Hayward, Wisconsin Fishing Report 6-22-15

We’ve got a lot to cram into this report…  Our crazy weather continues with fronts blowing through every other day, and the rain gear has been getting a good work out.  I Wouldn’t mind if we could put it away for awhile.  Just sayin…  Friday brought sunny skies and warm temps.  It was a perfect day to take my nephews and niece out on the water.  Shift #1 included my brother in law Joe O’Leary with his sons Jack and Charlie from Evanston, IL.  This is one heck of a fish catching crew, and they made me proud once again.  We searched for spawning bluegills and found a bunch in 2′ – 5′ of water catching them the old fashioned way with chunks of nightcrawlers.  It still works!  The boys landed some nice fish up to 10″, and we had 70′ water temps.  After the O’Learys wore them out in the morning, the Dunlavy gang jumped in for the afternoon.  Brother in law Myke (Washington D.C.) along with Jimmy and Ella pounded the spawning bluegills up to 10″, and we had enough time to try for “big fish” at the end of the day.  Jimmy landed his first walleye, a fat 17″ fish that grabbed a leach under a slip bobber in 7′ of water.  The only problem with our day was that it didn’t last long enough.  I’m so proud of these kiddos and can’t wait to see them again.  Great job gang!

Saturday was spent in the Hayward Area again, and rain gear was an essential piece of equipment.  Dave Konieczny (Medford, WI) and his son in law Bill Peterson (Marshfield, WI) spent a soggy morning with me in search of walleyes.  We found willing participants in 6′ – 8′ of water using jigs/minnows along with slip bobbers and leeches over weeds.  Fish up to 19″ bit steady throughout the morning, and the guys had caught their fill by noon.  The driving rain finally broke for us, and we went after crappies when lunch was over.  The action wasn’t crazy, but it was good.  We caught fish up to 12″ on plastics and slip bobbers in 5′ of water.  Bill also caught the best bluegill of the day, and I landed the best turtle.  Only me…  Water temps ranged from 66 – 68 degrees.  Great job by two really good guys.  I had a great time and look forward to seeing you again fellas!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Father’s day was spent with one heck of a father son combination.  Ken Custer (Chippewa Falls, WI) cashed in his gift certificate given to him by his sons Doug (Chippewa Falls, WI) and Darryl (Elk Mound, WI).  Sunny skies returned with calm winds, and the steady walleye bite we had went funky on us.  We caught fish throughout the day, but it was one here and one there as we covered a lot of ground to land fish up to 17″.  Two was the most we caught on any spot as we used jigs/minnows and slip bobbers/leeches in 6′ – 8′ of water.  We broke up the day with some crappie fishing and landed a nice bunch of fish up to 12″ in 5′ of water with plastics and slip bobbers, but even the slabs were a little goofy.  We’d get them in bunches with some dry spells in between.  The best part of the day had to be when a loon decided we’d had enough fun and completely blew out a hot school of fish we were on.  I’d stay away from my boat in the future Mr. Loon!!!  Water temps ranged from 68 – 71 degrees on a great day with good guys and a ton of laughs.  Thanks for the excellent time fellas.  That’s how a Father’s Day should be spent!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The rain returned on Monday just in time for Mark Hayman (Siren, WI) and his son Levi (9 yrs old) to return for their annual trip.  Levi is a top notch angling prospect, and I’ll just let the pictures speak for themselves.  His father has done one heck of a job turning this kid into a fishing machine, and he put on one heck of a performance once again.  We spent the morning catching smallmouth up to 20″ on plastics in 5′ – 10′ of water.  With plenty of fish caught by noon, we decided to switch to walleye gear in the afternoon.  Gusty winds made it a bit difficult to fish many of the spots we tried to get at, and our walleye mission quickly turned into a big toothy party.  Levi tied into a mid 40’s musky on light tackle and did an outstanding job fighting this fish for several minutes before his line was snipped.  We were so close to landing that fish, and Levi couldn’t have battled it any better.  I was sure proud of him, and he deserved to catch it.  His pop has caught quite a few big muskies with me over the years, and I have a feeling Levi may have just gotten the bug!!!  Shortly after we lost the musky, Levi landed a 35″ pike on light tackle while we were ending the day catching crappies.  What a crazy ending to a fantastic day.  Our crappies ranged from 10″ – 12″ and were caught in 5′ of water on plastics and slip bobbers.  Water temps ranged from 67 – 70 degrees as anther round of storms chased us off the lake at the end of the day.  Once again, Levi was amazing, and we broke our record for most fish caught.  That musky better be worried next year boys!