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Location: Southeast Wisconsin | With the exception of the last few days, musky fishing has been very productive for clients and myself so far this year. I have been booked almost every day so far this season and most clients are at least hooking a fish (the ones that listen that is) So far theres been 32 (IL,WI) fish in my boat from 30-44 inches and too many undersized to count. One thing I noticed this year is the ridiculous amount of follows without strikes,especially from larger fish. On many occasions we are raisng low-high 40s fish that wont even turn on the bait. I spend allot of time on the water and have never seen such skitish fish. Even when water temps were ideal for sucker fishing, they wouldnt even grab live bait! Although we havent had any figure 8 converts on suckers this year,we have had 10 hit the float sucker and all 10 were boated, thanks to Finadk Quickstrike Rigs! These are the easiest and most effective sucker rigs on the market! Most of the bigger fish we've raised have been following G-Trains or an erray of gliders and most of the time Im working the G-Train like a glider. Regardless, I will keep plugging away at it on a daily basis and let you guys know how the season plays out..
Good luck on the water!
Ben
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| So Far I have 7 of the 32. biggest is 42" on a sucker. |
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Location: Southeast Wisconsin | Its gotta be that "saltwater hookset" champ! Coulda really used it in the boat tonight...
Just pulling off the lake after a very "trying" day on the water. Fished with regular client Ernie today from 1-10pm. last year Ernie popped a nice 40" and his buddy lost a nice fish on a sucker, so the pressure was on to put him on some fish. Around 2 we had a fish grab the sucker, but dropped it before we could set the hook. Not too long after that, on the next spot we had another fish hit the sucker. Ernie set the hook exactly how he should of, but only got a pair of rigs flying back in his face. If I had to blame that one on anything, it would be the 20 mph gusts that made it impossible to figure out which way to set the hook. We fished a couple more spots,raised 1 mid 30s on a spring dawg and switched lakes around 5. We didn't have any action till around 7:00 when Ernie had a fish hit his crank bait on the first few cranks of the reel. After almost 7 hours on the water with only 1 follow, I cant blame the guy for missing this fish because I would of missed it too. 5 minutes later and exactly where Ernie just missed the fish, are sucker rod started going off. After a few agonizing bobber reappearances, I determined that the fish still had the sucker. Ernie set the hook like a champ, but left a little bit of slack in the line which allowed yet another fish to kick sand in are faces. How big was it? Well, lets just say that I saw the bend in the rod,Ernie felt the fish and we both agreed that it would be better if we never mentioned it AGAIN!
Spoke with my PM client for tomorrow who told me that he would be happy catching 3 or 4...Hahahaha! I just couldn't break it to him over the phone.Should be veeeeery interesting.
Pick your career choice wisely..
Ben
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Location: Southeast Wisconsin | Fished with clients yesterday from 3-10. I boated an undersized ski half way through the day and raised 2 on a different lake in the evening. First follow was low 40s and the second was barely legal. SUPER slow day,but we still had a blast.
Fished this morning with a buddy from 6-1. I raised one small one, my buddy lost a low 30s and I boated a low 30s.
Should be turning around here anyday....Right?
Ben
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Location: Southeast Wisconsin | Fished yesterday from 5am-9pm with a couple buddies. Eric stuck two undersized fish (30,25) and we raised a total of 3, all over 40. The second fish we had to the boat in the morning was a for sure 50" The big daddy came in on a glider, a mid 40s I raised just before that came in on a G-Train and the last fish(low 40s) followed up a twitch bait. Too many bass and pike to count..
Taking a brief nap and then heading out to a different lake tonight before the storms roll through..Let you know how I do.
Ben |
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Posts: 227
Location: Southeast Wisconsin | Fished last night from 2-midnight, all by my lonesome. I started casting open water for the first few hours and had a nice,thick 40 up to the boat that decided to chase my crank bait backwards (I zigged she zagged) on the figure 8. After another hour of open water probing, I moved up to the structure (weeds) missed a fish and raised a mid 30s on a Bulldawg. I fished a few more spots but didnt see anything else. Around 10pm I decided to hit a few "guaranteed" night spots. I strapped on my old workhorse (tripple d) and started working some mid-lake structure. At 1030 and only 5 minutes after I started on the spot, I set the hook into a super thick mid 30s. After a nice fight and a few nevous jumps, I had her in the net. I didnt measure the fish but the girth on it was enormous so I set up the timer for a few pics. Didnt see anything else after that. I stayed till the moon broke the clouds and scooted out.
Heading out later if the rain breaks a little..
Good luck!
Ben |
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Posts: 227
Location: Southeast Wisconsin |
Hit the lake today with friend/client Dale from 11-6pm. Dale popped a 34 at 1:00 on a crank bait.I preceded to loose a 38+ about a half hour later that did a 4 foot aerial about 10 feet from the boat and defiantly earned the escape. At 230 Dale lost a 36+ at the boat and also missed one on the figure 8 about an hour later. We raised a total of 2 fish.
Dale split at 6 and i headed home to work on the website. At 8 I jumped back in the boat and fished till 10. On the first spot,only 5 minutes after I set up shop, I had a 34" appear from know where and annihilate my lure at the boat. I pulled off the miraculous one handed net job and put number two in the boat for the day. Not 20 minutes later I had a 36" hit on the retrieve that also fell victim to the one handed net job. I fished a topwater for awhile, had one hit and called it a night.
I lost the biggest fish, but 3 fish over 34 isn't to shabby of a day.hopefully the pattern sticks around for a day or two.
Back out tomorrow..
Ben
Edited by Ben Kueng 6/16/2006 1:17 PM
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Location: Southeast Wisconsin | Hit the lake today with first time clients Mike and his girfriend Amy from 4-11pm. Amy got it started at 430 with a nice 36" that smacked her lure after she ripped it out of a weed. On the next spot Amy lost a mid 30s at the boat and we each raised a fish. From 5-11, Mike pretty much took over, boating 5 (29,30,32,34,35) and loosing 1! We also had 2 other hot fish up to the boat that didnt srtike.
After today Im up to 46 fish in the boat for the year! All thats missing is a couple over 45"...If only they would quit following and open there mouths already..
Back out tomorrow
Ben
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Location: Northwest Chicago Burbs | Any chance you can let us in a little on how you're doing so great on the water. We all love to hear about fish caught, but this is a community for knowledge sharing and helping each other. As much as we appreciate the input into how YOU'RE doing, I'm sure people would really appreciate at least information about general patterns that have you on fish. |
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Location: Southeast Wisconsin | Fished today from 4am-10am and 8pm-10pm. Stuck a mid 30s this morning on a crank bait and raised two other small fish.
Tonight we had one blow up on a topwater and rescheduled the trip when the N-NE winds started kickin.
Fishing has continued to improve and should only get better as the weather stabilizes. Fish are starting to show up in there summer spots and have been very active during early morning and late afternoon.
Back out tomorrow..
benkueng.com
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Location: Southeast Wisconsin | Slamr,
The patterns I’m running are really nothing special .I pretty much follow the fish and let them tell me what they want. We have caught fish from 1 FOW-50 FOW and everywhere in between on every lure imaginable, so far this year. Unfortunately, there are a lot of people who fish the same lakes as I do who read these reports and I happen to make a living guiding. I wish I could be more specific, but I spend WAY too much time on the water trying to put it together to lay it all out on the Internet. Thanks for your recommendations though, in the future I will try to add a few more specifics to my reports.
Fished today from 12-10pm. Popped a 30" right off the bat and raised two. Switched lakes around 3:00, Had 3 fish (30-35") to the boat and missed another. Switched lakes again around 7 and missed two mid 30s at the boat.
Rough day for boating fish, but the pattern is still there..
Back out tomorrow
www.benkueng.com
Edited by Ben Kueng 6/20/2006 10:50 PM
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Posts: 227
Location: Southeast Wisconsin | Fished today from 8-2pm with Dale J. At 8:30, not 20 minutes into the trip, I lost a mid 30s on a crankbait. Dale followed up with a 31" that didn't shake the hooks till she was safely in the net. For the next two hours we raised 3 mid 30s, all on crank baits. Around 12 Dale had a low-mid 40s chase his crankbait to the boat, but unfortunately it had a clump of weed hanging off the back trebile and the fish wasn't interested in a vegetarian meal.In the last hour I had a mid-high 30s follow in a topwater but turn off at the boat and Dale lost a shorty on the 8.
At 3:00pm my afternoon client arrived and the hunt was on! Chad and I pretty much left off where Dale and I finished, but didn't raise any fish. I decided to hit some shoreline spots and Chad had two low-mid 30s come in on a bucktail that never even turned on the bait. We switched back to the deep weed edge and right away I missed one on a crankbait. By this time, it was close to 6 (moon set) and I was thinking about the nice fish that Dale raised earlier. Sure enough, she was still in the exact same spot and smashed Chads crankbait within the first few casts. unfortunately, Chads lure was hooked around the leader and he never got hooks into the fish. I turned around and fired a cast right at the fish and she came screaming in on my topwater, but shot off like a bullet when she saw the boat. 3 strikes and we were out! 20 minutes later the winds stopped, switched to the north east and picked back up to 25+ mph, which put an instant hault to the fishing.
All in all a good day on the water with some great guys, but the fish definitely won this round..
Back out tomorrow..
www.benkueng.com
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Location: Southeast Wisconsin | Fished yesterday morning from 5-10. Popped a 35" around 7:00 and raised two. Pretty poor day since I watched two other boats stick decent fish right in front of me-which ROCKS when you do it to someone else,but SUCKS when they do it to you! LOL
Fished the evening from 6-1030 on a different lake. My partner missed a fish on a topraider and I raised one super small one.
Fishing has been pretty slow the last couple days and the fish seem to be scattered everywhere, not holding to any specific spots or pattern. One thing I have noticed, is that the larger fish seem to be up shallow, while the smaller fish are on the deep edge. Stupid fish!
Thinking about taking the day off today, but it will never happen..
Take care
Ben
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Location: Southeast Wisconsin | Fished today from 4-9pm with first time clients Bill and his 19 year old son John. From 1-4pm I was out by myself, trolling schools of baitfish over deep water with no success, so the plan was to cast wind blown shorelines and outside weed edges. I drove around the lake for a little while setting up a milk run in my head and then headed to the launch to pick up my clients. After getting the "musky formalities" out of the way, we were ready to attack are first spot. I was just starting to question my decision to fish this particular spot first, when all hell broke loose! I still cant remember what Bill said to get my attention ( I think he just made a noise LOL) but whatever it was, it made me look down just in time to see Johns crankbait being engulfed by a gigantic skie! I couldn't even see the lure in its mouth when she broke the surface and started shaking like mad. I told John to keep her down and proceeded to burn my lure back to the boat and grab the net. I could tell this fatty wanted to make some serious runs, but it wasn't going down like that. I had her in the net quick, before she had a chance to ruin my day. 47.5" and definitely on her way to 50! For a 47+ she had a super huge head. unfortunately, the storms scared us off at 9 and put an end to are musky hunting for the day.
Good ole Mr faithful Minn Kota took a crap on me today, but who cares!
Out to the garage to fix my trolling motor..
www.benkueng.com
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| Way to go mike jooonnneess>yeah
bret
give me a buzz |
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Location: Southeast Wisconsin | I fished with John and his buddy Kevin today from 3-10pm. Things started off really slow, not seeing a fish for at least 3 hours.The fish finally came around and Kevin scored first with a 30" shorty on a bucktail. A couple hours later he boated a 42" on a different bucktail and John popped a 30" on a bucktail about 30 minutes later. We raised two fish and john and I each missed a fish,mine on a topwater. I told my clients, that it wasnt going to be a matter of if it was going to happen as much as when. They did a great job staying on point and reaped the rewards.Thanks guys!
Take care..
www.benkueng.com
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Location: Southeast Wisconsin | I've been having some mechanical problems and havent been out a ton the last few days. My tilt/trim has been giving me problems and I think I finally have it fixed.
I boated a 35" today and a 32" yesterday on bucktails in shallow water. The 32" hit as I was demonstarting to a friend in another boat how my client was fighting the 47.5" last week. as I was telling him the story and pulling my lure through the water the fish came up and inhaled my bucktail. My buddy and I both stood there stunned for a minute and then almost fell out of are boats laughing. Thats the second time thats happened to me..
Running trips the rest of the week into the weekend, so I should have a little more to report.
Good Luck!
Ben
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| "Any chance you can let us in a little on how you're doing so great on the water. We all love to hear about fish caught, but this is a community for knowledge sharing and helping each other. As much as we appreciate the input into how YOU'RE doing, I'm sure people would really appreciate at least information about general patterns that have you on fish"
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| Ben I enjoy reading your reports , but they do have somewhat of a self promoting smell to them. Just saying SE wisconsin is way vague. If you notice every other post in this section actually specifies specific lakes. I live just outside Chicago in Indiana and would love to know what some of the different varieties of lakes in SE wisconsin have viable Muskie populations. I would be much more likely to hire a guide such as yourself.
I'm not asking you to give up big secrets or anything but being more specific would be helpful. If you think mentioning lakes will get them overun with musky fisherman and ruin your business, thats backwards thinking. I'll give Mike Hulbert as an example he's always been very open on his site about which lakes, spots and tactics he's using and that attitude and openess is what prompted me to happily hire him to guide us for a day. Now because of Mike's information more fisherman are catching more fish than ever and I think Mike would back this up, Him and his clients are catching as many fish as ever.
You would likely be shocked to see how many muskie fisherman there are on our small lakes at any give time here in Indiana and we all still have plenty of success. I can't even think of the last time we've gotten skunked.
There may be many here that think keeping lakes secret is the way to go. But I think theres proof that the opposite can be true, the more the resource is utilized the more benifit it will receive. More fisherman = more $=more clout =more lakes getting stocked =more business for the guides =more fun for all. |
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| 420 and HOOSIERTECH .... Totally agree . |
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Location: Racine, Wi | Guys, Ben's a good guy, and I don't think he is trying to come across as self promoting. As far as lakes that have good fishable populations down here, there is Silver Lake in Kenosha, Pewaukee, Okauchee, Oconomowoc, and LaBelle in Waukesha. I think Ben fishes up in the Elkhart area as well. There are a few lakes up that way as well.
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| I think he is giving everyone plenty. He is telling you that they are biting, so get out there. How much help does one need? Keep it up Ben. Your making people jealous......nothing wrong with that. |
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Location: Southeast Wisconsin |
Thanks for everyone’s input.
I think the big difference between me and other people reporting, is that I’m reporting almost every single day so my reports may seem repetitive after awhile. I can guarantee you that there are NO guides anywhere, on any website posting exact spots.
To be honest, I am a very humble guy. Yes, I report on different websites to gain business and get my name out there, but in no way am I bragging.
I think its kind of presumptuous to say that posting the lakes I fish isn’t going to bring excessive pressure, when you have no clue what lakes I fish. If you don’t think that posting the name of a 300-acre lake on 6 different websites isn’t going to be harmful to the fishery, than you really don’t have a clue.
Please tell me what you want me to tell you. Spots? Lakes? Lures? Time of day?...What’s your definition of sharing info?
I wouldn’t be shocked at all to see how many people are on Indiana lakes because I already know. I fish there, as well as Il on a regular basis. If that’s how you guys want it there, then that’s your prerogative. That’s not how I want it on the lakes I fish.
As I sit here and write this, I wonder why I’m even wasting my time. If I were posting spots and exact info, I would be sitting here defending myself to the people who think that I was harming the fishery. I just realized that no matter what I post, I will never win.
Best of luck fellas!
Ben
www.benkueng.com
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Location: Northern Wisconsin | hey thanks for the reports, i check them all the time. i am hopefully going to south eastern wisconsin
this weekend for a day. not sure which lake im going to, pewaukee, okauchee, or oconomowoc.
are there any general patterns this time for the year that i can apply to each one of these lakes or
is each one alot different and what are the patterns. any info on catching a muskie on these lakes
will help.
thanks,
steve |
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Location: Pewaukee, Wisconsin | Joel said it when he named the lakes around here. Most of these lakes have lots of preasure and long detailed reports will increase interest in these lakes.
I for one don't mind helping most people with more details because the patterns change as the water temps change.
For info on Pewaukee Lake please see my web site.
I will post from time to time on the Pewaukee report but time on the water after work keeps me working , giuding or sleeping. I wish I had the time to do all those reports like Ben does. I see them all over the internet when I get some time to brouse.
Ben a few hot baits, weedlines or break lines and time of day the fish are being caught are more important than the lakes and spots.
I'll throw a bone here and say that the Pewaukee Lake bite has been great in the morning to mid afternoon. I got 10 fish this week from 41 to 32 3/4-inches. Almost all were on crank baits.
Now thats not giving up the world but a few guys will dial right in.
You got to toss a bone from time to time to keep the interest.
I guess I could post more on my thread, I had to post here sooner or later.
Get your butts out fishing. The water temps are in the hight 70's and the fish are going.
See http://www.mikekoepp.com for more info.
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Location: Southeast Wisconsin | Your best shot at boating one would probably be Pewaukee. Okauchee has some decent numbers and it seems like every fish I see out there is over 40" Oconomowoc has the fewest muskies of the three, but also has the least amount of pressure and is one of my favorites. There are huge fish in all 3 but Okauchee takes the cake for big fish.
Okauchee has a slight bloom right now but is still pretty clear. Oconomowoc is gin clear so I only fish it at night. Both lakes are fairly easy to fish, but not as easy to catch a fish. Theres ciscos present in both but not in very high numbers (from what I know) Pewaukee has stained water and two seperate basins. East bay is one shallow 5-10 foot flat and the west basin is a deeper bowl with a defined weed edge. Pewaukee is a very easy, boring lake to fish when its slow because most of the structure your fishing is the same. Put your boat in 10-12 FOW and cast the weeds.
Honestly, it seems like the patterns are day to day and the fish are usually too scattered to establish any type of pattern at all. If your headed up for only a day, buy a hot spots map and beat the community spots to death. I will usually put my boat in 20-30 FOW and cast towards the weed edge while someone else is probing the deep edge with a crankbait or Bulldawg.
As for lures, I usually live or die by a few ceartain baits- Bulldawgs, G-Trains, Depth raiders,Triple Ds, Shallow Invaders and Mantas. I have multiple colors of each lure and use them all depending on cloud cover and water clarity..
Good luck if you make it up and let us know how you do..
Ben
www.benkueng.com |
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Location: Southeast Wisconsin | 3 days of fishing, 3 fish boated (32,34,35...And thats about IT. No follows,misses or losses.Weird!
One very interesting thing is that all 3 fish came within 10 minutes of moon rise and smashed the bait on the retrieve.
2 were caught on shallow running crank baits while fishing shallow weed flats/edges (5-10 feet) and the third was caught on a bucktail on the same type of wind blown structure.
I have to do some real work for a few hours and then its back to fishing for the evening bite,if there is one..
later
www.benkueng.com |
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Location: Northern Wisconsin | Thanks guys for all the info. just got the boat out of the garage and hopefully it will be ready soon.
if i go ill let you know how i did. |
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Location: Pewaukee, Wisconsin | Very wierd day today. Only one fish boated today, that I know of, on Pewaukee Lake.
9 boats trolling and one 32-inch fish.
The trolling pattern was so good going into today that I thought with the increased wind and pre-moon phase it was going to be a free for all. All of the people I talked to that were casting didn't even see a fish today.
The last 3 days have been 2 or 3 fish days out of my boat and today all we got was a walleye and snagged a perch from the school he was hanging with. Two wallyes Thursday night also.
I guess I have to go back out and try tonight. That way I will know where to start with my Sunday morning clients.
Wind, weather and full moon phase = Big Muskies.
See ya...... |
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Location: Northwest Chicago Burbs | Me, Esoxaddict and Pointerpride hit Oconomowoc for a few hours on Saturday. The water was a bit darker than expected, and the weeds were pretty prominent. With winds blowing we hit spots pretty quickly, but did manage one aggressive follow (brown/gold bucktail) and a boat side hit on a black/orange medium dawg. Both fish came with us casting right up into the break with the boat at about 12ft. of water.
Good luck out there, and I would seriously consider Oconomowoc, less boat traffic, the water isnt that clear on the main lake, and the fish are definitely there. |
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Location: Southeast Wisconsin | Fished yesterday with first time client Eric from 5am-1pm and then again from 5pm-1030pm.
Conditions were hot and flat for the morning bite,but like the last five days on the water, the muskies were nowhere to be found.I boated a 30" on a white vibrax bucktail around 8am casting the docks to put my boat at 59 fish for the year, but we couldn't buy another strike. I ended up raising a low-mid forties around 11am in 12 FOW and that was it.
unfortunately, things didn't turn out much better for the evening bite. We hit the lake at 5, just before one of the weirdest fronts I have ever witnessed hit the area. The wind switched from the south, to just about every direction that it could before settling to a stiff E-NE. Despite the pour conditions, Eric raised two mid 30s and missed one on a shallow invader and I raised a low 30s on a hellhound.Fish were in shallow weeds.
Heading out at 4.let you know how we do.
Ben
www.benkueng.com
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Location: Pewaukee, Wisconsin | Well Sunday moring was ok for the first few hours with two small muskies caught by my clients. We fished from 7am till noon. The biggest was 32-inches and the other was short of the 30 mark. Both fish were caught on small crank baits trolled through schools of suspended bluegills, perch and crappies. Depth Raiders, Ernies, Bagleys and Rapalas have all produces this past week. Green, yellows, reds and browns were the colors I was doing well on. Darker at night and brighter during the days. I hope this help.
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Location: Southeast Wisconsin | Fished yesterday with John S. from 5-11pm. started off throwing a G-Train and a Shallow Invader and ended up switching to everything I could think of without so much as a follow. Switched to trolling for moonrise and had pretty much the same luck. Didnt feel like pulling out the boards for an hour so we ran a Tuff Shad and a Shallow invader straight back. I marked schools of baitfish (20-30 FOW) so thick that the sonar would blank out every 5 minutes or so. No action though
Fished this morning from 6-930 by myself. raised 4 fish (2 high 30s,2 maybe 30s)bigger ones came in on a custom, double colorado llungen (yellow/black/orange) the two smaller fish followed a Musky Innovations Chatterbait (white)
Boat in 10 FOW, fish in 3.
Running an evening trip tonight, should be good with the wind switch (finally) happening today.
Good luck this weekend!
Ben
www.benkueng.com |
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Posts: 227
Location: Southeast Wisconsin | I heard from another angler that a 50" skie was found floating yesterday on Pewaukee. Subsequently, there was also a 50 caught yesterday trolling. I dont know how it happened and doesnt matter now (for that fish) but lets keep the great resource we have here in SE WI alive and kicking. water temps are in the 80s and pulling fish out of deeper water is no good. If you must troll deep, please be carefull and dont pull the fish up to fast when fighting it. Dont let the fish swim off till she is godd and ready and It doesnt hurt to give the fish a little push into deeper water once there ready to go as well.
Thanks and please be carefull out there! It takes a fish like that over 12 years to mature..
Ben |
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Location: Pewaukee, Wisconsin | I also had a call that confirmed the 50 floating. She was caught out of 40ft of water on a Depth Raider in 78 to 80 degree water temps. I know there is plenty of fish deep and they can be caught. Please try to target the shallower fish if you have to target the muskies. The mornings have been cooler but the stress of the hot water and fight is so hard on them.
I am not going to guide for a couple weeks for muskies on Pewaukee because these fish will die if you take them out of the water. The best option is to water release these fish so they have a good chance to live and grow.
Tonight was my last guide job and we used smaller cranks and fished the flats. We got a 14 3/4-inch walleye, a 29-inch pike and a 27-inch walleye this evening. The water temps were 78 to 79 degrees.
The 50-incher was a bummer, I am sure the guy did his best and hopefully he was quick with the pictures. This just goes to show you that even if a fish is released it might still die. Delayed mortality it is called. this is the third fish I have seen floating in the last two weeks.
Don't target the deep fish or better yet take a week off and help keep the fishory healthy. The heat will leave and the water temps will drop in a week or so.
Here is the walleye from tonight.
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Location: Southeast Wisconsin | Hey everybody,
Well, the muskies have been moving pretty good for the last week, we just cant seem to keep em "hemmed up" On multiple trips this past week we hooked up with some nice fish, but couldnt get them to the net. Not getting a ton of follows and most fish are hitting on the retrieve, so you gotta be ready for the hit.
Llungens, Shallow Invaders, Topraiders and mantas are all producing for us. Saturday my client lost a nice mid 40s muskie that broke the surface and shook the hooks, on a Shallow Invader and also lost two other unidentifieds on live bait. Sunday night I lost a low-mid 40s on a baby Loon Topraider right at dusk. 15 minutes prior I had a low 30s cartwheel out of the water after a Surface Skimmer Manta.Fished this morning and lost a low 20s and a high 30s on a single blade Llungen. Bluegill and walleye patterns have been producing as well as black/white.
The fish are scattered everywhere! thats the best I can tell you as far as location goes. The best thing you can do is fish everything. No matter how many times I have fished a lake in the past, I always have a game plan before I even hit the water. Pay close attention to the wind on a daily basis and you can usually pattern out a portion of the fish, on any given lake, on any given day.
See you on the water...
Ben
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Posts: 227
Location: Southeast Wisconsin | The last two days of fishing have produced a 34" ski and a couple lost fish around the same size. I resceduled most of my clients for Aug and have only been fishing in the evening or doing split days, so I havent been on the water allot. next week looks like we are getting a cool down and I will be back out all day, with hopefully more to report. best pattern has been working the weed edge with deep-diving cranks. Salmo Perch,depthraiders and triple ds have all been showing fish.
Water temps are climbing into the mid 80s again, so a speedy release is crucial for the muskies survival. If you dont have to take the fish out of the water for a picture,just do a water release.
Good luck!
Ben
www.benkueng.com |
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Posts: 227
Location: Southeast Wisconsin | Fished tonight with Bill Kaiser and his grandson Michael, from 6-10pm. Bill is the maker of the "Kaiser Creeper" and learned to make topwaters from Frenchy LeMay himself. Bill had some great stories from the past and I could of asked him questions all night, but the goal was to get Michael his first Lunge. For the first two hours we casted the deep weed edge with cranks while Bill worked the tops of the weeds with one of his prop baits. I tried all the wind blown points that normally hold fish under a south wind, but came up empty. I decided to move up shallow, had Michael switch to a or/bl spinnerbait and five casts later he hooks into a nice fish! After a brief battle, Michaels first ski was in the net. She taped out at just over 39" and swam off strong after a few pics. Michael did a geat job setting the hook and fighting the fish to the net...not to mention being ready for the strike after not having any action for 2+ hours. Great work Michael!
The three of us are fishing again tomorrow morning at 6..let you know how we do..
Ben
www.benkueng.com
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Posts: 227
Location: Southeast Wisconsin | Hey there,
Fished yesterday by myself in the morning and evening. I missed and raised a fish on consecutive casts around 8 and had a nice fish blow my spinnerbait out of the water around 10am. I never got a good look at the fish, but it made a hell of a splash when it lunged at my bait. Jumped back in the boat around 7pm to redeem myself and ended up going deeper in the hole. Not 20 minutes into my evening excursion I had a nice hit on a spinnerbait, but was asleep at the wheel and totally missed the fish. 10 minutes later I missed another fish and 10 minutes after that I pulled my fouled spinnerbait out of the water, failing to notice the 45+ inch ski that was RIGHT behind it. Even though the blades werent spinning, I think she still would of ate it. Instead of a hook-up, I got a nice leg shower when she turned and bolted off at 100 MPH. After that, I lost my momentum and called it a night around 9.
All my action came slow-rolling spinnerbaits along the deep weed edge...again. Talked to a couple guys at the launch who had action on Shallow Bulldawgs in 2-3 FOW. Just goes to show you that the fish are scattered EVERYWHERE right now, so fish everything when your out there.
Good luck!
Ben
www.benkueng.com |
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Posts: 2691
Location: Pewaukee, Wisconsin | Remember that with this recent cool down the fish can be shallow also. I know of a couple mid 40's fish caught very shallow recently. I would bet those fish have not seen a lure in a while and jumped all over the bait. Both fish were caught on a spinnerbait also.
Trolling has been on fire until this recent cool down.
The fish are on the move and casting will be getting better as the cool nights and shorter days keep comming.
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Posts: 350
Location: WESTERN WI | I will be on Pewaukee today for the first time. Looking forward to finally being able to hit SE WI for the first time this year. Not sure if should cast or troll.
Edited by Got Esox? 8/22/2006 6:00 AM
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Posts: 227
Location: Southeast Wisconsin | Hit the lake today with Mike (aka Pointer Pride) For an afternoon/evening of trolling. Our one and only hit (mid 30s) came around 730 on a swim bait running 20' down on a dipsy diver over 40' FOW. Slow night,but we still had a blast chasing some skis!
Water temps were 80.5 towards the evening. Calm for most of the day untill the front pushed through around 630 and kicked up a 15 mph E-NE wind. Could of stayed out longer if I wasnt a cheap a$$ and put the extra 10 bucks in my tank this morning..LOL
Good luck!
Ben
www.benkueng.com
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Posts: 227
Location: Southeast Wisconsin | Fished today with Dale (aka EsoxJake) from 10-8pm. Dale raised a mid 30s on the first spot and the action pretty much continued from there untill 7pm. I lost count on how many fish we had to the boat, but it was allot...and only 3 of them were small. The rest of the fish we raised were high 30s-mid 40s. Dale missed/lost 3 nice ones and I boated two (40,low 30s) and missed 1.
Most of our action came on gliders and small bucktails in 6 FOW or less.
Good luck!
Ben
www.benkueng.com
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Posts: 227
Location: Southeast Wisconsin | Fished for a few hours by myself yesterday. I started off working the deep, wind blown weed edges for the first two hours and only saw one low 30s fish that came in hot on a swim bait. After getting skunked on the deep edge, I moved into shallow water where I soon hooked up with this 42" spotted. She was sitting just outside an artificial neckdown area that was only 6 feet wide, but creating some serious current. It was one of those "I know theres a fish there and Im not leaving till I catch it" kind of scenarios. Well, after about the 10th cast, she smashed a storm swimbait on the third crank!
Heading back out now for an all day excursion...let ya know how we do.
Good luck!
Ben
www.benkueng.com
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| great job ben sounds like your on em constantely ,were trying to set up a day trip up there , don't know if dale told ya about the chain on sun . morning ..action was fast and fierce for about 30 min. i ended up gettin 2 in the net one dinko and one right at 30
couldn't stick the hooks in the one i wanted ,she tossed my jackpot 5ft. in the air and backflipped 10ft. from the boat,  |
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| sal - 8/30/2006 9:58 AM
great job ben sounds like your on em constantely ,were trying to set up a day trip up there , don't know if dale told ya about the chain on sun . morning ..action was fast and fierce for about 30 min. i ended up gettin 2 in the net one dinko and one right at 30
couldn't stick the hooks in the one i wanted ,she tossed my jackpot 5ft. in the air and backflipped 10ft. from the boat, :(
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Posts: 2691
Location: Pewaukee, Wisconsin | Ready or not the Fall action is just around the corner. Most of the South East muskie action is still being enjoyed by the trollers. The casting bite is starting to heat up slowly with each shorter day and longer cool night.
The best action is still the suspended fish that are eating well while hanging around all the bait. I have enjoyed multiple muskie nights and mornings this whole past month. Okauchee and Pewaukee Lake have been kicking our some big fish and numbers. Nineteen 1/2 days this past month has put 40 muskies in my boat. Almost all of these fish have came on crankbaits trolled through schools of bait fish or working structure.
The best action has come from matching the size lure with the size bait your trolling through. Okauchee Lake seems to require larger baits and Pewaukee Lake I like to down size because of all the stunted pan fish.
The trolling bite will start to slow as the water cools and the muskies start to work back to the weeds. I am looking forward to sticking some bigger fish as they start to show up shallower.
The trolling patterns will change from the suspendo's, to the breaks, to the flats, and then the weedlines. I have enjoyed two great months of trolling but the fall casting bite is comming soon. For the next few weeks the trolling bite will rock, then it's time to have some fun casting for a month or so. Then the meat come out..........
For more info on Pewaukee Lake check out my web site for a more detailed report. www.mikekoepp.com
Here is a few small pictures from the last few weeks on 5pm till 10pm weekday outing.
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Posts: 227
Location: Southeast Wisconsin | Hey there,
Sorry for the lack of reports,been busy with trips lately...Glad to say most have been succesfull!
Fished with first time clients Mike and Steve this afternoon from 1-8pm. Things started off slow for the first two hours, not even raising a fish between the three of us. I assured my clients that the days you usually see allot of fish are the days you dont usually catch any, and that the fish HAVE TO be on today, so stay on point. Well, lets just say that I was right (as usual! LOL) Around 4pm, Mike had the first action of the day when a mid 30s grabbed his topraider 3 feet from the boat and started "breaking loose" at the surface...2 jumps later it shook the hooks and split. Mike, being from Alabama has never experienced a fish attacking so close to the boat and the look on his face when she started jumping was priceless. Things were pretty quiet on the next few spots, until we hit a nice group of fish on the fourth spot. Steve scored first with a 34, I followed with a 36 and Steve popped a 35 not 5 casts after I released mine. Mike missed a "basski" and lost a SUPER NICE fish on a sucker(still feeling the pain from that one..LOL) In between catching fish we all had action, including some nice wakes and blowups, plus one nice 40+ follow on the last run. I also had a mid 40s go airborne and blow my skimmer 3 feet in the air! Everything in less than 4 FOW on topwaters (raiders,wobbler,skimmer manta)
Pulling a all dayer tomorrow for sure!
Ben
www.benkueng.com
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Posts: 2691
Location: Pewaukee, Wisconsin | Ben,
Good to see the casting is going good over there. The trolling casting bite is now 50/50 on Pewaukee Lake. Trolling is still putting number in the boat but the casting bite is now kicking out some bigger fish.
Last night my clients had action from a muskie that hit just after dark. Mike set the hooks hard and the fight was on. A healthy 37-incher was just what we were looking for to get things started since we only had one follow so far. A quick picture and they were back working the weed edges. Two follows later still no takers so we switched up to a wind blown point and picked it apart with a Top Water bait and a bucktail.
Mike was back in action with a quality upper 30's muskie hooked and airboarn. A few tail dances and head shakes and it was just a memory. We talked about a good hard hook-set and we were back at it. Tony took a break and I told him I would cast while he took his break, "I will hand off the rod if I score" I told him. Not 10 casts later I hook up with a mid 40's fish that is just going nuts only a few feet from the boat. "Tony", I yelled as I drove the hooks home, "here you go". Tony looked at me and said " Your on your own with that one". I thanked him and enjoyed the rush of a good night time muskie. If you have not cuught a muskie after dark, you should try it.
Today I trolled after work and caught 3 muskies, all in the low thirtys. After darkness set in I pulled up shallow to see if could stick another one of those 20lb'ers. After 3 hours of casting with no action I called it quits. Cast or troll? It's that time of year.
Now is the time to get on the water and stick some fish. Top Water bite is on and the fish are now on the move. Get in on it while it"s hot. Water temps are falling and trophy time is almost here.
Here is a couple pics from last night.
Edited by Mikes Extreme 9/14/2006 1:03 PM
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Posts: 227
Location: Southeast Wisconsin | Nice fatty Mike!!
Sounds like the big uns are starting to move shallow.
Im looking forward to a slammin fall out there!
Ben |
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Posts: 227
Location: Southeast Wisconsin | Hey there,
I have been very busy with trips the last few days and havent had a chance to post. Heres a recapp of the last 3 days on the water...
14th I fished with first time client Adam.Adam was in search of his first musky and spent all day trying. Adams first chance was a mid 30s that followed in his bucktail and was just about to eat, but Adam was caught off guard and fumbled on the figure 8. That was at 10am and his next shot didnt come till 8pm when a ski grabbed the boatside sucker and took off. Adam grabbed the rod and executed one of the slickest hook sets I have ever seen. After a brief battle, Adams first ski was in the net, a nice 34 incher. Not five casts after releasing his first, he popped his second on a topraider, which was about the same size as the first so we didnt even bother netting it.
15th I fished with regular client Mike from 3-8pm. I scored a mid 30s and missed 2 other fish and Mike missed a nice fish on a Topraider. We saw 4 other fish including one that was pushing 45.
16th I fished with first time clients Bob and Dean from 6am-130pm. Dean started it off right away with a 34" that followed in his topwater and hit on the figure 8. I was up next with a low 30s that popped my skimmer. Around 10am Dean stuck a 30 on a bucktail. No other fish seen or missed.
Everything shallow, running the same pattern
The best is still yet to come. Fishing will really start to pick up as the water temps fall to a consistent 60 degrees.
Getting a little shut eye and hitting the lake in the AM before the storms roll through..
Later
Ben
www.benkueng.com
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Posts: 227
Location: Southeast Wisconsin | Hey there,
Fished today with first time clients Helen and Doug. neither had caught a musky before, or even had a follow up in there last 6 trips! I assured them that it wasnt going down like that today and that we werent leving till one of them caught a ski! On the first spot, Doug had a quick follow up that bolted away and left him with only a glimpse of the fish. Soon after Doug had his follow, the sucker I was dragging on the bottom got caught in the weeds. As I was reeling it in I noticed a Bucher Flutter Tail had attached itself to the clump of weeds. The cool part about it is that Ive been meaning to buy one...The sad part about it, is that the clasp on the Flutter wouldnt hold a 10" gill and was tied on with 10 lb mono! I cleaned off the Flutter, took five casts and had a mid 30s climbing all over it that wouldnt open its mouth. Action slowed for a bit till around noon when Helen stuck a high 20s on a skimmer. We fished around for awhile, raised two more small fish and ended up back where Helen caught her fish. Helen had a nice thick 40 take a swipe at her Skimmer and I had a blow up on a topraider. We hit a different spot, where apparantly all the fish had gathered for some sort of event LOL. Between 5 and 6 the fish were jumping in the boat! We had numerous follows and blow ups,I lost a high 30s at the boat and Helen stuck a nice thick mid 30s. Just as quick as it started, it was over.Gotta love those fall feeding windows!!
Now, not to take anything away from Doug, but helen was a fishing machine!! This girl could cast and work a skimmer like a pro! And shes only only 4'11 and (maybe) 90 lbs.. She even offered me a few tips... Laura Morrison better watch her back.LOL
Moon set was at 6:00
Everything super shallow..I have 8" leaders on my suckers, the bobber is at the leader and they still snag the weeds on a regular basis.
Good luck!
Ben
www.benkueng.com
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Posts: 227
Location: Southeast Wisconsin | Hey there,
Fished today with first time clients Helen and Doug. neither had caught a musky before, or even had a follow up in there last 6 trips! I assured them that it wasnt going down like that today and that we werent leving till one of them caught a ski! On the first spot, Doug had a quick follow up that bolted away and left him with only a glimpse of the fish. Soon after Doug had his follow, the sucker I was dragging on the bottom got caught in the weeds. As I was reeling it in I noticed a Bucher Flutter Tail had attached itself to the clump of weeds. The cool part about it is that Ive been meaning to buy one...The sad part about it, is that the clasp on the Flutter wouldnt hold a 10" gill and was tied on with 10 lb mono! I cleaned off the Flutter, took five casts and had a mid 30s climbing all over it that wouldnt open its mouth. Action slowed for a bit till around noon when Helen stuck a high 20s on a skimmer. We fished around for awhile, raised two more small fish and ended up back where Helen caught her fish. Helen had a nice thick 40 take a swipe at her Skimmer and I had a blow up on a topraider. We hit a different spot, where apparantly all the fish had gathered for some sort of event LOL. Between 5 and 6 the fish were jumping in the boat! We had numerous follows and blow ups,I lost a high 30s at the boat and Helen stuck a nice thick mid 30s. Just as quick as it started, it was over.Gotta love those fall feeding windows!!
Now, not to take anything away from Doug, but helen was a fishing machine!! This girl could cast and work a skimmer like a pro! And shes only only 4'11 and (maybe) 90 lbs.. She even offered me a few tips... Laura Morrison better watch her back.LOL
Moon set was at 6:00
Everything super shallow..I have 8" leaders on my suckers, the bobber is at the leader and they still snag the weeds on a regular basis.
Good luck!
Ben
www.benkueng.com
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Location: Northwest Chicago Burbs | Ben,
What are water temps in the area? |
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Location: Racine, Wi | Slamr, they were around 66-67 on Sunday, and the fish were eat'n.  |
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Posts: 227
Location: Southeast Wisconsin | I had anywhere between 65-67 tonight on Pewaukee.
Had 8 up to the boat tonight,but only 2 were figure 8 worthy..Rest were mid-high 20s
Ben |
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Posts: 2691
Location: Pewaukee, Wisconsin | Sounds like our night on Pewaukee Lake.
One of my clients Billie got her first muskie and her husband "to be" Craig got one also.
Both shorties. |
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Posts: 227
Location: Southeast Wisconsin | Hey there,
Ran trips Friday,Sat, and today for a vets outing through my Muskies inc club..all were awesome trips!! The muskies are shallow and stacked up in particular areas. we are Catching most of our fish in 2-10 FOW along the edge or in the flats. Crane baits,Mantas and Bulldawgs have been the top producers. Topwater bite seems to be hit or miss, but still productive. Not like last week when everyone in the boat was throwing a topwater though.
Friday I fished with second time client Mark from 11-8pm. We were greeted with a steady 15 mph S-SE winds with 25 mph gusts. I tried some deep water stuff to no avail, so we moved in shallow. Mark scored a skinny 33 on a bulldawg as soon as we moved up, so we hit all the shallow flats for the rest of the day. On the next spot I had a high 30-low 40 engage my Manta and inhale it boatside. After a 30 second battle she managed to shake the hooks. Came back after an hour and Mark scored a chunky 32 on a Crane bait. Saw a few other decent fish as well..
Saturday I fished with Mike and Jim from 8-8pm. The plan was to hit OC first and than head next door mid afternoon when the launch cleared out.Around 10am, Jim had a high 30-low 40 nipping at his Bulldawg,but never hooked up. 15 minutes later, Jim had another high 30s follow that turned off. Not 10 minutes after his follow, he had a mid 30s grab his Bulldawg on the 8! He set the hook and we soon had the fish in the net.heres the kicker...I was just about to measure the fish and take a pic, when she slipped through a gapping hole in my net that I thought I had sealed back up with Power Pro. I tried to grad her tail,but she was too quick. Mike didnt give me too hard of a time about it, but I was still shocked that it happened. I had to cut a muskies head out of my net the other day and forgot to seal all the holes up. Lets just say lesson learned. The lesson is,dont buy crappy Frabill nets! (any posts defending Frabill will be DELETED..LOL) Actually, my bag sucks and I really need a replacement! We switched spots and just as I was about to set up, I noticed someone else who was working the same spot, so I took off for my second choice. Half way through the spot, Mike hooks up with a fish on Jims Bulldawg. There wasnt much of a bend in the rod and I saw (what I thought was) a smallmouth so I wasnt getting excited,until the fish started pulling back. Gills flared, the rod tip doubled over and I soon saw that this phantom smallie was actually a nice ski! Mike did an awesome job of fighting the fish to the net and we soon had his personal best, a dark 42" in the bag! Soon after, the major front that had been lingering all day finally moved through and blew us off the lake. Hit Rookies for lunch and finished up on Okauchee.never saw a fish,but we only hit a few spots and called it a night when the winds started blowing hard.
Today I took out a father and son trio for our clubs annual "vets outing" from 7-1130am. Todd and his dad Glen were both looking for there first musky. I missed two fish early on a manta and ended up boating a mid 30s on the same manta about an hour later. Five minutes later, Todd has a 35" smash his Crane 10 feet from the boat and soon after had his first musky in the net. Todd also stuck a shorty in the last five minutes of fishing on the same Crane..
Heading to Pewaukee tomorrow if my buddy doesnt biotch out again..LOL
NOWS the time to be on the water!
Ben
www.benkueng.com
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Posts: 227
Location: Southeast Wisconsin | Hey there,
Well, I finally have some free time and a working computer. Fishing has been excellent lately,but the catching hasnt been going great. Tons of missed/lost fish this week,including a couple fattys! Not to mention the stupid fish that keep baby sitting are suckers.
Tuesday I fished all day on Pewaukee with a buddy. Adam was running a little late and I was early, so I decided to fish for a half hour. Ended up stickin a 36" 15 minutes into the first spot on a sucker. For the rest of the day we raised 10 fish,but couldnt get anything else to bite. Most of the fish were mid 30s with a few niceys mixed in.
Thursday I hit the Fox River with a buddy. I boated a mid 30s and that was the only fish we saw...except for the 5 fish we saw other guys catch trolling. Talked to one boat that popped 14!! biggest was 47" Lets just say that the shi%s really hittin the fan up there. Saw 4 other boats taping, including Mike Keyes...
friday I went back up to the Fox,but never saw a fish.
Saturday I fished with regular client Curtis and his Girlfriend Lynette. Fishing was extremely slow,but we still had a couple shots at fish. Curtis and I both missed our oppurtunities and a mid 30s missed his chance to eat a nice river sucker. I have never seen a muskie put that much effort into chasing a sucker and not eat it. I could of just clubbed the dam thing over the head if I wanted to...LOL
Sunday I fished with first time client Mike. We started off by missing two mid 30s at the boat on Pewaukee,switched to Labelle for 2 hours and than finished it up on Oconomowoc. We never saw a fish on LL, but Mike did mange to raise a nice thick mid 40s on OC. She came back on my glider and also harrased the sucker for a minute,but just wouldnt open her mouth. From what I hear, I should of been on Okauchee that day LOL.
This morning I fished with regular client Al and his son in law Ron. Al lost a mid 30s and I rolled a low 40s on the first spot. About an hour later,Al had a nice fish attack his topraider, but she never got hooked. We switched spots and Ron had a mid 30s chase his flutter tail up to the boat. Ron got a case of the "begginer blues" and didnt do an L turn. I informed Ron that he had a musky waiting for his bait, but by the time he had a chance to do an 8 the fish was already swimming away with the boatside sucker. Ron gave er the ole death blow and his first musky was in the net. After that we headed back to the stretch we fished earlier and Ron had a super thick mid 40s come up and inhale his flutter tail. Ron was a little slow on the hook set and the fish just spit out the lure.Initially Ron thought there were 2 fish down there and it really broke my heart to tell him it was only one BIG fish. Let me tell you this-Ron will never be slow on the hookset again...LOL
All of our action has come running the same pattern. Most of the fish are shallow and this cooler weather is going to really turn things around and turn some of these big daddys into eaters. Bulldawgs,mantas,fluttertails,topwaters and suckers have all been productive. Wind blown structure has been the ticket, but everything this morning came from the wind blocked side of the lake.
Good luck out there!
Ben
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Posts: 227
Location: Southeast Wisconsin | Hey there,
Fished today with Mike L. from 10-4pm. Water temps were 45 with Mostly cloudy skis and a stiff west wind. I raised a mid 30s on a glider around 11:30. 20 minutes later we had a fish grab our float sucker, but we never got hooks into it. Fished a few more spots without any luck, until around 230 when our float sucker got hit...Mike grabbed the rod and set the hook like a pro! The fish was about 30 feet out, but wouldnt budge. Mike kept tension on the line and slowly worked the fish back to the boat. Half way back, this thing starts pulling out drag and almost pulls the rod from Mikes hands! I got one good glimpse of the fish when she rolled at the top and could see it was a upper 40" fish. She made 3 or 4 more good runs, hugged the bottom for awile and FINALLY, after a 6 minute nail biter of a fight, found her way into the net..Mikes PB and one of the fattest fish Ive ever had in my boat...A modest 48X22
Caught along a 6 foot (wind blown) weed edge on a sucker, rigged with (you guessed it!) a Finadk quick strike rig.
Gotta love SE WI in the fall!!
Ben
www.benkueng.com
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Posts: 227
Location: Southeast Wisconsin | Fished 10/25 with Bob and his daughter Jenny. Fishing was slow, only raising 3 fish from 12-6pm. Finally, the float sucker came through for us and Jenny boated her first musky!
Gotta love those 4th quarter comebacks..LOL
Been running the same pattern for the last month... Shallow and in the weeds.
Ben
www.benkueng.com
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Location: Racine, Wi | Bob's daughter is schmoke'n. heh heh heh
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Posts: 227
Location: Southeast Wisconsin | All I can say is that we kicked some musky A$$ today!
Fished with first time clients Dave and Jerry from 10-6pm. Things started off slow, only seeing 3 fish between 10 and 2. Around 230, Jerry was the first to score with a healthy 41" that ate a float sucker. 5 and 10 casts later Dave has a high 30s and mid-upper 40s chasing his glide bait. Moonrise was at 430 so I decided to step off the spot untill around 345. We watched from the other side of the lake as 3 other boats worked the same area with no action that we could see. At 345 as we were approaching the area, the guy who had been squatting there for the last 20 minutes decided to jump in front of me, so I decided to work the spot he was just fishing..Well,me Dave and Jerry would like to thank that "kind" "gentlemen" for changing our course, because not 10 casts later Dave has a 43" SMASH his glider 5 feet from the boat. After a short, but tense match she was safely in the net. For the next 45 minutes, we did some squatting of our own and boated two more skis! Jerry got a 39" on a sucker and I popped a mid 30s on a glider.. Everything ultra shallow within a 100 foot stretch!
Would of liked to get that 45+ that Jerry rolled, but 4 fish in the boat with a couple over 40 aint to shabby of a day..
Let ya know how it goes tomorrow..
Ben
www.benkueng.com
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Posts: 516
Location: Kildeer, IL | We got out during the beautiful weather yesterday. We caught a fat 47 incher at 10:45 in the morning. It was caught on a Bulldawg with the boat in 20 feet casting into 12. She hit on the figure 8 after about 7 times around.
The picture I have is on my camera phone. Once I get my phone "flashed", I will post a picture. Right now I can't send the picture off of my phone. |
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Posts: 227
Location: Southeast Wisconsin | What lake?? hahahahaha J/K
Nice work!!
Ben |
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Posts: 227
Location: Southeast Wisconsin | Musky fishing continues to be on FIRE throughout Southeast Wisconsin! Every guide trip is ending with at least one legal fish boated and 3 fish during a 8 hour trip has been very common.
Monday I was out with regular client marc McDermott. From 2-430 pm we had 6 fish hooked up, but only 3 made it to the net (33,35,37)
Tuesday I was out by 830am and by 930am I had to pull out to get more suckers. I had 3 fish grab meat, but only managed to boat one (mid 30s) Made it back out for the evening bite and didn't have any action.
Wednesday I was out with a couple buddies for the afternoon bite. Matt boated a 38, Mike lost 3 and I finished it up with a super fat 47+..
All of our action was on suckers fished through shallow weed beds.
Water temps are holding at 40 degrees. Weeds are dying off quickly, which is actually concentrating most of the fish in a few particular areas. Feeding windows have been fierce in the early morning and late afternoon, but fish are being caught all day long. We are still getting 5-10 follows a day, but haven't caught a fish on artificials for over two weeks!!
Most often, the best spots in fall are usually unfishable during most of the season.
One thing I've noticed this fall, is that the fish seem to be much shallower than in years past. Not to say that some fish arent deep, but after catching 2 30lbers in two weeks up shallow, I think Ill stick with this pattern for a while...LOL
Get out there!
Ben
www.benkueng.com
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Posts: 203
| Whats your schedule next week .. Say tuesday morning till 1pm or so...My job is wonderful and #*#*ty at the same time.. let me know.. |
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Posts: 227
Location: Southeast Wisconsin | Im open..Gimmee a call or drop me an [email protected] 414-232-8459
I dont even know what to say! Had another SLAMMIN!! day on the water today..
Couldnt rustle up a fishing partner today, so I hit er up by my self. Got on the water at 8 with a full livewell of suckers and a positive outlook for the day. I got to my spot, cranked up the smooooooth jazz and had a low 30s grab a sucker just as Patty Ganko was giving me the traffic report. I laughed at all the "suckers" (LOL) who were sitting in rush hour and than put my first fish in the boat. A buddy was fishing close by and snapped a few pics for me..
I moved out to deeper water and had another hit on a sucker, but I lost the fish soon after hookset.
...And than it happened. The far bobber went off so I reeled up my lure and went back to grab the rod. Before I grabbed the "live" rod, I reeled in my other sucker rod which was 10 feet behind the boat. As the sucker approached the boat, I noticed an upper 30" fish following it in. I reeled the sucker up to the boat, engaged the reel and grabbed the "live" rod. I went to the front of the boat and started chasing down the musky. As I got close to the bobber, I looked back to see the upper 30" ski grab the other sucker that was next to the boat! HOLY CRAP!! I set the hook on the first fish, fought it to the net, stepped on the net handle and grabbed the other rod..I couldnt chase the fish down because my pedal was in the front and I was in the back with my foot on the net, which contained a mid 30" fish. I swung a hail mary hook set and the fish was ON! I fought it for a couple minutes and finally slipped #2 in the net just as the hooks popped out!! Luckily some fellow muskie inc guys were out and came over to snap some sweet photos for me..
Ohh, I almost forgot...I also boated a 38" (after the first one, and before the double)
One other hit and miss before dark and that was that..
Let ya know how it goes tomorrow
Good luck this weekend!!
Ben
www.benkueng.com
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Posts: 203
| sorry Ben but #*#*, patients were scheduled by the front desk lady friday when i was gone, for tuesday.. I may as well just put my poles away.. oh by the way great action the last few days for my buddy too. Remember the Cloverleaf chain I told you about,, his dad spanked a fat 49" saturday.
It was Mike JOOOOnes birthday on saturday..
Bret
Edited by johnson 11/20/2006 4:04 PM
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Posts: 227
Location: Southeast Wisconsin | In the last 9 days of fishing, clients and I have boated 30 muskies from 34"-47"!!! I dont think I can ask for a better week of fishing, but I have a feeling this week is going to be just as good..
All of our action has been on suckers fished through the last standing weeds in 5-10 FOW.
Our best day so far has been 7 fish boated!
7 more days left!!
Ben
www.benkueng.com
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Posts: 227
Location: Southeast Wisconsin | I let my clients take all the sucker hits and the pic of the 47 was already posted last week...
Later
Ben
www.benkueng.com |
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Posts: 405
| caught these out with my buddy Ben today
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Posts: 516
Location: Kildeer, IL | I finally got the pictures off of my cell phone. Here are the pictures of the 47 that I caught a couple of weeks ago.
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Posts: 227
Location: Southeast Wisconsin | Thanks to everyone for checking out my reports and thanks to Muskie first for letting me post!!
We ended with 150 fish over 30" boated!!
I look forward to an even better season in 2007
If your at the Milwaukee Musky show this winter, stop by the booth and say hi..
Have a safe and happy holiday season!!
Ben Kueng
Guaranteed Guide Service
www.benkueng.com
414-232-8459 |
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Posts: 227
Location: Southeast Wisconsin | Southern WI is on fire right now for us to the tune of 21 fish (9 over 40!) in the last 5 days. The three smallest are 35,35,36 and the rest are 38-44..Lost a HOSS right at the boat a few days ago.
Trolling,casting,jigging and also live bait have produced fish for us. A majority are on the deep edge,but we are also having action up shallow..Ive used just about every possible technique and lure on these fish, but the key right now is to work known fish holding areas till you cover every square inch.
My time is limited but Ill post a few pics of the bigger fish..Hopefully I can get that fatty to go again!!
Get out there!
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Posts: 227
Location: Southeast Wisconsin | Couple more
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Posts: 227
Location: Southeast Wisconsin | 4 more fish in the last 2 days. 42,39,38,36..Double d, crane and bucher shallow raider are seeing the most action. All trolling the shallow weed edges
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Posts: 227
Location: Southeast Wisconsin | Another from yesterday |
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Posts: 227
Location: Southeast Wisconsin | 4 from tuesday with clients and a 39 my girl caught on wed..Water temps are too hot now and its time to take a break..
Running the same patterns as last week. Trolling shallow runnin cranks along the shallow and deep weed edges..
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Posts: 108
Location: Crystal Lake,Illinois 60014 | Its a no-brainer(common trolling) and you can apply this technique on any lake, its not magic.
Some people have the swagger and some don't, but most of all its time on the water....so get out and fish!
Ben has been a great friend and fishing buddy for a while now, definitely practices what he preaches!
See ya in a few
Dale |
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Posts: 28
| was thinking about coming down this weekend is the fishing still good or is it too late now looking to troll.... |
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| Great post Ben. Good profile info of the lakes - makes it easier for someone unfamiliar with the lakes to match up with their style/preferences.
Keep the updates coming. |
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Posts: 64
| Awesome stuff Ben. Keep up the great reports. Really looking forward to blowing off some work so I can cruise up with Dale one of these day and do some trolling.
#*^@, you sure make it look easy. Take care. - Lance |
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Posts: 468
Location: Not where I wanna be! | Thanks for sharing Ben! i really appreciate all the photos!!
they add to my imagination!
Great update and pix |
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Posts: 203
| Yeah, Ben Kueng Guide Service has put me and friends on fish for three years running now. Classy guy as long as you like listening to the oldies because thats the only station his radio gets.
Bret |
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Posts: 227
Location: Southeast Wisconsin | Got out for a few hours today with a buddy before the monsoon rolled through ..Raised an upper 30s and boated a low 40s on a show girl (goldy locks) Fish was in 4 FOW near a patch of cabbage...Find the "glass shad" and youll find the skis!!
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Posts: 317
| Ben,
I am yet another of Dales platoon of Muskie militia! We all need to get out together and do some esox damage! |
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Posts: 108
Location: Crystal Lake,Illinois 60014 | "Glass Shad"
LOL
BEN!
BEN!
BEN!
Its a musky!!!!!!!! What do I do!
Nice work on the ski, pretty fish. about 42"?
Dale
Edited by esoxjake 8/25/2007 9:48 PM
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Posts: 227
Location: Southeast Wisconsin | Thanks!
Had another great couple weeks of fishing, but much slower than a few weeks ago..Actually I just had to work harder to find consistent action.The fish are still there,but allot of them are buried in the weeds or sitting in areas that are not commonly trolled. Popped a few decent fish last week trolling double ds and shallow raiders. The rest of our fish came finesse fishing swim baits and jigs over the deep drop-offs. Tried jigging some deep weed edges to no avail. The water temps are 64-70 on most lakes so Ive also been pulling suckers. On Okauchee we've had some big fish looking at live bait but werent interested enough to bite. On Pewaukee there grabbing the sucker and letting go before we can set the hook.. Couple more weeks and the sucker bite should be in full swing..
Good luck!!
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Posts: 227
Location: Southeast Wisconsin | BTW-The two fish with sore on the back are the same fish caught 2 days apart on the same lure |
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Posts: 284
| also looks like the same fish caught in july a few pics up
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Posts: 227
Location: Southeast Wisconsin | Nah, that fish had a much worse chunk out of its back than the other 2. |
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Posts: 284
| Fish don't heal that fast? |
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| Good question..I dont think it would heal up that quick within that short of time though.. |
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Posts: 284
| Ben do you have a better picture of the one from June? The little bit of details I can see seam to match up. This would be interesting to find out if these fish heal that quickly. I cannot see the patterns very well in the june fish but if you check out the anal fin I can see to spots that look almost identical to that of the september fish. And although I am aware that fin splices are common both fish have slits in their tail and anal fin. Oh yeah and by the way I hate you. I have never seen so many fish in one guys boat. JK nice work this year. |
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Posts: 227
Location: Southeast Wisconsin | heres all three pics
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Posts: 227
Location: Southeast Wisconsin | The third fish is not the same as the first 2..
The casting bite on Pewaukee has been good. Was out yesterday with clients and we were on fish pretty much all day.Boated 3,lost 2 and raised several other fish.Biggest was on a sucker and we had another decent fish chase our boatside sucker for a couple minutes. Fished the east and west end horseshoes. Shallow weeds or just outside the edge (7-14 FOW). deep diving crankbait in perch was the hot bait.
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Posts: 91
| Hey Ben, what length sucker rod do you use is pretty stout, also are you using baitcasters and braided, what # |
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Posts: 227
Location: Southeast Wisconsin | Right now Im using 8' heavy/extra heavy Pete maina bass pro rods.There pretty inexpensive and work well.Havent had one break yet and the extra long cork makes for a better hookset.I have some cabelas baitcasters that im using right now..Any baitcaster with a clicker will do fine though. I use 80-100lb Power Pro and have always been happy with it (no breaks) Any super braid in 80-100lb should be fine tho. More importantly dont use less than 80lb (65 is not enough) for the safety of the fish (and your sanity)..Break-offs suck!!
Good luck this fall!! |
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Posts: 203
| Ben, how do you rig the suckers?
bret |
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Posts: 227
Location: Southeast Wisconsin | Found some dirty water on Pewaukee this week and she gave up a fatty..My girlfriends PB..Caught on a deep diving crank in...Uhh..shallow water..Call it womans intuition or just plain dumb luck because she got a nice fish (and a whole bunch of weeds..LOL) while my buddy and I got skunked.. Pewaukees been good to us lately giving up at least one decent fish during a full day..Theres a ton of fish up shallow right now and baitfish stacked up in 16-25 FOW.Also marked schools shallower and deeper,but the majority were in 18 FOW. Been moving and catching fish on suzy suckers, bucktails and small crankbaits. Sucker bite was just starting to pick up until this warm streak reared its ugly head..The fish we've contacted have been in 10 FOW or less. Trolled a "house" sized school of baitfish last time out to no avail.Moved shallow and had a good night (with the exception of my client missing an upper 40s at boatside TWICE!...That sucked)
Bring on the cold weather!!
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Posts: 2691
Location: Pewaukee, Wisconsin | Nice fish Ben's better half. lol
Pewaukee has been very good all day before this last week of heat. Lately the afternoons up till dark and after are very good. The afternoon bite for me and my clients is consistant. One to two four fish boated between 5 and 10pm on the average. Mid to upper 30's are the standard weed fish lately with some low 40's getting very active. Clients have raised some slobs but no of them pictures yet. I wish I could fish all day but regular job prevents me from that.
Trolling, casting and live bait all have a place at this time of year. Just picking the best pattern at the best time is key. Large bucktails, top water and cranks are my casting producers. I have not trolled for three weeks but trolling will score fish as long as the water temperatures are above 60 degrees. Got to go, clients at noon today. Packer game tonight. GO PACK!!!
Go get em Ben. Leave a few for us in the week day afternoons.
Edited by Mikes Extreme 10/8/2007 1:24 PM
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Posts: 227
Location: Southeast Wisconsin | She says thanks Mike!!
Musky fishing was very productive for clients and myself this week. Theres been allot of active fish along the breaks or shallow weeds depending on the day. Pewaukee has been consistent and Okauchee is just starting to get going. This warming trend will definitely set the bite back out there, but when she desides to break loose make sure your out there because its a beautiful thing. Productive lures have been swimming joes,Suzy suckers, Llungen tails, Bulldawgs and a variety of swim baits.
Good luck this fall!!
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