Chequamegon Bay & Hayward, Wisconsin Fishing Report 9-14-15

Ok, maybe we jumped the gun on fall arriving a little.  Jeez…  This is crazy!!!  Hot temps and sunny skies have prolonged our summer and made things interesting on the water for sure.  My good friend and customer Corbin Shouse from Houston, TX returned on Saturday and brought along his friend Noel Vincent who is from Houston as well.  Corbin is a big smallie guy, and he has a history of putting some big fish in the net on Chequamegon Bay.  We had high skies, warm temps, and light winds for an absolutely gorgeous day to be on the bay.  The fishing was a bit tough however…  We found some nice fish and had fairly steady action in the morning that included a 22″ monster landed by Noel.  That’s our fourth 22″ fish of the year after being blanked last year.  Go figure???  The afternoon bite slowed to a crawl, and we had a very difficult time finding active fish as we used minnows in 12′ – 30′ of water over rocks, weeds, and steep breaks.  We did have one heck of a lesson in movie/music trivia however which passed the time between bites…  Water temps held around 61 degrees.  Noel saved the afternoon by landing a fat 21″ fish late in the day that made all of the bouncing around worth it.  Not a bad day for a guy who’s never caught a smallmouth before…  Way to go Noel!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Big winds were in the forecast for Sunday, and there was no way were were going to get on big water.  Corbin and Noel were back in my boat, and we decided to try some inland crappie fishing.  We started out the day locating suspended fish in 20′ – 25′ of water, and put a few nice slabs in the boat right off the bat.  Nice start, but that was it.  We searched and searched but couldn’t find anything that was worth spending time on.  Off to Plan C…  We switched lakes and got into one heck of an early fall smallie bite fishing weeds and rocks in anywhere from 5′ – 25′ of water with minnows.  Water temps hit 68 degrees on another warm and sunny day.  We put a lot of fish up to 20″ in the net along with a few doubles and some chaotic moments along the way.  It was one heck of a way to end two days with two awesome guys.  As an added bonus, I received a few grilling tips from these Texans that are going to take our lunches to another level…  Thanks for two great days Corbin and Noel.  Congrats on some super fish and safe travels!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jesse Bohn and his 10 yr. old son Tyler from Stetsonville, WI returned on Monday for a shot at a 20″ smallie in Chequamegon Bay.  This duo joined me last year for a productive day, but we weren’t able to crack the mark that Jesse’s been shooting for.  Even though we had some big winds in the forecast, I was confident we could get to the areas we needed to fish.  We were able to pull it off, but not by much…  It was a full contact fishing morning as we got on a bunch of active fish in 12′ – 15′ of water with minnows, but the wind made every bite an adventure.  We were able to work it out though and put some very nice fish in the boat.  Tyler did one heck of a job following directions and put some dandy smallies in the net.  I think this kid may be trying to take my job some day…  Our morning was topped off with Jesse reaching his goal and landing a 21 1/2″ beast of a fish.  I’ve never seen a smallmouth that big rocket out of the water like that one did.  Very cool and mission accomplished!  Our afternoon was much slower as the winds laid down, and the bite cooled off.  We missed a few short hits, but a father son/double along with a late day rally finished up a great day.  Congratulations on your trophy Jesse, and job well done Tyler.   You guys are awesome!!!