Hayward, Wisconsin Fishing Report 10-21-15

I kind of thought this might happen…  Our extremely warm September pushed the fall big fish bite back into a short window in October.  Good news is that we’ve been able to take advantage of it.  Comfortable temperatures this week have made it a dream to be on the water, and I only wish it could always be like this!!!  Jerry Kitto from McClusky, ND brought along his son Jeff from Bozeman, MT for a three day musky quest this week.  Jerry recently retired from his veterinary practice, and his staff was kind enough to purchase a trip with us for him.  I’m glad they did!  The musky munch continued in the Hayward area as we spent Monday dragging suckers and throwing baits.  It didn’t take long for Jerry to get his first fish in the boat when a nice high 30’s fish took a sucker.  Jeff followed up with a long 45″ fish on a sucker right before lunch.  Both were the Kitto’s first muskies, and it was one heck of a way to get our trip started.  In the afternoon, Jerry was able to put another high 30’s fish with a big gut in the boat.  A couple of other grabs and drops made for an interesting day, and the Kitto men accounted well for themselves on their first ever musky trip.  The bite has definitely turned toward live bait as we had a tough time moving anything on lures with only one lazy follow on a crankbait.  Water temps ranged from 50 – 53 degrees, and we found most of our fish close to weed edges in 10′ of water.  Not a bad start fellas!

 

 

 

 

 

 

We switched lakes on Tuesday, and spent the morning washing baits and dragging suckers without a sniff.  East winds and cool temps seemed to have things on lock down, and I had a feeling that a move was in order.  For the p.m. shift we went back to the lake that had treated us well on the day before, and it didn’t take long to get the right result.  I dropped a sucker in on the first spot, and it got smoked before I even had a chance to turn around.  Jeff was on the the rod and slammed the hooks home to a really good 44″ fish.  I guess we made the right move…  Jerry was able to add another high 30’s fish late in the afternoon to bring their total to 5 muskies landed in two days with two over 40″.  Water temps continued to hover in the low 50’s, and we’re still finding fish along weed edges in 5′ – 15′ of water.  It remains tough to budge fish on baits however, and all of our action came on suckers.  For not having musky fished before, I’d say the Kitto men are “All In”!  These are the kind of guys you love to spend a day on the water with.  There were lots of laughs between fish, and they executed extremely well when we had opportunities.  What a great two days with some really good fish.  What would we do for day #3???

 

 

 

Walleyes it was….  Jerry and Jeff decided that it was time to see what else northern Wisconsin had to offer, and they wanted to see what the walleyes were up to in the Hayward area.  We used jigs and minnows in 25′ – 30′ of water and found them in a stubborn mood to start the day.  Jerry landed a nice 20″ fish right away, but things got tough after that.  It wasn’t hard to find fish on the graph, but they were less than cooperative.  A late morning rush got things going however when we found a good bunch of fish that included a 28″ brute landed by Jeff and a fat pike landed by Jerry.  For a guy who doesn’t fish much,  Jeff seems to be catching an awful lot of big fish…  Winds kicked up in the afternoon and switched to the northwest, but the Kittos were able to battle through it and put more nice walleyes in the boat including a great looking 29″ eyeball landed by Jerry late in the day.  It was a tough bite with lots of short hits and misses, but I was proud of the guys for hanging in there and putting one heck of a day together.  Water temps continued to hold in the low 50’s.  What an awesome three day blast with the Kitto men, and I certainly look forward to having these guys back in my boat again.  I just hope my gut can take all of the laughing…  It’s a good thing I was there fellas!!!