“TRY, TRY AGAIN…. Action packed musky hunt also frustrating”
Reader Note: This trip was taken in 2006 on Okauchee Lake. Late September is the time to expect big fish to be caught (and released) on the Waukesha County lake.
The turning blade of the bucktail sparkled through the clear green hues of Okauchee Lake, alone again…apparently…in its return to the Ranger. Buying none of that “out of sight, out of mind” nonsense though, Guide Steve Miljat assumed instead that a musky was tracking the lure somewhere near and worked to trigger a strike.
Good habits create good musky memories. The bucktail was manipulated into a slow and wide first turn of a Figure-8 to invite the fish up from the depths and out of hiding. On scores of previous identical conclusions, the lure was alone. On this retrieve, four feet of predator closed from its stalk in deeper water and appeared in all it glory at the feet of two adrenalin-fed fishermen.
Experience instinctively sent Miljat into phase two. The slow, “soft sell” turn of blades and hair transformed to a “hard sell” race as the guide increased the speed to emulate a baitfish in escape. The musky reciprocated and for an eternal five or six seconds the cat and mouse game rushed on to a climaxing, powerful snap at the blades. For just an instant, the fish was on, before melding away again into nothingness.
Miljat’s reaction might have been the reaction of an angler who had for the first time experienced such a thrill; not a man who has caught by casting five fish over 50 inches just this year, and two fish over 40 pounds, and literally hundreds of muskies over two decades of guiding. “Oh, man, that fish was more than 25 pounds,” he said, shaking his head. “So close...so close…oh…man, I’ll just never get tired of that.”
We had been in that “so close” mode many times September 21st. In the waning minutes of our musky hunt the big fish had been our fifth close encounter in just four hours. Other muskies in the 38, 40, 45 inch class and another unseen fish had already teased us but ultimately left us in their wakes. Miljat expected the action.
Early fall, he said, is the time big fish become more active and accessible on Okauchee. Moving from suspending in deeper summer waters off of points or secondary drop-offs where they’re more difficult to find, those muskies are prompted by the change in water temperatures to return and utilize the weedbeds as an “ambush element.”
“The water temperature is 65 degrees right now and the big fish over the next several weeks are going to become active,” Miljat said. “The trophy fish potential is good because these fish in part forage on Cisco which is a high protein, oily, soft-rayed baitfish. Although this is a 1000 acre lake, at this time of year it fishes a lot smaller, maybe 700 acres or less. The muskies are not going to be using the shallow bays. There will be very big fish caught here over the next few weeks.”
Okauchee can also draw heavy competition from other anglers despite a “temperamental” personality and clear water that makes it difficult to fish. Intricate bars and weedbeds and deep water structure with depths to 100 feet means the more knowledge, the better the opportunity for success. Miljat brought an understanding of the lake, a unique teaching ability and a defined game plan that would make every cast a potential winner. Our short time together played out uncannily almost precisely as Miljat said it should.
On the leading edge of a low pressure system, we began the morning at 8:30 working bucktails on a very defined inside turn of a weedbed. Our lures worked among feeding whitebass routinely breaking the surface right where Miljat said they would be for just one hour. Muskies were also there, feeding on the whitebass.
The first musky in the 38 inch class visited the boat in the first 30 minutes. After Miljat changed my presentation to a Bulldawg to offer a larger profile and draw fish up, we worked a secondary break in deeper water casting to the extreme outside edge of the weedbed. After raising another good fish on a bucktail the teacher offered more words of instruction that would soon turn to prophecy.
“I’m a little surprised that you haven’t seen a big fish follow yet on that Bulldawg,” Miljat said. “Nine out of 10 times that big fish will hit a bulldawg far out from the boat which is the best case scenario for landing the fish. But big fish will also follow and probably not hit. I think you should be more aggressive with your retrieve. Rip it hard and let it run deeper.”
Within 30 minutes, a big fish hit the bulldawg far from the boat. I set the hooks, and we watched as an approximate 45 inch musky left the water. As it flopped, the flora-carbon leader apparently meshed with the fish’s razor teeth and was cut clean. Miljat had never seen it happen before. The Reporter’s Curse had taken a seat in the Ranger.
By continuing to follow Miljat’s direction, though, we would have fabulous action all morning long. Any musky angler would fully appreciate encounters with five fat fish from 38 to 48 inches in just four hours. Our half-day would conclude back on the weedbed, staring down at an empty patch of calm water, trying to believe that Miljat’s big fish had been almost close enough to touch just seconds before.
It’s not often that a reporter needs to feel a bit sorry for an extraordinarily talented guide; Miljat after all had approached the complicated Okauchee Lake with a defined game plan that had directly led to those meetings with five good fish. But this great cake was still without the frosting; no picture fish to show Wisconsin newspapers and readers just how good this day, and this guide, had been.
“Steve,” I said as he readied the boat to meet afternoon clients on Pewaukee. “Got any time coming up to try and find that picture fish?”
“How about Sunday afternoon?” Miljat asked. “You’re on,” I said.
Hopefully, a big fish will be too.
 |
 |
| “Guide Steve Miljat and client prepare to release a 50 inch musky taken in early fall on Waukesha County’s Okauchee Lake.” | “Guide Steve Miljat with a musky that he led writer Ellis to after near misses with big fish. |
Reader note: Late Sunday afternoon, I committed a Wisconsin sin by abandoning the Packer Game early in an attempt to capture Miljat’s Okauchee Photo fish. With Miljat’s friend and noted musky angler Dave Spano of Elm Grove on board, who has also taken fish in the 50 inch class, we worked the water from 2:30 p.m. until dark.
Although we would be fishing in the wake of a cold front, Miljat felt the “table was set” for a chance at a big fish. “This is a great post-frontal lake,” he said on the water. “We have a north wind which is a big fish wind here. We’re not catching any hammer handle northern pike. They’re not around when the big fish are active.”
“The muskies are not following (the lures). My best days of catching fish are with very few follows. I’ve had 25 follows here in one day without ever having a strike. And I’m not seeing any fish (on electronics) on the secondary break, which tells me those fish are setting up on the deep weed edge. These are ideal conditions for hooking up with a fish over 50 inches.”
In the end, we would not. But a legal musky did nail the bulldawg I was using and ended up posing for a photo in the hands of the guide who makes it all happen. And one thing we still have going for us in Wisconsin in our quest for the ultimate pig.
And that’s…tomorrow.