Thanks so much for the response Greg. I reckon people are driving ATVs and UTVs over the channel?
Just trying to get 1 more good outing in before the heatwave we are getting next week.
THE 2024 TAHOE
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Thursday 1/11/24
What a difference a couple of weeks can make. We got a lot of ice her here folks and it's good clear ice. Inches wise it could be anywhere from 5 to 10" reported. Last week they were hitting golf balls out on the Willow Flowage from shore. You can get some good distance under those conditions. I was invited out but when they told me it was one hit per ball I told them I get enough of that in the summertime, so no... But now the ice is good and the fish are coming from all over the place and under many conditions depending on the day and time of day. We even have a little snow now to make the ice a little less greasy on top. A few lakes have ATVs and Snowmobile travel right now and I'm sure there is a truck or two out there somewhere, also. This vehicle travel will increase every day now. The forecast shows ice making temps for as far out as we can see.
Let's just talk about the flowages today so we can get a little more detailed. Appiy this info to any dark colored body of water.
All species are pretty active but not all day. Same story as always, low light early and late are your best times but some can still be had during the middle of the cloudy days. Flashy baits are still king. Flashy, meaning a little spoon is on the bait that flutters and flashes as the bait moves. Flashy just sound better than fluttery. Hammered jigs and spoons have the same effect.
Crappies are suspended about 4-6' off the bottom chasing jigged minnows and flashy jigs tipped with spikes or waxies. Tip downs and Jaw-Jackers with crappie minnows or rosie reds are also working well.
Gills are prevalent in 12 to 14' of water mostly hanging near wood on the bottom. Again, flashy jigs or spoons tipped with bugs including mousees, work well. Tip downs, rod-bouncers, Automatic Fisherman and Jaw-Jackers with minnow heads, bugs and beavertails or chena bait on a small jig or bare hook are also working well.
Walleyes are still in the 4 to 8' depths with the bigger ones during the day in the 12-16' depths. Spread out with Jaw-Jackers, Automatic Fisherman and tip-ups to increase your chance of landing one. Tip your (small) treble hook with shiners, chubs or suckers on rig with a flashy spoon for the best chance.
Northern are all of the above! Most seem to be hanging of points 4 to 6' off the bottom. The flashy stuff is crazy not to use here all year round.
Perch of course love the wigglers. But as all of you know wigglers can get expensive as they don't last very long on the hook and it's rare to get more than one fish off a wiggler. But all the bug setups for panfish listed above will work also. Find the mud. Small minnow on a bottom bouncing spoon work great, too.
Speaking of perch, if you have a tip-up or two frequently going off but not much line being taken out and no fish, it's probably a perch. I always have a medium jigging pole with a spoon type bait tipped with a minnow head ready to jig down that hole right after I clear the line out. This is a very successful tactic.
Again, as far as jigs and lures go, seems the best ones now are the ones with diamond sequences on the front (Jake's diamond jigs, Clam Epoxy Drop) or ones that have a small spoon attached (lethal cecil, gill-getters, tikka flash, pinhead minnows).
Enjoy the conditions while you can. You know the northwoods. It can change in a hurry.
------------
We have a few musky suckers left right now for $1 each.
We are bumping up the February end of season sale to NOW. Come on in the store to check it out. We are adding new items every day to the specials list. They are also on the website. While you're on the site make sure to sign up for our newsletters so you will be the first to know when we add more items.
Right now for live bait we have Jumbo Crawlers, Small crawlers, Panfish Worms, Wax worms, White, Red, Blue, Green, Orange, Yellow, Pink & Multi-colored Spikes, Crappie Minnows, Regular Fatheads, XL Fatheads, Blacktails, Rosie Reds, Walleye Suckers, Northern bait, Medium and Large River Shiners and Golden Shiners, Wigglers and Mousees.
Our hours are:
Monday thru Thursday - 6am to 6pm
Friday - 6am to 7pm
Saturday & Sunday - 6am to 5pm
We have to continue to squelch a few rumors. The shop is for sale. Business is great but Linda and I are ready to ease into retirement. WE ARE NOT GOING OUT OF BUSINESS! If you have an interest in owning and operating the largest non-franchised bait shop in Wisconsin, call our Realtor, Eric Johnson, at 715-892-1234 or call Jeff at 715-892-2751.
Jeff Bolander, owner of Dewey, Catchem and How Bait Shop and Guide Post
715-892-2751 cell
www.DeweyCatchemAndHow.com
What a difference a couple of weeks can make. We got a lot of ice her here folks and it's good clear ice. Inches wise it could be anywhere from 5 to 10" reported. Last week they were hitting golf balls out on the Willow Flowage from shore. You can get some good distance under those conditions. I was invited out but when they told me it was one hit per ball I told them I get enough of that in the summertime, so no... But now the ice is good and the fish are coming from all over the place and under many conditions depending on the day and time of day. We even have a little snow now to make the ice a little less greasy on top. A few lakes have ATVs and Snowmobile travel right now and I'm sure there is a truck or two out there somewhere, also. This vehicle travel will increase every day now. The forecast shows ice making temps for as far out as we can see.
Let's just talk about the flowages today so we can get a little more detailed. Appiy this info to any dark colored body of water.
All species are pretty active but not all day. Same story as always, low light early and late are your best times but some can still be had during the middle of the cloudy days. Flashy baits are still king. Flashy, meaning a little spoon is on the bait that flutters and flashes as the bait moves. Flashy just sound better than fluttery. Hammered jigs and spoons have the same effect.
Crappies are suspended about 4-6' off the bottom chasing jigged minnows and flashy jigs tipped with spikes or waxies. Tip downs and Jaw-Jackers with crappie minnows or rosie reds are also working well.
Gills are prevalent in 12 to 14' of water mostly hanging near wood on the bottom. Again, flashy jigs or spoons tipped with bugs including mousees, work well. Tip downs, rod-bouncers, Automatic Fisherman and Jaw-Jackers with minnow heads, bugs and beavertails or chena bait on a small jig or bare hook are also working well.
Walleyes are still in the 4 to 8' depths with the bigger ones during the day in the 12-16' depths. Spread out with Jaw-Jackers, Automatic Fisherman and tip-ups to increase your chance of landing one. Tip your (small) treble hook with shiners, chubs or suckers on rig with a flashy spoon for the best chance.
Northern are all of the above! Most seem to be hanging of points 4 to 6' off the bottom. The flashy stuff is crazy not to use here all year round.
Perch of course love the wigglers. But as all of you know wigglers can get expensive as they don't last very long on the hook and it's rare to get more than one fish off a wiggler. But all the bug setups for panfish listed above will work also. Find the mud. Small minnow on a bottom bouncing spoon work great, too.
Speaking of perch, if you have a tip-up or two frequently going off but not much line being taken out and no fish, it's probably a perch. I always have a medium jigging pole with a spoon type bait tipped with a minnow head ready to jig down that hole right after I clear the line out. This is a very successful tactic.
Again, as far as jigs and lures go, seems the best ones now are the ones with diamond sequences on the front (Jake's diamond jigs, Clam Epoxy Drop) or ones that have a small spoon attached (lethal cecil, gill-getters, tikka flash, pinhead minnows).
Enjoy the conditions while you can. You know the northwoods. It can change in a hurry.
------------
We have a few musky suckers left right now for $1 each.
We are bumping up the February end of season sale to NOW. Come on in the store to check it out. We are adding new items every day to the specials list. They are also on the website. While you're on the site make sure to sign up for our newsletters so you will be the first to know when we add more items.
Right now for live bait we have Jumbo Crawlers, Small crawlers, Panfish Worms, Wax worms, White, Red, Blue, Green, Orange, Yellow, Pink & Multi-colored Spikes, Crappie Minnows, Regular Fatheads, XL Fatheads, Blacktails, Rosie Reds, Walleye Suckers, Northern bait, Medium and Large River Shiners and Golden Shiners, Wigglers and Mousees.
Our hours are:
Monday thru Thursday - 6am to 6pm
Friday - 6am to 7pm
Saturday & Sunday - 6am to 5pm
We have to continue to squelch a few rumors. The shop is for sale. Business is great but Linda and I are ready to ease into retirement. WE ARE NOT GOING OUT OF BUSINESS! If you have an interest in owning and operating the largest non-franchised bait shop in Wisconsin, call our Realtor, Eric Johnson, at 715-892-1234 or call Jeff at 715-892-2751.
Jeff Bolander, owner of Dewey, Catchem and How Bait Shop and Guide Post
715-892-2751 cell
www.DeweyCatchemAndHow.com
We all knew it would happen but we're never ready or accepting of it. Cold and snow. Yes it did snow this morning and its after noon and it's still on my deck. Yuck. First thing that comes to mind when this happens is please be careful walking around in you boat. It won't take much for a slick spot to put you on your butt. Ouch! Looking out over the next couple of weeks the weather man's guesstimations are for lows in the low 20's and highs in the low 30's. That'll help bring down those water temps from their current middle and upper 40's. (Please don't start calling the shop yet asking for ice conditions).
Fishing is still pretty good. We had one heck of a rain day last Wednesday which really put the flowages and rivers on the rise. The Rainbow has risen over 2.5' since Wednesday, now down 7.5'. I was out with clients on Thursday and you could watch the sand bars disappearing. I've never found the fishing to be to good when there is a quick big change in depth on the flowages. We got our fish that day but they were spooky. You couldn't only get within about 50' of them. The Livescope came in handy again. We had to throw slip bobbers at them cuz they just wouldn't stay close.
It seems that almost all of the lakes are done turning over. If I was going to choose a lake to fish now it would be a smaller one that has turned over at least a week or so ago. The smaller lake would have a better chance of holding fish that are acclimated to the change by now.
Not much has changed as far as baits used or how species of fish are reacting to those baits. It's still a mixed bag and not real normal. Maybe this flow of colder weather will take care of some of that and we can get into some kind of consistent late fall pattern.
If you can stand it, get out there. You'll probably be alone and have the fish all to yourself. Be safe in you boat as well as driving your boat. This is a fantastic time of year to bag the big one. Get in the photo!
------------
All 13 Fishing reels in stock are 50% off while supplies last.
We have plenty of musky sucker right now. M-$10 L-$13 and XL $15
We continue our change of inventory over from summer to winter. We also have a big WAREHOUSE WINTER PRE-SEASON SALE and an END OF SEASON SALE going on now. If you're thinking about a new Auger, Shelter, Flip-Over, Hub, clothing and/or any type of electronics, now may be the best time to buy them. Most items are at cost or below. See the web site for details. The sale is limited to items in stock, in-store or on the website. No special orders. Blackfish gear is still 20% off right now and now all CLAM Ice Armor gear is at least 20% off. The END OF SEASON SALE gets you at least 25% off pricing on Rods, Reels, Rod/Reel Combos, Beaver Dam Tip-Ups, Musky Lures and more items when you buy two or more.
Right now for live bait we have Jumbo Crawlers, Small crawlers, Panfish Worms, Wax worms, Crappie Minnows, Regular Fatheads, XL Fatheads, Blacktails, Walleye Suckers, Northern bait, Medium, Large and XL Musky Suckers.
Our normal weekly hours are:
Monday thru Thursday from 7am to 6pm
Friday from 7am to 7pm
Saturday and Sunday 6am to 5pm
Let's continue to squelch a few rumors. The shop is for sale. Business is great but Linda and I are ready to ease into retirement. WE ARE NOT GOING OUT OF BUSINESS! If you have an interest in owning and operating the largest non-franchised bait shop in Wisconsin, call our Realtor, Eric Johnson, at 715-892-1234 or call Jeff at 715-892-2751.
Jeff Bolander, owner of Dewey, Catchem and How Bait Shop and Guides
www.DeweyCatchemAndHow.com
715-892-2751 cell
Saturday 10/28/23
Fishing is still pretty good. We had one heck of a rain day last Wednesday which really put the flowages and rivers on the rise. The Rainbow has risen over 2.5' since Wednesday, now down 7.5'. I was out with clients on Thursday and you could watch the sand bars disappearing. I've never found the fishing to be to good when there is a quick big change in depth on the flowages. We got our fish that day but they were spooky. You couldn't only get within about 50' of them. The Livescope came in handy again. We had to throw slip bobbers at them cuz they just wouldn't stay close.
It seems that almost all of the lakes are done turning over. If I was going to choose a lake to fish now it would be a smaller one that has turned over at least a week or so ago. The smaller lake would have a better chance of holding fish that are acclimated to the change by now.
Not much has changed as far as baits used or how species of fish are reacting to those baits. It's still a mixed bag and not real normal. Maybe this flow of colder weather will take care of some of that and we can get into some kind of consistent late fall pattern.
If you can stand it, get out there. You'll probably be alone and have the fish all to yourself. Be safe in you boat as well as driving your boat. This is a fantastic time of year to bag the big one. Get in the photo!
------------
All 13 Fishing reels in stock are 50% off while supplies last.
We have plenty of musky sucker right now. M-$10 L-$13 and XL $15
We continue our change of inventory over from summer to winter. We also have a big WAREHOUSE WINTER PRE-SEASON SALE and an END OF SEASON SALE going on now. If you're thinking about a new Auger, Shelter, Flip-Over, Hub, clothing and/or any type of electronics, now may be the best time to buy them. Most items are at cost or below. See the web site for details. The sale is limited to items in stock, in-store or on the website. No special orders. Blackfish gear is still 20% off right now and now all CLAM Ice Armor gear is at least 20% off. The END OF SEASON SALE gets you at least 25% off pricing on Rods, Reels, Rod/Reel Combos, Beaver Dam Tip-Ups, Musky Lures and more items when you buy two or more.
Right now for live bait we have Jumbo Crawlers, Small crawlers, Panfish Worms, Wax worms, Crappie Minnows, Regular Fatheads, XL Fatheads, Blacktails, Walleye Suckers, Northern bait, Medium, Large and XL Musky Suckers.
Our normal weekly hours are:
Monday thru Thursday from 7am to 6pm
Friday from 7am to 7pm
Saturday and Sunday 6am to 5pm
Let's continue to squelch a few rumors. The shop is for sale. Business is great but Linda and I are ready to ease into retirement. WE ARE NOT GOING OUT OF BUSINESS! If you have an interest in owning and operating the largest non-franchised bait shop in Wisconsin, call our Realtor, Eric Johnson, at 715-892-1234 or call Jeff at 715-892-2751.
Jeff Bolander, owner of Dewey, Catchem and How Bait Shop and Guides
www.DeweyCatchemAndHow.com
715-892-2751 cell
Saturday 10/28/23
Ugh struggle bus on the flowage on Monday. Only place I can typically catch walleyes is in the river section north of the main body of the flowage. That is now hard to fish with the water being so low. Went out into the main flowage area and tried trolling crankbaits on the large flats and river channel and came up empty. What am I doing wrong?
Displaying 1 to 10 of 783 posts