Chequamegon Bay & Hayward, Wisconsin Fishing Report 8-18-14
Morgan reserved her daddy for a day of fishing on Saturday and brought along her good buddies Chloe and Beau Sipsas from Iron River, WI for an afternoon of fishing, swimming, and fun. It’s hard to believe we’re already running out of summer, but these kids weren’t ready to hit the books just yet!!! We pulled up on a mid lake rock pile in 18′ of water, and the action was fast and furious from the start with 75 degree water temps. Slip bobbers baited with nightcrawlers were all we needed to catch a pile of smallies up to 17″ with bobbers going down constantly. That’s the action you want with a crew that has this kind of energy! The kids all did an outstanding job, but I have to report that the boys won… Beau landed the largest fish of the 
day, just a little bigger than his sister’s. Sorry girls… It looks like “Boys Rule!!!” After battling all of those fish, a swim was in order. What a great way to end a great afternoon watching kids be kids. Is there anything better than summer vacation? I don’t think so!!!
Dan Dillon and Amber Christensen from Eau Claire, WI spent Sunday with me on Chequamegon Bay. Apparently fall had arrived early as a strong NE wind had me wishing I had put on my long underwear. It seriously felt like a late September trip. I’m not ready for fall just yet!!! Despite difficult conditions with strong NE winds, we were able to get on some active fish that bit steady throughout the day. Amber and Dan pounded the big smallies and each landed their personal best. Dan boated a brute 
21.5″ fish at the start of the day, and Amber landed a couple of 20.5″ fish in the afternoon. Minnows in 10′ – 30′ of water produced fish all day, and water temps held at 65 degrees. You know it’s a good day when you can end the trip on a pair of doubles! The steady action kept us busy, and we were able to come to one conclusion. The video camera is a curse… If you have it on, you’re not going to get bit!!! Thanks for the awesome day Dan and Amber. You guys were as great as the fishing!
Rich Andres from Vernon Hills, IL returned for another shot at some Wisconsin smallmouth on Monday. Rich and I fished together with his son in law Matt in the Hayward area back in May. We caught some nice pre spawn smallies on that trip, and I could tell Rich was a bronzeback nut. Perfect… With the bite we experienced on Chequamegon Bay the day before, I thought Rich would get a kick out of tangling with some Great Lakes fish. The bite was intense from the start, and we absolutely clobbered them throughout the day. Except for a few slow moments in the afternoon, we were in the middle of a feeding frenzy that kept our lines tight all day long. It was one of those days you’ll always remember as there were stretches where you couldn’t keep a line in the 
water without getting bit. This may have been one of the best August smallmouth days we’ve ever had considering numbers and size of fish. We caught some bruisers up to 20.5″ in 10′ – 25′ of water on minnows as well as drop shot rigs with plastics. There were times when the plastics seemed to be out performing the minnows. Water temps held steady at 65 degrees as dark skies and mist covered us up throughout the day. We were able to beat the storms off the lake at the end of our trip which seemed very fitting. When the fishing gets tough, this is one of those days I’ll look back on to ease the pain. Thanks for a spectacular day Rich. That was one for the books!!!
