Hayward, Wisconsin Fishing Report 9-9-14

Sunday was spent on the water with my dear friends Brent and Bonnie Jacobson from Mauston, WI.  Brent and I grew up together, and we know way more about each other than we probably should…  It’s always great to get Jake 20 back “Up North”, and Bonnie must be one brave gal to jump in the boat with us for two days of war stories!  The weather was absolutely perfect with south winds, sunny skies, and warm temps.  I’m afraid we don’t have many of these left…  We targeted crappies and found a lot of nice fish in 18′ – 20′ of water on jigs and plastics.  Although we caught a few on slip bobbers, vertical jigging was our most productive strategy.  The bite was inconsistent, and we moved quite a bit locating fish on our electronics before setting up.  There was a very distinct window of activity during the late morning, and I’m wondering if that had something to do with the full moon phase.  We had one heck of a flurry before lunch, and then is slowed quite a bit in the afternoon.  By the end of the day, we had plenty in the livewell to clean and send home with the Jacobsons for a fish fry.  Water temps warmed to 66 degrees on an absolutely wonderful day to be on the water with wonderful friends.

Monday brought day #2 of war stories and crappie fishing.  Poor Bonnie!!!  The winds were a bit stiff, but conditions were still very comfortable as we located more fish in 18′ – 20′ of water.  Slip bobbers weren’t effective for us, and everything we caught was vertical jigging plastics.  Again, there was a late morning feeding window that produced most of our fish.  We started out pretty slow, and the light switch turned on around 10 am.  We caught plenty of fish up to 11″ in short order, and wrapped up the day around noon as storms moved in from the west.  More storms…  Water temps held at 66 degrees, and I would expect this deep crappie bite to gradually improve as cooler water temps set in.  Thank you to Bonnie for putting up with Brent and I for two days.  You’re a Saint!!!  Jake 20…  Until we meet again brother…  As my friends headed south for home, I had to check the forecast for the rest of the week.  Are you kidding me???  We’ll keep you posted!