St. Louis River & Hayward, Wisconsin Fishing Report 7-20-14

Much to my dismay, I promised my wife that I’d go to the dentist this week to fix a cracked tooth.  Thankfully Dr. Lawler was able to take care of business on Thursday in short order, and I had the afternoon free.  What else would I do with my free time???  My cousin Mark and his buddy Jerremy Neibert were still in town from Indianapolis, and they met me at the St. Louis River for a little recon in the afternoon.  It worked out perfectly.  After poking around a little, we found lots of nice fish up to 19″ in 5′ – 7′ of water while trolling crankbaits.  It was a sunny day, and water temps climbed from 65 – 68 degrees while we were on the water.  The Indy boys got an opportunity at some nice walleyes, and I had all of the information I needed.  Operation complete!  Mark and Jerremy would be on their way back to Indy with some fillets, and I was prepared for the next day.  It’s always nice when a plan comes together…  Thanks Dr. Lawler for making quick work of my tooth situation.  Much appreciated!!!  Farewell to the Indy boys.  You’ll be missed!

John and Barb Meier from Chippewa Falls, WI joined me on Friday for another day of walleye fishing on the St. Louis River.  With the information I’d gathered from the previous evening, I felt confident we’d have a good day.  Well, we had a good day but had to work a little harder at it than I’d expected.  The morning was extremely slow, and we had only one keeper fish in the livewell at noon.  To their credit, John and Brenda decided to hang in there, and their persistence was rewarded with an excellent afternoon.  We boated many nice fish up to 20″ and the Michigan natives were sent home with some nice fillets.  All of our fish were caught trolling crankbaits in 5′ – 7′ of water.  Water temps ranged from 68 – 70 degrees on an absolutely perfect day in all respects.  Barb and John are awesome folks who know how to have a great time, and it was a pleasure to spend the day with them.  What a great couple…  Lots of fish and lots of laughs!!!  Thanks for a great day guys!

Saturday morning was spent taking care of a sticky note pile on my desk that was completely out of hand.  The afternoon was spent with my favorite partner…  Morgan and I headed to one of our favorite holes close to home and had an absolutely stellar trip.  She deserved it, and I couldn’t  have had a better time with my little girl.  Not so little any more, but still my little girl!  We caught walleyes up to 20″ along weeds in 9′ of water and over rocks in 17′ of water along with a brute 20″ smallie that Morgan cranked in at the end of the day in 8′ of water.  We used slip bobbers rigged with crawlers and leeches to catch all of our fish.  The Morganator did an incredible job of getting back in the saddle, and she sure made her daddy proud.  Water temps held at 71 degrees on a windy and warm day that needed to happen.  All is right with the world again…  What a great day!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Eunice Laakso from Oulu orchestrated a Fathers Day gift for all of her men that was executed perfectly from beginning to end.  Josh Teigen and I teamed up on the St. Louis River to fish with Steve Laakso and Scott Weiss from Oulu, WI; Paul Raunio and Adam Landwehr from Poplar, WI; and Ray Laakso from Superior, WI.  What a crew!!!  We had a blast all day long catching walleyes on crankbaits in 5′ – 7′ of water up to 25″  The Laakso boys know how to have a good time, and they definitely took full advantage of the free pass their “Better Halves” had given them.  Despite east winds, fish bit steady throughout the morning.  There was a bit of a mid day lull, but the action picked up again later in the day.  Water temps ranged from 68 – 70 degrees, and we all shared an extremely enjoyable trip with lots of fun and lots of laughs.  I’m now known as “Mr. Wide Open”, and I’m still trying to figure out who Don is…  Thanks for the great time gang.  We enjoyed every minute of it!!!