Hard Fishing on the Hard Water
Coyotes, sturgeon hunting looms
Pewaukee Lake in Waukesha County wasn’t very generous to our group last Saturday participating in Curly’s Waterfront Sports Bar & Grill ice Fisheree. And solely judging from discussions with people coming and going on ATVs, cross-country skis, on foot or snow mobiles, we weren’t the only anglers dealing with lock-jaw disease.
Rich Heitman finds nobody home as usual under another tip-up set on Pewaukee Lake Saturday.
Mike Ingram breaks the ice with a small musky that is slipped back home after a quick photo.
Our group consisted of Kaitlyn Witt, Scott Heitman, Dave Dufek, Rich Heitman, Ty Kinziger, Andy Kemp, Zak Mackin and Mike Ingram. We were jigging and also had about a dozen tip-ups set. Some perch cooperated, we ran to the occasional false alarms with no takers despite flags tripped and the mad rush to see what was visiting the tip-ups, and a small musky was good enough to pose for a photo before she was slipped back home.
Andy Kemp takes a few perch while jigging on Pewaukee Lake during Curly’s Sports Bar & Grill Ice Fisheree Saturday.
Even without fish, how bad can a day on the ice really be, especially when we were calling for a Packer win the following day? (Poll question: Would you rather have watched that last 4 minutes….or take a 2 x 4 to the mouth?) Our group highlights centered around the grill. Ty Kinziger worked it to perfection and we ate, and ate, and then we ate. Hot dogs, burgers, Italians, venison hot sticks and the side snacks made up at least a bit for the fish fry that wasn’t…….
Kaitlyn Witt and Ty Kinziger take a break from fishing and wait for Italians and hot dogs sizzling on the grill.
Are you ready for the sturgeon spearing season to begin Valentine’s Day, February 14, on the Winnebago system? Ryan Koenigs, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources Winnebago system sturgeon biologist, said the coming season is shaping up to provide ample opportunity to land the fish of a lifetime while enjoying a tradition that brings together family and friends.
The 2015 spearing season begins on Valentine’s Day. Hug and kiss your favorite sturgeon.
"Our sturgeon population is very healthy right now, consisting of roughly 43,000 adult fish, and we know there are also unprecedented numbers of large, trophy-sized fish," Koenigs said. "Favorable conditions contributed to the record harvest of 106 fish 100 pounds and larger during the 2014 sturgeon spearing season on the Winnebago system."
As a result of an increasing sturgeon population, the system-wide harvest caps will be raised for the 2015 season to 430 juvenile females, 878 adult females and 1,250 males. These caps are then allocated to the two separate spearing seasons for Lake Winnebago and the Upriver Lakes, with participation in the Upriver Lakes season determined by lottery. Both spearing seasons begin on Feb. 14, 2015. Watch for regular DNR postings leading up to the season on this website under “Inland Fishing”. I will also be on the ice as usual with my camera to bring you the opening day stories.
I will be heading out as cameraman and reporter to cover Terry Russ’s effort to call in a take a coyote in the coming weeks. Terry is a coyote expert who hunts in both Wisconsin and other states like New Mexico in 2014. Terry will be using the Midwest Industries AR15 built by OWO firearms writer Stuart Wilkerson. We’ll keep you posted.
January is generally the onset of coyote and red fox breeding cycles, according to the Wisconsin DNR. Cold, crisp winter nights afford opportunities to listen for barks of red fox or the high pitched yipping of coyotes. Pup litters of both species are born in March of April.
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Thanks too for connecting with On Wisconsin Outdoors. Shoot straight.
Dick Ellis