Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources Outdoor Report summary for October 25, 2012
Short sleeved shirts were replaced by sweaters mid-week as cooler temperatures, and much needed rain moved into the Badger state. The typical autumn weather brings with it a host of outdoor opportunities and, as the days grow shorter, the expectations for the coming deer gun season increase.
The rain finally triggered some fall salmon runs, including Bayfield County tributaries in the northern Lake Superior region and the Lake Michigan region to the south in Milwaukee County.
Overall angling across the state has been a mixed bag. Fishing has been good to excellent on many northern waters, but spotting elsewhere.
Walleye are biting on big minnows in Barron County, smallmouth fishing on the St. Croix, including Polk County is heating up, and musky action is excellent on the Upper Chippewa Basin.
Salmon fishing in Marinette County is slow on the Peshtigo River with some fish being caught drifting spawn or using small Rapala's. Some panfish are still being caught below the Dam using live bait. In Brown County, some walleye, sheephead and perch are being caught on the Fox River from Voyageur Park to the mouth, using live bait and plastics. Fishing on the pier in Milwaukee County has slowed down but a few brown trout can still be caught on spawn or throwing crank baits. The best success has come, or daybreak.
While most of the fall leaves are gone and many birds have migrated out of Wisconsin, some bird watching opportunities remain, including Crex Meadows in the northwest, where some 8,000 sandhill cranes have gathered and Horicon Marsh in the south central where waterfowl have been spreading out into potholes and other freshly saturated areas in the marsh, taking advantage of the smartweed, bidens, nut sedge, and other plants. A few snow, blue and speckle-bellied geese have been seen in the area as well.
Archery, turkey, waterfowl and small game seasons are all in progress, along with the first wolf harvest in modern history. As of Thursday, 24 wolves had been harvested. Twelve by gun and 12 by trap. Four wolves have been taken so far in Bayfield and Price counties and three in Vilas County.
Archery hunters in Pierce and Sauk counties are reporting seeing a lot of deer movement and similar reports in from others, including Waushara County, where bow hunters are having luck grunting bucks, but, like angling, it is a mixed bag across the state. The rut is on, or about to begin across much of the state, including Eau Claire, Lafayette, Polk and Rock counties.
Duck hunters, including Bayfield and Oneida counties in the north, have had mixed success with some diver ducks coming down with the cooler weather we have had recently. To the east, in Shawano County, the ducks have arrived, but to the south, Racine County has not seen a lot of ducks yet, but in Jefferson County conditions are improving.
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