Central Wisconsin Outdoor Report 8-31-12
The 2012 Bear season is here and our stand locations have been picked! All of our bait stations are regularly being visited, and a couple of them by some very nice bears. Now with the ability to see what is coming in to each station by using trail cameras we have decided on our starting location for opening day. Along with the bears that are coming into our bait stations our trail cameras have shown up a multitude of other animals that are visiting our stations too. We have photos of wolves, bobcats, fishers and martins, to deer and raccoons. It has been a very interesting season seeing all of the furbearers (that are really out there) that you normally don't see while in the woods.
 |
 |
| a bobcat that visited my bear bait. | A nice black bear at one of my baiting stations. |
 |
 |
| a sow with "5" cubs at one of my baiting stations! |
Another nice bear at one of my baiting stations. |
 |
|
| A martin that decided to check out my bear bait. | |
On to fishing: The musky bite has been very good this past week with some nice fish being caught on bucktails and jerkbaits. With the cooler evenings and nights that we have been getting the water temperatures have dropped a bit, and contrary to popular belief that fish move deeper when the water temperatures drop the fish have actually slid up into the shallow weeds. Most of the fish we caught this past week have come from less than 6 feet of water, with most of them in 1 to 3 feet of water.
 |
 |
| Glenn Moberg with a nice musky form the World Musky Hunt |
Steve Janowski with a nice musky From the World Musky Hunt |
 |
 |
| Mark Mccumber with one of his muskies from the world musky Hunt |
Scott Spray with a nice Wisconsin River musky. This fish was also tagged with a DNR receiver as well. |
 |
|
| Eric Silvis with a nice musky from the World Musky Hunt | |
Walleye activity has been pretty good with some decent fish coming from 8 to 12 feet of water on jigs tipped with minnows or crawlers. Most of the fish are now concentrated on sharp break lines as opposed to being scattered over the flats like they were earlier in the year.
The bluegill bite has been fantastic the past few weeks with limits of huge bull sized gills really making a presence. Most of these giant gills are coming from deep water associated with some sort of wood. To catch these giant gills we are running small 1/32nd and 1/16th ounce jigs tipped with a piece of crawler or a tiny Cortland Mini-Mite jig and tail. One nice note is that when running the Mini-Mite jig we have been picking up some nice crappies and a few really nice perch as well.
 |
 |
| Alec Preston with our limit of panfish |
Adam and Mark with a nice pile of bluegills |
Smallmouth bass action has been really good this past week with some nice bronzebacks being caught along rocky shorelines in 1 to 5 feet of water. Most of the fish are being caught on rattle traps and spinnerbaits but we are still popping a few on top water baits.
 |
 |
| Marc Sorge with a nice smallmouth bass | Adam with a nice smallmouth bass |
For you catfish lovers, now is a great time to go out and have some great arm wrenching action. We have been catching quite a few nice cats in the 20 to 30 inch range by working the deeper pools in the main river system. Most of our baits are set up running cut bait or chicken livers set right on the bottom in the deepest part of the pool. This is primarily a night-time bite so get out right before dark find your location and get ready for some great action.
Have a great week,
Phil Schweik
Licensed Wisconsin Hunting & Fishing Guide
Hooksetters Guide Service www.hooksetters.biz
Ruttnut Guide Service www.ruttnut.com
Reed & Hoppe Wildlife Food Plots www.foodplotting.com