Latest On Wisconsin Outdoors Columns
4-6-2012
A note from professional guide Jim Hudson to the Ashland Chamber of Commerce came across our OWO wire too this morning suggesting a promotional push so that the rest of Wisconsin knows about the fabulous Coho fishing in the Ashland Area. “Lots of folks interested,” Hudson wrote to Chamber Executive Director Mary McPhetridge, “And it will last until mid-May and then again in September into October.”
My first thought was Ashland…Chequamegon Bay…Fishing….you could talk about Coho this week and walleyes next week and monster lake trout and on and on and on. I first fished Chequamegon Bay as an outdoor writer about 10 years ago with smallmouth guru Roger LaPenter. I’ve been back at least a dozen times since then. I’ve fished hardwater and open water targeting everything from smelt to Sturgeon. Mostly on the water I’m working the camera and scribbling. But if you’re a Wisconsin angler and you have never fished Chequamegon Bay or got lost on an Ashland area trout stream, do it. You’ll be back. That’s a safer bet than the Vikings not winning a Super Bowl.
I last landed in a boat with Hudson and Professional Guide Aron Kastern on Chequamegon in June of 2011 targeting sturgeon and big pike. A very powerful tide and high winds eventually blew us off our primary targets on the big water but we motored right in to great fishing just off shore throwing crankbaits for big pike and walleyes. We watched some local anglers and friends of Hudson and Kastern wade in off an Ashland beach and murder big pike. One of those boys had a 24 foot boat in his garage but opted for the waders and spinning rod.
The point being Ashland fishing doesn’t discriminate. Show up with your own boat, show up with the money to invest in a day of learning with a great guide, or just show up with your rod and waders or a lawn chair for the beach or pier. Ashland will give you fish. I even catch fish in Ashland. Honest. We’re going to link here to our 2011 trip under “Great Lakes Fishing” but Chequamegon feels like inland fishing. Just a little bigger. Your families will want to join you for the scenery alone and the Ashland Chamber of Commerce will show them plenty to do in addition to fishing. My family goes with me often.
Go north, young man. To Ashland and all the other great places we’ll talk about soon in this Blog and show you too with some of our 1400 columns and photos. We’ll also see you in the field. We don’t stay behind a desk too long. It makes us nervous.
In addition to the Lake Superior action at the top of the map, fishing reports and photos came in again to On Wisconsin Outdoors from the great northwest to Lake Geneva in the south. Find them all posted either under Fishing Reports or Inland Fishing on this site. This week look for advice and updates from experts in Rice Lake, Price County, Minocqua, Wausau, Lake Geneva and Delavan. DNR Fisheries Biologist Ron Bruch sends excellent reports again and outstanding graphics on walleye movement studies underway on the Fox and Wolf Rivers and Lake Winnebago and asks for angler assistance if you happen to catch the tagged fish. As soon as I saw you have to actually catch one to help the program I stopped reading. You should read Bruch’s submission though under “Inland Fishing”. He also has sturgeon spawning activity updates and angling reports. Post-spawn walleye fishing, Bruch says, has been outstanding.
The High School Trapshooting competition results came in to OWO again. When they send, we’ll post, like we will for your outdoor organization. You can look for the shooters regularly under “Firearms”, where also this week you’ll find an encouraging notice from the National Shooting Sports Foundation regarding the legal protection of our 2nd Amendment rights.
Check out Outdoor News too for DNR updates on many items of interest including the upcoming spring hearings, and see two new posts on Upland Game. The Ruffed Grouse Society is holding a fund raising event in Superior they would like you to know about and Pheasants Forever reminds us that habitat planted now means pheasant survival later. You can buy PF seed too, if you like, or shop around. Regardless, on behalf of all those birds I’m going to shoot because of your efforts to keep them alive…thank you, from the bottom of my double-barrel. Well, I’ll scare them anyway….
- He is the Lord your God. Do not have strange gods before him.
- Do not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.
- Remember to keep Holy the Lord’s Day.
- Honor your father and your mother.
- You shall not kill.
- You shall not commit adultery.
- You shall not steal.
- You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
- You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife.
- You shall not covet your neighbor’s goods.
A safe Easter week to you and your families. May a true compass guide their path.
Dick Ellis