Central Wisconsin Outdoor Report10-03-12
With cooler temperatures at night and beautiful colors and the trees is a sure sign that fall is here. And with the onset of this season comes great fishing action. The musky bite has been phenomenal, in the past four days alone my clients hooked into 13 different muskies ranging from 36 to 46 inches. I am seeing some good action on suckers set 4 to 8 feet down over 12 to 16 feet of water, but a lot of the action is taking place in areas associated with weeds and downed timber in 6 to 8 feet of water. Most of these fish have come on big bladed bucktails, large jerk baits and Magnum Bulldogs. To make it easier to throw these large baits it is necessary to have a good reliable musky rod. My personal favorite is an ERX series musky rod from Elk River Rods. I have taken dozens of fish on it and have used it to throw some of the largest heaviest baits on the market and if it holds up to my standards and I can't break it ...Well lets just leave it at that. You owe it to yourself to check them out. www.elkrivercustomrods.com.
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| Rami Barghout from Carlsbad California with a nice bass | Rami Barghout from Carlsbad California with a nice walleye | Rami Barghout from Carlsbad California with a nice walleye |
Guys looking for walleyes, now the time to get in on some great action. Schools of walleyes are now holding up in the deeper pools in the main river system. These fish can be caught by simply baiting a 1/4 or 1/8 ounce jig with a lively fathead minnow and slowly dragging it on the bottom. Target depths of 10 to 16 water for best and most consistent action. For great deals on custom jigs check out Rich Jaroch at Baitmaker Tackle. I get a lot of my jigs from him at a very low cost.
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| Rami Barghout from Carlsbad California with a nice musky | Marcus form Milwaukee with a nice musky |
Crappie action has been outstanding. A lot of the fish are suspended in the top 4 feet of the water column right now. The fish are in the top portion of the water column because that is the warmest water in the system. Using your locator look for schools of bait fish in the upper portions of the water column if you can find these schools of bait fish be assured the crappies won't be far behind. A small jig suspended below a slip bobber, and baited up with a crappie sized minnow will take these fish all day long.
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| Marcus from Milwaukee with a nice musky | Kevin Munson with a nice crappie | Brian Munson with a nice musky |
Another great biting fish at this time of year is the smallmouth bass. These fish can be targeted by working rocky shoreline structure and rip rap areas in 1 to 5 feet of water. Toss shallow diving crank baits to shore and work them out over deeper water and work plastics right on the rock to catch active fish.
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| Great fall colors on the river | Brilliant fall colors on the river |
The 2012 archery deer season is well underway, and hunters are seeing quite a few nice animals in the woods. Most of the activity is around crop fields or areas with some sort of water be it a stream, farm pond, creek or river bank. With the warm dry summer and fall that we have had the deer in the woods are finding and taking refuge near waterways. Set up a stand location near either of these areas and you should be in good position to get a shot at a deer.
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| Jasen Bahr with his 2012 black bear | Brian Munson with a nice musky | Brian Munson with a nice fall musky |
Good luck and have a safe 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