Chequamegon Bay & Hayward, Wisconsin Fishing Report 8-28-15

Prior commitments and some family time took us off the water for a few days over the past week, but we are back in full swing.  The Big Tine crew arrived for a two day trip with Jackson and Jordan Ryley from Clinton, IN first in the boat.  We had classic post front conditions on Wednesday with cool temps, high skies and light north winds follwing four days of stormy/windy weather.  Jackson is a bass junkie, and our first option was to show him some of the giants we have on Chequamegon Bay.  That turned out to be nothing but a two hour boat ride…  Little wind and water temps down to 50 degrees told us in a hurry that we needed to move on.  We’re gonna need to let things settle down out there for a few days…  Inland we went, and the move paid off.  After some searching and experimenting, we were able to put a pretty consistent pattern together catching fish up to 18″ in 3′ – 8′ of water on plastics.  It wasn’t easy however, and we worked hard for every fish we had along with plenty of short hits and misses.  Every fish we caught was holding tight to cover (rocks, wood, etc.), and only well placed casts were rewarded.  The Ryleys put it together, and Jordan was kind enough to let Jackson have most of the glory.  What a nice wife!  Water temps started at 63 degrees and hit 65 by the end of the day.  That’s a fifteen degree swing from a week ago!  Leaves are starting to change, and the loons are starting to bunch up.  Fall is in the air…  Thanks Ryleys for a really fun day!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Doug Ray from Beecher City, IL, and Mike Bassett from Rockville, IN were slotted for Thursday.  Mike has been fishing with us for 20 years now, and his arrival always means one thing…  We’ll be fishing walleyes!  Mike always has walleyes on the brain, and he usually gets his fish.  This year would be no different.  Doug had never been walleye fishing before, but it didn’t take him long to get the hang of it.  We didn’t even have all of our lines out, and he had a bite.  Even though we missed that fish, Doug was into another one on his very next cast.  This time he connected, and his first walleye was in the net.  Not a bad start!  We had pretty consistent action throughout the rest of the morning, with Mike landing a really fat 22″ fish that has without a doubt been eating well this summer.  All of our fish came from 30′ – 35′ of water on jigs and minnows.  The bite slowed around noon as we headed into lunch, and that was probably a sign of what was to come.  We marked plenty of fish in the afternoon, but the walleye bite was done.  We were only able to muster a few short hits and a couple of small bass.  It was a typical late August day with a very distinct feeding window when the fish were aggressive.  When the window shuts, it can get tough.  The weather was spectacular with temps in the mid 70’s and water temps climbed to 68 degrees by the end of the day.  Good weather, great company, and a few walleyes to go along with it.  Not a bad day I’d say…  One thing’s for sure.  Mike Bassett always gets his walleye!