush instead of fishing. That's no fun for sure.
As you might have guessed, there weren't a lot of fisherfolks out this past few days with all the snow. Although the action last weekend was good with lots of tip ups and tip down action. And most species cooperated. The few reports I had come in this past week were pretty good, a continuation of the bite from the weekend. I expect this weekend will be just as much fun with the tip up and tip down action.
Pike are still very active and some real nice ones are being caught. Most are being caught on tip ups with larger minnows. If your minnow is too big and keeps setting off the flag, clip its tail off and he'll still wiggle but won't be able to swim. Also try heavy 30-50# fluorocarbon leaders and small glo treble hooks. (that's top secret, don't tell anyone)
Walleyes have been rather active also. Transition areas have been the best. Depths depend on your lake but mostly in the deepest water transitions you can find.
Crappies have been good also. Suspended, and scraping the bottom is where you'll find them. A slow presentation of crappie minnows, rosie reds, spikes and waxies have been the choice baits. Smaller the jig the better.
Perch are in the mud at different depth depending on the lake. I like mousees and minnow heads for perch. It seems they will either wack it or sniff it and go on. Small Fly Jigs, Perch Talkers and Kastmasters are my favorite holders of bait.
Gills have been very active in small windows. Again, very small jigs tipped with your favorite bug will work. The new Epoxy jig by Clam with the jewel on the front of it has been really good along with the Fly Jig. Fish them slow.
Cookout time on the ice this weekend again. If you didn't do it last weekend what are you waiting for? It's a memory maker!
Ice Tourneys coming up:
16th Annual Fishing Tournament on Plum Lake on Plum Lake on Saturday February 10th, 6am to 3pm, Benifits Sayner-Star Lake Lions Club projects, Call 715-542-3789 for more info
2nd Annual Bob Lemmer Memorial on Lake Kathrine on Saturday, February 17th. 9am to 3pm. Benefits Angel on My Shoulder. Call 715-358-7572 for more information
12th Annual Lake Tomahawk Family Fisheree on Lake Tomahawk on Saturday, February 24th. Register starts at 7:15am and fish from 8am to 3pm. Call 715-370-4652 for more info.
5th Annual Carrol Lake Ice Fishing Tournament on Carrol Lake on Saturday, February 24th. Registration starts at 7am at the boat landing and goes till 3pm. Benefits Angel on My Shoulder. For more info call 715-356-6961
-----------------------------
Jeff Bolander, guide and owner of Dewey, Catchem and
How at www.DeweyCatchemAndHow.com
Reports at www.UpNorthFishing.com
Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/DeweyCatchemAndHow
and my Up North fishing and resort web sites at www.UpNorth.info
and see piles of fish photos at Up North Fishing Photos at
www.UpNorthFishingPhotos.com.
Jeff Bolander <jeff@deweycatchemandhow.com>
- Thursday, January 25, 2018 at 12:33:42 (PST)
Ok, last weekend when I opened the shop at 7am on Saturday and Sunday mornings it was -15. This weekend it should be 26. That's a 41 degree swing folks! Now, what will that do to the fishing? Probably not a lot but it will make conditions for the humans above the ice a lot more comfortable. Tip downs and tip ups will be used more this weekend due to the holes not freezing up near as fast or at all. That should make pan fishing and game fishing more fun. I love chasing flags and tip downs. Who doesn't. You get a group of kids or a bunch of adults that don't act their age together and when a flag goes up or a pole goes down the fun begins. I fished with this one group years ago that had about 10 teenagers in it. When a flag went up it was a no holds barred mayhem race to see who would get to pull in the fish. That was fun to watch!
As far as panfish go there doesn't seem to be any one method that outshines another right now. Everybody has their favorite way of putting panfish in the bucket but for the most part they have been real bashful. Sometimes I wish I didn't use electronics cuz it's so frustrating to me to watch a fish come up to your bait, sniff it out and then just swim away. But at least you know there is something down there. Now I'm not saying nobody is catching fish, I'm saying you gotta put in your time to hit those active windows. During the last three days of panfishing I caught 90% of my fish in a 30 minute window each day. The one jig that seems to be outdoing the others is a VMC Fly Jig. The color doesn't seem to be too important but that jig is a killer.
As far as game fish go it's not been famine but certainly not feast. Except for Northern Pike. Those devils are active. I watched a bunch of fisherman on a lake I was on the other day chasing one flag after another. We set out six tip ups the other day on a weed edge and every one went off at least twice if not more. Like I said, I love chasing and watching people chase flags. Smaller river shiners were the best on small glow treble hooks. And as I have mentioned many times before, if you get a flag and find very little line has been stripped off get your perch jigging pole out (that of course you set up earlier for this purpose) and start working that hole. DO IT!
Hey this is the weekend to have a picnic on the ice. Nothing better that meat grilling while watching tip ups. Ice is being driven on all over the place with full size trucks. Use your head though. There still could be some thin spots from springs and muck. But for the most part, get at it!
Ice Tourneys coming up:
16th Annual Fishing Tournament on Plum Lake on Plum Lake on Saturday February 10th, 6am to 3pm, Benifits Sayner-Star Lake Lions Club projects, Call 715-542-3789 for more info
2nd Annual Bob Lemmer Memorial on Lake Kathrine on Saturday, February 17th. 9am to 3pm. Benefits Angel on My Shoulder. Call 715-358-7572 for more information
12th Annual Lake Tomahawk Family Fisheree on Lake Tomahawk on Saturday, February 24th. Register starts at 7:15am and fish from 8am to 3pm. Call 715-370-4652 for more info.
5th Annual Carrol Lake Ice Fishing Tournament on Carrol Lake on Saturday, February 24th. Registration starts at 7am at the boat landing and goes till 3pm. Benefits Angel on My Shoulder. For more info call 715-356-6961
-----------------------------
Jeff Bolander, guide and owner of Dewey, Catchem and
How at www.DeweyCatchemAndHow.com
Reports at www.UpNorthFishing.com
Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/DeweyCatchemAndHow
and my Up North fishing and resort web sites at www.UpNorth.info
and see piles of fish photos at Up North Fishing Photos at
www.UpNorthFishingPhotos.com.
Jeff Bolander <jeff@deweycatchemandhow.com>
- Thursday, January 18, 2018 at 15:06:37 (PST)
The ice is good. We are seeing more trucks out there on a good base right now and not a lot of slush. Most ice thicknesses are in the 12" area. As always you need to be careful around moving water but for the most part the ice fishing season is in full swing right now.
Another bit of good news is the deep freeze we've been battling is coming to an end for now. There's even forecast highs in the 30's coming. And much to the dismay of our snowmobilers there is hardly any snow forecast in our future.
The fish report is pretty simple. Most fisherman are reporting fish but not a lot. Small windows, low light conditions and slow presentations are the keys to success right now. I'm not going to say there is any one artificial bait that is working better than another right now cuz there isn't. Same with live minnows and bugs. They all work if they are fresh. But one thing that works better than others is thin or invisible fluorocarbon line. It is a must on your pole or as leaders on your tip down or tip up right now. Wire leaders are fine if you are chasing the northern but for anything else go stealth.
Well here comes a guy with a bucket. Time to fill it up. Get out there!
Ice Tourneys coming up:
2nd Annual Bob Lemmer Memorial on Lake Kathrine on Saturday, February 17th. 9am to 3pm. Benefits Angel on My Shoulder. Call 715-358-7572 for more information
12th Annual Lake Tomahawk Family Fisheree on Lake Tomahawk on Saturday, February 24th. Register starts at 7:15am and fish from 8am to 3pm. Call 715-370-4652 for more info.
-----------------------------
Jeff Bolander, guide and owner of Dewey, Catchem and
How at www.DeweyCatchemAndHow.com
Reports at www.UpNorthFishing.com
Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/DeweyCatchemAndHow
and my Up North fishing and resort web sites at www.UpNorth.info
and see piles of fish photos at Up North Fishing Photos at
www.UpNorthFishingPhotos.com.
Jeff Bolander <jeff@deweycatchemandhow.com>
- Friday, January 05, 2018 at 10:03:58 (PST)
Merry Christmas and a happy New Year to all!
The fishing story in the northwoods is ICE CONDITIONS. The snow storm we had a week and a half ago really slowed the ice production. We went from looking forward to driving on the ice that weekend to using spud bars to check various thicknesses. Well the ice is getting better but we are now more in line with the last couple of years. Be careful out there please. I have already talked to a few guys who have gone thru the ice and their story is chilling. No pun intended. The snowmobile trails on the lakes have not been marked. It takes at least 8" of ice for the local clubs to mark the trails across the lakes and swamps. So again, be careful. But all this should become more positive daily in the next week or so as the deep freeze is going to set in. We got some days that are not forecast to be above 0 for the high. But still, be careful.
Ok, so how's the fishing? Pretty good actually. There are plenty of areas of safe ice out there. Walleyes are hitting at low light conditions at dusk and dawn. You'll find them at weed edges, shallow rock edges, mud to gravel lines and deeper sand grass during the day. Most have been gotten on golden shiners, river shiners, chubs and suckers on tip-ups with fluorocarbon leaders. Weed edges are key right now for all kinds of panfish. Bug mimicking plastics and the real things, waxies, mousees, and spikes are working. Windows are small but be there when the window is open and the fun is on. Northern pike and bass have been very active on large suckers and river shiners under tip-ups suspended just below the ice. Again, weed edges are key and the inside and outside those edges.
Go get'em folks. Stay warm, dry and have fun!
-----------------------------
Jeff Bolander, guide and owner of Dewey, Catchem and
How at www.DeweyCatchemAndHow.com
Reports at www.UpNorthFishing.com
Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/DeweyCatchemAndHow
and my Up North fishing and resort web sites at www.UpNorth.info
and see piles of fish photos at Up North Fishing Photos at
www.UpNorthFishingPhotos.com.
Jeff Bolander <jeff@deweycatchemandhow.com>
- Sunday, December 24, 2017 at 10:32:57 (PST)
I had a nice time off. Didn't get to play any golf but the wife and I had some much needed time getting away from it all. I love this work but every once in a while I need to recharge the ol' batteries. Now I'm ready to rock and roll again!
Ice conditions. The biggest topic lately is can I go ice fishing yet. Yes, there are still a few Musky fishermen out there still but lets face it. They're nuts. Lol! The ice seems to be pretty good in the protected bays on some lakes, up to 5+" in some places. A lot of lakes are froze over but ice in the main basins are not safe. Our weather lately hasn't removed much ice but at the same time it hasn't been cold enough to keep making ice. But that's gonna change. Come Monday the mercury will dip below freezing and the forecasts shows that the mercury will stay that way, day and night, for the foreseeable future. The the best part, not much of a chance for precipitation. That's what we call ice making weather! It would be so nice to have good ice all year this year as it has been many years since we have been afforded that luxury.
So take your spud bar, boot grippers, safety ropes and most importantly, A BUDDY, along with you and hit the good ice. Those that are on the ice are catching fish, YOUR fish, just sayin'...
FYI, until Christmas we are running some great pricing on all of our ice fishing gear. Some stock is limited. Especially electronics and shacks and augers. If you don't check our prices before you buy somewhere else you will probably pay more. With our overhead nobody can beat our prices, not even all the big box stores.
Talk atcha next week!
-----------------------------
Jeff Bolander, guide and owner of Dewey, Catchem and
How at www.DeweyCatchemAndHow.com
Reports at www.UpNorthFishing.com
Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/DeweyCatchemAndHow
and my Up North fishing and resort web sites at www.UpNorth.info
and see piles of fish photos at Up North Fishing Photos at
www.UpNorthFishingPhotos.com.
Jeff Bolander <jeff@deweycatchemandhow.com>
- Thursday, November 30, 2017 at 06:44:29 (PST)
I know it's been a while. Well, not many fishermen are out practicing their craft. The few that are are not doing especially well but like I said, it's a small sampling.
We got a little ice here, a little ice there and some lakes are froze over with upwards of 5 inches. But as always, early ice is inconsistent at best. Our forecast is calling for many ice making days to come. Hopefully the snow levels will stay low so the ice manufactured is strong. We are in the middle of some rain and sleet right now but we'll be back to those colder temps quickly. Most folks are concentrating on the deer hunt coming up this weekend thru Thanksgiving weekend so that iffy ice won't be crowded.
I normally take a little time off this time of year to recharge the batteries with grandkids, warmer weather and the swinging of the golf clubs. Because of the weather the time will be shorter and the golf clubs won't leave the bag but I'm sure the grandkids will still wear me out. YEAH!
I'll open the shop back up the Tuesday after Thanksgiving. And I'm looking forward to it. Our ice should be good in a lot of places this year instead of having to wait until almost Christmas the last two years. We'll have a lot of new ice fishing gear this year including a FANTASTIC special price on MarCums! With the slowdown in traffic this time of year we were able to remodel the whole store to make room for 50% more gear and I'm pricing all of it to move out. Come see the changes.
Until then have a great Thanksgiving holiday. Don't eat too much, the ice is still thin!
-----------------------------
Jeff Bolander, also known as 'How' of Dewey, Catchem and
How at www.DeweyCatchemAndHow.com
Reports at www.UpNorthFishing.com
Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/DeweyCatchemAndHow
Check out my Up North fishing and resort web sites at www.UpNorth.info
and see piles of fish photos at Up North Fishing Photos at
www.UpNorthFishingPhotos.com
.
Jeff Bolander <jeff@deweycatchemandhow.com>
- Wednesday, November 15, 2017 at 10:52:10 (PST)
Finally we are in some true fall patterns. The weather shows we are looking at highs near 60 most days with some true frosty temps in the next week or two. And as usual with the cooler water temps the fishing improves.
The bite is still on crawlers but that is also changing quickly. Three days ago me and clients caught as many fish on minnows as we did crawlers. Yesterday we only caught one Smallie on a minnow and the limit of walleye and the rest of the smallies and crappie were caught on crawlers. Picky devils...
The walleye bite has been very good for us. I've been fishing lakes from Lac du Flambeau to Arbor Vitae and most have been caught in more that 20' of water. Yesterday we got them in 28'. We did catch some small walleye in 10' next to weed lines but the big ones were in the deeper water near rock ridges near mud lines.
Those of you that have fished with me know I like the slow drag. The one day we fished it was so windy that when we pitched our jigs out we couldn't feel the bottom but knew we were there just because of the amount of time we let them sink. We were using 1/16 oz jigs. The good part was that when we worked the bait back in slow we knew anything we felt was a fish. We caught some nice walleyes in the 20's that day with that method. Of course we had the advantage of knowing we were fishing on a sand bottom so we didn't have to worry about snags.
The Small Mouth Bass we have been catching have been good sized. Again, the bigger fish came from deeper water. They are definitely spread out as we never "got into them" -- it was one here, one there.
The big gills are starting to become active. Again, crawlers have worked the best in 15' of water or more. When those bulldevils hit and turn sideways you think you popped a big walleye until you see your line going in circles. They are great table fare. I gotta get out by myself and get a bunch of those. I just bought a fish scaler tumbler that I'm anxious to try out! I love fillets with the skin still on them.
Haven't seen a lot of perch or northern lately but that will change with the cooler temps too. I might head out for my yearly trip to Escanaba Lake to grab about 40 or so perch. They will taste great this winter after being in my tumbler and then filleted. That's extree good!
Crappie are starting to come around a little better now, still not the big bite yet. They are getting deeper also and relating to wood piles as they normally do this time of year. That's more great table fare. I actually did better with Gulp! micro minnows than real minnows the other day on 1/32 oz jigs, orange or lime.
Client story of the week. His five year old daughter was shore fishing with him a few days after a "put and take" lake was filled with trout. It wasn't quite as crowed a few days after the opening day but there were still a few guys trying to fill their coolers. So she catches a nice one on her Barbie pole, very excited and decides after much inspection that she is going to let it go. She cradles the fish with two hands and starts to lower it to the waters edge when a guy not to far from her asks her "what are you doing?" She tells him she is letting it go! He tells her "I'll take it if you don't want it!" She calmly turns her head towards him and says with 5 year old innocence, "catch your own..." Oh I wish I could have seen that!!!!
Well here comes someone with a bucket. Later!
-----------------------------
Jeff Bolander, guide and owner of Dewey, Catchem and
How at www.DeweyCatchemAndHow.com
Reports at www.UpNorthFishing.com
Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/DeweyCatchemAndHow
and my Up North fishing and resort web sites at www.UpNorth.info
and see piles of fish photos at Up North Fishing Photos at
www.UpNorthFishingPhotos.com.
Jeff Bolander <jeff@deweycatchemandhow.com>
- Thursday, October 05, 2017 at 07:03:10 (PDT)
We are in a pretty productive groove right now for catching small mouth bass, bluegill and walleye. The warmer temps last week kicked the surface water temps back up to the low 70s again. Those temps are sure to rise this week as the highs are forecast to be in the 80s! Only in the northwoods, eh?
90% of the fish we are boating are in the 15-25 fow range. Over the weekend I fished with clients in Lac du Flambeau, Minocqua, Woodruff and Arbor Vitae area lakes. The methods we found to be productive were the same on each day. It's still a crawler bite for me. I took minnows out a few times but didn't boat much with them. Mostly for us it has been half a crawler on the lightest jig you could use and still feel it on the bottom. Color didn't matter a lot most of the time although orange, green and chartreuse seemed to be the best at times.
And here's a little tidbit. We caught 90% of our walleyes after 10am. Who says you gotta get up early to catch walleye? They're feeding on small minnows and crayfish. We found them mostly on rock to mud transitions in the deeper water. We boated some in the deeper weeds edges around 15' but the bigger fish came in deeper water.
Same with the smallies. Deep water weed edges, rock ledges, and sandbars in 15' or more. They seem to be gorging themselves right now on crayfish. When they see our worm they just hammer it with a 'no doubt about it' strike telling me that they are schooled up and fighting over the bait. Same with the largemouth although they aren't quite as deep. If you know where some rock humps are that house crayfish next to deep water you will find smallies. Once you start to feel the twang of the crayfish hitting your worm, move on as the crayfish aren't hiding anymore as the smallies are gone.
I fished with a group of guys over the weekend and I proved to them that the deeper water holds large fish. I put the boat in the weeds and they caught tons of little bass and bluegills. I them backed out to the 12' weeds edge and the fish got bigger. Then I backed the boat out to 18' of water with sand grass and all of a sudden all the bluegill were 8-9" and the bass were all over 14".
Well this next week should be a comfortable one as the temps will be above average and not too much wind. I can take a few more days of wearing sandals and shorts! GET OUT THERE!
-----------------------------
Jeff Bolander, guide and owner of Dewey, Catchem and
How at www.DeweyCatchemAndHow.com
Reports at www.UpNorthFishing.com
Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/DeweyCatchemAndHow
and my Up North fishing and resort web sites at www.UpNorth.info
and see piles of fish photos at Up North Fishing Photos at
www.UpNorthFishingPhotos.com.
Jeff Bolander <jeff@deweycatchemandhow.com>
- Tuesday, September 19, 2017 at 12:46:55 (PDT)
I've been fishing a lot lately. And I'm here to tell you that it has been different every day even if you are on the same lake. The weather has been incredibly inconsistent so the bite follows along. The biggest problem has been wind direction. I'm a big believer in fishing wind blown shorelines. But fish like consistency and if that shoreline isn't blown into for a few days in a row I don't think the fish are as active there. If you have a shoreline that the wind has been beating into for a few days the bite there should be great.
Lots of bugs hatches, some I have never seen before, are around on the lakes, but not everywhere at the same time. As always, if you see lots of larvae floating on the surface head to another body of water then wait 7-10 days before you go back to that lake.
Lots of cold fronts too lately. High of 50 one day and then 80 the next and then back again. These swings make it tough for the fish to get a handle on what water temps they are comfortable in. Less sunlight has seen the weeds starting to pull back. Dying weeds suck oxygen out of the water instead of putting it into the water. Fish don't like to live where there isn't much oxygen
I know, negative, negative, negative! But we have been catching fish. Why? We are fishing deeper. Deeper water has greener weeds, less susceptibility to temperature changes, less effected by wind changes and can be full of food that hides in those weeds, mud and wood. Some folks don't feel comfortable fishing 20-50 feet deep but that is where most of the fish are folks. We are in the middle of the crawler to minnow transformation right now as some days are better with minnows already. Somewhere around 60 degree lake water surface temps will trigger the change for the rest of the season.
Fishing will continue to get better now till ice up. Fish deeper, heavier jigs, low stretch line, slower and bigger live and artificial baits. YOU CAN DO IT!
-----------------------------
Jeff Bolander, guide and owner of Dewey, Catchem and
How at www.DeweyCatchemAndHow.com
Reports at www.UpNorthFishing.com
Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/DeweyCatchemAndHow
and my Up North fishing and resort web sites at www.UpNorth.info
and see piles of fish photos at Up North Fishing Photos at
www.UpNorthFishingPhotos.com.
Jeff Bolander <jeff@deweycatchemandhow.com>
- Thursday, September 07, 2017 at 12:17:28 (PDT)
While the weather cools for the upcoming fall, fishing the past week also cooled. Last week we hammered them but this week was much more average. We still put plenty of fish in the boat but not near the numbers as the previous week. But that is changing as I type. 7 days ago was real tough, a "small day" as I call them. All fish caught were small. But each day out has seen improvement in the numbers and size of the fish. Yesterday was pretty good with some real nice sized fish being caught.
There is definitely a change in the air, I can smell it. Almost every decent fish is deep. Even the bluegills we have been catching have been at least 15-20 feet deep. And they aren't as bunched up as much as usual. Crappies, too, same story. The aggression of the fish has slowed. But all of this is normal and expected. It actually makes it easier to catch the fish cuz now they are where you would expect them to be this time of year.
There have been a few lakes that have had bug hatches lately. I was on one yesterday that I noticed many floating bugs in the first two spots we hit. I wondered why we hadn't had even one bite in those two spots. That's my notice to pull the boat and head to another lake and we did. No sense in trying to catch fish that aren't hungry! Also it seems the bait method change is happening. One day we couldn't catch a fish on a crawler, plastics only. The next day was just the opposite.
So get out there, fish those deeper honey holes, try plastics, crawlers and minnows, and bag yourself a fish fry. Color and bait size matters. Keep trying different methods till you find the one the one that works that day. You'll end up teaching yourself something new! I'm gonna go do that right now!
-----------------------------
Jeff Bolander, also known as 'How' of Dewey, Catchem and
How at www.DeweyCatchemAndHow.com
Reports at www.UpNorthFishing.com
Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/DeweyCatchemAndHow
Check out my Up North fishing and resort web sites at www.UpNorth.info
and see piles of fish photos at Up North Fishing Photos at
www.UpNorthFishingPhotos.com
.
Jeff Bolander <jeff@deweycatchemandhow.com>
- Friday, August 25, 2017 at 10:47:16 (PDT)
The past two weeks the fishing reports has stayed the same and that's why I haven't posted anything. That's my story and I'm sticking to it!
Northwoods fisherpeople have been busy. The bite is good as most of the time all the species are active at some point during the day. The problem, as always, is where. Mostly you have to find them every time out. I usually start with my favorite spots and unlike most fisherpeople if I don't pop something in a short period of time I leave to another spot and repeat. If none of my spots are giving me fish I start to watch the graph a little closer on areas I my not normally fish. And keep looking and keep looking and so on. I've had some folks tell me that why move, the fish will be there eventually. Well, maybe. I often feared when moving that the fish were biting there right after we left. Or right after the last cast. There's no right answer here, just letting you know what I do. I like to move and cast. I'm not a slip bobber kind of guy. Many are and are very successful at it. I just like to feel the bite, always have.
Quickly here we go. Walleyes are on deep flats. Smallies are on deep rock humps. Blue gills are everywhere. Perch are shallow. Active Crappie are on bottom of deeper water. And of course there are exceptions to every one of there observations. And leeches are gone, use those crawlers.
Gotta get back at 'em!
-----------------------------
Jeff Bolander, guide and owner of Dewey, Catchem and
How at www.DeweyCatchemAndHow.com
Reports at www.UpNorthFishing.com
Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/DeweyCatchemAndHow
and my Up North fishing and resort web sites at www.UpNorth.info
and see piles of fish photos at Up North Fishing Photos at
www.UpNorthFishingPhotos.com.
Jeff Bolander <jeff@deweycatchemandhow.com>
- Thursday, August 17, 2017 at 10:49:51 (PDT)
The fishing has been fantastic. Then boom. What a cold front that came thru. Dropped water temps 10 degrees in two days. But all is not lost. Temps are warming and stabilizing again and the full bite should be back on soon. It's not that we're not catching any fish it's just that the bite is more timid. Today I fished with clients on a lake I fished before the cold front and we still caught fish, just not as many and not as big.
The cold front, as it always does, has sent the fish deeper if there is deeper water near where they normally eat. Reason is because that deeper water is not effected by the temperature drop like the shallow water is. Find the flats and areas they are normally in and work out to the first or second break to find them now. For example, if you were catching small mouth in 10' of water before the front then look for that first drop off from that 10' area. It may be 15' or 35' but in any case that's were they will probably be now. If there isn't any deep drop off near by the fish will bury themselves into the weeds, right down on the bottom. The weeds, being as think as they are this time of year, makes it hard to catch those fish.
Tis is why cold fronts are so damaging to shallow lakes and flowages that don't have very much deep water or weeds. The fish don't have any choice but to stay in that suddenly colder water. That puts them in a bad mood.
The baits of choice for all the species hasn't changed much. Still crawlers and leeches are king worked slowly on the smallest jig you can feel in the wind or depth you are fishing. Plastics too can work very well and sometimes out fish the live bait. Be flexible and try many different presentations until the fish let you know what they want.
That's it for today. I'm really looking forward to the fishing getting back to the high level which is was at this coming week. You can't catch fish watching TV so get out there and take the kids. The panfish action has been dynamite.
-----------------------------
Jeff Bolander, guide and owner of Dewey, Catchem and
How at www.DeweyCatchemAndHow.com
Reports at www.UpNorthFishing.com
Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/DeweyCatchemAndHow
and my Up North fishing and resort web sites at www.UpNorth.info
and see piles of fish photos at Up North Fishing Photos at
www.UpNorthFishingPhotos.com.
Jeff Bolander <jeff@deweycatchemandhow.com>
- Saturday, August 05, 2017 at 14:19:49 (PDT)
I was reminded by a reader the other day that it has been two weeks since my last report. I could hardly believe it but it has been, at that. To be honest not much has changed, just some locations. Small mouth bass are still hammering the bait. Depending on the day and lake just about everything is working. Crawlers, leeches, all sorts of plastics and crank baits. Lately they have been in the shallow grass or deeper rock drop offs. I cleaned a few for clients the other day and they were full of leeches and crayfish.
Walleye have been in the same places as the smallies and eating the same types of food but not as aggressive. Small bites on live bait seem to work the best mostly in low light periods. Although we did catch a nice mess of them the other day from 10am to Noon in 7 foot rocks. Go figure.
Perch have been in the shallower, less than 10', weeds chasing minnows and crawler bits. We also caught some on slow moving spinners, too.
Largemouth have been caught buried in the weeds in shallower water. They love these warm temps. Slop frogs and other top bait are working well when pitched right over the top of those weeds.
Crappie have been everywhere and are starting to get more active now. A small twister tail on a 1/32 or 1/16 oz jig is still working the best. Move a lot, experiment with different baits and fish for them about 2-5' down in the water column no matter how deep it is.
Also getting active again are the bluegills. Again, buried in the thick weeds they have been hitting small plastics and crawler bits. One day we hammered them on crawler bits, then they quit and when went with gulp bits and hammered them and then they quit and then we went back to crawler bits and finished hammering them. Stay flexible and try different bait and presentations.
Northerns are kinda slow right now. They don't like this warm water. Most surface temps are around 75-79 right now.
Gotta hit it. Here comes someone with a bait bucket. I'll try to report sooner next time!
-----------------------------
Jeff Bolander, guide and owner of Dewey, Catchem and
How at www.DeweyCatchemAndHow.com
Reports at www.UpNorthFishing.com
Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/DeweyCatchemAndHow
and my Up North fishing and resort web sites at www.UpNorth.info
and see piles of fish photos at Up North Fishing Photos at
www.UpNorthFishingPhotos.com.
Jeff Bolander <jeff@deweycatchemandhow.com>
- Friday, July 28, 2017 at 13:22:37 (PDT)
What an interesting summer so far. Rain, rain and more rain and now we fight the mayfly hatches. But the warmth has returned so even though we may get rained on we aren't freezing to death on top of it, yeah! Here's what I know.
Clients have hired me to fish on lakes in Presque Isle, Lac du Flambeau, Minocqua, Arbor Vitae and Manitowish Waters this week. And it always amazes me that no matter where I go the bite is very similar. Similar lakes produce similar results. I swear the fish get their marching orders from some place every morning.
Small mouth bass have been chasing minnows towards the surface lately. It's fun to skim the water surface with stick baits and plastics and feel that SLAM they put into the hit. You can still catch them on crawlers and leeches but that surface bite is unique. I taught one lady in my boat a few days ago how to twitch a surface bait and every time I'd hear a loud OH MY, I knew she had another one on. But be careful of those treble hooks when handling the fish. If I hadn't been wearing gloves that day I would have been stuck more than a couple of times.
Perch have been a lot more active lately. Shallow rock humps, with or without weeds, and shore line weeds have been their cruising grounds. 1/32 oz jigs and crawlers are like heroin to them. They like to chase the bluegill fry at this time of year.
Speaking of gills they still have not spawned on most lakes. I hope they didn't miss their chance. I'm still finding them in up to 20' of water in the weeds. I hope they are able to do their deed and we don't lose a year class of gills.
Large mouth bass are going good. As the water warms so will the action continue to get better. They love that warm water. Crawlers are always good but it you haven't tried big plastics ya gotta do it. IKA Fats, Senko worms and Pro Tour sticks fished wacky stye and rib worms are awesome fun. Come on into the shop if you're not familiar with the methodology here and we'll show you how it's done. You'll catch bass where you didn't think there was any. And not just bass either. Pike, walleye and crappie go after them, too.
Now on to the mighty walleye. They are on the move with all the bug hatches we've had but we are still popping some nice ones just not as many. Work the mud flats during the day with stick baits behind bottom bouncers, short crawler and leech harnesses and you should entice one to bite. In lower light they are still chasing bait on rock humps and shallower transition changes, mud to rock bottom or vice versa. We've caught them on rocks in 7' of water one day and 20' the next. Find 'em.
As for northerns they will get harder to get as the water warms. Temps are low to mid 70's on most lakes and as much as large mouth bass like the warm water, the northerns don't. I still find a spinner bait tipped with a big grub tail is hard to beat. The northerns slam the crap outa those things.
I've been typing this while listening to the rain hit the roof. I don't hear it any more so it must be time to hit the water. Go fishing with the family. You'll make memories that stick for a lifetime.
-----------------------------
Jeff Bolander, also known as 'How' of Dewey, Catchem and
How at www.DeweyCatchemAndHow.com
Reports at www.UpNorthFishing.com
Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/DeweyCatchemAndHow
Check out my Up North fishing and resort web sites at www.UpNorth.info
and see piles of fish photos at Up North Fishing Photos at
www.UpNorthFishingPhotos.com
.
Jeff Bolander <jeff@deweycatchemandhow.com>
- Wednesday, July 12, 2017 at 15:54:16 (PDT)
Ahhhhh! Sun and warmth! Yeah! OK, enough of me jumping up and down but it is nice not to get rained on for a few days and the weather ahead looks just as nice.
Let's do a readers digest version today.
On a lot of lakes the bass are just now spawning or getting ready. I know, really late but the ones we caught yesterday were full of spawn.
I still haven't figured out bluegills yet as they still seem to be pre-speawn but we find them all up and down the water column. 25' deep the other day.
Walleyes and the bass are TIGHT to cover. I mean tight. Find logs, trees, BIG rocks and thick weeds and you'll find fish. Get out your weedless jigs and cast right up in there.
Northern have been quiet lately but some reports of big minnows under slip bobbers or drug thru the cover are working.
Crappie are for the most part spread out and suspending. Find them on your locator and fish that depth all over the lake.
The flowages have a mayfly hatch going on right now a long with some other lakes. Some lakes have just finished up a hatch. There are of course more than one hatches that will occur per year on a body of water. The fishing is best just as a hatch starts and about a week after it ends.
Tip of the day: Each lake has a personality. If you think I tend to generalize in my reports sometimes it's because there is always an exception. For example, I said above that the crappie are suspended over deep water but if your lake doesn't have much deep water then the crappie in that lake may be somewhere else. When I'm asked in the bait shop "where are the fish biting?" I usually reply that it depends on the lake and there are no right or wrong answers, just good places to start. The only consistency in my last few guiding jobs were we found most fish in one spot but we had to try many spots to find that spot.
Have a safe holiday and celebrate the best country that ever was!
-----------------------------
Jeff Bolander, also known as 'How' of Dewey, Catchem and
How at www.DeweyCatchemAndHow.com
Reports at www.UpNorthFishing.com
Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/DeweyCatchemAndHow
Check out my Up North fishing and resort web sites at www.UpNorth.info
and see piles of fish photos at Up North Fishing Photos at
www.UpNorthFishingPhotos.com
.
Jeff Bolander <jeff@deweycatchemandhow.com>
- Tuesday, July 04, 2017 at 06:34:41 (PDT)
Again with the rain and rain and rain. Scheesh. Well enough of the that. But the fishing still is above average in the Minocqua, Lac du Flambeau, Manitowish Waters, Boulder Junction and St Germain areas, which is great! Pretty much everything is working so you can use your favorite method. Although minnows are waning a little, crawlers and leeches are picking up the slack nicely. Here's the talking points of what I know right now.
Blue gills for the most part are not on the beds but are getting close. Most seem to be suspended in 15-17' of water.
Perch are hanging in the same area as bluegills. They will go up into the beds with the gills when they go to feast on their fry.
Crappie are spread out all over about 5' below the surface. They will pick a certain water depth to suspend on. Once you find them note the depth and only fish that depth. They are relatively close to where they spawned.
Largemouth bass are very near their beds. They are very active and are hitting many different presentations.
Smallmouth Bass are also very close to their beds and on most lakes they are on their beds and protecting them. Again, any bait that threatens the safety of their bed they will hit.
Walleye are in many different places and must be searched for every day. Each lake will have it's own Walleye personality and it because of the weather it may change a lot.
Northern pike have been a little scarce for me lately. I don't know why but maybe the shallow water buffet right now is too plentiful for them so they ignore my offerings.
Musky are hitting well on smaller baits and definitely Musky Suckers. If you haven't drug a Musky Sucker, do it. Or another great way to catch a Musky is to fish for something else. That works quite often.
-----------------------------
Jeff Bolander, guide and owner of Dewey, Catchem and
How at www.DeweyCatchemAndHow.com
Reports at www.UpNorthFishing.com
Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/DeweyCatchemAndHow
and my Up North fishing and resort web sites at www.UpNorth.info
and see piles of fish photos at Up North Fishing Photos at
www.UpNorthFishingPhotos.com.
Jeff Bolander <jeff@deweycatchemandhow.com>
- Thursday, June 22, 2017 at 10:56:25 (PDT)
The fishing is awesome right now. Small mouth and Large Mouth Bass are rocking. Twister Tails and crawlers thrown close to beds and first drop offs are dynamite. I took a couple of young men out smallie fishing a couple of days ago and they boated over 100 bass! We had 75 in only 3 hours! ANd they weren't babies. They averaged 13-17 inches! That's why I love this time of year. The crappie are shallow, the Gills are shallow and the perch are near the Gill beds waiting to poach their eggs and fry. Just about everything is working very well in some way. If you think there is only one way to catch fish you're crazy. Some might be better than others but the fact is the fishing is great right now and your favorite method is probably working well.
After the 100 smallie day we went stick-baiting for walleye the following day and had success. The next day we found Crappie and bass in the shallows with 1/32 oz jigs and twister grubs in 2-5 ft of water tight to wood. Then the next day we went after more smallies with half crawlers and caught 30 and a limit of Walleye. 8 days, 9 sets of clients, 11 lakes and not a bum outing in the bunch. As always, fish shorelines that the wind is blowing into, green weeds inside and outside edges and the warmest water on the lake.
Get out now and take advantage of the bonanza the lakes are giving up. Another week or so and the fish will spread out again making things a little more difficult. There are more than a few lakes with mayfly hatches going on now but since many species are close to shore it hasn't affected success too much.
I gotta get back out there. Grab a family member and join me! Man this is fun...
-----------------------------
Jeff Bolander, also known as 'How' of Dewey, Catchem and
How at www.DeweyCatchemAndHow.com
Reports at www.UpNorthFishing.com
Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/DeweyCatchemAndHow
Check out my Up North fishing and resort web sites at www.UpNorth.info
and see piles of fish photos at Up North Fishing Photos at
www.UpNorthFishingPhotos.com
.
Jeff Bolander <jeff@deweycatchemandhow.com>
- Thursday, June 08, 2017 at 18:03:40 (PDT)
Wow, the weather in the northwoods has been terrible. Wet, rainy, windy, and cold. We have been catching fish but it has been tougher than it should be. BUUTTT, that's changing. The weather is improving by the day and good in a fishing sort of way. I expect the next 5 or 6 days to be dynamite. It seems like the lakes are just ready to pop, waiting and waiting for the water temps to go up where they should be. And all the fish are ready too.
I know I'm gonna sound like a bait shop owner here but when this happens you gotta take a variety of bait, live and artificial, with you. So many species right now are in different stages of the spawn hence you're not gonna know what mood they will be in until you hit the water. I had one guide day last week that only minnows worked and the next day only leeches worked. So be prepared.
Short report today as the shop is busy with everyone trying to take advantage of the sun we haven't seen in a week. Happy Memorial Day to y'all and be safe!
-----------------------------
Jeff Bolander, guide and owner of Dewey, Catchem and
How at www.DeweyCatchemAndHow.com
Reports at www.UpNorthFishing.com
Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/DeweyCatchemAndHow
and my Up North fishing and resort web sites at www.UpNorth.info
and see piles of fish photos at Up North Fishing Photos at
www.UpNorthFishingPhotos.com.
Jeff Bolander <jeff@deweycatchemandhow.com>
- Thursday, May 25, 2017 at 10:40:29 (PDT)
The OPENER is over and on to my favorite time of year, mid-May to mid-June. This time of year it seems that every species is with every species and you don't know what fish you hooked until you get it to the boat. What fun!
I went out yesterday for my second self taught lesson in learning my new electronics. Along with the usual GPS I now have Side Imaging, SI and Down Imaging, DI. Very interesting stuff. I was able to put a way point on a crib 40 feet away from me and then have my trolling motor take me to it. Very cool but more importantly very practical. I did do a little fishing along with the lesson and did pretty good until a cold front with rain came thru. I caught a few walleye, northern and bass in 24-28 FOW. They were holding pretty tight to wood which I found with the SI.
My guess is this weekend is going to be dynamite if the forecast holds true. Highs near and past 70 and slight breezes should put most if not all species on the feed. Crappie, Walleye and Northern will be my target with clients this weekend and I'm looking forward to it. I will also start searching for those smallies in those northern sandy shores for some good fighting fun. To many opportunities to list for this weekend.
Our thought for the day. Time after time folks come into the shop and lament that they didn't catch much. When queried how they are fishing it's always the same thing, one way and one way alone. Fisherpeople, if they ain't bitin' yer way try somewhere and someway else! Just sayin'...
Take advantage of Mother's Day weekend and take her fishing, bait her hook, and then fix her a fish fry. And DON'T make her clean up afterwards!!!
-----------------------------
Jeff Bolander, guide and owner of Dewey, Catchem and
How at www.DeweyCatchemAndHow.com
Reports at www.UpNorthFishing.com
Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/DeweyCatchemAndHow
and my Up North fishing and resort web sites at www.UpNorth.info
and see piles of fish photos at Up North Fishing Photos at
www.UpNorthFishingPhotos.com.
Jeff Bolander <jeff@deweycatchemandhow.com>
- Thursday, May 11, 2017 at 07:43:37 (PDT)
HELLO SUN!! Where have you been? Well you're here now so I guess that's all that matters. Hey the OPENER weekend is shaping up to be a great one. Weather and wind looks like it's going to cooperate and the fish are active. Water temps should be around 50 degrees or so. The one downside to the weekend outlook is with all the rain we've had water levels are way WAY up. Even smaller lakes are up. The flowages and the lakes and rivers connected to them are at capacity and above. This will make it hard for the minnow trappers to get the coveted red tail chubs and dace and maybe mud minnows right now. I won't know until my trapper shows up tomorrow. Hopefully that will change soon.
So what should your game plan be this weekend? I could give you 10 scenarios and I would get 10 arguments! But one thing is for sure as always. Green weeds. Find them and fish right in them and on the outside as well as the inside of them. These are oxygen producers and hold ALL fish right now. Pitch your favorite live bait, minnows or worms, on a weedless jig, as light as you can, and you should have success. This is always a great time of year to throw stick baits and spinner baits in the same areas and on shorelines for predators chasing bait fish in the warmer waters. And always find the warmest water you can find when fishing.
Well that's all for now. Live the northern Wisconsin tradition and hit the water somewhere this OPENER weekend. You don't have to be in a boat as now is some of the best shoreline fishing available all year.
BTW, the bait shop hours this weekend are Thursday 8am to 7pm, Friday 8am to Midnight, Saturday 4am to 7pm and Sunday 5am to 7pm, then we start our normal 6am to 7pm daily hours.
-----------------------------
Jeff Bolander, guide and owner of Dewey, Catchem and
How at www.DeweyCatchemAndHow.com
Reports at www.UpNorthFishing.com
Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/DeweyCatchemAndHow
and my Up North fishing and resort web sites at www.UpNorth.info
and see piles of fish photos at Up North Fishing Photos at
www.UpNorthFishingPhotos.com.
Jeff Bolander <jeff@deweycatchemandhow.com>
- Wednesday, May 03, 2017 at 08:54:58 (PDT)
How is everybody enjoying their transition time this year? I hope your getting the boat ready or have been using it by now as the ice is gone. Remember to take care of your ice fishing stuff for the summer. Get your equipment tuned up as if you were gonna fish tomorrow that way when tomorrow gets here next year you are ready to rock!
I would love to give you a fish report but since I am south tearing up the golf courses I called my buddy Tom to see what is going on. In the last three days they have had thunderstorms, 105 mph winds, torrential rains, and 4-7 inches of snow. Yikes. Trees are down everywhere, roads closed and there is still 6 inches of snow on the ground in some places. Tom said it was 22 degrees this morning. The good news is you know it will change. 50s and 60s are in the forecast so that should help get things back to normal.
I will be heading back north on the 17th and will start changing the shop over to summer inventory on the 18th. Minnows will be in by the middle of the week. It's been great to get away but I'm ready to go back, take out the new boat and start slaying the crappies! I love the northwoods!
-----------------------------
Jeff Bolander, also known as 'How' of Dewey, Catchem and
How at www.DeweyCatchemAndHow.com
Reports at www.UpNorthFishing.com
Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/DeweyCatchemAndHow
Check out my Up North fishing and resort web sites at www.UpNorth.info
and see piles of fish photos at Up North Fishing Photos at
www.UpNorthFishingPhotos.com
.
Jeff Bolander <jeff@deweycatchemandhow.com>
- Wednesday, April 12, 2017 at 10:33:26 (PDT)
The panfish bite was pretty good this past week -- if you could stand the wind and cold! One day I had clients out and the combination of no snow on the ice and high winds dictated that someone always be sitting in the pullovers or we'd be chasing them across the ice! Scheesh...
Crappies slowed a little the past week whereas the Perch and Bluegill picked up. The key to all species was feeling the bite. When the fish are inactive they will literally mouth the bait and then back away without biting. One of the tricks I use is to always be moving the bait, up and down or back and forth. That way you can almost always feel the slightest change in weight at the end of the line. This works in the summertime too when vertical jigging. Or you could always drill another hole to drop a camera down to watch the process.
As far as bait goes the methods haven't changed much. But two things stuck out. If you are jigging, horizontal jigs and very small jigs are the best. And spikes out fished waxies and mousees by a lot. But as you know, that could change this afternoon!
The ice conditions are still very good with a good 1.5 foot on most lakes. The only downside is there is hardly any snow on the ice so travel is a bit slippery. Bring your skates!
This is my last report until late April. The bait shop will be undergoing a little renovation and I need a little vacation. We should be back no later that April 28th. Until then, have a safe late ice season.
-----------------------------
Jeff Bolander, guide and owner of Dewey, Catchem and
How at www.DeweyCatchemAndHow.com
Reports at www.UpNorthFishing.com
Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/DeweyCatchemAndHow
and my Up North fishing and resort web sites at www.UpNorth.info
and see piles of fish photos at Up North Fishing Photos at
www.UpNorthFishingPhotos.com.
Jeff Bolander <jeff@deweycatchemandhow.com>
- Monday, March 13, 2017 at 10:27:52 (PDT)
Well the end of the game fish season is staring us in the face for 2017. After midnight on Sunday, March 5, you cannot fish for Bass, Northern Pike and Walleye on our surrounding lakes. The rivers, with some exceptions, have an open season and you still may fish for them without fear of reprisal from a DNR agent. As always if you're not sure consult the DNR website or call the DNR. Ignorance of the rules is not a viable excuse.
Fisherpeople are still pounding Northerns. The best method has been baiting a tip up with a northern sucker or large shiner positioned above the weeds and/or just below the ice holes. Of course you can catch them in many other ways as well. I like to jig bottom bouncers all up and down the water column tipped with fatheads. I love feeling that hit.
Walleyes have been better lately on tip ups armed with small/medium shiners. Normally I would recommend walleye suckers but the trappers have given up on netting them a few weeks ago so there just aren't any available. Jiggin large fats and rosie reds on walleye talkers, swedish pimples and kastmasters has also been working.
Panfish are getting more active each day it seems. Perch are still in the mud flats hitting crappie minnows and bugs jigged on the bottom. Bluegill location has varied with the lake. In any case though, waxies, mousees and spikes are the best. Crappie are still deep for the most part and hitting crappie minnoes, rosie reds and bugs. Small horizontal jigs with bright colors are key. Make sure you use a Vexilar type electronics to be able to find the depth that the crappies are feeding.
With the game fish season closing until the first Saturday in May, anglers will start to focus on panfish. As the ice starts to wain and the sun stays higher and longer in the sky the panfish bite will improve. As fresh water starts to go down the holes the oxygen levels will rise and increase fish activity. Also remember that a lot of these fish are getting ready by gaining weight for the spawn.
If you can get you and the family out on the ice this weekend for that final chance at a Walleye or two. The icing on the cake is the temps are going to jump up into the 50's again! Have fun!
-----------------------------
Jeff Bolander, guide and owner of Dewey, Catchem and
How at www.DeweyCatchemAndHow.com
Reports at www.UpNorthFishing.com
Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/DeweyCatchemAndHow
and my Up North fishing and resort web sites at www.UpNorth.info
and see piles of fish photos at Up North Fishing Photos at
www.UpNorthFishingPhotos.com.
Jeff Bolander <jeff@deweycatchemandhow.com>
- Thursday, March 02, 2017 at 10:28:22 (PST)
Wow, some weather, eh? It got up to 65 a couple of days ago and many of the other days were in the middle 50's. Fish were being caught but when the weather is that nice it's hard to complain even if the bite is slow!
Small windows still exist. The norm is you'll see fish coming to your bait on the graph and then swimming away, time after time. Then for a window of 20 minutes or so, boom, they eat it like crazy. So you may fish for hours but you may only have 45 minutes of action. The exception has been the northern pike. I guided a group of 6 one day and we only got 7 tip ups out as we really didn't have time to put out more. The flags were flying.
Which brings up a good lesson. That day we only converted 1 outa 6 flags. Mainly because we were on a good perch lake. When this is the case I always have at least one pole rigged with a kastmaster, swedish pimple or perch talker. That way when I get a flag and the line has only been pulled out a few feet I assume that a perch hit the minnow and then dropped it. After pullin the tip-up I use my pole with the bottom bouncer on it and start banging the bottom and floating the lure looking for that perch. It works, a lot. I like to tip the lure with bugs or small minnows for taste and smell. It works. Try it.
It seems the number one question on the lips of fishermen is what will the ice conditions be this weekend and going forward. Even with the warm temps we haven't lost a lot of ice but entrance points to the ice that get a lot of sun have suffered. Be very careful. We have a bunch of snow in the forecast for Friday. If we get 6-12" of it the snow will make travel difficult for vehicles. Foot travel will be the norm. If the snow is not so much and the temps stay low so the snow stays light then the snow will blow around keeping travel on the ice reasonable. Time will tell.
In any case, try to make the Carrol Lake tourney this Saturday. Tons of great prizes have been donated, augers, tents, electronics and more, and all the money goes for a great cause, Angel on my Shoulder. It starts at 7am. Get out there early to find your spot but don't drill any holes until 7am. Have Fun!!
FYI we have Waxies, Red Spikes and White Spikes, Mousees, Wigglers and Fresh water Shrimp in good numbers for this weekend not to mention our normal array of minnows.
-----------------------------
Jeff Bolander, guide and owner of Dewey, Catchem and
How at www.DeweyCatchemAndHow.com
Reports at www.UpNorthFishing.com
Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/DeweyCatchemAndHow
and my Up North fishing and resort web sites at www.UpNorth.info
and see piles of fish photos at Up North Fishing Photos at
www.UpNorthFishingPhotos.com.
Jeff Bolander <jeff@deweycatchemandhow.com>
- Tuesday, February 21, 2017 at 15:40:06 (PST)
Real quick. Warm warm weather is taking over for a few days. Most lows will be at or above 32. Slush has gone down enough where lake travel is getting better by the day. Plenty of ice out there.
All panfish species are doing well in small windows in deeper water except gills that seem to be shallow still. All live bait is working from time to time. Wigglers seem to be in the lead for all species.
Walleyes are still doing well at low light only. Northerns have been making a comeback on big northern suckers. Gotta go and get some myself!
FYI, our DNR machine is in now. If you need a license or trail pass we got you covered.
-----------------------------
Jeff Bolander, guide and owner of Dewey, Catchem and
How at www.DeweyCatchemAndHow.com
Reports at www.UpNorthFishing.com
Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/DeweyCatchemAndHow
and my Up North fishing and resort web sites at www.UpNorth.info
and see piles of fish photos at Up North Fishing Photos at
www.UpNorthFishingPhotos.com.
Jeff Bolander <jeff@deweycatchemandhow.com>
- Thursday, January 19, 2017 at 13:03:44 (PST)
What a great holiday week it was. The weather was comfortable for the most part and a pile fish were put on the ice. The downside was the bite windows were small so patience and diligence was key. A couple of the days were pretty windy but with good ice conditions fishermen have been able to get their shacks out. I'm seeing quite a few trucks, snowmobiles and ATVs out on the ice. Now mind you I am not recommending that you do that, just relating what is happening. One guy drove out on to Big Arb and with in a couple of hours there were almost a dozen trucks out there. One fella that fishes the Rainbow often said he drove all over the place out there the other day and he found up to a foot of ice in some places.
Panfish have been doing well lately. Small minnows on a hook, small tungstens tipped with minnow heads, waxies and spikes, bottom bouncers like the kastmaster (with or without rattles), Hali jigs, Swedish Pimples and perch walkers have done well tipped with bugs or meat.
The always sought after walleye has been getting hammered late and early in the day. Tip ups with small trebles rigged with shiners and suckers has been the best ticket. Those jigging the aforementioned bottom bouncers tipped with meat and bugs have seen success also.
Northerns have been very active. Tip ups and meat are the ticket. Place those hooks only a few feet below the ice. I listened to more than one fisherman complain of muscle aches after chasing flag after flag all day. Lots of fun!
Looks like a few days of cold are coming our way which should make the ice even better. Highs around 0 are expected but then a slight warm up is expected late this weekend. Who cares, the fish are biting!
-----------------------------
Jeff Bolander, guide and owner of Dewey, Catchem and
How at www.DeweyCatchemAndHow.com
Reports at www.UpNorthFishing.com
Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/DeweyCatchemAndHow
and my Up North fishing and resort web sites at www.UpNorth.info
and see piles of fish photos at Up North Fishing Photos at
www.UpNorthFishingPhotos.com.
Jeff Bolander <jeff@deweycatchemandhow.com>
- Tuesday, January 03, 2017 at 11:18:09 (PST)
MERRY CHRISTMAS!
Looks like the ice season is off to a great start. Ice conditions vary but for the most part ice is good. Seems bigger lakes have better ice than the smaller ones. That's probably due to the fact the smaller lakes were frozen over when the snow storm hit while the larger lakes didn't lock up until after the storm and hence they have been making better ice due to the smaller snow cover.
Most fisherman have been doing well with nice catches reported. It never ceases to amaze me how individual fishermen have success with totally different approaches but swear theirs is the only way to catch fish. Right now it seems like there is luck being had with all sorts of presentations. So try them all and step outside of your comfort zone! Looks like the weather will continue to cooperate so the good luck should continue.
Lots of bait shop visitors ask me what is the hot new bait out. Who knows what will be hot but 3 baits kinda top the list for me on what's new and exciting. CLAM has a new tungsten jig called the SNOW DROP XL. They are all UV and Glow and covered in what looks like sugar crystals. Very cool looking. The second is the Walleye Talker. Those of you who use the perch Talkers know how good they are and Lindy has taken that technology bigger to target Walleye. The 3rd is the Kastmaster Rattler. I love Kastmasters and I can't wait to see if the added rattle makes them ever more deadly.
Gotta go hit 'em. See ya!
-----------------------------
Jeff Bolander, guide and owner of Dewey, Catchem and
How at www.DeweyCatchemAndHow.com
Reports at www.UpNorthFishing.com
Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/DeweyCatchemAndHow
and my Up North fishing and resort web sites at www.UpNorth.info
and see piles of fish photos at Up North Fishing Photos at
www.UpNorthFishingPhotos.com.
Jeff Bolander <jeff@deweycatchemandhow.com>
- Thursday, December 22, 2016 at 14:55:12 (PST)
Ice is building up nicely in the area. Every lake is different so just because someone says there is 5" on one don't think there is the same on all of them. Most lakes are froze over and are making ice daily. How much depends on the snow cover, drifts and such. Take your spud bar, picks and ropes if you value your life. I understand already one fisherman has lost their life this year in SE Wisconsin. Don't be the next.
For those that are fishing they are doing well, especially at dusk with bugs and minnows. Limits of walleye and panfish are being had. This weekend should be a blast!
-----------------------------
Jeff Bolander, guide and owner of Dewey, Catchem and
How at www.DeweyCatchemAndHow.com
Reports at www.UpNorthFishing.com
Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/DeweyCatchemAndHow
and my Up North fishing and resort web sites at www.UpNorth.info
and see piles of fish photos at Up North Fishing Photos at
www.UpNorthFishingPhotos.com.
Jeff Bolander <jeff@deweycatchemandhow.com>
- Tuesday, December 13, 2016 at 11:19:16 (PST)
Ice should be here in a couple of days. Cold temps are definitely here. I think we could have ice by Thursday in the bays but high 24 hour winds will probably keep that from happening until Friday or Saturday. As always, take a spud and safety equipment. We stock Fireman designed Rescue Throw Bags in the shop for sale. No walleye is worth your life.
By the way, anglers are doing well below the Rainbow and hwy 70 Wisconsin river dams. Lots of crappie, walleye and perch being taken.
-----------------------------
Jeff Bolander, guide and owner of Dewey, Catchem and
How at www.DeweyCatchemAndHow.com
Reports at www.UpNorthFishing.com
Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/DeweyCatchemAndHow
Check out my Real Estate website at www.JeffBolander.com
and my Up North fishing and resort web sites at www.UpNorth.info
and see piles of fish photos at Up North Fishing Photos at
www.UpNorthFishingPhotos.com.
Jeff Bolander <jeff@deweycatchemandhow.com>
- Wednesday, December 07, 2016 at 08:38:41 (PST)
It looks like the ice might be coming next week. The bait shop is closed right now for a little R&R but we will open back up next Wednesday (11/30) to start the ice fishing season. Looks like the timing should be just right as some shorelines and small bays are skimming over. Here's hoping we can have good ice for December this year! I can't wait!
-----------------------------
Jeff Bolander, also known as 'How' of Dewey, Catchem and
How at www.DeweyCatchemAndHow.com
Reports at www.UpNorthFishing.com
Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/DeweyCatchemAndHow
Check out my Real Estate website at www.JeffBolander.com
and my Up North fishing and resort web sites at www.UpNorth.info
and see piles of fish photos at Up North Fishing Photos at
www.UpNorthFishingPhotos.com
.
Jeff Bolander <jeff@deweycatchemandhow.com>
- Wednesday, November 23, 2016 at 17:13:16 (PST)
Boy has the fishing been busy. That's my excuse for the lateness of this report. The report is pretty simple and inconsistent. Crawlers are slipping as king of the baits and minnows are starting to step up. Water temps are in the mid to lower 50s with colder temps in the forecast. Fish have gone deeper for the most part. The deepest holes on the lake hold the most fish now. Turnover is coming but not here yet. Surface temps must get to 39 before that top layer of water becomes heavier and drops to the bottom. Some whitefish are being caught now but not a lot. Lake trout are coming aboard too from very deep water. Some days limits of walleye are filled in minutes where on other days you may not get a bite in those same spots. Perch are very active for the most part and northern pike are turning on too. Big gills are mixed in and deep as are the crappie. Musky are hammering the musky suckers. The worse the weather is the better the fish are biting. Welcome to fall fishing in the northwoods!
FYI, to quell the rumors, Kwik Trip has bought the building my bait shop is in. They take over on 12/16. This purchase does not effect my lease at all so we will continue to be in the same spot for as many years as we want. We ain't goin' no wheres!
-----------------------------
Jeff Bolander, guide and owner of Dewey, Catchem and
How at www.DeweyCatchemAndHow.com
Reports at www.UpNorthFishing.com
Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/DeweyCatchemAndHow
Check out my Real Estate website at www.JeffBolander.com
and my Up North fishing and resort web sites at www.UpNorth.info
and see piles of fish photos at Up North Fishing Photos at
www.UpNorthFishingPhotos.com.
Jeff Bolander <jeff@deweycatchemandhow.com>
- Sunday, October 23, 2016 at 10:39:55 (PDT)
Well this fishing season continues to confound and amaze. Walleyes great one day and the next day you think you forgot how to fish for them. There are spot reports where fishermen are doing well in certain spots and at certain times of the day and with certain jigs and colors. The only thing that has remained consistent is the bait of choice is still crawlers. As always start your search on a deep weed edge hopefully next to deeper water. Look for sand or gravel transitioning into mud in that deeper water. And be patient. I caught one the other day that I swore was the bait dragging over a pebble.
Water temps are still around 67 and the rain continues to keep those water levels up above normal. Many lakes have a heavy algae bloom going but don't let that deter you. I believe it gives the fish more cover.
Crappie are still hitting but still spread out. We are still catching more on crawlers than minnows. Although the few we have caught on minnows have had a more violent strike. Colors have changed each day.
Some nice perch have been coming in the boat lately. Water depth varies but wood and weeds are key. Still a crawler is best but some are being caught on medium fatheads. Same story for the bluegills but use a smaller jig/hook, 1/32 if you can.
Bass have still been aggressive. Smallies and largemouth are still slamming crawlers. You can catch some on cranks too but I hate taking a bait with two treble hooks out of a fish unless I have to. Northerns have also been hitting well. I have a couple who vacations up here a couple times a year and comes into the shop a buys 1 or 2 dozen northern suckers and 1 or 2 dozen chubs every day. Funny thing is they catch most of the pike on the chubs and most of the bass on the bigger suckers. Go figure.
Time to plan my day for tomorrow. Me and three guys looking for a nice multi-species fish fry. Remember, good things come to those who bait!
-----------------------------
Jeff Bolander, guide and owner of Dewey, Catchem and
How at www.DeweyCatchemAndHow.com
Reports at www.UpNorthFishing.com
Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/DeweyCatchemAndHow
Check out my Real Estate website at www.JeffBolander.com
and my Up North fishing and resort web sites at www.UpNorth.info
and see piles of fish photos at Up North Fishing Photos at
www.UpNorthFishingPhotos.com.
Jeff Bolander <jeff@deweycatchemandhow.com>
- Thursday, September 22, 2016 at 13:52:00 (PDT)
Well the rain is back, AGAIN! I think someone said we are about 6 inches ahead of our normal amount so far this year. I believe it. But the days in between have been magnificent. The cooler nights have water temps pushed back down to normal readings somewhere in that 70 degree range. That has really helped the fishing.
I haven't had to fish for walleye lately as they have been coming in the boat regularly along with everything else. Seems all you have to do is find wood or rocks in 10 to 20 feet of water and you'll find fish. We got on some wood in 16' the other day and pulled crappie, perch, walleye and bass out of there for over an hour straight. We then moved to another spot with similar conditions and repeated the success. One thing remained a constant though, crawlers. 1/16 or 1/32 oz jig tipped with 1/3 or 1/2 crawler. Oh, and drug right across the bottom. This MO held true for a couple of lakes I fished. And there was no waiting around for the fish to take it either; feel the bite, smack it! Lots of fun.
One of my clients asked me a great question the other day. He asked "Since you said the fishing has not been one right after another lately, how is it we have caught one right after another today. Has it been luck?" I told him the following. I've been listening to the fish today. Of course some of fishing is luck but more of the success is attributed to experience, knowledge of spots and listening. It seems this year every time we head to a lake we are starting over trying to figure the fishes MO for the day. On the first spot when we caught a fish or two I noted the conditions on the electronics. Same thing with all subsequent catches. Then I took us to spots that matched those conditions and boom, we got the safe open with the right combination of position, bottom depth and content and type of bait and color with presentation.
Well here comes someone with an empty bucket. Good things come to those that bait!
-----------------------------
Jeff Bolander, guide and owner of Dewey, Catchem and
How at www.DeweyCatchemAndHow.com
Reports at www.UpNorthFishing.com
Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/DeweyCatchemAndHow
Check out my Real Estate website at www.JeffBolander.com
and my Up North fishing and resort web sites at www.UpNorth.info
and see piles of fish photos at Up North Fishing Photos at
www.UpNorthFishingPhotos.com.
Jeff Bolander <jeff@deweycatchemandhow.com>
- Tuesday, September 06, 2016 at 15:25:47 (PDT)
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.
The Ugly. The pain in my back, neck and elbow.
The Bad. Leaving a bottle of water on the floor of the boat. On a rare day off I found myself fishing a new rock bar drop off that I found on a lake I hadn't fished in years. I was lucky enough to be catching one nice smallie after another. Just after I had made another cast, with my half a crawler on a 1/16 oz jig, my phoned beeped letting me know someone just sent me a text. I picked up the phone to read the message, got one sentence into the message and I had a hit. I sat the phone down, set the hook, fought the fish to the boat and went to step down off the front deck to the lower deck to get the net. On my step down I stepped on a water bottle and went a** over tea kettle down. I landed in the middle of my back, my head on the side of the boat and my elbow on the gunnel. I of course dropped the rod, went to grab it with my left arm, couldn't do it because of the pain and then grabbed it with my right arm. I sat there for a second taking inventory of body parts to make sure nothing was broken or seriously hurt. Fortunately nothing but bruised body parts and ego. I lifted the fish into the net on the floor of the boat and sat there for a second. I decided then to check the text message since I was so close to the floor at the time. It was a guy requesting a guide job on the lake I was fishing right then! I held up the fish and snapped a pic of it and sent it to him and apologized for taking so long to get back to him as I was busy boating this! What a coincidence, eh? I've said it a million times to keep the deck of your boat clean. I guess I should listen!
The Good. Yesterday I had another afternoon off and decided to hit a lake I had never been on. It's a public lake that not a lot of people fish as it is a little harder to get to but has a great boat landing. I searched the usual rock humps first with not much luck. I then ran into a shallow weed patch and got a few nibble bites on my twister tail. I decided to see how far out and deep this weed patch went and ended up putting the boat in 8 FOW on the weed edge. After a few casts it was evident that there were little ankle-biters on that edge. I got out my 25 year old 7 foot Lite rod, put on a 1/64 oz jig and tipped it with a crawler chunk. Bingo. It was one perch after another, 2 small ones and then a big one. So, so much fun. I felt like I was a little kid again, literally giggling out loud as those 8, 9, and 10 inchers came into the boat. In all I kept 30 perch between 8-10" and 3 bluegill around 8 inches. After filleting them I had 3.5# of meat! Oh, and during the perch-a-rama I boated a few walleye, one in the middle 20's, which all got tossed back. After all, I was perching. How can anybody not like fishing?!?
Get on the water kids. The bite is only gonna get better with the cooler temps on their way...
-----------------------------
Jeff Bolander, guide and owner of Dewey, Catchem and
How at www.DeweyCatchemAndHow.com
Reports at www.UpNorthFishing.com
Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/DeweyCatchemAndHow
Check out my Real Estate website at www.JeffBolander.com
and my Up North fishing and resort web sites at www.UpNorth.info
and see piles of fish photos at Up North Fishing Photos at
www.UpNorthFishingPhotos.com.
Jeff Bolander <jeff@deweycatchemandhow.com>
- Friday, August 19, 2016 at 06:51:26 (PDT)
After a rather slow period the fishing has improved steadily over the past 4 or 5 days. Clients and I have been taking multi species with regularity throughout the day. Clients are always pleasantly surprised when we catch Walleye at noon or later. Who says you have to get up before the sun to catch a walleye? Not me. Well, maybe sometimes. The key for walleye lately has been transition zones, mud to weeds, rocks to mud, sand to rock, etc. And if you can find these transitions next to deep water, all the better. 1/2 a crawler has put 90% of the walleyes in our boat.
There are some lakes in the northwoods that don't have shallow weeds but only deep weeds. Normally weeds in a lake will start shallow and then end at 10-15' depending on the water clarity. Some lakes the weeds won't start until 9' and then go to 20'. Again, fish those deep AND shallow weed edges.
I know I preach flexibility a lot but a good example of that was had yesterday by myself and clients. With a nasty looking storm approaching we weren't catching any walleyes but we were boating some really nice bluegill and perch. After sitting out the storm we headed back to the same area for walleye and crappie. Again, nice gills and perch, all on half crawlers and 1/32 oz jigs and color did matter. So I started throwing a twister grub and got what I figured was a crappie hit right away but I missed it. I threw again and again with only boating one small crappie and a lot of short hits. When then switched to minnows, live and fake, jigging and under bobbers and still very limited success. (I did have 4 people in the boat besides me) I then tied on a Beetle Spin. Boom, fish, cast, fish. I then tied on Beetle spins on two of the other guys rods and boom, fish. We boated many crappie and they averaged 12-13". I had one gentleman in the boat who couldn't cast and I had a minnow below a bobber for him. He didn't catch a fish until I started tail-hooking the minnow. Keep trying new things, new presentations, and colors. You never know.
Enough of this! Time to hit the water!
-----------------------------
Jeff Bolander, guide and owner of Dewey, Catchem and
How at www.DeweyCatchemAndHow.com
Reports at www.UpNorthFishing.com
Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/DeweyCatchemAndHow
Check out my Real Estate website at www.JeffBolander.com
and my Up North fishing and resort web sites at www.UpNorth.info
and see piles of fish photos at Up North Fishing Photos at
www.UpNorthFishingPhotos.com.
Jeff Bolander <jeff@deweycatchemandhow.com>
- Wednesday, August 03, 2016 at 07:48:11 (PDT)
Fishing is good, in my boat anyway. We've caught a lot of fish lately. I took clients for some 'back in the woods' fishing for three days last week and we caught around 500 'bull'gills and bass! Man that was fun. It was great to see the looks on their faces in disbelief when they would continue to catch one after another for 4 hours straight. And we're talking average fish of 15" for bass and 9" for bluegill. Beauties. Crawlers and twister tails were the best baits. Color and size of jig mattered and changed from day to day.
We also hit the flowage and thankfully the walleye and perch are active again. One trip we sat in one spot for the whole 4 hours and just fished one weed bed and it's edges and caught gill to 11", perch to 10.5", 2 dozen or so walleye, northern pike, small mouth bass and one big red horse sucker, and we caught him twice! Another trip we caught in excess of 30 northern and walleye.
Again, and I know I preach it over and over again, but flexibility is key. Change baits, presentations, colors and locations. If you aren't catching fish change something. Every time I hit the water it's like starting over. You have to figure out where the fish are and what they want. If you try to tell them how and when to feed you will have limited success. The fish won't change for you.
Time to practice what I preach and hit the water!
-----------------------------
Jeff Bolander, guide and owner of Dewey, Catchem and
How at www.DeweyCatchemAndHow.com
Reports at www.UpNorthFishing.com
Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/DeweyCatchemAndHow
Check out my Real Estate website at www.JeffBolander.com
and my Up North fishing and resort web sites at www.UpNorth.info
and see piles of fish photos at Up North Fishing Photos at
www.UpNorthFishingPhotos.com.
Jeff Bolander <jeff@deweycatchemandhow.com>
- Monday, July 18, 2016 at 09:45:28 (PDT)
After fishing with clients 10 times in 7 days I have to admit, I'm pooped. But it is a good 'pooped' and the fishing has been good. A lot of first time catches for clients and some really nice fish coming in during most of the day. Best news overall is the Walleye are starting to become active. When you can put 50 Northern Pike and Bass in the boat it hard to target Walleye that aren't very active. But over the last few days we have been catching Walleye while fishing for everything else, including a dandy 19" the other day on a spinner bait! Nice surprise.
We are pretty much on a crawler and leech bite right now for all species. We boated a nice 26.5" Walleye on a half a crawler the other day. The fish have been moving deeper everyday, including panfish. Of course, there are always exceptions. I was out with a family that wanted to catch northern and musky a couple of days ago and the little guy in the boat popped two walleye right away on a FT rapala he was throwing, in 5' of water. That rapala also caught crappie, nice crappie. We still boated over 30 pike but it was nice to see the bonus walleye come too, all in only 5-7' of water.
My simple advice today is if you aren't catching fish in your favorite spot head out to a couple of feet deeper and keep doing that until you find them. They are always there but sometimes they aren't ready to eat at that moment. Change your presentation, slowly drift and see if lack of motion is the problem. Twitch the bait. Hook the crawler or leech differently. Use another color of jig. Use a lighter or heavier jig. Lots of options that should help you catch more fish.
Crappie have been another bright spot. They are at various depths in various depths of water. How's that for ambiguity. But it's true. A few days ago we found them in 16 feet of water from the top all the way down to the bottom.
Heading to the flowages this weekend. Gotta get ready. Go get 'em!
-----------------------------
Jeff Bolander, guide and owner of Dewey, Catchem and
How at www.DeweyCatchemAndHow.com
Reports at www.UpNorthFishing.com
Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/DeweyCatchemAndHow
Check out my Real Estate website at www.JeffBolander.com
and my Up North fishing and resort web sites at www.UpNorth.info
and see piles of fish photos at Up North Fishing Photos at
www.UpNorthFishingPhotos.com.
Jeff Bolander <jeff@deweycatchemandhow.com>
- Friday, July 08, 2016 at 15:16:48 (PDT)
After last weekend's "fish jumping in the boat" experience, this week has exhibited more normal patterns. Fishing is still good but not quite as hot, except for walleye. The gills and bass are off the beds and have headed to deeper water, not too far from the beds tho. You can still get nice catches of them with all kinds of bait but keep that jig size as small as you can and still feel it on the end of your rod. Even if you are throwing 5" plastics don't let your jig or hook over take the motion of the bait. The walleyes are making a come back since most of the bug hatches are ending for now. Deep and meat is pretty much the word on the eye.
Just a short one today. Gotta take a couple of guys out looking for that big toothy critter. Have fun y'all!
-----------------------------
Jeff Bolander, guide and owner of Dewey, Catchem and
How at www.DeweyCatchemAndHow.com
Reports at www.UpNorthFishing.com
Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/DeweyCatchemAndHow
Check out my Real Estate website at www.JeffBolander.com
and my Up North fishing and resort web sites at www.UpNorth.info
and see piles of fish photos at Up North Fishing Photos at
www.UpNorthFishingPhotos.com.
Jeff Bolander <jeff@deweycatchemandhow.com>
- Sunday, June 26, 2016 at 12:31:31 (PDT)
Sorry for the lateness of my report but the fish have kept me and my clients VERY busy. Let's get to it.
Walleye have been sluggish during daylight hours. It's a very light bite on crawlers or chubs. Slow drag works in the weeds on weedless jigs tipped with meat. Once you feel the bite you gotta let them take it and hope they don't drop it. The good news is the walleye bite is getting a little better each day. We just need some consistent weather which is coming starting today.
Bluegills are in less than 10' of water either on shore or on shallow sand or rock bars. Crawlers work best but you can catch them on slow moving plastics too. The bass are right there with them. Small mouth and large mouth are active and hitting hard. Crawlers, leeches and your favorite rib worm are working well. We caught 20 in less than 2 hours the other night. Love those fighters.
Crappie are scattered. We caught a few lately mixed in with the gills and bass. The last couple of days they been getting more aggressive. I've been seeing them suspended over deeper water but the ones that are biting are chasing bait in less than 10' of water. Twister tails and leeches.
Perch are deep and scattered. Nice ones are being caught but it's been one here and one there. Twister tails, crawlers and leeches.
The northern are biting well too. I hit a local lake a couple nights ago to get a little guy a northern or two with his dad. We pitched spinner baits and got hit by nice northern and largemouth bass for about 4 hours straight. Brodie put a nice 4# largemouth in the boat but he missed many many more cuz he had a hard time setting the hook hard enough. But his smile was huge!
Time to get back at them. I'm looking forward to a fabulous weekend of putting fish in the boat. Remember take dad or go with dad on the water this weekend. He'll love it if you tell him what an incredible dad he is...
-----------------------------
Jeff Bolander, guide and owner of Dewey, Catchem and
How at www.DeweyCatchemAndHow.com
Reports at www.UpNorthFishing.com
Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/DeweyCatchemAndHow
Check out my Real Estate website at www.JeffBolander.com
and my Up North fishing and resort web sites at www.UpNorth.info
and see piles of fish photos at Up North Fishing Photos at
www.UpNorthFishingPhotos.com.
Jeff Bolander <jeff@deweycatchemandhow.com>
- Thursday, June 16, 2016 at 14:30:47 (PDT)
I can't help but laugh at how we have gotten wet lately. I think 4 out of the last 5 times I've fished I have gotten soaked. Not just sprinkles but driving rain. All the more reason to make sure you have good rain gear, and I do, when you hit the water. The rain is accompanied by dark cloud cover and that is good for fishing so you never want to put off a trip because of rain. Thunder, yes, lightening, YES, but rain, no.
Water temps are mostly in the upper 60's with a few of the bigger clearer lakes still around 61. What that means is the Crappie are done spawning and are now recovering. They can still be caught but it takes a lot of different bait to figure out which one will entice the bite.
Bluegills are heading to the beds. We caught them in 6" of water the other day. Small twisters, worm bits and small leeches work well.
Perch are still cruising the shallows but are spread out. Minnows and twisters are working. They are a nice bonus catch while pursuing the gills.
Walleyes are caught in low light. These guys are ones who don't seem to like the pouring rain. Minnows, crawlers, leeches and jerkbaits are catching walleyes. Green weed edges and wood are good places to look for the eyes.
Small mouths and large mouths are done spawning on the lakes where the temp is in the upper 60s and haven't started on the lakes that are still in the lower 60s. Where they are done look for wood and drop offs near the beds. Where they aren't done spawning hit the beds for action. Crawlers work the best but twisters and leaches work too.
Northens are still very active. We went thru 20 jigs on bite offs the other day. Spinner baits tipped with big power grubs will catch fish all day.
It's real important right now to look for GREEN weeds next to deep water. That's where most of the active fish are. Color can matter. If one color isn't working try another. It might be pink today, orange this afternoon and yellow tomorrow. Change up your presentation like speed, depth and size. Good things come to those that bait!!
-----------------------------
Jeff Bolander, guide and owner of Dewey, Catchem and
How at www.DeweyCatchemAndHow.com
Reports at www.UpNorthFishing.com
Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/DeweyCatchemAndHow
Check out my Real Estate website at www.JeffBolander.com
and my Up North fishing and resort web sites at www.UpNorth.info
and see piles of fish photos at Up North Fishing Photos at
www.UpNorthFishingPhotos.com.
Jeff Bolander <jeff@deweycatchemandhow.com>
- Sunday, June 05, 2016 at 16:54:39 (PDT)
Every time someone asks me what time of year is my favorite time for fishing I always respond late May until late June. This year is turning out no different.
Crappie just finished up spawning on most lakes and are taking a small breather before they go on the post spawn feed. You can catch them on the normal Crappie bait, small minnows, small plastics, waxies and half a crawler. Try a Kastmaster as it is fun to feel them slam that bait.
Most perch are deep and being caught on half a crawler or smaller. We have some red/panfish worms in the shop that are the best we have ever had. They work real well for perch and bluegills.
Speaking of gills, they always jump up to the shorelines when the crappie leave and this year is no different. Work a panfish worm, wiggling plastic and even the aforementioned Kastmaster thru shallow weeds and sand bars that border the weeds. Some VERY nice fish are being caught.
Northern will be caught fishing for anything else as always. If you want to target them tip a spinner bait with a white twister tail and cast those shallow GREEN weeds and have a ball.
Bass, especially small mouth, are hot. They are getting beds ready. Throw cranks and crawlers into the shallow sand bars and shorelines to catch the best fighter there is. Love them small mouth.
Oh, and for the Walleye, low light is working well. If you have to fish for them in the day go deep. 20' or more depending on the clarity of the water. Trust your electronics. If they show fish at 30', fish for them. You might just get that fish of a life time!
Go get 'em. Good things happen to those that bait!
-----------------------------
Jeff Bolander, guide and owner of Dewey, Catchem and
How at www.DeweyCatchemAndHow.com
Reports at www.UpNorthFishing.com
Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/DeweyCatchemAndHow
Check out my Real Estate website at www.JeffBolander.com
and my Up North fishing and resort web sites at www.UpNorth.info
and see piles of fish photos at Up North Fishing Photos at
www.UpNorthFishingPhotos.com.
Jeff Bolander <jeff@deweycatchemandhow.com>
- Thursday, May 26, 2016 at 16:44:50 (PDT)
The fishing is hot right now kids. I don't know another way to put it. The warmer weather is kicking up lake temps and the low winds are making it easier to locate the schools. Walleyes on minnows, crawlers and some on leeches. Crappies on small minnows, plastics and some on crawlers. Bluegills, BIG bluegills are being caught on bugs and crawlers. Perch on minnows and crawlers. Every day the water temps go up the fish come another foot or two shallower. Low light makes the bit even better.
That's it, short and sweet. Get up here and get out there! Good things come to those that BAIT!!!
-----------------------------
Jeff Bolander, guide and owner of Dewey, Catchem and
How at www.DeweyCatchemAndHow.com
Reports at www.UpNorthFishing.com
Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/DeweyCatchemAndHow
Check out my Real Estate website at www.JeffBolander.com
and my Up North fishing and resort web sites at www.UpNorth.info
and see piles of fish photos at Up North Fishing Photos at
www.UpNorthFishingPhotos.com.
Jeff Bolander <jeff@deweycatchemandhow.com>
- Thursday, May 19, 2016 at 16:14:07 (PDT)
What a great opener. Fisherperons had a great time soaking up the sun and warmth that was afforded us over the weekend. Friday crept into the upper 80's to prep us on what to look forward to down the road (not this week). There were a lot of Moms coming into the shop that were being treated to a day of fishing. That was great! Well done.
Dark water did and still does reign supreme. Good catches of walleye and panfish were had on those waters. One guy told me he had the best opener EVER on the Turtle Flambeau Flowage. Not all agreed with him but he was all smiles! We were suppose to have a week on mid 60's and that would have kept the bite going but the weather man reneged on that and we are looking at some pretty cool temps and higher than average winds this week and for the weekend. Saturday is suppose to be windy and only in the 40's. Yikes.
But don't worry. Put on your warm clothes, get a bucket of minnows and you'll still catch fish. Just go a little deeper, find some green weeds, some wood and stumps, all these will hold warmer water. The lady walleyes are about to let loose from their post spawn cigarette and head to the fridge. Be there when it happens. Follow the same pattern with the panfish. Find warmer water and they'll be there. And again, take different bait with you. When they go to the fridge they may not be in the mood for a ham sandwich. They may want cereal or pizza.
Daily advice can be had in the bait shop M-F 6am to 7pm and Sat-Sun 5:30am to 7pm. Come on in and maybe we can help you find the fish. As always, good things come to those that bait!
-----------------------------
Jeff Bolander, also known as 'How' of Dewey, Catchem and
How at www.DeweyCatchemAndHow.com
Reports at www.UpNorthFishing.com
Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/DeweyCatchemAndHow
Check out my Real Estate website at www.JeffBolander.com
and my Up North fishing and resort web sites at www.UpNorth.info
and see piles of fish photos at Up North Fishing Photos at
www.UpNorthFishingPhotos.com
.
Jeff Bolander <jeff@deweycatchemandhow.com>
- Thursday, May 12, 2016 at 10:15:00 (PDT)
It's gotta be a great opener this year. I can't keep the walleye from slamming my line so far fishing for anything. Well, let's discuss. You've heard the old adage that it takes a village to raise a child? Well it takes a tackle box to catch a fish right now. From the many reports of fish caught and from my personal experience the last few days the fish are biting. BUT, you have to try different colors, depths and presentations to find the one that works. And when you figure out the combination, wow. It's like if you are starving but you only feel like eating ice cream, vanilla, raspberry, with chocolate, and sprinkles, I digress. You know what I mean. I'm not going to list what each fish are biting on cuz it has changed from day to day, lake to lake and hour to hour. But they are biting!
Weather-wise the Opener looks great too. Low winds, warm temps and lots of sun. I know some folks don't like a lot of sun but stay in the chop and it won't hurt that much. Some lakes and flowages are better with the sun out.
FYI from the baitshop, we have the following minnows NOW: Crappie, Med and Large Fatheads, Dace, Redtails, Blacktails, Walleye suckers, Northern Suckers, and Mud Minnows. We also have leeches, Small, Med/Large Mix and Large/Jumbo Mix. And of course we have all the worms and bugs popular at this time of year.
Our hours will be as follows: We will open at 6am on Friday and not close until 10pm on Saturday. Then we start our normal Summer Hours, M-F 6am to 7pm and Saturday and Sunday 5:30am to 7pm
Remember good things come to those that BAIT!
-----------------------------
Jeff Bolander, guide and owner of Dewey, Catchem and
How at www.DeweyCatchemAndHow.com
Reports at www.UpNorthFishing.com
Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/DeweyCatchemAndHow
Check out my Real Estate website at www.JeffBolander.com
and my Up North fishing and resort web sites at www.UpNorth.info
and see piles of fish photos at Up North Fishing Photos at
www.UpNorthFishingPhotos.com.
Jeff Bolander <jeff@deweycatchemandhow.com>
- Thursday, May 05, 2016 at 19:27:17 (PDT)
DEWEY CATCHEM AND HOW BAIT SHOP HOURS
thru Opener
Saturday 4/30 - 6am to 6pm
Sunday 5/1 - 6am to 6pm
Monday 5/2 - 8am to 6pm
Tuesday 5/3 - 8am to 6pm
Wednesday 5/4 - 8am to 6pm
Thursday 5/5 - 8am to 10pm
Friday 5/6 - 6am to Saturday 5/7 at 10pm
Sunday 5/8 - 5:30am to 7pm
Start Normal Summer Hours after Opener
Monday thru Friday
6am to 7pm
Saturday and Sunday
5:30 am to 7pm
Jeff Bolander <
jeff@deweycatchemandhow.com>
- Wednesday, April 27, 2016 at 08:33:47 (PDT)
Ahhhhh, open water! With the "Opener" about two and a half weeks away a few of us are taking advantage of the nice weather and the good fishing going on right now. Water surface temps are already somewhere between 47 and 57 on most lakes. Most fish species are active, usually later in the day as the water warms. Nice crappie, perch and bluegill are being caught. Minnows, plastics and more are being used. The minnow on a plain hook with a sinker just above it seems to be producing the best. Lots of the fish are being taken close to shore so a slip bobber rig is useful when thrown quietly. Use Styrofoam or balsam bobbers for that stealthy approach. Other fish are found still hugging the bottom. A friend of mine and I were searching the Rainbow flowage the other day and we saw piles of them suspended in 13-14 feet of water, all up and down the column, but since a cold front had just come thru we were not able to entice anything to bit except a few northern and walleye.
I'm heading out again this afternoon and both Saturday and Sunday so I'll let you know what I find. I'll be fishing large and small lakes with my wife and if anybody can catch a crappie it's her. She's a crappie magnet!
Speaking of pan fish, don't forget to familiarize yourself with the new pan fish regulations for 2016. You think the Walleye regs are complicated? Nothing compared to the pan fish ones. We have copies of the regs in the shop if you need one.
Time to get on the water!
-----------------------------
Jeff Bolander, also known as 'How' of Dewey, Catchem and
How at
www.DeweyCatchemAndHow.com
Reports at
www.UpNorthFishing.com
Facebook page at
https://www.facebook.com/DeweyCatchemAndHow
Check out my Real Estate website at
www.JeffBolander.com
and my Up North fishing and resort web sites at
www.UpNorth.info
and see piles of fish photos at Up North Fishing Photos at
www.UpNorthFishingPhotos.com
.
Jeff Bolander <
jeff@deweycatchemandhow.com>
- Thursday, April 21, 2016 at 09:53:38 (PDT)
Ice is pretty much gone. There are a few lakes that have some dark gray stuff left but I'll bet those will be clear in a day or so. Not many are out fishing right now as they are taking advantage of this great weather to tidy up the mess around the home that winter made. There are a few out though and they are reporting good catches of crappie in the few places that can be reached. We're waiting for that magic 40 degree mark on the water that will turn those little devils on and it should be this week. Until then enjoy the sun!!! Yeah!!!
-----------------------------
Jeff Bolander, also known as 'How' of Dewey, Catchem and
How at
www.DeweyCatchemAndHow.com
Reports at
www.UpNorthFishing.com
Facebook page at
https://www.facebook.com/DeweyCatchemAndHow
Check out my Real Estate website at
www.JeffBolander.com
and my Up North fishing and resort web sites at
www.UpNorth.info
and see piles of fish photos at Up North Fishing Photos at
www.UpNorthFishingPhotos.com
.
Jeff Bolander <
jeff@deweycatchemandhow.com>
- Sunday, April 17, 2016 at 15:14:22 (PDT)
Short and sweet today. The gamefish season ended with a nice weekend and many reports of good catches. One guy said he looked down the hole before he left the ice and said, "see you in May!"
Ok, panfishing. I actually had more folks coming in the shop over the weekend with the intention of panfishing than chasing gamefish. And they did pretty darn good. Crappie minnows, rosie reds and all the bugs caught fish. Small jigs of all kinds and #14 treble hooks were working. We knew this would happen as soon as the fresh water starting flowing back thru the holes.
Question is, how long will we have ice? Still reports of 8-16 inches of good clear ice is out there. But with no sub 32 degree days forecasts for the next two weeks it should be interesting. Well there's nothing to worry about today so I'm taking a few days off and hitting the lakes myself. Tom and Pat have the shop while I'm gone so stop in and say hi. They know the lakes as well as anybody. Later!
-----------------------------
Jeff Bolander, also known as 'How' of Dewey, Catchem and
How at
www.DeweyCatchemAndHow.com
Reports at
www.UpNorthFishing.com
Facebook page at
https://www.facebook.com/DeweyCatchemAndHow
Check out my Real Estate website at
www.JeffBolander.com
and my Up North fishing and resort web sites at
www.UpNorth.info
and see piles of fish photos at Up North Fishing Photos at
www.UpNorthFishingPhotos.com
.
Jeff Bolander <
jeff@deweycatchemandhow.com>
- Monday, March 07, 2016 at 08:45:51 (PST)
WOW! What an incredible weekend, weatherwise. Temps in the 50's on Saturday culminated a week of great ice fishing conditions. Friday and Saturday traffic in the bait shop was like a July weekend. We actually ran out of minnows on Saturday morning at 10am!
The fishing wasn't quite as good as the weather but not bad. Crappies are biting pretty good right now but you gotta look for them and be there when they are ready. Lots of folks were showing me photos of some real nice catches. The best bait seemed to be waxies and spikes on small jigs. Spring bobbers and UL poles were needed to detect the bite.
Perch were pretty aggressive for a lot of shop visitors. Even the small ones were slamming the treble hook some were using. There was a lot of sorting going on to get a fish fry. Minnows, bugs and bottom bouncers were king. Most were found in the mud flats on the lakes they are in.
Walleyes are still going good but only during low light periods. The best success was seen going from hole to hole beating the bottom with a bottom bouncer tipped or not tipped with a minnow head. Other success was from dead sticking the bait. Two opposite ends of the spectrum, eh?
Northern are coming thru the holes using big suckers and big shiners. Some real nice mid 30" fish are being caught in dark water lakes and flowages.
Bluegill are really hitting small gold jigs tipped with mousees. Again, there is some sorting going on to get a fish fry. The largers ones seem to be more active the closer one gets to dark.
Get up here and out on the ice as the fun is just beginning. Cool temps for a few days now but then its gonna warm up again while the ice still looks good. You got until the end of this Sunday to put the last gamefish catch on the ice and then we hit panfish mode. Woo hoo! Remember, good things come to those that bait!!!
-----------------------------
Jeff Bolander, guide and owner of Dewey, Catchem and
How at
www.DeweyCatchemAndHow.com
Reports at
www.UpNorthFishing.com
Facebook page at
https://www.facebook.com/DeweyCatchemAndHow
Check out my Real Estate website at
www.JeffBolander.com
and my Up North fishing and resort web sites at
www.UpNorth.info
and see piles of fish photos at Up North Fishing Photos at
www.UpNorthFishingPhotos.com.
Jeff Bolander <
jeff@deweycatchemandhow.com>
- Tuesday, March 01, 2016 at 13:07:43 (PST)
Ice is still good. Look for 12-18 inches of good ice in most places. I'm sure there wasn't any loss in thickness over the weekend. We loss snow thickness which made foot travel a lot easier. Although I use a snowmobile to get around, there are quite a few vehicles driving out on the ice right now. Pretty much whatever the snow thickness is on the lake is how much slush there is. It was really nice not having to periodically scoop your hole out as the 40 degree temps on Friday, Saturday and Sunday made for some great conditions out there. And those nice temps are going to continue for the foreseeable future. And the fish cooperated nicely.
My wife and I went out on Saturday in the quest to get her first fish thru the ice. We went to a small carry-in lake I had never been to before. Its one of my favorite things to do. After drilling a few holes we caught as many little bluegills as we could stand. I told Linda that little bluegills were great training for catching the larger ones. If you can develop the touch to catch those little devils you can catch anything. She finally got the hang of it and caught one and then she was off to the races catching one after another. After searching in a few more spots on the lake we came upon an area where we started to get into some bigger ones. The later the day got the bigger the gills and perch got. Spikes and mousees were the ticket, especially the mousees. The fish would come up 6ft off the bottom when the jig was tipped with one of those tail wagers. Most of the gills we caught were in that 6-7" range so I asked her if she had ever eaten panfish just scaled? She said no so I kept about 1 1/2 doz of the little guys, scaled, gutted, and beheaded them. That wasa some of the best fried in butter fish you will ever have. Sure you gotta pick thru the bones but that crunchy shell covered meat tastes like candy! Extree good I'm telling ya.
More nice walleye and northern are being caught on larger minnows and artificial bottom bouncer spoons. One of my favorite feels is a fish pounding one of those bottom bouncers. And it's a great way to cover a lot of holes, cleaned or not, with a swedish pimple, kastmaster or jig-a-hawger. Try one tipped with bugs or minnows. You only got a couple of weeks, March 6, before game fish fishing is done till the opener.
FYI -- This Saturday is the Carrol Lake family tourney benefiting Angels on My Shoulder. Take the family and have some fun! There are tons of great fish and raffle prizes. Don't miss it.
Remember, good things come to those who bait!!
-----------------------------
Jeff Bolander, guide and owner of Dewey, Catchem and
How at
www.DeweyCatchemAndHow.com
Reports at
www.UpNorthFishing.com
Facebook page at
https://www.facebook.com/DeweyCatchemAndHow
Check out my Real Estate website at
www.JeffBolander.com
and my Up North fishing and resort web sites at
www.UpNorth.info
and see piles of fish photos at Up North Fishing Photos at
www.UpNorthFishingPhotos.com.
Jeff Bolander <
jeff@deweycatchemandhow.com>
- Monday, February 22, 2016 at 11:30:53 (PST)
With that frigid weekend behind us it looks like nice weather as far as the forecast can see. Highs in the 30's and lows in the upper teens await us. Get out the sunscreen. From all the reports that I've gotten in the shop the slush has dissipated and is manageable. There are still some pockets out there to beware of but mostly small amounts. Weekend temps are suppose to hit 40 so that should melt some of the snow cover and send some top water to the bottom where it belongs. And think twice about driving on the lakes still, please.
Most species seem to be picking up. One trait out there seems to be big bait. I have quite a few guys that are coming in and getting northern minnows to fish for northerns as well as walleye and they are having success. Quite a few northerns in the 30's have been reported. Not so with the walleye but they are being caught. My guess is this will improve all the way up to the close of game fish season on March 6th. The fish will start relating to weeds more and will become more active as they start to feed to built up strength for the spawn.
Pan fish are a different story but are improving. Lots of reports of good quantities of fish being put on the ice but very small windows of opportunity that happen inconsistently throughout the day. I had more than one report that lots of crappie were caught but only in 20 minute windows. They went gangbusters and then the door slammed shut. So put your time in and you should be rewarded. Spikes and waxies are still the fishermen's choice and small jigs of your favorite color of the day, or hour. If you can't seem to get them to bite then tie on another jig right away and keep doing it until they do chomp away. Lots of guys have also had success with rosie reds, crappie minnows on Whopper Hawger spoons. The spoon has a single hook and really makes the minnow look wounded in it's action. Another bait that sees success often is a Duckbill Drop. This kidney bean shaped tungsten jig gives an unusual back and forth motion that when tipped with a minnow head, mousee, spike or waxie seems to produce when others won't.
Well that's it for today. Get out and enjoy the conditions. We got 2 1/2 weeks left of gamefishing thru the ice and maybe only about a month of total ice fishing. Get a bunch of folks together, bring the BBQ, set the tip ups and tip downs and have some FUN!
-----------------------------
Jeff Bolander, guide and owner of Dewey, Catchem and
How at
www.DeweyCatchemAndHow.com
Reports at
www.UpNorthFishing.com
Facebook page at
https://www.facebook.com/DeweyCatchemAndHow
Check out my Real Estate website at
www.JeffBolander.com
and my Up North fishing and resort web sites at
www.UpNorth.info
and see piles of fish photos at Up North Fishing Photos at
www.UpNorthFishingPhotos.com.
Jeff Bolander <
jeff@deweycatchemandhow.com>
- Wednesday, February 17, 2016 at 15:35:29 (PST)
Hey, the fishing has been pretty good, above average! The bad news is colder weather is coming in over the next week. After enjoying a week where I hardly wore gloves and heavy clothes I guess we'll get back to buying propane for those shelter heaters. But the good news is the fishing usually picks up during colder spells like this. So if you can stand the wind and cold you'll probably be cleaning more fish in the upcoming days.
Crappies, perch, bluegills and the such have been biting pretty good. Minnows, bugs, wigglers on the smallest jigs you can use are the ticket to some really nice fish lately. Be flexible with your presentation. Sometimes they want it jigged fast, sometimes still and sometimes in-between. Waxies, spikes and mousees have been working but not on the same day. Bring all with you and experiment.
Underwater video cameras are helping right now as the bite is slow and light. The camera, focused on your presentation, will tell you what the fish are doing when approaching your bait. If they are investigating but then ignoring, change your bait and/or presentation.
Walleye have been really finicky and their catchable windows have mostly been limited to low light periods. Reports have come in telling of hardships of not being able to catch fish under 14" on those 14" lakes, but in the evening. One guy caught a nice 32 incher with a big shiner five feet off the bottom in 12 feet of water, early morning. Shiners and nice walleye suckers on tip ups are the bait of choice.
Northerns and bass are still active everywhere they live. Big shiners and suckers are hard for them to resist. I caught more than a few of them this week on Kastmasters and Jig-a-Whoppers tipped with spikes or rosie reds. That's fun when they smack one of those.
I see an empty bucket coming into the shop so I better go fill it. Later!
-----------------------------
Jeff Bolander, guide and owner of Dewey, Catchem and
How at
www.DeweyCatchemAndHow.com
Reports at
www.UpNorthFishing.com
Facebook page at
https://www.facebook.com/DeweyCatchemAndHow
Check out my Real Estate website at
www.JeffBolander.com
and my Up North fishing and resort web sites at
www.UpNorth.info
and see piles of fish photos at Up North Fishing Photos at
www.UpNorthFishingPhotos.com.
Jeff Bolander <
jeff@deweycatchemandhow.com>
- Sunday, February 07, 2016 at 13:17:07 (PST)
Let's see how short but info packed I can make this report. For the next ten days or so it looks like nirvana weather for ice fishing. Low 30s for highs and upper teens for lows. Ice conditions good enough that we are starting to see cars and trucks on the ice. The fish are biting. You can't beat it.
Walleye suckers and medium shiners for Walleyes. Northern suckers for Pike. Hair and small jigs tipped with rosie reds, crappie minnows, spikes or waxies for panfish.
What are you waiting for? Come drill a hole or two for what will probably be the best ice fishing so far this year. Make sure you stop into the bait shop and we'll give you the latest of the latest on the hot bite.
We just got new shipments in of Lindy Darts, Pelkie Tungsten Jigs, Clam Dingle Drops, VMC Fly Jigs and Trigger 1" Nymphs. Add to that our selection of over 50,000 jigs and we should have you covered!
-----------------------------
Jeff Bolander, guide and owner of Dewey, Catchem and
How at
www.DeweyCatchemAndHow.com
Reports at
www.UpNorthFishing.com
Facebook page at
https://www.facebook.com/DeweyCatchemAndHow
Check out my Real Estate website at
www.JeffBolander.com
and my Up North fishing and resort web sites at
www.UpNorth.info
and see piles of fish photos at Up North Fishing Photos at
www.UpNorthFishingPhotos.com.
Jeff Bolander <
jeff@deweycatchemandhow.com>
- Friday, January 22, 2016 at 12:50:04 (PST)
This cold weather we are in the midst of right now is just the ticket to safer ice. You can hear the ice pounding on the lakes as it thickens and settles into place. Most areas are pretty safe now and more and more 4 wheelers and snowmobiles are being used to pull the stuff around. My guess is it won't be long before the lakes are marked with barrels for the snowmobile trails. We might even see a few trucks out on the ice soon although you won't see mine!
Good reports are coming into the shop now about almost all the species, but not from everyone. This tells me that some lakes, and fishermen, are more productive than others right now, which is normal. The window of the bite is still small and varies throughout the day. Which means you need to put your time in on the ice or get lucky enough to be there at the right time.
As opposed to what I read from other reports there is no one or two baits that are working better than others. We have over 50,000 jigs in stock at the shop because all of them at one time or another will work best. Live minnows, bugs, plastics and other lures all have there place at the table of fishing success right now. The only difference is presentation. And that presentation can change from day to day or hour to hour. For example, when jigging for gills sometimes a steady back and forth is what turns them on while at other times if you are not jigging that bait constantly you won't pull anything thru the hole. One day red spikes will work while another day white spikes will be king and then the next day a pink and white plastic will be the ticket. Stay flexible. It's the HEE HAW conundrum. If it ain't working then don't do that!
Looks like the weekend is setting up well for weather. Save for Sunday which is suppose to have a high below 0 the rest of the days before and after should be quite comfortable out there. So what are you waiting for?!?
-----------------------------
Jeff Bolander, guide and owner of Dewey, Catchem and
How at
www.DeweyCatchemAndHow.com
Reports at
www.UpNorthFishing.com
Facebook page at
https://www.facebook.com/DeweyCatchemAndHow
Check out my Real Estate website at
www.JeffBolander.com
and my Up North fishing and resort web sites at
www.UpNorth.info
and see piles of fish photos at Up North Fishing Photos at
www.UpNorthFishingPhotos.com.
Jeff Bolander <
jeff@deweycatchemandhow.com>
- Wednesday, January 13, 2016 at 12:24:31 (PST)
Answer: Yes and no
Question: Is the ice safe??
I've been presented with this question constantly in e-mails, texts and by bait shop visitors. Some areas are great with 8" of clear ice. 10 yards away from that ice is ice you can fall thru. BE CAREFUL and take emergency equipment with you. There is no fish worth not collecting your social security over! Per the weather forcast we aren't going to be making much ice over the next few days but low below 0 are only a few days away.
As for the fish the bite has condensed. You can still catch fish but the windows are smaller. Cover is also key. Low light conditions, structure, wood and other hiding placing are holding fish. But they are not anxious to bite right now. They have been this way for 4 or 5 days now so it could change tomorrow. The only really active fish right now is the mighty Northern Pike but again, small windows of opportunities. You can catch all species right now but you gotta put in the time. But again, that could change tomorrow.
I guided 4 guys from Chicago over the weekend and we caught fish but out of the 16 hours we put in only about 2 were productive. Still had fun though cuz during those productive times the flags were flytin'! I put a few pics on our Facebook page.
Com'on up. It's called fishing instead of catching for a reason. But when the fishing turns to catching chasing flags is hard to beat!
-----------------------------
Jeff Bolander, guide and owner of Dewey, Catchem and
How at
www.DeweyCatchemAndHow.com
Reports at
www.UpNorthFishing.com
Facebook page at
https://www.facebook.com/DeweyCatchemAndHow
Check out my Real Estate website at
www.JeffBolander.com
and my Up North fishing and resort web sites at
www.UpNorth.info
and see piles of fish photos at Up North Fishing Photos at
www.UpNorthFishingPhotos.com.
Jeff Bolander <
jeff@deweycatchemandhow.com>
- Tuesday, January 05, 2016 at 14:56:41 (PST)
Yeah!! The snowstorm ended up being a dud for us. South of here got over a foot of snow but we only got around 3" of very light stuff you could shovel with a broom. Ice production continues pretty much unabated. More and more spots are becoming safe. More and more lakes are freezing over. As always though, use caution, take a friend and emergency equipment.
I have guide jobs all weekend but I haven't gotten out yet myself. From the amount of bait that's flying outa the shop I assume the fishing is good and some are admitting so! Especially since many folks are coming back more than once. Either that or they developed a taste for minnows and bugs.
Hey, get up here. Ice is getting thicker, fish are being put on the ice, temps are reasonable and rumor has it we might even see the sun a few times!!!
A reminder that the shop will be open at 6am all throughout the weekend including New Years day. With over 50,000 jigs in stock, augers, sleds, reel and rods, tip-ups, tents and heaters, we got what you need to get on the ice and be successful. Check our Facebook page for our latest give-a-way!
-----------------------------
Jeff Bolander, guide and owner of Dewey, Catchem and
How at
www.DeweyCatchemAndHow.com
Reports at
www.UpNorthFishing.com
Facebook page at
https://www.facebook.com/DeweyCatchemAndHow
Jeff Bolander <
jeff@deweycatchemandhow.com>
- Wednesday, December 30, 2015 at 04:34:35 (PST)
I drove by a few lakes today that had open water a couple of days ago and they are now frozen over. I wouldn't go out there quite yet but very soon. I had someone come in this morning who said they fished the Rainbow all last night and it was completely froze over with 3-4" of ice. Could be?
Storm suppose to be coming in tonight. That will not help matters as the predictions range from 4-12" of snow. Who knows. But the winds are suppose to be high and the snow will not be wet so those two things are in our favor.
Later!
Jeff Bolander <
jeff@deweycatchemandhow.com>
- Monday, December 28, 2015 at 13:40:33 (PST)
Here's the latest on the ice. Seems most places that had ice before the rain on Wednesday are seeing the ice getting thicker. A few reports of up to 8" have come in. Most reports tell of 4-6" but still the deeper parts of the lake are open. Caution is still the word while it is getting better out there.
Fish are being caught. Nice gills and crappie are coming thru the holes as well as some nice numbers of Pike and Walleye. One guy showed me a pic of the 28" and 29" Walleye they caught last night and morning. For walleye fish dark water during the day and low light conditions on the rest of the lakes. Golden shiners and walleye suckers are prime baits while another guy told me that every time he put down a redtail chub he had a fish quickly.
For panfish small minnows, waxies and spikes on small jigs are putting fish on the ice. Chena bait is also good on a horizontal jig.
Less than an inch of snow is out there right now. Forecasts is calling for 3-5" tonight, maybe, and then not much else for a while.
Ice guiding starts for me this weekend. They want to go after panfish and that is music to my ears as bluegill, crappie, perch and others are like eating candy this time of year! As always I'll let you know how we do.
As a reminder the bait shop will have special longer hours thru out the Christmas to New Years holidays. We will go back to normal hours on January 4th.
Merry Christmas and have a safe New Year!
-----------------------------
Jeff Bolander, guide and owner of Dewey, Catchem and
How at
www.DeweyCatchemAndHow.com
Reports at
www.UpNorthFishing.com
Facebook page at
https://www.facebook.com/DeweyCatchemAndHow
Jeff Bolander <
jeff@deweycatchemandhow.com>
- Friday, December 25, 2015 at 11:39:35 (PST)
I wish the news was better. Here is what I have heard as far as where folks are fishing. Even though they are fishing the ice is not consistent and the risks should not be ignored. In general though some nice fish are being caught.
Big Arb has fisherman on the bay by the landing just off 70 while most of the lake is open water. Pickeral has fisherman in the bay right off the boat landing. Trout is open water. Minocqua has fishermen on Stacks bay. Little Arb has fishermen on the bay at the end of the snowmobile trail off 70. Carrol & Madeline are not deemed safe by most. Some folks have said that they are able to fish off the boat landing on Sweeney. The Rainbow flowage has fishermen on the bay next to J in and around the snomobile bridge. Some guys have told me about other spots as well but the ice is very very iffy. On the Mannie chain the ice is a little better and the normal places are being fished but almost every lake is open in spots. There are other smaller lakes that have decent ice but not many and I have been sworn to secrecy on them.
Be careful guys. No bluegill is worth your life and your buddies. Spud everything, never fish alone, bring ropes, hand spikes, foot spikes and flotation devices. On top of everything else there is not much snow so it's slippery out there.
As negative as the ice report is the snow report is worse. There just is a very thin coating on the ground and nothing of substance in the forecast. Sorry sledheads.
br>I will post changes to these conditions as soon as they change. And we all know they will!
-----------------------------
Jeff Bolander, guide and owner of Dewey, Catchem and
How at
www.DeweyCatchemAndHow.com
Reports at
www.UpNorthFishing.com
Facebook page at
https://www.facebook.com/DeweyCatchemAndHow
Check out my Real Estate website at
www.JeffBolander.com
and my Up North fishing and resort web sites at
www.UpNorth.info
and see piles of fish photos at Up North Fishing Photos at
www.UpNorthFishingPhotos.com.
Jeff Bolander <
jeff@deweycatchemandhow.com>
- Tuesday, December 22, 2015 at 09:52:18 (PST)
With snow sleet and rain pounding us yesterday and especially today, the ice is just not safe. I've seen a lot of shore lines where the ice is retreating and some lakes have opened up. Well, that's the bad news.
The good news is cold weather is only a couple of days away. Wednesday night is suppose to drop down to 24 and the temps won't get above freezing until the next Monday. AND there is little precip in the forecast as well. If this forecast holds true we should get a nice layer of clear ice down by Monday. That is what we like to have. A good firm ice layer makes the rest of the season safer. We'll see. But there should be no doubt that the sound of augers will be in the air this weekend! Yeah! Are you ready for some ice fishing? Yeah baby!
We got all the equipment and bait you need to be successful on the ice. We've got the minnow tanks filled with Crappie Minnows, Small, Medium and Large Shiners, Walleye Suckers, Large Dead-Bait Suckers, Rosie Reds, Waxies, Mousies, Spikes, Chena Bait and Wigglers. I will be guiding on the ice this winter in the Minocqua and Arbor Vitae area, once the ice is safe. I will be utilizing two 2-man Otter sleds, a 4-6 man Wide House, Lowrance and Vexilar electronics, propane auger, a snowmobile for transportation and underwater cameras. We will also do shore lunches when we can.
-----------------------------
Jeff Bolander, guide and owner of Dewey, Catchem and
How at
www.DeweyCatchemAndHow.com
Reports at
www.UpNorthFishing.com
Facebook page at
https://www.facebook.com/DeweyCatchemAndHow
Check out my Real Estate website at
www.JeffBolander.com
and my Up North fishing and resort web sites at
www.UpNorth.info
and see piles of fish photos at Up North Fishing Photos at
www.UpNorthFishingPhotos.com.
Jeff Bolander <
jeff@deweycatchemandhow.com>
- Monday, December 14, 2015 at 13:28:03 (PST)
test
Jeff Bolander <
jeff@deweycatchemandhow.com>
- Monday, December 07, 2015 at 13:09:19 (PST)
Just to give you an idea of what's going on with the lake ice right now. Folks are catching some nice walleyes and panfish. Larger and deeper waters are wide open. Small bays or smaller lakes have 1-3 inches on them. I've had reports of up to 5 inches on some bays. But please, please, please, be careful. All reports I got from folks stated hardly any of the ice was clear, maybe an inch or so. Gray or honeycombed ice is very dangerous and is not safe. If you are gonna go out now you need to take 2x6's, ropes and ice picks with you, and NEVER go alone! The weather is not helping. If the forecast is accurate the next 10 days are going to have average lows ABOVE freezing. But the good news is there is hardly any precip in the that same forecast. Maybe mother nature will do us a favor and melt down that gray ice and turn it into the stronger clear ice. A base of 4-6 inches of clear ice would make for a very safe ice fishing season.
Are you ready for some ice fishing? Yeah baby! We got all the equipment and bait you need to be successful on the ice. We are carrying Crappie Minnows, Small, Medium and Large Shiners, Walleye Suckers, Large Dead-Bait Suckers, Rosie Reds, Waxies, Mousies, Spikes, Chena Bait and Wigglers.
I will be guiding on the ice this winter in the Minocqua and Arbor Vitae area, once the ice is safe. I will be utilizing two 2-man Otter sleds, a 4-6 man Wide House, Lowrance and Vexilar electronics, propane auger, a snowmobile for transportation and underwater cameras. We will also do shore lunches when we can.
-----------------------------
Jeff Bolander, guide and owner of Dewey, Catchem and
How at
www.DeweyCatchemAndHow.com
Reports at
www.UpNorthFishing.com
Facebook page at
https://www.facebook.com/DeweyCatchemAndHow
Check out my Real Estate website at
www.JeffBolander.com
and my Up North fishing and resort web sites at
www.UpNorth.info
and see piles of fish photos at Up North Fishing Photos at
www.UpNorthFishingPhotos.com.
Jeff Bolander <
jeff@deweycatchemandhow.com>
- Friday, December 04, 2015 at 10:49:01 (PST)
While my Packers are doing their best imitations of my Cubs, all of a sudden stinking to high heaven, the fishing is actually not bad. Crappie and Walleye are still being caught deep, 20-60 feet of water, on a minnow and a jig. The deeper the water, the bigger the minnow that needs to be used. Sure there are exceptions to this as a few are reporting still catching big walleyes on big minnows in real shallow water. But these are usually on bodies of water that don't have any deep water. But one rule is hard fast. Find the green weeds (heard that one before?) and if you pull up brown weeds, move on.
Musky bite on suckers is still very good but the nasty weather is scaring off a lot of fisherman. If you go out now you are liable to have the whole lake to yourself! The next bunch of days are suppose to be really nice and just might be the last chance for decent fishing conditions before ice up. Take advantage if you can. And be patient. The bite windows are small.
Just a couple of reminders. Wednesday November 11th we will be giving away FREE live bait in the shop to any veteran. Details are posted in the shop. Also the shop will be closed from Monday November 16th and will re-open on Wednesday December 2nd. It is a small break to relax a little and get ready for the much looked forward to "first ice". Book those guided ice fishing trips early as I have a feeling its gonna be a good season! So this will be my last report until the beginning of December. Happy Thanksgiving and hunting y'all...
-----------------------------
Jeff Bolander, guide and owner of Dewey, Catchem and
How at
www.DeweyCatchemAndHow.com
Reports at
www.UpNorthFishing.com
Facebook page at
https://www.facebook.com/DeweyCatchemAndHow
Check out my Real Estate website at
www.JeffBolander.com
and my Up North fishing and resort web sites at
www.UpNorth.info
and see piles of fish photos at Up North Fishing Photos at
www.UpNorthFishingPhotos.com.
Jeff Bolander <
jeff@deweycatchemandhow.com>
- Monday, November 09, 2015 at 08:31:48 (PST)
Hear those crickets? Well if it was warmer you would as the number of fishermen out there has decreased greatly. No crowds right now. The weather has been kicking everybody's butt lately; high inconsistent winds, rain and cold temps. But that looks like it s gonna change soon. The forecast is even calling for some 60's after we get this snow thing out of the forecast. But all is not lost.
For those that are braving the conditions they are putting fish in the boat. No 'hammering' being done but one here and one there is taking place. Most walleyes are coming from the deepest part of the lake during the day. Very small bite windows are the norm. Very early and very late these fish are hitting shallower rock bars for a minnow feast. Lighted slip bobbers and exciting to watch. Turnover seems to be over and fish are back being where they can find the best oxygen and meal.
Crappies are also deep. Most crappie that we caught the other day were 23-25 feet deep and on the bottom to five feet off the bottom. Minnows were king but with a fathead on the jighead they would hit it and spit it if you didn't set the hook right away. But if you had on a mud minnow the crappie hit it and wouldn't let go. Hmmmm. Lots of fun.
Musky are still going after those musky suckers, all sizes. Throw that bulldog, medusa or other slider bait and if he won't take it he'll turn and nail the sucker. Again, small bite windows.
Haven't heard too much about bass, northern or other pan fish but I suspect that as soon and the weather settles and turnover settles the perch and bluegill will get active. I did have a couple of guys tell me they are about ready to get after the whitefish as they were marking them a little more bunched leaving the deep water.
That's it for today. Check out our facebook page for a few pics of some nice catches. Later, catch a gator!
-----------------------------
Jeff Bolander, guide and owner of Dewey, Catchem and
How at
www.DeweyCatchemAndHow.com
Reports at
www.UpNorthFishing.com
Facebook page at
https://www.facebook.com/DeweyCatchemAndHow
Check out my Real Estate website at
www.JeffBolander.com
and my Up North fishing and resort web sites at
www.UpNorth.info
and see piles of fish photos at Up North Fishing Photos at
www.UpNorthFishingPhotos.com.
Jeff Bolander <
jeff@deweycatchemandhow.com>
- Wednesday, October 28, 2015 at 10:02:54 (PDT)
Well, well, winter is coming. A little snow the other day and cooler, I mean colder, temps are greeting us every morning. The colors are just past prime. What does all this mean to a fisherperson? It's good news. The lakes will start or finish their turnover. This will put much needed oxygen in the deeper depths of the waters. Weeds are dying, giving up carbon dioxide instead of oxygen, as the amount of daylight shortens and of course the fish need oxygen to stay active. Now they will get it in the deeper waters. Minnows will move there also. With the dropping lake temps the fish are put on notice that winter is coming and its time to fatten up to make it thru to the spawn in the spring. This also makes them active. Flowages are about 10' low which concentrates the fish to shallow waters or river channel edges.
Walleye, and thankfully the big ones, will start to be boated from the deepest parts of the lakes. If the deep holes in your favorite lake are 50' then that's where they will be. Same thing with crappie, perch and other species. Minnows will start to become king as the bait of choice. Big minnows, not little ones. 1/32 oz jigs must be replaced with 1/8 or 1/4 oz jigs to get to the bottom of these haunts. Trailer hooks and stinger hooks need to be used now to make sure those short hits convert to fish in the live well.
Musky are active now especially on musky suckers. All sizes are working but the most popular among the pros are suckers in that 10-12" range, bite sized as they are called. Twitch baits, bull dogs and buck tails are working. The windows of activity are small so don't doze off after a couple of hours of inactivity or you might miss a giant!
Perch are doing well on small jigs and half a crawler. I've seen a few 15-16" fish. Very nice.
Bass are still active on crawlers and bigger minnows. One guy came in 3 days in a row and bought 2 dozen northern suckers. He was hammering the big small mouths.
All and all the fishing is picking up as it normally does at this time of year. And the bigger ones are showing themselves more and more on a daily basis. Pack your ice fishing clothes, gloves and hats and get here if you can. You might just get that fish of a lifetime. It's in the water right now waiting for you.
-----------------------------
Jeff Bolander, guide and owner of Dewey, Catchem and
How at
www.DeweyCatchemAndHow.com
Reports at
www.UpNorthFishing.com
Facebook page at
https://www.facebook.com/DeweyCatchemAndHow
Check out my Real Estate website at
www.JeffBolander.com
and my Up North fishing and resort web sites at
www.UpNorth.info
and see piles of fish photos at Up North Fishing Photos at
www.UpNorthFishingPhotos.com.
Jeff Bolander <
jeff@deweycatchemandhow.com>
- Sunday, October 18, 2015 at 08:30:07 (PDT)
This weekend was the same ol' same ol'. Fished one day and caught 1 walleye and the next day we limited out. One day not many crappie the next day 4 pounds of fillets. Crappies were caught on crappie minnows and plastics and all the walleye were caught on crawlers on the deepest weed edges. The bass are still not very active but the few we did boat were again on crawlers.
I talked to one guy on the lake that said he had finally gotten a couple of walleye by switching to minnows. I didn't have the heart to tell him we had a limit in our box from crawlers. I saw him fishing and he was moving way too fast. That's why he wasn't catching many. I even caught one of the walleyes as my crawler sat on the bottom of the lake while I was baiting a clients hook. That's how slow the presentation had to be. And the perch we caught were better also. We kept about a dozen of them as they are king in the frying pan to many.
And bluegills! Oh my. I fished the Minocqua Chain with clients and boy did we catch the bluegills, and nice ones too! They were caught just about everywhere that we could see weeds about a foot from the top of the water. 30% were put in the live well and ended up as great table fare. The killer bait was a 1" Gulp! micro minnow.
Lessons, find green weeds and fish them. Find brown weeds then move on. Find the fish. Just because they are suppose to be here and some guide report says "we got'em here"does mean you will on that day. Crawlers are still kind people! But that will change soon. Take both with you until it does. And have fun!
-----------------------------
Jeff Bolander, guide and owner of Dewey, Catchem and
How at
www.DeweyCatchemAndHow.com
Reports at
www.UpNorthFishing.com
Facebook page at
https://www.facebook.com/DeweyCatchemAndHow
Check out my Real Estate website at
www.JeffBolander.com
and my Up North fishing and resort web sites at
www.UpNorth.info
and see piles of fish photos at Up North Fishing Photos at
www.UpNorthFishingPhotos.com.
Jeff Bolander <
jeff@deweycatchemandhow.com>
- Monday, September 28, 2015 at 13:53:39 (PDT)
The trees and ferns are starting to turn colors in the northwoods. Daytime light in shorting. Even when it's warm during the day the lake temps are dropping almost every day. Right now they are in the upper middle sixties on most bodies of water. While not exactly aggressive, the fish are active. Cold fronts are a fisherman's friend this time of year. They tell the fish to start fattening up for the winter.
Minnows are just now starting to become more of an option although in the shop more fishermen are walking out of here with minnows than crawlers. Fact, people like to fish with minnows. Many, many times folks will come in and ask me what they are biting on. I tell them crawlers. They respond by asking for a scoop or dozens of some kind of minnow. Ok. Park of being successful in catching fish is having confidence in what you are using for bait. And if you like minnows better than crawlers, that's what you should be fishing with. Mud minnows are working very well on the flowages especially. If you haven't tried mud minnows, do it. They are a very hardy, full of unique action type of minnow. Some guides ONLY use mud minnows all year long.
Finally the bigger walleye are becoming more active. Walleyes are still hitting the most on half of a crawler. But for the most part it is a very light bite. You have to get the hang of what is a weed or rock and what is a walleye. Then you must decipher when the walleye has put the bait in its mouth versus just picking it up. It takes practice and patience. That's why many folks say, and I agree, if you can catch a walleye you can catch anything.
Blue gills are still active and hitting just about everything. Crawler pieces, gulp nibblets and wax worms work the best. I like using gulp waxies along with real waxies cuz those little buggers can't pull them off your hook near as easy as the real ones. And I love eating bluegills!
Perch are a little more active now and hitting crawler bits, crappie minnows, medium fatheads and smaller twister tails. They seem to be relating to weededges on lakes that have them and shallow sand or rock bars else where. That's were the bait is right now.
Crappie are still spread out and normally a little deeper. Find wood or weededges that are close to deeper water where they suspend. I see lots of bait fish going shallower now than they were a few weeks ago. On some lakes the bait fish are in that 10-20' foot range. Look for crappie around them.
Bass are a little quiet right now. Smallies are the best and they are on deeper rock humps during the day and come up on shallower ones to feed at sun up and sun down. Very late afternoon is the best.
Musky are really going after the musky suckers now. If you haven't used one you need to. Com'on in to the bait shop and we'll show you how and the equipment you'll need to catch a big one. It's not hard when you know how and not much beats the excitement of bringing in that big musky and hoisting it up for photos.
Again, the one consistent thing you can count on this year is inconsistency. You gotta find the fish. You gotta be flexible. They are probably not gonna be where they were yesterday, or the day before but they will be somewhere, just find them. And have fun doing it!
-----------------------------
Jeff Bolander, also known as 'How' of Dewey, Catchem and
How at
www.DeweyCatchemAndHow.com
Reports at
www.UpNorthFishing.com
Facebook page at
https://www.facebook.com/DeweyCatchemAndHow
Check out my Real Estate website at
www.JeffBolander.com
and my Up North fishing and resort web sites at
www.UpNorth.info
and see piles of fish photos at Up North Fishing Photos at
www.UpNorthFishingPhotos.com.
Jeff Bolander <
jeff@deweycatchemandhow.com>
- Saturday, September 19, 2015 at 07:00:57 (PDT)
Where in the (bleep) did the summer go. Seems like we just opened the shop a couple of months ago and it's been 5 months already! But as I watch the traffic heading south on 51 today I was reflecting on how great of a summer it turned out to be. The fishing was above average with only a couple of really short slow periods. For the most part the weather cooperated and until this past week we really never had any hot and humid sticky days. Only one major mayfly hatch. Only one 5 day stretch of cold, rainy, windy weather. Water levels rose on our lakes all summer long with more than our share of rain. But even the rain didn't dampen the fishing. The only unusual thing about fishing this year was there wasn't a lot on predictability to the bite. Many times we fished outside the box to catch fish. I learned one thing over and over this year, expect the unexpected and everything, including fishing rules, are 80-20. Did I just say one thing and then give you two? Scheesh. Oh, and the support the bait shop and guide service got was fantastic, thank you.
But with "summer" over we can look forward to fall, cooling temps, cooling water temps, shorter daylight hours and best of all, big fat sallies bulking up for the winter. This time of year the cooling of the water temp will turn fish on, makin'em think time is getting short before the water gets stiff. With the shorter amounts of sunlight you have to beware of dying weeds. Those brown devils produce carbon dioxide instead of oxygen and the fish will avoid them. As always, find green weeds and avoid the browning ones. This means the fish could go deeper for oxygen or bunch up in the green weeds as there will be fewer of them. We'll start fishing for walleyes in 30-50' of water, yes 50'! Heavy jigs and big minnows will be called upon to summon those trophy 'eyes. More on all of this when it become more relevant in the days ahead.
Currently the fish, walleye, crappie, bluegill, perch and others are still all spread out. Catch a fish here, move, catch another fish, move, repeat. Seems we just can't get into them. But it will happen. Good catches are still to be had but moving around and looking for them is critical to success. One thing though, for me and my clients the bass have been rather quiet lately. Not as many as usual but that should change soon if not tomorrow.
As it would happen I had different clients on the same lake 3 out of 4 days last week. That hardly ever happens. One day we caught tons of crappie and not much else, another day the fish de jour was walleye and another day huge bluegill. All days were fished the same way in the same spots with the same method but different colors and presentations were needed to fill the livewell. Each day a certain bait was dominate. One day plastics, one day crawlers and the other day was both but totally different colors. As I talked to customers in the shop I found that a lot of them were experiencing the same thing on the same days. Amazing, eh? How do the fish tend to all bite on the same day no matter what water they are on?
Time to go. Looking forward to hitting some familiar lakes this week with clients. We'll see what happens. At any rate, it's always fun!
-----------------------------
Jeff Bolander, also known as 'How' of Dewey, Catchem and
How at
www.DeweyCatchemAndHow.com
Reports at
www.UpNorthFishing.com
Facebook page at
https://www.facebook.com/DeweyCatchemAndHow
Check out my Real Estate website at
www.JeffBolander.com
and my Up North fishing and resort web sites at
www.UpNorth.info
and see piles of fish photos at Up North Fishing Photos at
www.UpNorthFishingPhotos.com.
Jeff Bolander <
jeff@deweycatchemandhow.com>
- Monday, September 07, 2015 at 16:33:50 (PDT)
I love fishing. Its like a grumpy uncle that teaches you something the hard way all the time, but only if you pay attention to him. Early in the week the weather was really bad, high winds, cold and rain or misty rain persisted to torment us. They were not conditions that you would normally jump out of bed to go fishing in, right? Well the fishing was pretty darn good. Only problem was we had to break one of our cardinal rules of fishing the wind blown shorelines. It was just too cold for my clients and too hard to feel the light bite in the wind so I was continually tucking the boat away into a quiet cove or shoreline. But we did OK! We actually fished a few spots I had never fished before and caught fish. Every species hit the live well except for Musky almost every day.
But no two days were alike. One day we caught lots of walleye. I had my limit in 15 minutes while it took clients a little longer. Lots of bluegills, perch, LM and SM bass and others were biting but only one crappie. Not one fish was caught using plastics. Then the next day with different clients we hit the same spots with totally different results. Only 2 walleye, a few bass but a live well full of nice crappie. Almost all the fish were caught with plastics. Go figure. I love it. I guess the lesson is one of the other cardinal rules, stay flexible in how, where and what you fish with and for.
The weather this week is beautiful and is suppose to be right thru Labor Day. And I have a couple of days off. I hope to go out and do a little exploring myself on a couple of new lakes and hit some spots on some old favorites. I'll let you know how it goes. I'll have fun for sure.
-----------------------------
Jeff Bolander, also known as 'How' of Dewey, Catchem and
How at
www.DeweyCatchemAndHow.com
Reports at
www.UpNorthFishing.com
Facebook page at
https://www.facebook.com/DeweyCatchemAndHow
Check out my Real Estate website at
www.JeffBolander.com
and my Up North fishing and resort web sites at
www.UpNorth.info
and see piles of fish photos at Up North Fishing Photos at
www.UpNorthFishingPhotos.com.
Jeff Bolander <
jeff@deweycatchemandhow.com>
- Sunday, August 30, 2015 at 10:17:51 (PDT)
Fishing, not catching, is what it's called. The weather over the past five days has been brutal for August. High winds, rain, cold front after cold front have greeted us on a daily basis. And the weatherman has no idea what the weather is suppose to be. I wish I could get paid for being that wrong all the time! Funny thing tho, out of the last five days the only day that the fish weren't really biting was the nice day that was sunny and in the 80's. Go figure.
Bluegills, and I mean big bluegills, have been active. More than once we have put 20-30 of those tasty devils in the boat. Waxies combined with Gulp waxies have worked the best and the color of the jig does matter. Fun to catch and great to eat. Great combination. Crappie too have been turning on as of late. One day the number one bait for them was crawlers, a half of one. Small micro minnows, twister tails and minnows have also worked.
Musky have started to get more active. Bulldogs worked in deeper water and bucktails in shallow water are producing. Don't be afraid to drag that sucker behind the boat to really improve your catch rate on those big girls.
Walleyes have been incredibly picky and lethargic lately. They seem to be biting very lite and taking forever to ingest the bait. Crawlers and leeches are still the best while minnows can work too. You can catch them but patience is needed.
Haven't caught too many perch lately and the cold has slowed the bass as well but there are still rogue ones to be had while fishing for other species.
Well I'll be braving the winds and cold with clients over the next couple of days and we'll see what happens. Check the FB page for all the photos from last week and the new ones we'll be posting for this week. Thanks again for your support!
-----------------------------
Jeff Bolander, also known as 'How' of Dewey, Catchem and
How at
www.DeweyCatchemAndHow.com
Reports at
www.UpNorthFishing.com
Facebook page at
https://www.facebook.com/DeweyCatchemAndHow
Check out my Real Estate website at
www.JeffBolander.com
and my Up North fishing and resort web sites at
www.UpNorth.info
and see piles of fish photos at Up North Fishing Photos at
www.UpNorthFishingPhotos.com.
Jeff Bolander <
jeff@deweycatchemandhow.com>
- Sunday, August 23, 2015 at 15:03:26 (PDT)
Sorry for the lateness of this report but I have been very busy and I post these myself. But it's been a good busy. Good news is the fishing is good in the Minocqua, Lac du Flambeau, Boulder Junction, Manitowish Waters, and St Germain areas. I have been on many lakes in those areas in the past few days and success was had by me and my clients all around. Sometimes not what we expected.
One of the joys of fishing with other folks is being a part of a fishing story that you know will be told over and over again. Such is the case of Dasha, a 12 year old from Minneapolis. She and her dad Gregory had never caught a crappie or walleye but on this day they would both. Dasha learned how to swim jig for them instead of using a bobber cause I promised her the thrill of the hit would be better than the thrill of the bobber going down or trolling would be. So we worked at her technique for a few casts and in no time at all she was boating crappie. But on her 3rd crappie she got a surprise. Seeing her with another pole bend I turned to reach for the net. As I did I heard a ka-plush. I turned quickly and asked what she had on there? She sheepishly said, I don't know. Her rod was completely bent over and the line was under the boat. It looked like she had caught the boat but I grabbed the line lightly and I could feel movement. I looked over the side of the boat and told her to do the same. As she did I asked her if she had ever seen a musky. She said no and I pointed to her crappie in the mouth of one and said, now you have. It was about a 35-40" fish. Her eyes were as big as saucers when she asked, what do I do? I said you're doing fine, just keep your rod tip up and we'll see what happens. A few minutes later the musky let loose of the crappie, all bloodied and ripped up. Dasha boated the crappie and then sat down. I told her she did a great job fighting the fish and didn't even panic. Her big smile told the story of the fun she will have recounting what happened many times over. Her dad, too, was a proud papa since he had never seen anything like that either. Two days in a row we had the youngest in the boat have their crappie slammed by a musky while retrieving it to the boat. In both cases the crappie was caught but the musky was not. It happened the day before with Joe.
Today I hit the water with Chris from Oconomowoc in search of walleye. We didn't catch a one but we had a blast catching nice crappie. While searching for fish with my electronics on a mud flat I noticed many fish in one area. We stopped to fish it thoroughly thinking the marks were walleye. IN a couple of minutes we found they were crappie feeding on the bottom. We quickly put on Gulp micro minnows and the fun began. Mostly smaller fish were caught but many 10", 11" and one nice 13.75" one was caught by Chris.
The overall report for the past week is plastics are back and minnows are coming on. Still using small jigs and slow presentations to attract the bites. Haven't needed to troll at all over the past week. The fish are still spread out and deep as there are green weeds everywhere. Once the weeds start turning brown from lack of daylight the oxygen will start to become a little more precious and the fish will start to school up a little more.
Thanks again to all that have supported the bait shop and guiding service. It sure is a pleasure serving you! Oh, and don't forget to have fun!
-----------------------------
Jeff Bolander, also known as 'How' of Dewey, Catchem and
How at
www.DeweyCatchemAndHow.com
Reports at
www.UpNorthFishing.com
Facebook page at
https://www.facebook.com/DeweyCatchemAndHow
Check out my Real Estate website at
www.JeffBolander.com
and my Up North fishing and resort web sites at
www.UpNorth.info
and see piles of fish photos at Up North Fishing Photos at
www.UpNorthFishingPhotos.com.
Jeff Bolander <
jeff@deweycatchemandhow.com>
- Tuesday, August 18, 2015 at 15:23:35 (PDT)
I think its starting to change. I fished a lot last week and plastics were pretty much worthless. First time ever I went one whole day without even catching a fish on a plastic bait. All the fish wanted live bait; crawlers, leeches, bugs and minnows. Minnows are starting to catch more fish. I'm not talking about crappie minnows which seem to always do well, I'm talking fatheads, chubs and suckers. Water temps have knocked the dust off of 75 a couple of times but with cold fronts coming thru they have dove back to the upper 60's. Fish are still every where. No real solid summer pattern of this being deep and that being shallow has emerged. When you head to the water take whatever you can with you and fish everywhere. The only thing that has been consistent lately is the later in the day the better the bite. When the water warms a little the fish get active. Crawlers and leeches are still king but here come the minnows.
I fished today with clients on a larger lake and the bite was incredibly light, light light. The clients got the hang of it eventually but it was tough. Check out the Facebook page and you'll see a picture of another first in my boat. Karen caught a rock. Yes a ROCK! You can see it is still on the hook. Incredible.
Well the crappie are starting to turn on so I will be chasing them and walleye over the next few days. Watch the Facebook page for results and photos. Later!
-----------------------------
Jeff Bolander, also known as 'How' of Dewey, Catchem and
How at
www.DeweyCatchemAndHow.com
Reports at
www.UpNorthFishing.com
Facebook page at
https://www.facebook.com/DeweyCatchemAndHow
Check out my Real Estate website at
www.JeffBolander.com
and my Up North fishing and resort web sites at
www.UpNorth.info
and see piles of fish photos at Up North Fishing Photos at
www.UpNorthFishingPhotos.com.
Jeff Bolander <
jeff@deweycatchemandhow.com>
- Monday, August 10, 2015 at 11:26:02 (PDT)
What an interesting week. Pretty nice weather, except for a few days of very high winds, is what we fished in. When fishing in those 20-40 mph gusts it becomes very difficult to hold the boat. And you know I always preach to fish those wind blown shorelines, so what do you do? I let the wind blow us, letting God be our trolling motor. And then we tie on heavy jigs tipped with your favorite live bait or deep diving cranks and troll with the wind. Of course you must plan to be on a lake that day that has the type of mudflats and structure to allow you to troll over but that's all a part of being a good fisherperson. One day we were even on a small 67 acre lake, hoping to get out of most of the wind, but it was not to be. White caps were on this lake too so we wind trolled right across the middle a few times with plastics and some very nice small mouth bass were caught.
Now Sunday was a stormy day. Clients and I hit the water 90 minutes later than planned as a storm came thru turning light of day into the darkest of night. Very eerie. But we hit the water and caught fish right away. Twice again we were driven off the water because of lightening and twice returned afterwards and caught fish. It took 8.5 hours to get in 6 hours of fishing but we did it and the day ended bright and sunny with a bunch of fish in the livewell. The clients wanted to learn how to catch walleye and they did along with nice bass and some gorgeous perch. A very patient slow retrieve was the key and again patience in letting the fish consume the bait before setting the hook was needed. A half of crawler was the only bait to work as I thru plastics and lures and did not catch a fish on any of them. The color of jig didn't seem to matter. See the FB page for pictures.
This week looks very promising for fishing as temps are going to cool a little and winds are expected to subside a might. I am fishing small and large lakes with clients and as always I will let you know how it went. Thanks again for your support of the guiding and bait shop.
FYI about the bait shop. We are planning a
BYOB (bring your own bait) day at the shop. It will be Saturday and Sunday of labor day weekend. Come and set up a table with your extra lures, poles, reels or any thing else fishing related you would like to sell. There is no charge but you need to bring your own table and to register so we know you are coming. Details will be on the FB page and in our ads in the Lakeland Times.
-----------------------------
Jeff Bolander, also known as 'How' of Dewey, Catchem and
How at
www.DeweyCatchemAndHow.com
Reports at
www.UpNorthFishing.com
Facebook page at
https://www.facebook.com/DeweyCatchemAndHow
Check out my Real Estate website at
www.JeffBolander.com
and my Up North fishing and resort web sites at
www.UpNorth.info
and see piles of fish photos at Up North Fishing Photos at
www.UpNorthFishingPhotos.com.
Jeff Bolander <
jeff@deweycatchemandhow.com>
- Monday, August 03, 2015 at 06:47:11 (PDT)
Well the fishing continues to be good across the northwoods. Consistent weather has kept the fish active. We had one cold front come thru but it only slowed the bite for a day. With the warmer temps I suspect the fish that are being caught shallow right now to start heading deeper to their normal haunts this time of year.
Walleye, musky and even northern have been caught shallower than normal so far but a trip with a friend to a Hazelhurst lake yesterday found the Musky and Small Mouth Bass being deeper than they have been. Sure you can still catch small bass shallow but the bigger ones are deeper now. All our smallies came in 15-20' of water next to 30' flats, in rocks. They were spitting up crawlers as they hit the surface. For a while we were filling our plastic cups with bait instead of emptying them! Pretty wild.
On a trip to a Boulder Junction area lake we found Walleye everywhere as usual but instead of them being in 5-10' they were in 15-20' of water. And again the larger fish were deeper.
The bait of choice continues to be crawlers and leeches. There are still quite a few fishermen stating good reports of catches with fathead minnows though. One guy, fishing a smaller lake in Arbor Vitae, bought 4 scoops of medium fatheads in the morning and came back in the afternoon and bought 5 more scoops. He was giggling like a little kid as he was catching so many fish. He assured me he did not accidentally kick his bucket over! He was catching bass and walleye with those fatheads. That's why I always say "take it all with you!"
I see boats trolling all over the place now. Some nice Musky, Walleye, Panfish, yes Panfish, and Bass are being boated. I've done a little trolling when the bite has gotten slow and the results are good. I still like pitching a bait out there and feeling the hit while I'm working that bait better than trolling though. A couple of reminders about trolling. When trolling you are in essence covering more water while the boat is moving but you need to keep the presentation similar to the casting presentation. For example, if you are catching Small mouth bass 3' off the bottom jigging then you need to find a way to troll your bait for smallies 3' off the bottom.
Hey it's time to get out there and practice what I preach. Here comes someone with an empty bucket!
-----------------------------
Jeff Bolander, also known as 'How' of Dewey, Catchem and
How at
www.DeweyCatchemAndHow.com
Reports at
www.UpNorthFishing.com
Facebook page at
https://www.facebook.com/DeweyCatchemAndHow
Check out my Real Estate website at
www.JeffBolander.com
and my Up North fishing and resort web sites at
www.UpNorth.info
and see piles of fish photos at Up North Fishing Photos at
www.UpNorthFishingPhotos.com.
Jeff Bolander <
jeff@deweycatchemandhow.com>
- Monday, July 20, 2015 at 05:24:55 (PDT)
The summer doldrums. When the fishing slows with the warmer weather and warm nights. Well we got the weather but not the doldrums. Clients and I have been putting some real nice catches in the boat all week. Getting up early to catch fish is not a firm belief of mine and this week was proof of that belief. For example, today on the second day of fishing with two boys and their father, we caught numerous Walleyes all being caught well after 9am. Crawlers and a slow presentation were the key. If we had bluegill bites we moved. Once we went without bluegill bites we stayed and popped one walleye or bass or northern after another until the school moved on. Then so did we.
The formula was the same all week. One half to a full crawler on a 16th oz jig in deep weeds. On spot we caught fish on was a 41ft flat! Right where the 41' starts a gradual rise to 20' I saw fish on the electronic, tons of them. We stopped and dropped crawlers and boom, a nice 20" walleye. Those fish were probably on the way to the shallower flats to feed as we had to move to the shallower flat to catch another one.
And don't be afraid to seek out new spots. With client again I was on a lake I had been on many many times before and got the urge to check out an area I had never been in or had seen any one else it. I thought it was a very shallow bay but behold once you got in the bay there was a deeper hole that held weeds. Those weeds held many many bass that we were happy to catch again on crawlers and rib worms. Very fun for me as well as the clients.
Lesson of the week. Look around, find different spots, use different baits, you just might have the fish teach you something new! Later!
-----------------------------
Jeff Bolander, also known as 'How' of Dewey, Catchem and
How at
www.DeweyCatchemAndHow.com
Reports at
www.UpNorthFishing.com
Facebook page at
https://www.facebook.com/DeweyCatchemAndHow
Check out my Real Estate website at
www.JeffBolander.com
and my Up North fishing and resort web sites at
www.UpNorth.info
and see piles of fish photos at Up North Fishing Photos at
www.UpNorthFishingPhotos.com.
Jeff Bolander <
jeff@deweycatchemandhow.com>
- Sunday, July 12, 2015 at 17:08:22 (PDT)
It being the 4th of July weekend I will make this short as the bait shop is busy and the message is simple. With the stable and warming weather coupled with the mayfly hatches in the rear view mirror, the fishing has really picked up. All species are active on all waters, you just have to find them. So what are you waiting for? Get up here and catch 1 or 2 or 20! Later!
-----------------------------
Jeff Bolander, also known as 'How' of Dewey, Catchem and
How at
www.DeweyCatchemAndHow.com
Reports at
www.UpNorthFishing.com
Facebook page at
https://www.facebook.com/DeweyCatchemAndHow
Check out my Real Estate website at
www.JeffBolander.com
and my Up North fishing and resort web sites at
www.UpNorth.info
and see piles of fish photos at Up North Fishing Photos at
www.UpNorthFishingPhotos.com.
Jeff Bolander <
jeff@deweycatchemandhow.com>
- Sunday, July 05, 2015 at 07:01:41 (PDT)
The fishing in the northwoods continues to be good, but different. Inconsistent weather gives you inconsistent fishing patterns. One day could be hammer-time and the next time you think you forgot how to fish.
Folks are finding crappie still suspended in deeper water. Crappie minnows under bobbers and small plastic twitched just above them are catching fish. Northern pike and musky are active on northern suckers, musky suckers and smaller crank baits. Bluegill and perch are nailing small chunks of crawlers and wax worms in the weeds. Walleye are getting caught on walleye suckers, crawlers and leeches in the weed edges and channel edges on the flowages. Bass are your best bet these days on leeches, small cranks and crawlers.
I've fished a few lakes lately that are in the middle of mayfly hatches. One flowage was so thick with them on the surface you could scoop them up with you hand 5 or 6 at a time. As you probably know fish gorge themselves on those little devils so if you get to the boat landing and see a bunch of carcasses on the water I would suggest heading to another lake.
The weather might be stabilizing. Water temps vary from 70 degrees on a deep clear lake to 77 on a smaller lake. Rain tonight and then the rest of the week looks good. Get out there and have some fun!
-----------------------------
Jeff Bolander, also known as 'How' of Dewey, Catchem and
How at
www.DeweyCatchemAndHow.com
Reports at
www.UpNorthFishing.com
Facebook page at
https://www.facebook.com/DeweyCatchemAndHow
Check out my Real Estate website at
www.JeffBolander.com
and my Up North fishing and resort web sites at
www.UpNorth.info
and see piles of fish photos at Up North Fishing Photos at
www.UpNorthFishingPhotos.com.
Jeff Bolander <
jeff@deweycatchemandhow.com>
- Monday, June 29, 2015 at 05:05:40 (PDT)
Rain rain go away, come again another day!! PLEASE!! I know rain is necessary but jeez, enough already! One can't even look at the weather report anymore as they are worthless. Shouldn't we be able to get reparations from the those guys who post the reports? Fat chance, eh?
Speaking of being wrong, in my last report I said that all species are done spawning. Well the bluegill are definitely not done. They keep trying but every time they onto the beds, boom, another cold front comes thru and knocks them off. Time is running out on their opportunity to get it done. Hope that doesn't happen. Wax worms, pieces of crawler and other small plastics are working well for catching them. Also try a Frizz's Flyrod Spoon. Killer bluegill bait. I just got in another order of them as the secret is getting out.
Walleye are everywhere. Mostly in the wood and weed edges in dark lakes. The cool water temps (66-69) are keeping them and the northern pike active. You have to search for them though and it seems the best bait is the WHOLE crawler, not half or three-quarters. Don't ask me why. One fella in the shop the other day said that pumping them up was magic. I have never tried that.
Crappie seem to be suspended over 10-20 FOW outside their bedding areas. Find them by twitching a Gulp micro minnow or mini mite, pink and white work for me. Once you find them then put out some bobbers.
Perch are chasing minnows and bugs in the weeds. Wax worms, pieces of crawlers and crappie plastics will find them.
Bass are still the fun fish this year. Small mouth and Large mouth still hit the crawler, minnow and leech but top water buzz baits will work and of course spinner baits too over the weeds.
Well its time to map my strategy for the next few days. No guide jobs and so that means I go searching for new waters and opportunities. Love it!
Just a small commercial on the bait shop. We have wild rice, local maple syrup, and squeeky cheese curds and string cheese from Blescoe. All are fantastic and the best I've ever had. (yes, I taste test everything) Please come and buy the cheese curds. The temptation is killing Dick! Of course we always have free candy bars. Thank you for all your support. It's been a great year so far, even with all the rain!
-----------------------------
Jeff Bolander, also known as 'How' of Dewey, Catchem and
How at
www.DeweyCatchemAndHow.com
Reports at
www.UpNorthFishing.com
Facebook page at
https://www.facebook.com/DeweyCatchemAndHow
Check out my Real Estate website at
www.JeffBolander.com
and my Up North fishing and resort web sites at
www.UpNorth.info
and see piles of fish photos at Up North Fishing Photos at
www.UpNorthFishingPhotos.com.
Jeff Bolander <
jeff@deweycatchemandhow.com>
- Tuesday, June 23, 2015 at 05:09:52 (PDT)
You have to eat your broccoli to get your pie. How many times did we hear that growing up. Well we've been eating broccoli for a little while now and I believe our pie should be on the way. Although we have caught fish lately it hasn't been fast and furious. And the folks that have been telling you that have been fast and furious are, well, let's just say telling fish stories.
The biggest problem lately is the weather just won't make up its mind. Forecasts have been worthless even more than usual. But this week should be what the fisherman ordered. Why do I guess this? Because over the last few days whenever the warmth broke thru the fishing picked up dramatically and this week it is suppose to warm up! Water temps are still in the high 60's and weed growth is still low but that is changing and I believe a big bite will come with it.
Every species is pretty much done spawning and if not now soon will be on the post spawn feed. Crank baits are working very well over the top of weeds. Top water poppers and buzz baits are also working well. Clear water lake fish will still take minnows but on most bodies of water the leech and crawler is king. And don't forget a bunch of waxies for the panfish.
Well its time to wash the leeches and pack a few more crawlers. I'll be hitting the flowages and a few smaller lakes this week and I'll let you know how we do. Happy Father's day!
-----------------------------
Jeff Bolander, also known as 'How' of Dewey, Catchem and
How at
www.DeweyCatchemAndHow.com
Reports at
www.UpNorthFishing.com
Facebook page at
https://www.facebook.com/DeweyCatchemAndHow
Check out my Real Estate website at
www.JeffBolander.com
and my Up North fishing and resort web sites at
www.UpNorth.info
and see piles of fish photos at Up North Fishing Photos at
www.UpNorthFishingPhotos.com.
Jeff Bolander <
jeff@deweycatchemandhow.com>
- Monday, June 15, 2015 at 06:56:10 (PDT)
I actually went the whole week without fishing for walleyes. Can you believe it? Reason is because the bass have been a blast. For example, I went out with a couple of clients early in the week and we caught over 50 bass in six hours. All the Large Mouth on one lake then we hopped over to another lake and pooped a pile of Small Mouth. People are always asking me what my favorite time of year to fish and I always say June. This time of year pretty much all species are done spawning and are in a post spawn feeding mood. That means that when you set the hook you are not really sure of what kind of fish it is until you get it to the boat! I saw a photo of one guy who caught what looked like a 50"+, 30lb+ musky while pitching a twister tail for something else. What fun! Another couple of guys today are taking revenge on a lake because last week they ran into a PILE of toothy critters in the shallow weeds that stole just about every top water bait they had. Today they went armed with heavier poles, line and leaders to see if they could land a few of those thieves. Who knows, maybe they'll clean one of those fish and get back one of their slop frogs!
Well, like I said, this is the fun time of year. But the rules are the same. Find green weeds or cover next to deep water and you'll find fish, all species of fish. Bring lots of different kinds of bait and throw it all at them and let them tell you what they want. Almost every bait here in the shop is the magic bait for someone. It never ceases to amaze me when a guy or gal will pick up a bait and say "this is the only thing they'll hit on."
This week I have a bunch of guide jobs so I'll let you know what popped and how to pop them. Until next time, keep your hook in the water!
-----------------------------
Jeff Bolander, also known as 'How' of Dewey, Catchem and
How at
www.DeweyCatchemAndHow.com
Reports at
www.UpNorthFishing.com
Facebook page at
https://www.facebook.com/DeweyCatchemAndHow
Check out my Real Estate website at
www.JeffBolander.com
and my Up North fishing and resort web sites at
www.UpNorth.info
and see piles of fish photos at Up North Fishing Photos at
www.UpNorthFishingPhotos.com.
Jeff Bolander <
jeff@deweycatchemandhow.com>
- Sunday, June 07, 2015 at 14:10:46 (PDT)
Let's make this report short and sweet today. The weather has finally gotten nice and the bait shop is busy again and I have some guiding to do!
Crappies: Good bite right now as they are off the beds. Crappie minnows, waxies and small plastics worked in the 8-12 weed lines.
Bluegill: They are on the beds right now. Find them and you'll catch them on crawler bits, mini-mites, wax worms and popper flies.
Northern Like: They are still biting off jigs every where. Sucker minnows are working well right now under a slip bobber on the weed lines. Remember not to set the depth under that bobber much more than 3-4 feet.
SM & LM Bass: Both are still feeding strong as they are all on one part of the spawn or another depending upon which lake you are one. Grub tail plastics, ribbed worms, leaches and crawlers are best right now. I caught a nice Smallie with client the other day that had 4 leeches and a crawler inside its mouth when I boated him. What a pig!
Walleyes: They've slowed a bit but good catches are still being made if you stay to the weed edges with whole crawlers and large leeches. If they aren't on the weed edges back out into deeper mud flats around the edges.
Here comes someone with an empty bucket. Later!
-----------------------------
Jeff Bolander, also known as 'How' of Dewey, Catchem and
How at
www.DeweyCatchemAndHow.com
Reports at
www.UpNorthFishing.com
Facebook page at
https://www.facebook.com/DeweyCatchemAndHow
Check out my Real Estate website at
www.JeffBolander.com
and my Up North fishing and resort web sites at
www.UpNorth.info
and see piles of fish photos at Up North Fishing Photos at
www.UpNorthFishingPhotos.com
.
Jeff Bolander <
jeff@deweycatchemandhow.com>
- Monday, June 01, 2015 at 06:53:11 (PDT)
Its Monday. It's Memorial Day. It's 6am and raining. But it's not cold and so far no lightning. So I'm sure a few hearty souls will don their Frogg Toggs and chase the fishies today. Yep, here comes one now...
The weekend so far has had mixed results. The weather was fantastic but the fish were not cooperating like they had been late in the week. Water temps are in the 64 degree range on smaller lakes and 59-61 on the larger ones. Weed growth in on a normal pace, just coming up on the clear lakes and pretty bushy on the darker ones. The rest of this week's weather promises to be great with some days getting into the 80's!
WALLEYE: They aren't as active right now as they were at the end of the week. But even when they were active a lot of small fish were being caught. I am guessing that females are recovering from the spawn and will soon be putting on the feed bag. You better take everything with you, good sized minnows, crawlers, leeches and your favorite medium crank baits. They should be in the greening weeds chasing perch and other prey. Walleyes don't like the light so the clearer the water the deeper you should go when the sun is high and then shallower during low light periods.
CRAPPIES: The smaller the lake and darker the water the farther along the spawn is. For example, on the small dark lakes the spawn is over and the Crappie are in the post spawn feed. On the larger clearer lakes the spawn hasn't started yet. On those lakes a pre spawn bite is prevalent. I was on a large clear lake yesterday and we marked fish and also saw them on the Aqua-View outside the weeds in 10-12 FOW but there was no way they were biting. Reports I get from customers who are targeting the smaller dark lakes, it's hammer time. I expect the bite to continue to get better over the next 7-10 days.
BLUE GILLS: Gills are searching the spawning areas looking for good spots and marking out their territory. The actively feeding fish a tight to wood and are taking waxies, worms and mini-mite styled baits. The flowages are yielding some very nice fish right now.
NORTHERN PIKE: The Pike are still very active. Not much magic involved in catching them right now. They'll hit just about anything. But if want to catch thew big one you need to go big. Northern Suckers drug threw the weeds or under slip bobbers above the weeds can be deadly. And of course my favorite bait, the spinner bait tipped with a twister tail, is always the best way to cover a lot of water and experience some heckacious hits! The bigger pike will be active as long as the water stays cool. Pike do not like warm water.
I'll be doing one of my favorite things the next few days, hitting smaller no motor lakes looking for everything. I'll keep you up to date, without giving away too many secrets!
-----------------------------
Jeff Bolander, also known as 'How' of Dewey, Catchem and
How at
www.DeweyCatchemAndHow.com
Reports at
www.UpNorthFishing.com
Facebook page at
https://www.facebook.com/DeweyCatchemAndHow
Check out my Real Estate website at
www.JeffBolander.com
and my Up North fishing and resort web sites at
www.UpNorth.info
and see piles of fish photos at Up North Fishing Photos at
www.UpNorthFishingPhotos.com.
Jeff Bolander <
jeff@deweycatchemandhow.com>
- Monday, May 25, 2015 at 05:18:41 (PDT)
Well, well, well. The northwoods, she giveth and she taketh away. The new cold front coming thru right now is bringing north winds, falling temps and s**w! Oh my. I bet i get a lot paperwork done in the shop over the next couple of days. I have a couple of days off coming this week and I plan to use them searching for new small lakes in the sticks. I had a customer in the shop point me towards a couple the other day and I love those types of lakes. No gas motors and a 4WD to get there. I'll let you know what I find.
The fishing over the weekend was mixed. As far as Crappie go some did well where as others did not. Presentation and locations were key. Fish are in various stages of the spawn. Active minnows, light jigs, finding the right color, and natural movement were all parts of success. Crappies could be found in the thick weeds or in 20 FOW mudflats, depending on the lake. If your presentation isn't working try something else! Oh, and a word for those of you not catching as many as you would like. When you see a boat catching them one after another and you're not, it is not ok to snuggle up to that boat and fish within a cast's throw of them. Please fishermen, show some Emily Post.
Northern Pike are still hitting everything and sometimes can be a real nuisance when you are after other species. The cold weather turns them on.
A few reports say that the bluegill are searching the shallows for a suitable bed for spawning. They are biting on waxies, small leaches and bits of worms. Be selective and please throw those big females back to finish their work.
Largemouth bass continue to provide lots of action this spring. They seem to be the most consistent biter out there. Again, minnows, leaches and crawlers along with plastics that mimic them are king.
Time to go fill some buckets. I included a couple of photos of some nice fish taken last week. Enjoy!
-----------------------------
Jeff Bolander, also known as 'How' of Dewey, Catchem and
How at
www.DeweyCatchemAndHow.com
Reports at
www.UpNorthFishing.com
Facebook page at
https://www.facebook.com/DeweyCatchemAndHow
Check out my Real Estate website at
www.JeffBolander.com
and my Up North fishing and resort web sites at
www.UpNorth.info
and see piles of fish photos at Up North Fishing Photos at
www.UpNorthFishingPhotos.com.
Jeff Bolander <jeff@deweycatchemandhow.com>
- Monday, May 18, 2015 at 05:37:41 (PDT)
Well the Walleye bite has really turned on. Even the cold front that went thru yesterday didn't seem to slow them down. I went out with a client on Monday and we caught our limit of 15" to 19.99"ers while sifting thru about 30-40 walleye. We also caught that many northern pike as well along with a few perch, a real nice smallie and a gorgeous 11" bluegill. We caught them all tight to the wood in 3-5 FOW. Small jigs and large leeches were the best but we did catch some on crawlers, redtails, mud minnows and plastics. Another key was to say on the wind blown edges in the green weeds.
The weather is going to be nicer today and continue that way thru the next 10 days which means the bite should continue to be strong.
Perch are also in the wood in the 3-6 FOW areas. Leeches and crawlers are working best.
Crappie have slowed a little with the cold weather but should pick back up again with the warming trend on the way. Look for small minnows and plastics to still be the baits of choice.
Northern Pike are very active also. Anything that moves will catch them. Be careful rinsing your hands off in the water, if you know what I mean. Minnows are king with Northerns, especially mud minnows on the flowages. Seems like when those mud minnows hit the water the Northerns smack'em right away.
Bluegills are still scarce but should also start coming around with the warm up. Right now I think they spend their time looking out for the Northerns.
Gotta go. Here comes someone with an empty bucket. Get here if you can and put some filets in your freezer. Check out our Facebook page for some nice fish photos folks have sent us including a great catch of really fat Brookies.
-----------------------------
Jeff Bolander, also known as 'How' of Dewey, Catchem and
How at
www.DeweyCatchemAndHow.com
Reports at
www.UpNorthFishing.com
Facebook page at
https://www.facebook.com/DeweyCatchemAndHow
Check out my Real Estate website at
www.JeffBolander.com
and my Up North fishing and resort web sites at
www.UpNorth.info
and see piles of fish photos at Up North Fishing Photos at
www.UpNorthFishingPhotos.com.
Jeff Bolander <
jeff@deweycatchemandhow.com>
- Wednesday, May 13, 2015 at 06:46:58 (PDT)
4am and dipping minnows for those early birds. And it's 55 degrees! Wow. Crappie are on and the Walleye are either in the spawn or just finishing. Come on up and take advantage of the new bag limits!
Jeff Bolander <
jeff@deweycatchemandhow.com>
- Saturday, May 02, 2015 at 03:00:31 (PDT)
Crappie and Perch are beginning to be had. Crappie are being caught in the warmest water on the lake, usually the north end and perch are cruising the mud flats, again in the warmest water. Small minnows, plastics and beatle spin type lures are the ticket for crappie while most perch are taking large fatheads. River fishermen are still reporting good walleye catches on large fatheads and they say the Walleye are still spawning.
Bait Shop News Just a heads up to let you know the bait shop will have Red Tails, Black Tails, Sucker minnows and other game fish bait available starting the Monday, 4-27, before the opener. So if you want to beat the crowds stop by anytime during the week and we'll fill your bucket with your pleasure sans the wait.
Special Opener Hours We will be open Thursday from 7am to 9pm, Friday from 7am to Midnight, Saturday from 4am to 8pm and Sunday we start our normal Summer hours of 5:30 to 8pm or later 7 days a week. It won't be long now!
-----------------------------
Jeff Bolander, also known as 'How' of Dewey, Catchem and
How at
www.DeweyCatchemAndHow.com
Reports at
www.UpNorthFishing.com
Facebook page at
https://www.facebook.com/DeweyCatchemAndHow
Check out my Real Estate website at
www.JeffBolander.com
and my Up North fishing and resort web sites at
www.UpNorth.info
and see piles of fish photos at Up North Fishing Photos at
www.UpNorthFishingPhotos.com.
Jeff Bolander <
jeff@deweycatchemandhow.com>
- Saturday, April 25, 2015 at 15:40:47 (PDT)
Well the ice is gone, temps in the 65-75 degree range, and the water temps are rising with the sun out! Crappie are starting to turn on and Musky are pairing up in the shallows. Everything right on schedule. BUT... the next few days are going to be windy, highs in the low 40s and lows in the high 20's, rain and maybe a little s**w. But by next Friday we are suppose to be back to sun and 50s and 60s.
I love this time of year as there are so many opportunities. Crappie staging for the spawn, Walleye in mid or post spawn and the loons, like the Musky, are seeking their love interests. One of the reasons its fun waiting on folks in the bait shop is finding out all the different ways they catch the same fish. I learn something new everyday. Yesterday two young fellas around 10 years old gave me a lesson on fishing the Manitowish river for Smallies and Northern Pike. They had some great fish stories as any great fisherman would!
When you're in the area stop by and say hi and share a story or two. Here comes someone with an empty bucket, gotta go...
A quick note about the bait shop, we are carrying Buck Wear shirts and hats now and a line of Wild Rice from Minnesota. That wild rice is awesome!
-----------------------------
Jeff Bolander, also known as 'How' of Dewey, Catchem and
How at
www.DeweyCatchemAndHow.com
Reports at
www.UpNorthFishing.com
Facebook page at
https://www.facebook.com/DeweyCatchemAndHow
Check out my Real Estate website at
www.JeffBolander.com
and my Up North fishing and resort web sites at
www.UpNorth.info
and see piles of fish photos at Up North Fishing Photos at
www.UpNorthFishingPhotos.com.
Jeff Bolander <
jeff@deweycatchemandhow.com>
- Sunday, April 19, 2015 at 07:36:50 (PDT)
FYI, it looks like the majority of the lakes in the area will be open this weekend. Most are open now except for the usually stubborn ones. Most visitors to the bait shop are still on the rivers but a few are starting to chase perch and crappie on the lakes. And the weather seems to be cooperating with nice temps over the next 5 days. Looks like winter has left us (knocking on wood).
One more thing, the bait shop has all of our fishing line on sale till the end of April so come on in and get your reel refreshed.
I better go. Here comes someone with a bucket.
-----------------------------
Jeff Bolander, also known as 'How' of Dewey, Catchem and
How at
www.DeweyCatchemAndHow.com
Reports at
www.UpNorthFishing.com
Facebook page at
https://www.facebook.com/DeweyCatchemAndHow
Check out my Real Estate website at
www.JeffBolander.com
and my Up North fishing and resort web sites at
www.UpNorth.info
and see piles of fish photos at Up North Fishing Photos at
www.UpNorthFishingPhotos.com.
Jeff Bolander <
jeff@deweycatchemandhow.com>
- Tuesday, April 14, 2015 at 12:29:25 (PDT)
Well the bait shop is open and we're very excited about how it turned out. Check out the photos on our Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/DeweyCatchemAndHow.
As far as the fishing goes it has been a little tough. Not a lot of action and the ice really isn't safe any more. Two different guys that came into the shop this morning talked about how they got wet yesterday. Only in shallow water but cold! One guy got out onto the ice ok but couldn't get back without jumping in. Yikes.
Be careful out there!
Hey, don't forget to take the family fishing and HAVE FUN! But remember, it's all fun and games 'til someone loses a Walleye!
-----------------------------
Jeff Bolander, also known as 'How' of Dewey, Catchem and
How at
www.DeweyCatchemAndHow.com
Bait shop info at
www.MinocquaBaitShop.com
Facebook Page at
www.facebook.com/DeweyCatchemAndHow
Reports at
www.UpNorthFishing.com
Check out my Real Estate website at
www.JeffBolander.com
and my Up North fishing and resort web sites at
www.UpNorth.info
and see piles of fish photos at Up North Fishing Photos at
www.UpNorthFishingPhotos.com.
Jeff Bolander <
jeff@deweycatchemandhow.com>
- Wednesday, April 01, 2015 at 12:09:22 (PDT)
Well the bait shop is really shaping up. The layout is done and now we are getting new product in daily. The opening in scheduled for April 1, 2015. No April Fool's!
As far as the fishing goes the snow from last night pretty much kicked everybody off the ice. Heavy snow will do that especially on bad ice. It weighs it down and kicks the slush up and makes travel unsafe. Most, including me, are predicting a middle April ice out. Sooner if we get rain, maybe longer if not.
Well back to work. I'll keep you up date best I can. Come and see us when you can.
Hey, don't forget to take the family fishing and HAVE FUN! But remember, it's all fun and games 'til someone loses a Walleye!
-----------------------------
Jeff Bolander, also known as 'How' of Dewey, Catchem and
How at
www.DeweyCatchemAndHow.com
Bait shop info at
www.MinocquaBaitShop.com
Reports at
www.UpNorthFishing.com
Check out my Real Estate website at
www.JeffBolander.com
and my Up North fishing and resort web sites at
www.UpNorth.info
and see piles of fish photos at Up North Fishing Photos at
www.UpNorthFishingPhotos.com.
Jeff Bolander <
jeff@deweycatchemandhow.com>
- Wednesday, March 25, 2015 at 19:50:42 (PDT)
My apologies for the lack of reports. 3 reasons. I lost my Mom just before Christmas, haven't fished much and have been working on getting the bait shop ready for the April 1 opening. I haven't seen very many folks out there or vehicles on the ice. I've been told that the ice is just now starting to get safe. First ice was no good and most of you ardent ice fishermen know that that makes the ice unsafe all year. SO BE CAREFUL OUT THERE! If I get out there I will report about it. Later! And if you see my white truck at the bait shop, stop by and say hi...
Jeff Bolander <
jeff@deweycatchemandhow.com>
- Wednesday, February 04, 2015 at 09:01:51 (PST)
I was fishing a few days ago on one of my favorite lakes. An impromptu meeting of fishermen at the dock at the end of the day revealed that I was the only one who had caught walleye. I got the usual questions, on what, with what and what color? Nobody asked where. These guys were fishing where the fish were a month ago and were persistent at it, all day long.
With water temps dropping into the 50s and the amount of sunshine per day dropping, the green weeds are going away as such the oxygen levels in the shallows are dropping. So fish do what you and I would do, head for the areas where the breathing is easier. If you can find green weeds shallow, great. But mostly they are going away.
I was fishing in 25' to 30' of water on a rock hump that was coming out of a mud flat. That's where the bait is and therefore the predators. It's hard sometimes to hold your boat over those spots as dropping an anchor is not practical. If you have a trolling motor with an anchor mode, use it. If that doesn't work, throw on some crawler or minnow harnesses and make drifts across the areas. Try drop shotting with light jigs! Motor around until you find pods of bait fish and the fish that eat them will be close by.
The bait shop is coming along and right on schedule. I haven't been able to fish as much because of the work I'm putting in on it but it will be worth it. Next time lets talk about Crappie and plastics.
Hey, don't forget to take the family fishing and HAVE FUN! But remember, it's all fun and games 'til someone loses a Walleye!
-----------------------------
Jeff Bolander, also known as 'How' of Dewey, Catchem and
How at
www.DeweyCatchemAndHow.com
Bait shop info at
www.MinocquaBaitShop.com
Reports at
www.UpNorthFishing.com
Check out my Real Estate website at
www.JeffBolander.com
and my Up North fishing and resort web sites at
www.UpNorth.info
and see piles of fish photos at Up North Fishing Photos at
www.UpNorthFishingPhotos.com.
Jeff Bolander <
jeff@deweycatchemandhow.com>
- Saturday, September 20, 2014 at 14:22:55 (PDT)
Like your dad said to you when holding a football in the back yard, "go deep". That's were the nice walleyes are right now. If you can figure out how to hold the boat in this wind and cold, do it over 20-30 deep water on rock humps and ledges. Minnows and jigs heavy enough to feel the bottom are the ticket. I like orange or green for colors.
The crappie are still going well but they seem to be in 5-8 feet of water. I used small gulp minnows, brown plastic twister tail grubs and white beetle spins. I took some very nice 14"ers along with a pile of 11"s. Very tasty since the water temps are now in the lower 60s a dropping.
The fishing should continue to improve with the dropping water temps as all species start preparing for ice cover. Musky have been chasing big minnows or suckers and bucktails.
That's it for now, Gotta go check out a lake I've never fished before and be back in time for kick off.
BTW, I got "COMING SOON" signs up in the bait shop this weekend. I can't wait!
Hey, don't forget to take the family fishing and HAVE FUN! But remember, it's all fun and games 'til someone loses a Walleye!
-----------------------------
Jeff Bolander, also known as 'How' of Dewey, Catchem and
How at
www.DeweyCatchemAndHow.com
Reports at
www.UpNorthFishing.com
Check out my Real Estate website at
www.JeffBolander.com
and my Up North fishing and resort web sites at
www.UpNorth.info
and see piles of fish photos at Up North Fishing Photos at
www.UpNorthFishingPhotos.com.
Jeff Bolander <
jeff@deweycatchemandhow.com>
- Sunday, September 14, 2014 at 09:21:16 (PDT)
Here's the announcement that I've been sitting on for a while now that I am really excited about. I'm opening up the new Dewey Catch'em and How Bait Shop / Guide Service in March of 2015. Where? In The Store complex at the intersection of Hwy 70 and Hwy 51 in Arbor Vitae, Wisconsin. It will be where the bakery used to be. There is no signage yet but it's just one of the things that will be taken care of by next March. Here's our mission:
When you fish the
northwoods of Wisconsin you want the best. When you
hire a guide from Dewey Catchem and How ™,
you want the best and you get it. Now coming in the
spring of 2015,
Dewey Catchem and How ™ is extending those expectations to your
choice in bait shops. Our bait shop will be on a never
ending mission to become the best bait shop in the
northwoods. How are we gonna do it??
A Great Selection of
Fishing Tackle that WORKS in Our Area...
We won't just fill the shelves, we will fill them with
northwoods tested fishing tackle that will work catching you
more fish.
High Quality Fishing
Tackle at Low Low Pricing...
We shop the wholesalers for the best in tackle at the best
price. Those big box stores will not have anything on
us! In fact many items on our shelves will be priced
lower than those stores. When you buy from us you will
know that you got a fantastic price on tackle that works in
our area.
Fresh Live Bait...
The best of the best is the only kind of live bait you will
find in our coolers and tanks. Minnows, bugs, grubs,
crawlers and leeches will be the freshest you can find.
Professional Help...
No part time salespeople here! Our friendly staff will
be the guides that fish the area and their associates.
You have a question, we'll have an answer.
Lots of
Easy
Parking
for Your Rig
Convenient
Location
at Hwy 70 & Hwy 51
Easy In and Out
One Stop Shopping
Gas, Snacks, Tackle in One Place
Low Pricing
that Meets or Beats the Big Box Stores
Professional
Staff
Fresh Live Bait
Fishing Hours
For more info go to
http://deweycatchemandhow.com/baitshop.htm
I'll keep you updated. If you have any suggestions or comments give me a call or shoot me an e-mail and let me know.
Jeff Bolander <
jeff@deweycatchemandhow.com>
- Wednesday, August 27, 2014 at 20:13:06 (PDT)
Oh no. You know that feeling you get when you see the first buds on the trees in the spring of the year? Well it's just the opposite for me when I see the first fern or sugar maple start to turn at this time of year. But the fishing has been good and getting better. The weather has held and lake temps are still in that lower to mid 70 range. Crawlers and leeches are still king with a few lakes requiring minnows. But those minnow lakes are minnow lakes pretty much year round. The weeds are starting to come loose from the bottom and the fish are starting a move to the deeper rock bars. But you can still catch fish in the weed edges but pretty much only at feeding time.
The fall also brings the lowing of water temps and shorter sun filled hours. This means its time to fatten up for the winter. No, I'm not talking about the fisherpeople, put those Oreos down! Soon is when those big sallies will start gorging for the winter cold and you need to be ready. Take different sized baits out with you, different colors and go DEEP. Too many fisherpeople are uncomfortable fishing deeper than 10' but that means you are missing out on the bigger fish. Find those 20-40' humps and fish them. One may put a big smile on your face!
Time to go and try that myself!
Hey, don't forget to take the family fishing and HAVE FUN! But remember, it's all fun and games 'til someone loses a Walleye!
-----------------------------
Jeff Bolander, also known as 'How' of Dewey, Catchem and
How at
www.DeweyCatchemAndHow.com
Reports at
www.UpNorthFishing.com
Check out my Real Estate website at
www.JeffBolander.com
and my Up North fishing and resort web sites at
www.UpNorth.info
and see piles of fish photos at Up North Fishing Photos at
www.UpNorthFishingPhotos.com.
Jeff Bolander <
jeff@deweycatchemandhow.com>
- Sunday, August 24, 2014 at 12:03:40 (PDT)
Sorry for the delay in posting reports. I have been very busy fishing and dealing with other business issues. I know, I know, no excuse. Well here we go.
The fishing continues to get better in the northwoods. Water temps are starting to climb again. I was on the Manitowish Waters chain a few days ago and the water temp was about 75. I was on a smaller green algae bloomed lake and the temp was almost 80. But on those two bodies of waters as with all the others lately the successful presentation has been the same. Light jigs and slow, slow, painfully slow presentations. Clawlers are still the best bet and you can pinch them in half. Leeches are second best and then small grub tail plastics. Green weed edges next to deeper water if available was the spots to look for.
For smallies on the rocks the magic depth was 16' with hard bottom and 6' weed edges on lakes with a crayfish population. Love those fighting little devils. One of my clients caught a night 15"er the other day and its belly was gigantic!
We found walleye on weed edges and some in shallow weeds and wood. No consistency on deep walleye yet but we are getting close. One unusual trait of the walleyes lately was you didn't have to get up early for fish till dark to get them. We caught most of those marble eyes around 8am and 7pm. I like that.
Crappies are starting to pick up a little. Plastics were king there as we did well with light jigs and slow presentations that just clipped the top of the weeds in 7-5 feet of water. And they hit best with a chop on the water and the sun out! OK, thats enough. It's time to get back out there.
Hey, don't forget to take the family fishing and HAVE FUN! But remember, it's all fun and games 'til someone loses a Walleye!
-----------------------------
Jeff Bolander, also known as 'How' of Dewey, Catchem and
How at
www.DeweyCatchemAndHow.com
Reports at
www.UpNorthFishing.com
Check out my Real Estate website at
www.JeffBolander.com
and my Up North fishing and resort web sites at
www.UpNorth.info
and see piles of fish photos at Up North Fishing Photos at
www.UpNorthFishingPhotos.com.
Jeff Bolander <
jeff@deweycatchemandhow.com>
- Thursday, August 07, 2014 at 11:14:09 (PDT)
Fishing is a little below average right now. Reason? Water temps. Normally water temps would be in the 80 degree range at this time of year. Even though we had a very late spring, the culprit is the cool nights. 40s and 50s each night just won't allow those water temps to climb. And I see next week the highs will only be in the low 60s for a couple of days. And these temps aren't limited to just the northwoods either. I was on the Madison lakes last Saturday with my grandangels and the water temps were only 74! Now anyone familiar with those lakes knows usually by this time of year you are fishing in a warm tub, icing your catch to make sure it doesn't rot in a half hour. Does this mean you can't catch fish? NEVER!
Right now lake temps are in the 67-71 degree range, clear and stained lakes and flowages alike. One good side effect of the cool water temps is the minimal mayfly hatches. There have been a few small hatches, a good one on the Rainbow, but no majors so far. Weed edges are creeping out to 14-15' depths now. Keep that jig size as small as possible when dragging the leeches and crawlers which are the baits of choice right now. Not too many Northern Pike being boated now but Walleye are still good in low light times or on the flowages. Bass are still going good but the largemouth are really affected by the cool water temps. Musky can be enticed to hit medium to small bucktails ripped over weed patches.
Hey, don't forget to take the family fishing and HAVE FUN! But remember, it's all fun and games 'til someone loses a Walleye!
-----------------------------
Jeff Bolander, also known as 'How' of Dewey, Catchem and
How at
www.DeweyCatchemAndHow.com
Reports at
www.UpNorthFishing.com
Check out my Real Estate website at
www.JeffBolander.com
and my Up North fishing and resort web sites at
www.UpNorth.info
and see piles of fish photos at Up North Fishing Photos at
www.UpNorthFishingPhotos.com.
Jeff Bolander <
jeff@deweycatchemandhow.com>
- Thursday, July 10, 2014 at 12:22:42 (PDT)
Hey guys and gals, its been a while. Well, lets get at it. Biggest story right now is minnows are basically passe right now. Crawlers and leeches are the baits of choice. And of course you know I love plastics!
Walleye and Northern Pike and active right now and are hitting crawlers and leeches nicely. Light jigs and green weedlines are key.
Crappies have slowed a little while the gills have picked up. Again, crawlers and leeches in 3-8' of water will bring those bull gills to the boat.
LM Bass should be at the top of your list and the water temps get into the 70s now. They will be everywhere. Remember, they are a surprise stalker so look for places they might hide and attack their prey. Downed logs, dark water that changes to light, lily pads, and big rocks and are great hiding places. Smallies will be in the rocks and roaming the flats also looking for a meal. Low light is the best for them.
The flowages are popping well right now and water levels are good. Local clear water chains are great too but look for those weed edges next to 20-30 feet of water.
One more quickie hint. Wanna find the fish? Used a spinner bait or beetle pin to cover a lot of water and then slow down when you find the fish.
Hey, don't forget to take the family fishing and HAVE FUN! But remember, It's all fun and games 'till someone loses a Walleye!
-----------------------------
Jeff Bolander, also known as 'How' of Dewey, Catchem and
How at
www.DeweyCatchemAndHow.com
Reports at
www.UpNorthFishing.com
Check out my Real Estate website at
www.JeffBolander.com
and my Up North fishing and resort web sites at
www.UpNorth.info
and see piles of fish photos at Up North Fishing Photos at
www.UpNorthFishingPhotos.com.
Jeff Bolander <
jeff@deweycatchemandhow.com>
- Wednesday, July 02, 2014 at 08:47:07 (PDT)
