Chequamegon Bay

[Matt Johnson]

I had the opportunity to fish Chequamegon Bay this past sunday. Pete Riola, Brian Jones, BronzeBack, and myself headed out on the ice with a couple more of Pete's friends insearch of the smallmouth bass. We found some fish and spent a few hours out there chasing them around. I ended up catching four species when the day was done. Smallmouth bass, salmon, splake, and whitefish. A very fun day on the ice! Here are a few pictures.

Those smallies sure fight hard through the ice, they have the same hardnose style as when you catch them in open water. They hit lake shiners tipped on a 1/4oz jig. Sometimes they bit light and other times they were aggressive. Quite the time pulling up those bronze backs!

Good Fishin,
Matt Johnson

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[Cyberfish]

Nice Bass Matt! how big was the biggest? How big was the salmon? I bet that made your drag sing! Do you get out there duringopen water too? Love them smallies!

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simul iustus et peccator

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[Matt Johnson]

Biggest smallie was about 20-21 inches. The biggest salmon was maybe only 2 pounds. Yep, those smallies sure pull hard, lets you find out how good of a drag you have

I fish smallies during open water up on LOW. They sure are fun!

Good Fishin,
Matt Johnson

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[Cyberfish]

wow! those are some real toads! Bet they were over 5 pounds., Now if we could just get a flash bulb for that camera

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simul iustus et peccator

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[Northlander]

Now I wish I would have went and snowblowed everyone later!

[Matt Johnson]

Pete caught the biggest one and I bet it was close to 5 pounds. 3-4 pounds was pretty common, a lot of 19 inchers.

Northlander,
Too bad you missed it, it was nice meeting you at Mille Lacs, good luck this weekend at Burntside, we will have to hit the ice again soon.

Good Fishin,
Matt Johnson

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[Guest]

You don"t need to tell where you catch some
of your fish. I have no problem with giving
out information, but be a little more selective on what you say. This fishery
is a fragile one, especially during the
winter when they school up. People that
don't respect this don't belong up there!

[Matt Johnson]

You can't keep the smallmouth, its all catch and release under 22 inches. A trophy fishery only. Those smallies can sustain a fight and they can be released safely to fight another day. I figured a good portion of FM readers already watched the video and know about the smallie action, so I just posted a few pictures of the experience. Sorry if I offended anyone.

Good Fishin,
Matt Johnson

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[Guest]

Matt,

Not offended, some things should be left for others to discover. There is always A temptation to take a big fish out of the system, Even with the rules & regs in place.
I have seen it to many times in the past, that is why I am A reader, not A poster.
If you would want to chase some BIG GillS we should hook up. I have a bunch of lakes that I fish that have the quality I think you would appreciate.

[Captain B.R.K]

You didn't offend me, most everyone knows about the wonderful fishery over in Cheq. bay. Excellent fishing!
Did you snowmobile out there? MAN- to bad you didn't have room, I would have went
Let me know next time you are up this way, it's always fun to get out with you.

[Matt Johnson]

WHACK&STACK,
I understand. Drop me an e-mail and we can talk about the gills. Always willing to chase some big gills, I'll have to return the favor by taking you to one of my spots.

Captain B.R.K.,
It never dawned on me that we were somewhat in your neck of the woods. Wish I would have thought of it and let you know we were up there. We will have to get out again this winter. I plan on hitting Chequamegon again this winter.

Good Fishin,
Matt Johnson

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[Northlander]

Matt let me know if your ever up my way. I will see ya at Red if not sooner. Maybe do a Ashland trout, walleye bronzeback deal?

[Matt Johnson]

Northlander,
Lets plan something. Drop me an e-mail.

Good Fishin,
Matt Johnson

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[Xplorer]

Matt,
I'm up in this neck of the woods with Northlander, and will be fishing Chequamegon on Feb 21/22. Without riling up whack and stack, would you mind helping me with some general ideas on location privatly? I have fished the washburn/onion/sioux river side before, but will be staying in ashland and going out on sled. Maybe that weekend works for you guys and we could meet up. (Any weekend works for Northlander )
No need for exacts, but general depth info could eliminate water. cedland99 at hotmail dot com.
Seems that whack and stack is more than happy to "get info" just not give it. You dont have to give out gps points to lend a hand to a fellow fm'er, I like figuring out the puzzle as much as anyone. But with the amount of water on chequamegon, narrowing down the search some can make a better experience when you've only got a couple days.
Steve, see ya tomorrow mornin. Dont freeze tonight Matt, Thanks in advance for any advice/thoughts.
Xplorer

[Terry Hagstrom]

Matt,
Can you e-mail me today or by Wed. of this week. I'm heading to Bayfield on Thursday evening and have to try out some prototype equipment for one of my sponsors. I have no
prior experience in this area.

Thanks
Terry Hagstrom

[email protected]
www.fishingmn.com/terry

[Northlander]

Matt I have been down to Ashland 3 times and done well on Smallies each time. Coho are going good to as well as a Steelhead and Brown caught by friends. Also a couple nice Pike. Ill be down there tomorrow as well. E-mail me and we can set something up. [email protected]