ANDREW
RAGAS

Andrew's Adventures

Indian Summer Fishing

Mon, October 10, 2011

Last week (10/1 - 10/9) I was back up north for my annual fall musky hunt with good buddy, Jacob Saylor. This was our third straight fall fishing together and after last year’s good mojo of popping a 51” and seeing several others and lots of action to keep us occupied with, we both were expecting good things to happen.

The entire week prior, the fishing was very good. With cold, overcast,  windy and rainy days, six fish came into the boat and 18 were raised during three days of fishing. I was hoping for the same to take place again last week but thanks to the arrival of “Indian summer” that wasn’t going to happen. Not a chance.

Suddenly fall reverted back to summer. This is what every musky angler fears of in the fall. Miserable warmth.

The entire week was comprised of bright, sunny days without much wind.  Daily highs were anywhere from the low 70’s to low 80’s. Surprisingly,  water temperatures never rose because of the warm weather. They held 55 to 59 degrees the entire week. However, the warmth stalled turnover on several lakes, discombobulated and disoriented the fish and their fall movements and feeding, and it destroyed the good fishing and whatever patterns I had established during the week prior.

All was now lost.

I had a feeling that the seasonal and more preferred gloomy weather was going to change because before leaving, a massive coldfront hit the area and followed by that a heat wave of unseasonable and dreadful warm weather was going to follow. A high pressure system had stalled over the entire upper Midwest. Because of this I told Jake to expect some bass fishing to take place, my last outings of the year, but due to our stubbornness of wanting to catch some muskies we ditched that plan altogether except for a day. It was all muskies this week. The fact we were too stubborn to try for anything else likely led to our unproductive week of fishing.

There were a lot of fish-less photos like this throughout the week.

We all catch stick fish. Most of the time they all go undocumented.

I normally write daily reports and archive each of my trips with great detail but due to the poor fishing that was experienced I really see no point in writing stories when there aren’t very many fish to showcase.

This post will display what few highlights were encountered, the very few fish that were caught.

In 8 days of fishing, Jake and I fished 11 lakes and two rivers in a four county radius. I had as many as 20 different lakes planned for the week but when the fishing is dead everywhere and finding fish is difficult, why bother wasting gas and time?

I don’t see a point in doing that. I hate wasting a day for a wasted trip. I’d rather sleep in, explore, figure out how to catch at least one fish on one lake, and enjoy the woods.

The fishing was dead for everything. From the bass department, the fishing was bad. Zero smallies were caught when we fished for them. Only a few were accidentally caught while musky fishing.

Casting at rock bars and sand bars to no avail.

Accidentally catching smallmouth bass when the intended target is a river northern pike or a smaller sized muskie.

From the muskie department, the fishing was not much better. It was exceptionally bad. Twelve fish were seen all week and only three of them were caught. Jake caught one 36” that came on a sucker, and I caught a 30” that was unhooked in the water, and a fatso that was under 40”. Both of mine came on gliders.

Here is Jake’s only fish of the week. A malnourished river fish that ate a sucker. He lost another one that was hooked.

Here is my lone noteworthy fish and the several candid photos Jake took while I CPR’ed it. Nice camera work, Jake!

It’s nice having a camera with a fast shutter speed. I believe all of these photos were taken in under a minute.

Just imagine. . . . If we took into account of how good the fishing was the week prior and if we had the same identical weather, Jake and I easily would have had a week of 10+ muskies and likely would have seen upwards of 40 to 60 different fish. A staggering amount!

Throughout the week we fished shallow and we fished deep. Not to mention, several different depths in between. It was rise and shine each morning before dawn, and we’d cast our arms off until dusk each night.  We played the moonrise and moonset game each day to no avail. We casted to clear water and dark water. Nothing seemed to matter with the 80 degree heat wave and a UV index of 100%. Even downsizing to bass size baits in the extreme shallows couldn’t entice any action.

Despite the piss poor fishing, a cool-down is on its way this week, just in time for my final trip of the 2011 season. (Holy #$%@#!!! Where has the year gone?)

I leave next on Wednesday. Not looking forward to close up shop and winterize my boat on Sunday. The year went by too fast.

In closing, I would like to provide an additional rant about the lack of good fishing experienced last week. I know a great deal of how to fish the northwoods of Wisconsin, and I know where to go in order to find the fish. I am not a know-it-all, and I don’t like to make excuses from bad fishing, but will say this:

I have stopped relying the reports provided by bait shops. They are nothing more than a marketing ploy to generate business for their expensive $10 $uckers and bait. When live bait costs the amount for a half a tank of gas, that’s saddening. It’s gotten so bad that I cannot even rely on my local bait shop that I have supported since childhood for an honest answer on how the fishing is in general. No matter what the conditions are and what other serious anglers are saying in regard to it being poor, the fishing will always be “good to very good” for everything no matter what. If it’s windy for three straight days with 30mph winds and unfishable water for most anglers as it was from Thursday to Saturday, the fishing is “good” for everything. If it’s 80 degrees out with complete sunlight and no wind for six straight days in October when water temperatures are in the 50’s everywhere, the fishing is “very good” for everything.

Please. Who writes up this information? Is this someone’s opinion? Are the fishing reports based by how many suckers you sell in a week? Or how many scoops of redtails and fathead minnows are sold in a day?

How on earth can an “accurate” fishing report make absolutely zero mention of turnover taking place? In a period of less than five minutes I launched and immediately left a 1,300 acre lake that was in process of turnover. A traditionally clear lake had gone to pea green with zero visibility. In addition, there were a handful of others turning over as well. Popular lakes, mind you. How can the source not make any mention of this?

I know others who struggled just as bad, if not worse, as Jake and I this week; even certain guides too. Unless you personally know of any guides or have friends who are knowledgeable and keep current with conditions, certain shops are no longer trustworthy. You couldn’t even pay me to believe the word from the most popular shops in the town of Minocqua, Wisconsin anymore. The reports I read nowadays are like fools gold.

I understand why they are doing it, but don’t disservice the fishermen and the folks who support the business. If you write a report, treat it as reliable news that is to help others rather than have it generate business. If the report is inaccurate in almost every aspect, proven by good reliable fishermen, then you are in the wrong business and shouldn’t publish reports. With all the hours invested by myself and others, I think we know how the fishing is presently faring.

Thankfully it should get back to normal again later this week. Unless summer suddenly changes to winter. Then I don’t know what I will do.

For instance, when you encounter largemouth bass trying to eat each other, you know that the fishing is NOT normal at this moment. . . . .

Both were separated and released unharmed.

Till next time.

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