2600 Miles of Wisconsin Hunting & Fishing
Guide Ron Bergman shows another crappie caught on the Chippewa Flowage.
The miles piled up on the odometer in recent weeks as the Wisconsin hunting seasons collided with the fishing seasons and the invitations came in from across Wisconsin to cover stories. I landed on the Chippewa Flowage with guide Ron Bergman and OWO contributing writer Ron Klimcke to land a story on the lost art of jig fishing. Then teal and goose hunted on Pool 9 of the Mississippi with OWO columnist and waterfowl guide Todd Lensing.
Ron Klimcke jigs for walleyes on the Chippewa Flowage.
Klimcke scores another walleye.
In between was delivery of 10,000 copies of our September-October issue. Find it now, if you hurry, in any Kwik Trip or O’Reilly Auto Parts store. We leave Wednesday to cover the bear hunt with Mike Foss and company near Washburn in Bayfield County, and on the way home will also canoe and smallmouth bass fish the Embarrass River with guide and OWO contributing writer Gordon Pagel.
Gordy Pagel knows how to catch…and release… smallies on river float trips.
Micah and I are also going to bunk with my brother Steve Ellis at his Iron County cabin. Since we’re bored with nothing to do, I also smell a grouse hunt brewing. Foliage is thick but we’ll be walking the logging roads with a point and squeeze fast, early season mentality. Besides, it’s nice to break the ice on the season, which we’re also doing in southern Wisconsin corn country on mourning doves.
Travel time has taken away some of my blog time. All of this field time is either posted now throughout our website or will be soon in the form of stories and photos. In the meantime a few of the notable highlights: Ron Bergman claimed to be feeding pair of eagles and a loon nicknamed Marilynn just because he’s been fishing the Chippewa Flowage so long and these critters, according to Ron, know his boat. I thought Ron was pulling my leg. Well, as we pulled anchor and prepared to leave one lake on the flowage, Ron’s whistle immediately brought two eagles from about 300 yards from their perch on a treetop to 10 yards from the boat to take a crappie lunch back to the perch to feast.
This eagle was whistled in to a crappie lunch by Ron Bergman.
Two hours later, an explosion of water from the depths 15 yards from the boat and the appearance of a loon inspired Berman’s comment, “Well, where have you been Marilynn?” The guide then fed his longtime friend 2 dead crappies, one at a time, which, he said, is normally a 3-fish meal to satisfy Marilynn’s tenacious appetite. “She knows my boat,” he said. “She first took a fish from my hand three years ago and we have been friends ever since.” As you can guess, Marilynn was also receptive to posing for my camera, close up and personal.
Ron Bergman greets his longtime friend Marilynn with lunch.
The loon shows the guide total trust and accepts another crappie before settling in a short distance from the boat to eat.
Pool 9 on the Big River near Ferryville was oven-hot and uncooperative with few teal having moved south to date from their nesting territories and few geese cooperating with the Lensing spread of decoys. John Ellis also joined the hunt with Lensing. We did take one green wing teal and one goose, and should have taken several more teal that surprised us and another goose that we missed. But the hunt was very slow, especially in comparison to what hunters can expect to find in a Lensing blind in the months to come. Still, you can’t help but have fun with Lensing, and on most days the barrels are hot.
The Todd Lensing spread of geese and teal waits for birds on the wing.
Lensing is booked through the season, because he’s that good, on this prime canvasback flyway that also offers every other species frequenting Wisconsin. After our hunt we cruised though Pool 9 backwater and kicked up literally hundreds of wood ducks feeding and resting in the timber. It’s going to be quite a season.
Todd Lensing has one good dog in Stoner, who retrieved our only goose.
Mike Foss sends us video of one of the 500 pound bears coming to bait on the eve of the Wisconsin baiting season. See that video on our homepage, along with a brief description of what you’re looking at. We join Northern Wisconsin Outfitters in Lake Superior country beginning Wednesday to capture the bear hunt. Expect big bears and lots of bears tagged with approximately 20 hunters in camp.
This bear with blaze markings on his chest is one of scores of bears coming to the many bait stations of Northern Wisconsin Outfitters.
Like I always tell Mike when we head out, often at night, to recover these monster bears. “I’m right behind you Mike.” Do you know that mathematics tell us we only have to be faster than one other hunter when running from a bear? Mike is pretty easy to trip too.
This week in particular I recommend checking out Inland Fishing on this website for fish stories galore ranging from cats to sturgeon, pike to crappie, muskies to walleye, and Outdoor News which sadly includes the details of the numerous bear hounds killed this season by wolves in the counties of northern Wisconsin.
Connect with Northern Wisconsin Outfitters at northernwisconsinoutfitters.com or 715-373-0344. Connect with Todd Lensing and Donna Lensing and Flyway Fowling Guide Service and Grandview Motel in Ferryville at 608-734-3235. Connect with Ron Bergman’s Guide Service at 715-945-2735. Connect with Gordy Pagel’s Guide Service at 920-841-2118, gpagel44@gmail.com ,
ARiverGuide.com and Facebook, too, as ARiverguide.com.
Thanks for connecting with On Wisconsin Outdoors. Shoot straight.
Dick Ellis