On The Prowl... Wolf River calls walleyes, anglers
By Dick Ellis
The Wolf River is on a steady prowl this April 7th overcast afternoon near Fremont. Occasionally, a gust of wind kicks waves up on the long stretches of straight river, but hundreds of anglers are hunkered in and comfortable. They’re working wood on protected bends or moving to anchor on the shallower sand flats to target fish moving in to feed as the sun begins to drop.
Cooperative fish make happy fishermen and these men and women are on the prowl too. Warming water temperatures on the Wolf, like the Mississippi, Rock, Fox and Wisconsin, have triggered walleye spawning migrations and triggered too a migration of anglers chasing the fish. They come from all over Wisconsin and other states. But the locals, like Todd Guenther of the Town of Wolf River, have had their fingers on the pulse of the beautiful river since the ice went off. This is prime time. He knows it. The fat fish in the live well, all males, show it.
“There are tons of fish in the river right now,” Guenther says. “It’s been good since ice out 2-1/2 weeks ago. The fish moving up now to spawn are from Winnebago and a few are from Poygan. They’ll travel up to spawning marshes in New London or Shiocton or as far as the Shawano dam. I’m going to say that is a 100-mile journey by river.”
It’s a journey spurred by natural reproduction that has repeated itself across the ages; walleyes answering the call of nature, inspired to travel instinctively by the rising water temperatures of spring. On this Thursday, water temperatures have risen from 39 degrees in the morning to 43.7 by mid-afternoon. Fish, specifically mature walleyes feeling an urgency to find the spawning grounds upstream, are on the move and temporality abandoning the aggressive feeding attitude that has meant limits of fish to many of these river anglers in waiting. Big females mix with the earlier arriving males, and anglers are given the luxury of fast action and big fish which are time and again released. With a five-fish limit, there still will be plenty of fillets for the skillet.
“They were on a very aggressive bite this morning,” Guenther said. “Now with the rising water temperatures they may be trying to scoot up and spawn when the water temperature hits 46 degrees. The mature fish want to get up there. Fifteen fish might move by us before we catch one.”
The afternoon drains away, and Guenther catches his fish. He uses jigs and minnows, but fishing has been so reliable that he often foregoes the live bait for plastics. Night approaches and with it a different tactic and tutoring with another local expert is put into play. Gary Chikowski, who owns and operates Chico’s boat landing with his wife, Julie, including the rental of two cabins on the Wolf, is anchored on a sand bar and ready for the human hand-off. The boat-to-boat reporter transfer is made without incident and I settle in to learn how to target walleyes by pumping jigs on top of a sand bar hugging a bend in the Wolf.
“Chico”, a friendly man who takes providing his many customers from all over Wisconsin and Illinois with accurate angling information seriously, has cut his teeth learning how to fish the local rivers. He calls himself a hunter first. “I don’t know if I’m a fanatic fisherman,” he says. “I usually fished when I needed something to eat.”
He has secured the boat over the sand with a double anchor that will allow both anglers to work jigs and minnows far down stream with a pumping motion that keeps the bait moving in the current. My host, in his twelfth spring of operating his business, works two rods while I work one and the camera. The key, he stresses, is to keep the bait moving and to keep contact with the bottom.
“I don’t have a chance to fish during the day,” he said. “Julie is a big part of the business. She runs the shop at night and I can sneak out and fish. Hopefully the walleyes will come out of the depths and feed on the sand bars as they’re headed up to spawn. You do have to move the jig. They’re not going to hit a jig that’s not moving. And you have to stay in contact with the bottom.”
Downstream a good cast, Tom Stuebs of Weyauwega and Brian Troedel of Iola are anchored too, hoping for 
the same results of the last three nights when limits of walleyes were the reward. Down from them, a few more boats are scattered across the sand and waiting for the walleye window to open on a brief period of feeding. Friends Gordy Pagel of Appleton, Tom McPeak of Waupaca and Roger Inderdahl of Weyauwega, regulars on the Wolf, slide by and report good fishing on the Wolf. Others do too. Chico and I settle in to talk, and to wait for the fish to snap on the feedbag.
“I really meet a lot of nice people at the shop and this is a very busy time,” Chikowski says, anticipating a renewed frenzy with the May whitebass run to follow the April walleye ritual. “We get a lot of people here from Chicago and throughout Wisconsin. My job is to tell them where to fish and when to come to catch fish. People trust me. The phone rings pretty steady. If nothing is going on I’ll tell them to stay home. I’ll try to tell a new fisherman how to put the minnows on, and show them the same techniques that we use up here to catch fish.”
Although we only work the sandbar for an hour, Chico lands four walleyes. He releases a big female that will help sustain the population. I have seen many fish caught on this afternoon. Every one of the big egg-bearing females have been returned carefully again to the Wolf. Another chapter of the ageless ritual of the river ends. As we pull our anchors and prepare to leave the Wolf for another night, I remember again the words of Todd Guenther.
“A very big fish here would be a 28-inch, 8-1/2 pound walleye,” he said. “I’ve never caught one that big. I’ve caught a lot of big females. I always let them go. I want my grand kids to have this same great fishing on the Wolf long after I’m gone.”
For information on the Wolf River walleye run near Fremont, the upcoming whitebass run, cabin rental on the Wolf, boat and motor rental, bait or other information, call Chico’s at 920-446-3345. For information on lodging, fishing guides, entertainment, dining and more in the Fremont Area connect with the Fremont Area Chamber of Commerce at www.travelfremont.com or 920-446-3838.