Chippewa Flowage Fishing Reports

[Tom_Christianson]

Hi everyone,

Fished for only a few hours yesterday. The wind conditions were much the same as the day before, even worse. Howling out of the NW again at 20-30 mph with gusts up to 40 mph. I tried a bay that I thought should be fairly well protected, but even that was rough. My anchor would just drag. To much wind to drift even with drift socks, Just one of those days. I was able to get the anchor stuck on a weedy hump, so I fished that and caught a couple of Perch and a Bluegill all on jig and minnows. I did see a musky on the surface just finning around. A smaller one in the 30" class. Was a cool sight. I think that the Walleyes are out in the deep wood structures yet. But no way to fish out in the open with the 3 foot breakers rollimg thru.

The water temps went down to 54 degrees, from 56 degrees the day before. Air temps were in the high 40's to low 50's with a partly cloudy sky. It feels like fall. Turn over in the deeper holes should be complete now. The forage factor will now lean more and more on being minnows and YOY fish. I did see a bug hatch on friday night, but they should really start to be on the decline as the water temps get colder and colder. That is why I wanted to fish the deeper structures with wood cover.

There are a few deeper water wood areas that now will be available for all the fish in the lake to feed at. With turn over complete in those areas, now the oxygen will be sufficient to allow all the game fish to invade the deepest wood structures. I did see dead weeds in the weedy areas that I fished, so all the minnows from the weeds will have to vacate the dead weeds for the deeper wood cover. That will hopefully make for some good fishing for the rest of the fall in the deepest wood cover. I have been fishing deep wood all summer, but now I'm talking the really deep holes. 30 feet and deeper. It can be a challenge to fish that deep, but with my system I am able to do so with out any problems. In my book "The Walleyemaxx System", I explain how to fish the post turn over pattern in detail. To order your copy of my book, click on the link below to my HSOforum , then click on the "The Walleyemaxx System" book on the menu tab. My book is loaded with good info on catching Walleyes consistently. Good luck fishing everyone.

Walleyemaxx

[Tom_Christianson]

Walleye stocking and walleye shocking reports.

Hi everyone,

Hard to find info, but I talked to a DNR person at the landing who told me that the DNR completed thier fall shocking surveys. On the East side in the prime spawning areas they found up to 50 Walleyes per mile of shoreline. But on the West side they had very low numbers. From 1 to 0 per mile. The DNR will add all the numbers up and come up with an average per mile number. Seems skewed when you think about it. They should have an average number for the East side, with a seperate average number for the West. Don't know when the official announcement will come out. Hopefully soon.

I was told also that the Flowage association stocked in 25,000 extended length Walleyes in various places throughout the Big Chip. No story on that yet either. I'll report more about that when I find out. A big thank you to all involved in that project.

No word yet on what the DNR plans to do regarding size limits on the Big Chip. They have to do something. I know they want to protect the new extended length fingerlings just planted. Maybe a 15" minimum for 5 years, then change the regs to a 1 over or slot size before the Walleyes stack up under the 15"s. Hopefully we'll hear something on that before to long. Good luck fishing everyone.

Walleyemaxx

[Tom_Christianson]

Hi everyone,

Today I guided a father son team, Mike and Colin for a half day. Under a clear blue sky with moderate winds from the west, we enjoyed some good fishing. The Crappies were biting readily and Colin caught his lake limit of two very nice Walleyes. To top that off, he caught a nice fat 10" Perch. We kept a total of 17 Crappies most in the 11" range.

The air temps were in the high 40's to low 50's and the water temps are down to 49 degrees. We caught all the fish on jigs and minnows in the deep wood. We anchored most of the time, but the wind died down for a while so we drifted slowly to cover more territory. Of interest is the fact that we caught the Walleyes and Crappies in the same spots. they are eating the same forage as each other, so rememeber just because you catch a crappie in a spot doesn't mean you won't catch Walleyes there.

Tommorow is supposed to be a nice day weather wise. Hopefully it'll be a good day fishing wise. We'll see. Good luck fishing everyone.

Walleyemaxx

[Tom_Christianson]

Hi everyone,

I spent the afternoon fishing yesterday and the weather was beautifull. By the time I got out it was warming up into the 50's with bright sunny skies and a nice moderate NW wind. Started out anchoring, but decided to drift some woody, snaggy flats at 17'-20' with the perfect wind. Caught lots of Crappies and kept 12 for the pan. Also caught a SMBass and two small walleyes right at dusk that I released. They were only about 11-12". Toward the evening the wind had died down and it was completely calm.

I caught the Crappies on 1/8 ounce jigs with walleye minnows and they averaged 10-11" with the biggest at 12". I caught the Walleyes on 1/16 ounce jigs with tiny Crappie minnows. Go figure. Most of the crappies came while I was drifting and the Walleyes came while I was anchored. The water temps were still at 49 degrees. With the weather change today, the water might cool off some more. I'll be finding out. It is raining right now, but I'm hoping that it stops by the time I get to the landing. Good luck fishing everyone.

Walleyemaxx

[Tom_Christianson]

Hi everyone,

Fished for a few hours yesterday under the heavily clouded skies untill it started to rain hard. It started out as a light rain, but then came down pretty hard for the rest of the day and night. Wind was fairly light from the west and it seemed to be good weather conditions. But looks can be decieving. I caught a bunch of nice Perch, but no Walleyes. Not even the Crappies were biting for me. I drifted three deep woody snag areas with jigs and minnows losing lots of jigs and catching nothing but perch. Did not see to many fish on the locator either.

When I got back to the landing in the rain, A creel sensus gal was there to measure and count my fish. She told me that two guys were fishing LGMBass and were upset because all they caught were a bunch of Walleyes. HMMMMMM. That tells me that the Walleyes are making a transition to the weeds. The forage must have moved into the weeds finally. With the heavy overcast sky I should have tried a few weed areas. It pays to experiment and I didn't. There are not to many green weeds now so it should have been easy to find some active fish. Anybody coming up, try the weeds and let me know how you do.

The water temps remained at 49 degrees and the air temps were high 40's. The rain made it feel much cooler and should cool the water down even further. Lot less boating traffic now so it's a good time to be fishing. Call me or email me and we can work out a half day trip for Walleyes, Crappies and Perch. Good luck fishing everyone.

Walleyemaxx

[snoozebutton]

Thanks for all the reports Tom, much appreciated. Heading out somewhere this weekend and have it narrowed down to the flowage or Grindstone so let me know how you're doing this week. A friend that I work with has been doing pretty good on both Grindstone and LCO and he's saying what you found out Sunday, that they're moving shallow. He said he found them in 12 to 17 feet on rock bars and around weeds.

[Tom_Christianson]

Hi Snoozebutton,

I'll be looking for green weeds when I'm back fishing which looks to be friday. Have prior commitments untill then. But I'll also be fishing the deeper wood pattern. The Crappies and Perch are biting well and with the reduced bag on Walleyes, the Crappie and Perch are bonus fish. Fun to catch and good to eat.

I don't know if you like the Crappies or not, but if you do, you should think about fishing the Big Chip. I catch them doing the same exact methods and baits I'm using for the Walleyes. The bigger minnows in fact seem to work better than the small crappie minnows. Crappies are averaging 10-11". Good eating size. They are in the deeper woody snaggs. Drift untill you find them, then anchor. I have spots marked into my GPS that are sunken stumps and logs that seem to hold Crappies as well as Walleyes. I make a virtual milk run from spot to spot and seem to catch Crappies at all of them. Whereever you go, let me know how you do. Good luck fishing.

Walleyemaxx

[Tom_Christianson]

Hi everyone,

Bright sunny day, but COLD! Looks can be decieving. But the fishing made it all worthwhile. Today I was doing what I always do, fish for Walleyes and by golly All I caught were Walleyes. With the exception of a 31" Northern. No Crappies, or Perch. Kind of wierd almost. I caught 4 Walleyes and kept one. I kept throwing the second one back so I could legally keep fishing for Walleyes.

Caught all fish on jig and minnows jigging. None on the bobber rig or 'shot gun' rod. I caught all in the deep wood still. I even tried three weed spots and no fish at all. Wonder if Musky's were real active or something else was happening in the shallower areas. The water temps are down to 47 degrees with the air temp in the 30's and 40's all day with little or no wind from the west. Supposed to rain and snow tonight with an accumilation of an inch of snow. Can't wait! Tommorow more snow and rain. I hope this is one of the many times the weather man is wrong.

Of interest is when I filleted the Northern, it had a 91/2" Perch in it's gut. So I quess that means I did catch a Perch too. I used a 31" Northern for bait. I quess I better get my longies ready for tommorow. I don't mind the nasty weather if the fish bite. We'll see. Good luck fishing everyone.

Walleyemaxx

[Tom_Christianson]

Hi everyone,

Well the weather man was mostly right yesterday. Except for the snow. It was heavy clouds with a constant drizzle and cold. Temps were in the high 30's to low 40's all day. I found fish in only one place, a deep sunken tree that yielded three small Walleyes all about 12" that I released. I marked a lot of fish, but they weren't active. Water temps were down to 46 degrees and with this weather continuing, the water will cool down fast.

Caught the Walleyes on jigs and minnows. I didn't do much experimenting because I got cold. My fingers refused to function correctly so every time I had to tie on a new jig, it was a big deal. The wind was blasting out of the south east making some good rollers, The drizle was mostly constant, and the air temps were steadily going down. Needless to say I was done fishing after about 5 hours. It was fun to be out there with almost no boat traffic. Saw only about seven other boats the time I was out and most of them were rowing a sucker around under a huge bobber after Musky's.

Ice fishing is right around the corner. At least on the ice I have a portable shack with a heater. It is actually warmer than fishing open water this time of year. Good luck fishing everyone.

Walleyemaxx

[Tom_Christianson]

Hi everyone,

I just posted my November tip of the month titled 'Cold water Walleyes'. To read this timely information, Click on the link below to my websit, then the tip of the month tab in the menu bar. Good luck fishing everyone.

Walleyemaxx

[snoozebutton]

Just got around to checking your cold water tips, good info there!!!

I'm still holding out hope for some warmer temps to get the boat out at least one more time but it's not looking real good. Been spending some time in a tree right now too.

Once again, thanks Tom!!!

[Tom_Christianson]

Thanks snoozebutton. I try to share timely advice about the time of year to help people in thier pursuit of Walleyes. Soon we'll be walking on the hard water. Good luck fishing.

Walleyemaxx

[Tom_Christianson]

Hi everyone,

Just a note to let you know I am getting excellent reviews about my new book "The Walleyemaxx System." I explain Spring, Summer, And Fall patterns. Jigging,Slip bobbering, Crankbaiting, and drifting methods. Boat control, Anchoring techniques, and the importance of your electronics. This is the system I use to put Walleyes in the boat consistently, and is the system I teach my clients when guideing. I developed this system through a lifetime of Walleye fishing.

All though I guide on the Chippewa Flowage, I have fished across the northern part of WI., and The U.P. of Michigan. I have caught numerous Walleyes every where I have gone. I developed a system of learning new lakes quickly, and I explain that method in my book.

With Christmas coming, a book like "The Walleyemaxx System" would make an ideal gift for that fisherman on your list. To order your copy, click on the link to my HSOforum below. Then click on the Walleyemaxx System book tab on the menu bar. From there you can access a downloadable order form. Thanks and good luck fishing everryone.

Walleyemaxx

[Tom_Christianson]

Hi everyone,

It's time to think seriously about ice fishing now that there is an ice fishing season on the Big Chip for everything but Walleyes and muskies, I encourage everyone to plan on a trip or two to fish for Perch, Crappie, Bluegills, Northern and the LG mouth bass.

I plan on jigging for Crappies and Perch while I have tippups set for Bass and Northerns. The weather has warmed up somewhat, but the forecast is for colder waether soon. So it's time to get those tippups out and respooled and the panfish jigging rods ready.

I haven't put the boat away yet. I'll hang in there till it freezes. Good luck fishing everyone.

Walleyemaxx

[Tom_Christianson]

I've got good news. Now you have two ways to pay to buy my new book "The Walleyemaxx System". Personel check, or credit card through Paypal. click on the link below to my HSOforum, then The Walleyemaxx System book tab in menu bar. The paypal button is at the bottom left of the page. All the reviews I've been getting are very positive. Thanks.

Walleyemaxx

[snoozebutton]

Hey Tom, How's the hunting been? BTW, I just ordered a copy of your book, looking forward to reading it.

Have you checked on ice on the flowage at all? I'm guessing there must be at least a skim by now and maybe some walkable ice in the bays in a few days. Would love to get together with you and set up a tipup or two.

[Tom_Christianson]

Hi Snoozebutton,

Thanks for your book order. Much appreciated. I put a lot of info into it. Give me an honest opinion after you read it. I think it will help anybody and everybody catch more Walleyes and other species of fish as well.

I haven't been over to the Big Chip for a couple weeks. Living in Eagle River, I have been waiting for my favorite small lake to freeze enough to creep out and set some tip ups and than sit on shore. Weather just not cooperating so far. Hoping thursday will be the day.

I don't hunt any more. Just don't have time with the fishing I do. I have been working on my December tip of the month. it will deal with ice fishing at first ice. figure I'll be fishing the Big Chip around the middle of December. Let the ice set up so we can be mobile. I like to use the ATV As big of water as the Chippewa Flowage is, it's good to be mobile to look for the fish. Now that we can ice fish for many species, I plan on spending a lot of time on the Big Chip. We'll have to get together around the middle of December. I have several places where I think we can catch Perch and Crappies. Have to figure out where we can get access. Untill than, good luck fishing.

Walleyemaxx

[Tom_Christianson]

HAPPY THANKSGIVING everyone,

Hope that your holiday is restfull. Right now I'm waiting for ice to form so I can cut some holes and do some serious Perch and Crappie fishing as well as Walleyes on some of the lakes closer to home. Unfortunatly, the weather is warming up and ruining what thin ice we had. A couple of cold days should do the trick.

Right now is a good time to catch up on your reading. "The Walleyemaxx System" book is available by going to my HSOforum and clicking on the book tab. You can order with your credit card or by check. the book is loaded with fish catching info that will help beginners to experts learn something new. I explain how I pattern Walleyes in Spring, Summer, and Fall. The importance of your electronics,boat control,the different methods I use, and how to rig up your rods for each method, plus many many more tips. The cost is only $14.95. Good luck fishing everyone.

Walleyemaxx

[Tom_Christianson]

Hi everyone,

Still quiet on the northern front here. But there is good news, colder weather is being forecast starting this week so hopefully we wil have fishable ice soon. The ice was just starting to form on some of the smaller lakes, than it warmed up and ruined it. Hope to have some ice fishing reports soon.

Walleyemaxx

[Tom_Christianson]

Hi everyone,

Wanted to inform you that I've posted my tip of the month for December. This month's tip talks about early ice fishing. Ice is now forming and I hope to be out this weekend.

Also want to remind everyone that if you haven't yet ordered your copy of "The Walleyemaxx System book", now is the time to be sure you recieve it in time for Christmas. You can order by check or credit card through Paypal. Just click on the link below. Good luck fishing everyone and be safe.

Walleyemaxx

[Myrt]

Hi Tom,

Just ordered your book. I appreciate your postings. I have never fished your area, but have a brother who built a home on Bluegill lake and will eventually visit and bring either boat for open water or quad for hard water. Thanks for being informative...have a Merry Christmas!!!

[Tom_Christianson]

Hi Myrt,

Thanks for your order. I mailed your book out this morning. It's a good read and I think everyone will learn something new. Have a very merry Christmas down your way in Iowa.

Walleyemaxx

[Tom_Christianson]

Hi everyone,

We finally have fishable ice. Fishing a small lake close to home, I found a good solid 3 inches of ice. Unfortunatly it is snowing hard with up to 5 inches expected. That's going to add a lot of weight so I'll have to be more carefull tommorow. But what a fun time today. Taking my time and using the spud bar on every step untill I could determine where it was safe to go, I got my tip ups all set up at 3:30. From 3:45 to 4:45 it was non stop action. Flag after flag. I only caught one Walleye on the tip ups, but lost a dozen minnows. The spindle would spin but the fish were getting the minnows. I was able to finally hook one and it was 71/2". No wonder I couldn't hook them. Also caught a 14"er.

The Walleyes were caught on shinner minnows and I did jig one up with a horizontal bait tipped with a minnow head. Saw a lot of fish on the Vex and had some hit and lost them. Tommorow I'll have some waxxworms because I'm pretty sure some of those marks were Perch. I called it a night after 3 hours. The snow was coming down hard and I didn't bring my portable shelter because of the thin ice and I got soaked with the wet heavy snow.

I want to urge anyone going out to use extreme caution. We need some more below zero weather to make more ice. It should happen soon but untill then be safe. Good luck fishing everyone.

Walleyemaxx

[Tom_Christianson]

Hi everyone,

As expected with the 6" of snow we recieved, the conditions were sloppy today. there was at least 2" of water underneath the 6" of snow on top of the 3" of ice. The weight of the snow pushed water up thru every hole and crack in the ice. the more water that came up, the more weight on the ice. All this made for very sloppy conditions but the fish didn't mind. I wound up catching 4 Walleyes and some Perch keeping just one Walleye. Caught one Walleye on tip ups and all the rest of the fish were caught jigging. Had a shinner on the tip ups and caught the fish on the jigging rod with a spoon tipped with a night crawler. I just happen to have some night crawlers left in the fridge, so I figured what the heck. They worked good so now I'm going to keep trying them as long as I can get them.

We have cold weather in the forecast for the week so I look forward to better ice conditions next weekend. Hopefully can be more mobile. Also want to fish some of the other bigger lakes around here. Will need a machine to get around in order to find the fish. Hopefully will get back on the Big Chip by Christmas time. Good luck fishing everyone, and be safe.

Walleyemaxx

[Jarrid Houston]

Got a friend down fishing in your area, and it is very sketchy ice. Be safe....