Hayward, Wisconsin Fishing Report 9-18-15

Hot and humid temps have continued this week, and the summer of 2015 won’t go away without a fight!  I don’t remember the last time I was wearing shorts in the middle of September, but I’m going to enjoy it while it lasts.  Terry Peterson, Dave Brown and I spent Wednesday and Thursday this week fishing with the Whitfield gang out of Angler’s Haven.  This crew is all about smallmouth bass, and they always seem put some good fish in the boat.  Must be in the blood…  Terry fished with Bill and Ruth from Fayetteville, AR.  Dave fished with Cindy Whitfield from Fayetteville, AR and her cousin Debbie Jolly from Bonifay, FL.  I had newlyweds Cheri and Mark Holzer from Cincinnati, OH with me.  We had stiff south winds for day #1, with 72 degree water temps on one heck of a beautiful day to be fishing.  Our morning was a bit slow as we bounced around from spot to spot catching one here and one there with no consistent pattern to go with.  The afternoon was a different story however.  Dave found a school of fish that had pushed up shallow on some weeds and rocks with the swind, and it  was game on as all three boats got involved in a smallmouth frenzy.  We used minnows with slip bobbers and drop shot rigs in 8′ – 10′ of water to boat a bunch of nice fish up to 20″.  We were busy all afternoon with several doubles and the kind of chaos in the boat that I like.  It was really cool to be able to park the whole gang on one school of fish and watch them have at it.  Neat stuff!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It had to rain…  Of course!!!  A storm system moved in on Thursday, and we spent the entire morning in our trucks with way too much lightning to even attempt putting the boats in.  No worries.  After a few card games in their cabin and one heck of a lunch they served up, we were ready to roll in the afternoon.  We all went directly to the area that had been so productive the day before, and our first cast ended up with a nice 18″ fish at the end of the line.  Again, we were using minnows in 8′ – 10′ of water.  I’m always a bit superstitious when we get one on the first cast…  Yep.  That was it.  We moved around a bit, but couldn’t get another bite.  With more storms rolling in around us we moved around to several different spots, and ended up putting a few more good fish in the net that included a really nice 20″ smallie landed by Cheri.  When we all compared notes at the end of the day, there had been fish caught in anywhere from 8′ – 35′ of water.  Water temps ranged from 70 – 72 degrees.  We’re definitely in a strange pattern right now, and it pays to keep moving.  Don’t get stuck on one thing, and explore every option you have to find active fish.  Even the fish are a bit confused with this weather we’re having!!!  Congratulations to Cheri and Mark, and thanks to the whole Whitfield crew along with Terry and Dave for another great trip.  Mark is a welcome addition, and I’d say that’s one heck of a way to spend a honeymoon.  See you next year gang!!!