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Posts: 929
Location: Rhinelander. | I plan on doing a considerable amount of trolling on the rainbow flowage this summer. Will let you know how it went come fall, or maybe not.
Pfeiff |
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Posts: 2091
Location: Stevens Point, WI | Another bonus of fishing the flowages, especially Du Bay is the monster pike in there. This lake definately holds some of the biggest in the state. My buddy took a 44" pike out of there a couple of years ago and mid 30's fish are pretty common. The weeds are making a come back in some of the bays and back water areas. Current does play a big role in a flowage like this. Early and late season the fish tend to be pretty shallow, but come warmer months fish are out in the old creek channels that still have a noticable amount of current. These fish are using flooded timber, rock, sand bars as current breaks. This holds true for the walleye as well and I caught my largest walleye a 28" on a Depth Raider in the Sandy Creek channel a few years ago. A bit more on the river, I approach it just like trout fishing. I'm always amazed boating a fish from a really small area of sharp contrast in the current. The fish as mentioned by Pointer will literally be within a foot of whitewater in a bit of slack water from a single rock, stump, or dead fall. These spots produce fish over and over again and many times there are more than one fish in these really small areas. Shore fishing and wading are a great option here, because if your like me and have a Tuffy or other rig with a deeper bottom some of these areas are unaccessable otherwise. I miss my old Lakeland where I could float right through these areas. Call us river rats crazy, but there is a great fishery in central WI on the WI River that is getting better and better every year. The work of the local clubs has really helped a lot to educate anglers in C & R and their stocking efforts have helped as well. We owe a lot to Jason Schillinger and the Consolidated club and 12 Apostles club. If you are ever in the Stevens Point area give me a shout and I'd be more than happy to get you out. I do fish Oneida and Vilas a lot as well, but with the high gas prices I've cut back on the trips up there. |
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| A lot of credit to Bill's Musky Club too. They are mostly responsible for the quality of Lake Wausau. I just wish they would start stocking some in Eau Pleine, can you say...best ever? Infested with little crappies, whitebass and suckers. |
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Posts: 714
Location: Rhinelander, WI | I have a love hate relationship, with Flowages. Lots of good stuff in this thread.
The thing I hate the most is, more so than natural lakes the fish can be everywhere and nowhere all at the same time. And also like what was said before a great spot one year can be horrible the next.
I always get the grass is greener syndrome because it’s easy to be fishing one spot and thinking man I should be over there, or over there, or maybe up there. Know what I mean.
I truly think that on many good flowages you could put your boat in at the landing and just start fishing shoreline and never be in BAD water. There is just so much GOOD structure on most flowages.
That’s why fish get big and that’s why they are VERY, VERY, VERY hazardous. 
Nail A Pig!
Mike
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Posts: 691
Location: nationwide | I believe the Central Wisconsin Chapter of Muskies Inc has stocked muskies in the Eau Plaine. Probably not a huge quantity but some is better than nothing.
Corey Meyer |
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Posts: 2687
Location: Hayward, WI | I think it depends on the area you are fishing. Where I live, flowages (I never think of lake Wissota as a flowage, but I suppose it technically is) have the highest density musky populations compared to the local lakes. I would certainly be missing out by not fishing them. If you live close to lakes that have great musky populations, then it might not matter much.
I agree with a few posters here. I have a lot of trouble boating or even seeing fish on the dark stained, algae bloomed water when they get hot in the peak of summer around the middle of July and into the early part of August. But, when the fish are shallow and eating, you can just about go out KNOWING you will have a good day.
Also, I agree with fishing stuff that looks good over and over. I caught my two biggest fish out of Wissota this year in spots that I had never caught a musky before. One spot I had never even really raised one, and that's where my biggest for the year came from. If a spot looks good, it probably is at some point, you just gotta be there at the right time.
curleytail |
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| My brother just moved into a farm with 40 acres right by the Eau Pleine. I'm going to spend some more "family" time trying to catch them. |
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| I have been spending more time each season on the TFF. It does have some monsters in it,, and many of the big fish caught out there are by the LOCALS who know how and where to fish it safely. Those fish don't show up in Pictures or posts on the NET. I will tell you this--you can't fish it effectively with a big heavy boat and large motor---unless you want to spend lots of $$$$ on repairs to both boat and motor. I have purchased a much lighter FLOWAGE boat for this body of water alone. For those who don't believe there are some huge fish caught out there every season---make some friends around MERCER and do your research---It's a TRUE LUNKER body of water. Next year--even more time spent out there for me. Good Luck and be safe!!!!!!! |
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Posts: 273
| If I am not smashing my boat off wood, rocks, or concrete I feel like I am not muskie fishing. Flowages rule! If you are worried about the sparkly fleck in your boat, stay away from flowages. Busted skegs= big fish. I am a river rat and proud of it. Bottom line is if you are not fishing flowages you are missing out on big fish, but they come at a price.
Jeff |
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Posts: 1046
| The TFF, Gile and some others are not that bad to fish, even for the first time. If you use 1/2 your sense and 1/2 a decent map, travel slower and all that water is very fisable. As far as the big(heavy) fish go, most flowages do have some heavy(weight) wise fish, but every season for me the heavist fish are still the suspendo's of cisco land. Sometimes several pounds for the same inch size.
P.S- Crab lake is still worse then alot of the flowages!!!!!!! |
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Posts: 355
Location: Wausau, Wisconsin | Peaches,
You are one dangerous man! |
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Posts: 273
| Justin,
I would have to lean more towards not being very smart than dangerous.
Bustin props and skegs is just my way of trying to stimulate the economy.  |
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Posts: 355
Location: Wausau, Wisconsin | Anyone who doesn't wear a helmet riding with Phil isn't very smart, but I like you and didn't want to insult you! And rumor has it, I'm not much better...or smarter. |
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Posts: 13688
Location: minocqua, wi. | approaching a flowage or river system i'm thinking about 3 things (water temp., current flow, and oxygen) depending on the time of year .... early i'm thinking about water temperature and weed growth not unlike being on a lake ... i tend to focus on stump-fields because the exposed wood has a tendendcy to hold warmth from the early days of spring and initiate the whole spring cycle with the tadpoles, and all the fish associated (watching smallies jump into a stump-full of tadpoles is cool) ... then throughout the year i'm totally focussed on moving water and sharp changes in direction of the channel (eddy pools and the like) we tend to only think about the eddies you can see without the ones down deeper that can't be seen on top but exist based on the channel turn and flow (not like a faucet ... lazy flow is still flow) ... if you can establish patterns off of this type of activity on the river segment you will find the 20 in the 80/20 rule ... live off of the thought that 80% of the fish live in 20% of the water and eat 10% of the time and then start to break down your water ... also get to know the channel and where it turns ... these areas should be primary targets because they hold populations of fish ... from there take a look around both with your eyes and with your electronics and understand the overall zone as it relates to that place ... be careful not to fish with your eyes but learn the system as if you are looking at it without water ... lots of times a river sucks you into the bank for casting targets when in-fact your boat could be on the spot or it could be behind you ... be aware of the channel and breaks and don't let the bank or stumps suck you in! also, the guy in the back of the boat needs to cast parrallel directly out the back of the boat and catch all the angles ...
from there is the "other water" ... certain types of vegetation grow in relationship to either wood or shoreline structure ... find out where these places are and fish them ... spindly grass vs. cabbage as an example ... i'm no botany guy but i have come to learn that different type of plants and weeds have more oxygen and attract more fish ... learn to find this kind of thing and then remember where and how you found it ...
finally ... baits ... the lateral line is more important on a flowage than clearer waters so use baits that move water either above or below ...
good luck and stay off my river!
Edited by jonnysled 1/20/2008 9:33 AM
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Posts: 3864
| My limited opinion is that flowages hold BIG fish but you better be ready to invest some major hours on the water.
My largest fish, a fat 48" that surely went well over 30#, came from a flowage. I spent about 40 hours on that one fish; based on structure and current flow the spot on the spot on the spot was exceptional. There was no way a big fish wasn't using it as 1) staying just under, and out of, the heavy current and 2) a fantastic ambush spot. I knew that beeeeeatch just had to be there. So, circumstances required trolling deep runners WITH the current as the only way to put the bait a foot or less above the fish. (Trolling against the current didn't work; I achieved the depth but it was unnatural given the circumstances and so no soap.) On the 200th+ pass over that structure, with the current, she bit. And it was worth every minute of effort.
I invested similar time over other likely-looking spots with no results. That's the deal with flowages, in my opinion.
I should mention that in that flowage I boated a chunky 38" pike that another fish had recently grabbed from above, shook it, and let it go. Both sides of the pike had tooth holes that ran from the dorsal to the gut of the pike. That was 6 years ago and I still wonder how big the musky must have been to grab and shake that big pike like a rag doll.
Here's a great tip I learned from a cuz who fishes flowages - - when the water is REALLY low, like every 10 or 15 years, he cruises around and takes photos, notes and GPS readings on the exposed structure. When the water comes back up, he has the most detailed descriptions including photos of rocks/stumps/etc, and exact locations due to the GPS. Smart dude and he sure can catch fish.
Ok, enough from me. Except...."Go Methane Muskies!!!!" (At least one Yooper buddy will smile at that one.) |
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Posts: 156
Location: Northwest Chicago Burbs | In all respects I feel most of the waters we all fish can be categorized as flowages. Glacier and reservoir lakes all have water flowing into them in one way or the other. People that draw maps, governmental agencies, science departments give everthing a fancy name. step back and look at what you fish.
look at LLL which flows to Teal lake which flows into the teal river, which flows to moose lake, moose lake flows to the chip and so forth.
Edited by needa70lber 1/21/2008 12:54 PM
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Posts: 3518
Location: north central wisconsin | Due to proximity to home, I still do most of my work week fishing on WI River flowages. Seems learning an ideosyncracy or two of the one you choose, along with(as handyman stated) gaining a bit of confidence in navigational safety, will help alot.
One thing I find of interest, is with age, improving water quality, and an infestation of exotics, we are seeing alot more weed growth on the flowages where it used to be tough to find any. Each year, these weed beds are growing and new ones are showing up, which is very cool as it offers alot more opportunities for all fish and fishermen. While the milfoil invasion has caused turmoil in many inland lakes, displacing native veggies, it only provides more habitat for the entire food chain in an environment that may not have supported other weed types. The nice thing about flowages and associated dark water, is this newly arrived milfoil will only grow in select areas, and cannot grow deep and overtake the system as it can on a clear lake.
While most flowages in WI have peaked in overall biomass production for the most part due to age, there are some great opportunities, thanks again to improved water quality and also to local clubs and DNR for boosting or reintroducing Muskies to a system or stretch of river that was once void of them due to pollution.
Regarding the Big Eau Pleinne(I think Justin asked about it above), I was contacted by the central WI Muskies inc. club to see if our local club(Consolidated Musky Club Inc.) would be willing to help with a stocking effort there this past fall. Jerry Bucholz of the CWMI chapter made arrangements and bought the fish in October, and will attempt to continue the effort in subsequent years. If anyone from Bills Musky Club in Wausau or any others feel they might take interest in helping boost this system to a fishable population, feel free to contact me, as our current efforts(small clubs) are but a drop in the bucket out there.
Edited by Reef Hawg 1/21/2008 8:39 PM
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