Hayward, Chequamegon Bay, & St. Louis River, Wisconsin Fishing Report 6-26-15

Lots of fish and lots of fun this week.  Apparently my complaining about the rain in my last report paid off…  I haven’t had to put my rain gear on in for days!!!  Craig Toycen from Bloomer Ford in Bloomer, WI returned and brought his wife Holly along on Tuesday.  Even though Craig is a “wrong hander”, we still like having him in the boat…  We started the day fishing crappies in the Hayward area and found some really nice fish up to 13″, but it was a slow bite as we worked plastics and slip bobbers in 8′ – 12′ of water over weeds.  Plan B for the afternoon was to see if the walleyes would cooperate on a different lake.  Good choice!  We found plenty of cooperative fish up to 20″ in 15′ – 18′ over weeds on slip bobbers and leeches.  A few nice bass up to 18″ of each variety even joined the party to make it a mixed bag bonanza.  Water temps ranged from 69 – 70 degrees on an absolutely stellar day in every respect.  If you’re in the market for a new vehicle, give Craig a call.  The Toycen’s have taken incredible care of me over the past few years, and I wouldn’t think of going anywhere else.  They’re the best!  Congrats to Craig and Holly on an outstanding day, and thanks for the great time!

Cindy Franchek from Dallas, TX caught the biggest crappie I’d ever seen last year, and she returned with her family for their annual trip.  Richard, Cindy, and Coleman (otherwise known as Colton) were with us on Wednesday, and we fished the Hayward area with walleyes on the brain.  Good thing, because they were cooperative.  We had steady action throughout the morning catching fish up to 18″ over weeds in 15′ – 18′ of water on slip bobbers and leeches.  Water temps were 69 – 71 degrees.  A few nice smallmouth up to 18″ showed up as well, and we saw an absolutely incredible musky surface right next to the boat.  I wrote about a monster musky 2 years ago during this same time frame, and I believe this may be the same fish.  Guess where I’ll be in October???  With an excellent afternoon in the bag, we decided to try another lake for the PM shift.  A rain storm popped up as we got to the landing and kept us in the truck for awhile, but it didn’t stop us from putting some nice walleyes up to 18″ in the net to end the day on slip bobbers and leeches in 6′ – 8′ of water.  Coleman drilled a “last cast bass” and landed a brute 20.5″ smallmouth to end an absolutely excellent trip.  Every day spent with the Franchek’s is great, and this was no different.  Take care of those Olympic medals Cindy…  See you next year!!!

Tom O’Neill from Duluth, MN has always heard about the great smallmouth fishing on Chequamegon Bay, and he finally got to experience it.  His wife Laurie bought him a gift certificate for his birthday, and we spent a gorgeous Thursday afternoon on the bay catching some really nice fish up to 20.5″ on plastics, crankbaits, and minnows in 5′ – 7′ of water.  It was a funny bite though, and we probably missed as many as we caught as they were kind of “nippy”.  We’d get into a few active fish and cover some water until the next bunch.  Keep moving til you find them, and move on when the bite slows… Water temps ranged from 70 – 72 degrees.  Thanks to Tom and Laurie for a really enjoyable afternoon.  Good folks, good weather, and good fish…  You guys were great, and I’m looking forward to doing it again!

 

 

 

 

Matt Tande from The Hunt brought his father Gary and brother Dylan from Mondovi, WI fishing with us last year, and we had a slow morning with a great finish.  Fast forward to 2015…  We finally had a chance to fish the St. Louis River and thought we’d give it a shot, but it was over before it started.  Muddy water from recent rains, fog, and mayflies everywhere made for extremely tough conditions that resulted in one 23″ fish landed and one lost all morning on crankbaits in 4′ -8′ of water.  Water temps were 66 – 69 degrees, and we decided to pull the pin at noon to head inland.  That decision saved the day as we got into some really nice fish throughout the afternoon up to 20″ along weed edges in 7′ – 8′ of water on slip bobbers and leeches.  The Tande boys taught em a lesson and put together one heck of an afternoon.  Just like I planned it…  Not really!!!  Water temps ranged from 72 – 74 degrees as we had bright sun and light winds.  Once again the Tandes made it happen, and I’m not surprised!  What a great afternoon spent with some really good guys.  Open that bail Gary, and let em run…  I’ll see you next year boys!!!