Dave Lang - Minocqua Area Fishing Guide
Phone: (715) 356-9608 Cell: (715) 614-0160 eMail: Dave@FishMinocqua.com
7/23/10 Hi from the shoresof Lake Minocqua. Sorry that I haven't posted anything for 2 weeks. I have not been on the water for more than 2 1/2 weeks due to helth problems. At this time I don't know when I'll be back fishing, hopefully in September. I have heard from the guides I've been talking to that action has been good with catches of Bass, Pike, and some nice Walleye catches. Walleyes have been the most unpredictable. I will continue to try and give what ever reports I can. Saturday I fished with Brian Manning, his brother in law Dan Halley, and Dan’s son Danny they are all from the Chicago area suburbs. This was an afternoon trip but we followed the same pattern as the morning before and found walleyes on a deep drop off using extra large fatheads on 1/8th oz. jigs. Before we had our limit Danny caught the fish of the day. After quite a fight he landed his first musky a beautiful tiger. After taking pictures and some discussion Danny decided to release his trophy to fight another day. Danny caught this fish on 8 lbs test line using an 1/8 oz. jig and fat head minnow, “great job DANNY”. After the excitement slowed down we caught the rest of our limit and headed over to Lac Du Flambeau where we caught fish on weed edges using weedless jigs and red tail chubs. At the end of the day the guys had a beautiful mixed bag of fish including 14 walleyes, 3 largemouth bass, 1 small mouth, 2 pike, and Danny’s tiger musky, It was a great afternoon. That’s it for now folks. Remember to stop at Great Outdoors Sports Shop on Highway 51 in Arbor Vitae for up to date fishing information and a great selection of musky suckers. KEEP YOUR LINE TIGHT AND A BEND IN YOUR ROD DAVE LANG GOOD LUCK FISHIN
Hi folks this is Minocqua fishing guide Dave Lang with your Friday September 19th Great Outdoors Fishing report. Last Saturday morning I had the pleasure of fishing with Brent Little, his two sons Chase and Chet, and their Grandpa Bill of Routan IL. We had two boats and headed out to the Flambeau Chain. Chase was first to connect with a great pike that he brought to the boat. The fish was a fighter that made powerful runs that stripped line 3 times with Chase having all he could do to hold onto his rod. As happens sometimes on the third run the jig pulled out and the pike got away to fight another day, shortly after Chet followed up with a nice 28 inch pike. They continued the morning putting together a nice mixed stringer of bass, pike, and perch making for a great batch of fish for a fish fry.
Wednesday I fished with Glen Matthews and Howard. The guys were in Minocqua from Georgia and Tennessee for a cooperate meeting with Brand Direct. Five guides met their fishermen at the Americ Inn after lunch and headed out to area lakes. The guys and I headed out to Flambeau and even though it was bright sunshine we found active fish on weed lines in 9 to 16 feet deep. The guys used 1/8 oz. weed weasel jigs tipped with redtail chubs to catch 6 bass, 1 pike and 3 walleyes. Good job guys.
That’s it for now folks remember to stop at Great Outdoors Sports Shop on highway 51 in Arbor Vitae for up to date fishing information and the best bait in town. Remember
KEEP YOUR LINE TIGHT AND A BEND IN YOUR ROD
DAVE LANG
GOOD LUCK FISHIN
Hi folks this is Minocqua fishing guide Dave Lang with your Monday September 15th Great Outdoors fishing report. Unsettled weather has slowed the fishing down for the past few days. After a good walleye bite for 3 days running with grandpa Swin I headed out Friday morning with Bev and John Carter from Rothchild WI. They had received a gift certificate from their daughter and her husband for a half day on the water and shore lunch that evening for the 4 of them. We found one school of walleyes on a hump in thirty feet of water topping out at 20 feet. Fishing was slow and we had to work from 24 to 30 feet deep to catch these walleyes, if there were any walleyes on the top of the hump they had lock jaw. The fish were caught vertical jigging 1/8 oz. green and yellow jigs tipped with fat head minnows and all bites were very light. After 2 hours and fishing many different humps and deep holes we had 8 walleyes but couldn't’t seem to get our 9th fish for our limit. I suggested that we give up on number 9 and pull the boat and head over to Lac Du Flambeau for a little action fishing for our last couple of hours. Bev promptly added a couple of nice pike to our box so we had more than enough for our fish fry. We continued to catch pike and bass that we released for another day. We did catch 2 more nice walleyes but they were both just short of the 18 inch size limit on the reservation. These fish were caught fishing weed lines from 9-19 feet deep with 1/8 oz. weedless jigs tipped with redtail chubs, the larger minnows seem to out produce the fatheads in this pattern. What made for a successful day Friday was moving around on the first lake until we found a hump that had active fish and experimenting with depth, then realizing that we were beating a dead horse and moving to the second lake and fishing a totally different pattern. Also important was having plenty of bait and both fatheads and redtails maybe you’ll catch em on the same bait somedays but I prefer having both kinds and fishing the bait that gives me the best odds. Don’t be cheap with your bait an extra 5-10 dollars on bait might turn a bad day into a success.
This is the time of the year in northern WI. that we have so many choices I will continue fishing but many of you will head for the woods. Great Outdoors has your hunting gear including a great selection of tree stands and up to date hunting information that’s it for now remember
KEEP YOUR LINE TIGHT AND A BEND IN YOUR ROD
DAVE LANG
GOOD LUCK FISHIN
Hi folks this is Minocqua fishing guide Dave Lang with your Monday September 15th Great Outdoors fishing report. Unsettled weather has slowed the fishing down for the past few days. After a good walleye bite for 3 days running with grandpa Swin I headed out Friday morning with Bev and John Carter from Rothchild WI. They had received a gift certificate from their daughter and her husband for a half day on the water and shore lunch that evening for the 4 of them. We found one school of walleyes on a hump in thirty feet of water topping out at 20 feet. Fishing was slow and we had to work from 24 to 30 feet deep to catch these walleyes, if there were any walleyes on the top of the hump they had lock jaw. The fish were caught vertical jigging 1/8 oz. green and yellow jigs tipped with fat head minnows and all bites were very light. After 2 hours and fishing many different humps and deep holes we had 8 walleyes but couldn't’t seem to get our 9th fish for our limit. I suggested that we give up on number 9 and pull the boat and head over to Lac Du Flambeau for a little action fishing for our last couple of hours. Bev promptly added a couple of nice pike to our box so we had more than enough for our fish fry. We continued to catch pike and bass that we released for another day. We did catch 2 more nice walleyes but they were both just short of the 18 inch size limit on the reservation. These fish were caught fishing weed lines from 9-19 feet deep with 1/8 oz. weedless jigs tipped with redtail chubs, the larger minnows seem to out produce the fatheads in this pattern. What made for a successful day Friday was moving around on the first lake until we found a hump that had active fish and experimenting with depth, then realizing that we were beating a dead horse and moving to the second lake and fishing a totally different pattern. Also important was having plenty of bait and both fatheads and redtails maybe you’ll catch em on the same bait somedays but I prefer having both kinds and fishing the bait that gives me the best odds. Don’t be cheap with your bait an extra 5-10 dollars on bait might turn a bad day into a success.
This is the time of the year in northern WI. that we have so many choices I will continue fishing but many of you will head for the woods. Great Outdoors has your hunting gear including a great selection of tree stands and up to date hunting information that’s it for now remember
KEEP YOUR LINE TIGHT AND A BEND IN YOUR ROD
DAVE LANG
GOOD LUCK FISHIN
Hi folks this is Minocqua fishing guide Dave Lang with your Monday September 15th Great Outdoors fishing report. Unsettled weather has slowed the fishing down for the past few days. After a good walleye bite for 3 days running with grandpa Swin I headed out Friday morning with Bev and John Carter from Rothchild WI. They had received a gift certificate from their daughter and her husband for a half day on the water and shore lunch that evening for the 4 of them. We found one school of walleyes on a hump in thirty feet of water topping out at 20 feet. Fishing was slow and we had to work from 24 to 30 feet deep to catch these walleyes, if there were any walleyes on the top of the hump they had lock jaw. The fish were caught vertical jigging 1/8 oz. green and yellow jigs tipped with fat head minnows and all bites were very light. After 2 hours and fishing many different humps and deep holes we had 8 walleyes but couldn't’t seem to get our 9th fish for our limit. I suggested that we give up on number 9 and pull the boat and head over to Lac Du Flambeau for a little action fishing for our last couple of hours. Bev promptly added a couple of nice pike to our box so we had more than enough for our fish fry. We continued to catch pike and bass that we released for another day. We did catch 2 more nice walleyes but they were both just short of the 18 inch size limit on the reservation. These fish were caught fishing weed lines from 9-19 feet deep with 1/8 oz. weedless jigs tipped with redtail chubs, the larger minnows seem to out produce the fatheads in this pattern. What made for a successful day Friday was moving around on the first lake until we found a hump that had active fish and experimenting with depth, then realizing that we were beating a dead horse and moving to the second lake and fishing a totally different pattern. Also important was having plenty of bait and both fatheads and redtails maybe you’ll catch em on the same bait somedays but I prefer having both kinds and fishing the bait that gives me the best odds. Don’t be cheap with your bait an extra 5-10 dollars on bait might turn a bad day into a success.
This is the time of the year in northern WI. that we have so many choices I will continue fishing but many of you will head for the woods. Great Outdoors has your hunting gear including a great selection of tree stands and up to date hunting information that’s it for now remember
KEEP YOUR LINE TIGHT AND A BEND IN YOUR ROD
DAVE LANG
GOOD LUCK FISHIN
Hi folks this is Minocqua fishing guide Dave Lang with your Monday September 15th Great Outdoors fishing report. Unsettled weather has slowed the fishing down for the past few days. After a good walleye bite for 3 days running with grandpa Swin I headed out Friday morning with Bev and John Carter from Rothchild WI. They had received a gift certificate from their daughter and her husband for a half day on the water and shore lunch that evening for the 4 of them. We found one school of walleyes on a hump in thirty feet of water topping out at 20 feet. Fishing was slow and we had to work from 24 to 30 feet deep to catch these walleyes, if there were any walleyes on the top of the hump they had lock jaw. The fish were caught vertical jigging 1/8 oz. green and yellow jigs tipped with fat head minnows and all bites were very light. After 2 hours and fishing many different humps and deep holes we had 8 walleyes but couldn't’t seem to get our 9th fish for our limit. I suggested that we give up on number 9 and pull the boat and head over to Lac Du Flambeau for a little action fishing for our last couple of hours. Bev promptly added a couple of nice pike to our box so we had more than enough for our fish fry. We continued to catch pike and bass that we released for another day. We did catch 2 more nice walleyes but they were both just short of the 18 inch size limit on the reservation. These fish were caught fishing weed lines from 9-19 feet deep with 1/8 oz. weedless jigs tipped with redtail chubs, the larger minnows seem to out produce the fatheads in this pattern. What made for a successful day Friday was moving around on the first lake until we found a hump that had active fish and experimenting with depth, then realizing that we were beating a dead horse and moving to the second lake and fishing a totally different pattern. Also important was having plenty of bait and both fatheads and redtails maybe you’ll catch em on the same bait somedays but I prefer having both kinds and fishing the bait that gives me the best odds. Don’t be cheap with your bait an extra 5-10 dollars on bait might turn a bad day into a success.
This is the time of the year in northern WI. that we have so many choices I will continue fishing but many of you will head for the woods. Great Outdoors has your hunting gear including a great selection of tree stands and up to date hunting information that’s it for now remember
KEEP YOUR LINE TIGHT AND A BEND IN YOUR ROD
DAVE LANG
GOOD LUCK FISHIN
Hi folks this is Minocqua fishing guide Dave Lang with your Monday September 15th Great Outdoors fishing report. Unsettled weather has slowed the fishing down for the past few days. After a good walleye bite for 3 days running with grandpa Swin I headed out Friday morning with Bev and John Carter from Rothchild WI. They had received a gift certificate from their daughter and her husband for a half day on the water and shore lunch that evening for the 4 of them. We found one school of walleyes on a hump in thirty feet of water topping out at 20 feet. Fishing was slow and we had to work from 24 to 30 feet deep to catch these walleyes, if there were any walleyes on the top of the hump they had lock jaw. The fish were caught vertical jigging 1/8 oz. green and yellow jigs tipped with fat head minnows and all bites were very light. After 2 hours and fishing many different humps and deep holes we had 8 walleyes but couldn't’t seem to get our 9th fish for our limit. I suggested that we give up on number 9 and pull the boat and head over to Lac Du Flambeau for a little action fishing for our last couple of hours. Bev promptly added a couple of nice pike to our box so we had more than enough for our fish fry. We continued to catch pike and bass that we released for another day. We did catch 2 more nice walleyes but they were both just short of the 18 inch size limit on the reservation. These fish were caught fishing weed lines from 9-19 feet deep with 1/8 oz. weedless jigs tipped with redtail chubs, the larger minnows seem to out produce the fatheads in this pattern. What made for a successful day Friday was moving around on the first lake until we found a hump that had active fish and experimenting with depth, then realizing that we were beating a dead horse and moving to the second lake and fishing a totally different pattern. Also important was having plenty of bait and both fatheads and redtails maybe you’ll catch em on the same bait somedays but I prefer having both kinds and fishing the bait that gives me the best odds. Don’t be cheap with your bait an extra 5-10 dollars on bait might turn a bad day into a success.
This is the time of the year in northern WI. that we have so many choices I will continue fishing but many of you will head for the woods. Great Outdoors has your hunting gear including a great selection of tree stands and up to date hunting information that’s it for now remember
KEEP YOUR LINE TIGHT AND A BEND IN YOUR ROD
DAVE LANG
GOOD LUCK FISHIN
Hi folks this is Minocqua fishing guide Dave Lang with your Monday September 8th Great Outdoors fishing report. Walleyes are in their change over from summer to fall patterns. Some lakes are still producing fish in weeds as shallow as 8 ft and on other lakes the fish are already on deep rock humps, I have caught fish as deep as 29 feet. Best producer has been fatheads on an 1/8 oz jig. I fished with Tom Schodren and his friend Johnny Jigs of Coal City IL. last week. On the first lake Tom took us to fish shallow weeds, but after two hours all we had was one walleye that I lost at the net. We pulled the boat and headed to Tom’s second lake of the day and we caught our 9 fish limit in about two hours on deep water structure. These fish were caught on fatheads and crawlers on 1/8 oz. jigs. With our current weather pattern water temps have dropped into the sixties and as they continue to fall more lakes will turn on.
Saturday I spent a few hours with my wife, Dianna trying to catch her first musky. This is an ongoing battle for her and although I had caught a small musky in the morning all we produced was one follow from a beautiful mid 40 inch fish. This will be an ongoing challenge for me because of the comments from my fellow guides about them taking her out for that musky and the casual remarks at home from Dianna about her musky guide. Wish me luck.
The last word I had on the flowages is extremely low water levels and only a few boats venturing out. The action had been good but you could only putt around to avoid damage to your boat. That’s it for now remember to stop and say hi to Kevin at Great Outdoors Sports Shop on highway 51 in Arbor Vitae for up to date fishing information and the best bait in town.
KEEP YOUR LINE TIGHT AND A BEND IN YOUR ROD
DAVE LANG
GOOD LUCK FISHIN
9/8/08 Hi from the shores of Lake Minocqua fishing continues to be good with strong action on Pike and Bass with some walleyes thrown in. Best action is on deep weed edges 9-20 feet, my bait of choice has been red tails but leeches have also been producing. Last Saturday I had the pleasure of fishing with Jeff and Laurie Sell of Burlington WI they are good fisherpeople and Laurie wanted to try her hand at a musky. We spent the morning on the Flambeau Chain and although we did not catch her musky we had action from Bass and one dandy Pike. Well that's musky fishing only a few more thousand casts Laurie don't give up. Yesterday I was out on the Minocqua Chain with Chris Fox of St. Louis. Chris is an experienced fisherman and we put together a great mixed stringer of Bass, Pike, and Perch. With the passing of summer, walleyes should be moving into their fall patterns. Look for them on rock humps and deep holes. I'll have more on that next report as I start to fish these spots. That's it for now good luck fishin. KEEP YOUR LINE TIGHT AND A BEND IN YOUR ROD DAVE LANG Hi folks this is Minocqua fishing guide Dave Lang with your Monday August 25th Great Outdoors fishing report. This past Friday and Saturday I had the pleasure of fishing with Scott Kamish, James Siebert, Michael Baumghart, Bob Hartmann, and Ed Diamond all from Western suburbs of Chicago. With two boats we headed out for a morning on the water. When we met back at the dock at 10:30 we had a great mixed bag of bass, pike, and walleye. All fish were caught working weed edges from 9 to 20 feet. The bass seemed to have a preference for leeches and crawlers. Most of the pike were caught on red tail chubs, we did catch a number of under size bass on red tails but only one legal along with one walleye on a red tail chub. All fish were caught using 1/16 or 1/8 oz. jigs.
Saturday morning we met at Great Outdoors Sports Shop at 6AM. and headed out to the Minocqua Chain. We split up with one boat fishing Kawaguesaga and the other Minocqua. We had a great morning fishing weed edges with jigs tipped with redtails, crawlers, and leeches. That morning Minocqua proved to be the more active of the two lakes, and red tail chubs produced better than crawlers or leeches. The guys produced a beautiful stringer of bass, pike, and walleye that were kept for a fish fry. They also caught and released one musky just to add a little icing on the cake.
That’s it for now folks be sure to stop into Great Outdoors Sports Shop for the best bait in town and up to date fishing information remember
KEEP YOUR LINE TIGHT AND A BEND IN YOUR ROD
DAVE LANG
GOOD LUCK FISHIN
KEEP YOUR LINE TIGHT AND A BEND IN YOUR ROD
DAVE LANG
7/13/10 Hi from the shores of Lake Minocqua. This past week provided good fishing each mourning. Most of my time was spent looking for action, we consistently caught a mixture of Large and Smallmouth Bass, Pike, and an occasional Walleye. These fish were caught on 1/16th oz jigs and minnows in 5-15 ft. weeds. One morning we targeted eater Walleyes early and put three in the box before switching over to Pike. Sunday was my last day on the water. I have been fighting some kind of infection, in and out of the clinic they think extreme sinus or lymes disease, forced me to cancel all trips until the end of this week.
Not only was Sunday my last day on the water it was "DAVID'S DAY FROM HELL". The story goes like this:
A few weeks ago friend and fellow guide Kenny Breezer called me and asked if I could take out a couple Sunday morning because he was booked. The trip was set and we met at 6:15 and headed out to the lake. The following is the the conversation in my truck as I remember
CLIENT: are we going to ---- Lake
Yes
We saw you there Friday we were fishing with Kenny
How' d ya do
Some Smallmouth and Walleyes
Any keeper Walleyes
Ya 5 a 22",2 24", a 26' and a 28 incher
Deep gasp all color fades from my face and I try to maintain control of the truck, this is going to be a difficult day for me. I would be less than honest if I told you that there was no competition between guides, but the real important thing is personal pride and mine took a whipping that day. At the end of the day we had a good catch including 1 Walleye some Bass and Pike. I talked to the clients at the end of the morning and told them they now know where the phrase "Ya should have been here yesterday" came from. My hat is off to Kenny Breezer for a great catch. That's it for now folks GOOD LUCK FISHIN
REMEMBER KEEP YOUR LINE TIGHT AND A BEND IN YOUR ROD
DAVE LANG
&/5/10 Hi from the shores of Lake Minocqua. With the 4th of July and a house full of family I have not been on the water much. I did spend 1 1/2 hours on the water with my son Matthew who is visiting from FL. We did catch some Northern Pike on spinner baits, showing that the fish are getting more active. I will be on the water almost every day for the next few weeks, so I will have more up to date reports starting next week. That's it for now remember
KEEP YOUR LINE TIGHT AND A BEND IN YOUR ROD DAVE LANG
6/29/10 Hi from the shores of Lake Minocqua. It has been a good week of fishing in the area. Thursday I had the pleasure of fishing with brothers Tom and Mike Heroux again, the guys were in the Lakeland Area from the Fox River Valley. We had fished together earlier this year and decided to head out west for a day of action fishing. We had to fish hard, the fish were neutal at best, but at the end of the day the guys caught their limit of Northern Pike in the mid 20" range,Smallmouth Bass to 19", Largemouth Bass to 17", and 1 Walleye 16". Fish were caught on 1/16th oz. jigs tipped with minnows, night crawlers proved best for Smallmouth.
The rest of the weekend was centered around Muskies. Saterday I fished with Andy Rakowski and his dad John, they are from the Rockford IL. area. We boated two muskies that morning, one was caught on a baby Suick the other on a small Bucktail. We also raised one more fish that didn't hit. It was a good morning for everyone.
Sunday I fished with my son Jeff it was a little Fathers Day time a week late. The "Fish Gods" smiled on me and I landed a nice 42" Musky early in the morning on a 9" Grandma. We raised another smaller fish and one dandy that was in the high 40" range.Another good morning on the water.
That's it for now folks remember
KEEP YOUR LINE TIGHT AND A BEND IN YOUR ROD DAVE LANG
6/22/10 Hi from the shores of Lake Minocqua. The fishing has slowed a bit up here. It has become necessary to hit a greater number of spots, picking up one fish here and there. Stay persistent and you will be rewarded.
I spent this past Saturday & Sunday mornings fishing with Roger Forsberg and his son Steve on the Minocqua Chain. We fished weed beds from 6- 14 feet deep. As I said it was a matter move, move, and move only a few spots produced keepers. At the end of the weekend we had boxed 3 nice Pike from 25" to 30", 1 Largemouth 14 1/2", 3 Perch from 9"-11 1/4" and Steve caught a beautiful 19+" Walleye. Minocqua has a Largemouth Bass population that is showing great growth which is good for the fisherman but is having a negative effect on the Walleyes. With that in mind feel free to keep some of your catch and enjoy a fish fry these Bass are great eating out of our clean cold water. We caught a lot of Bass, most ranging from 12" to 13 1/2" these are the size bass that you see on a lot of the Saturday morning Bass shows on TV, but in WI. the minimum size is 14".
Yesterday I had the pleasure of fishing with John Crone and his son-in-law Anthony, we headed out west to Lac Du Flambeau. We fished hard for 4 1/2 hours and boated three nice Pike that ranged from 25" to 27" inches with one smaller released. John caught a nice 17 7/8 Walleye "oh the pain of being on the reservation and it's 18" minimum size limit", John released his fish telling it to grow up and come back next year.
As usual I was fishing weedless jigs with minnows using Red Tail Chubs on Minocqua and Black Tails out west. That's it for now folks remember
KEEP YOUR LINE TIGHT AND A BEND IN YOUR ROD
6/15/10 Hi from the shores of Lake Minocqua. Well the big news is I have actually been fishing in rain gear. We have finally gotten some much needed rain, not enough to make a big improvement in lake levels but it's a start. Fishing continues to be good.
Last Saturday I fished with Jim Gill and his son Garrett from Wilmette Ill. We headed out in search of action in the Lac Du Flambeau area. We were rewarded to a nice mixed bag with Pike being the main catch. Garrette boated a number of Pike, his first game fish. We had a good morning and I look forward to fishing with them again.
Sunday Morning Jim Kluzek and his son Jimmy from Senica IL. were back in Minocqua, I fished with them last year and we had a great time on the water. This year's trip was a repeat of last year, the weather has been on a cool down and the water temp has dropped from a high of 70.2 down to 62.3 on Sunday morning. You all know what that does to the fish bite. It was tough fishing with a very light bite. We did manage a nice mixed catch of Pike, and Largemouth Bass. The fish of the day was a beautiful 20" walleye that Jimmy caught, "good job Jimmy"
All fish were caught on 1/16th oz weedless jigs and black tail chubs. As I said it was a very light bite even the Pike. All these fish were in weeds from 4-11 feet. Jimmy's walleye came out of 7 feet of water in weeds. This coming weekend starts the Bass season in the northern zone meaning all of our species are open. That's it for now folks remember
KEEP YOUR LINE TIGHT AND A BEND IN YOUR ROD
DAVE LANG
6/7/10 Hi from the shores of Lake Minocqua. It has been a good week in the Lakeland area, I started off with Kent & Dustin Magnason of Beecher IL. fishing Wednesday & Thursday. Wednesday we focused on Pike and Bass for action, the guys put together a remarkable catch of 6 Bass and 38 Pike, all these fish were released "WOW" what a day. These fish were all caught in weeds 4-10 feet deep on 1/16 oz. jigs and chubs. The next day we looked for some eater Walleyes for them to take home, we put together a nice 7 Walleye catch, all on fat head minnows and 1/16 oz. jigs, on rocks.
Thursday I had the pleasure of fishing with Kenneth Kolafa, and his son Paul of Oconomowoc WI., they have a cabin on Broken Bow lake and wanted to learn some water in there area. We were greeted with much needed rain that never let up all day. We started the day out on a nearby lake with stained water lots of rocks and with few weeds. Using 1/16th oz jigs and fat head minnows we put together a nice 9 Walleye limit. Next we headed to Lac Du Flambeau and had a great time with Bass and Pike the guys fought the rain until mid afternoon and were rewarded with lots of action.
Friday was Hank Rein and his granddaughter Andrea Schlatterer from mid Wisconsin. I have fished with them before and knew Andi would want to chase Pike. We were greeted with the fisherman's enemy "a cold front that follows a day of rain" mile high blue skies and wind. We did manage to catch 10 Pike with the largest 24", it was a good day but nothing like the first part of the week.
Saturday night was the celebration of my friend and mentor TOMMY "TADPOLE" ZINDA"S life at Heart II in Arbor Vitae. Nearly 200 past clients, friends, and family gathered to tell stories of time on the water with Tadpole. Tommy did much to promote fishing in the Lakeland area, with his passing a lot of Knowledge went with him, and a lot of fish will live a lot longer. That's it for now folks remember
KEEP YOUR LINE TIGHT AND A BEND IN YOUR ROD DAVE LANG
6/1/10 Hi from the shores of Lake Minocqua. It has been a good week of fishing in the Lakeland area. Wednesday I had the pleasure of fishing with Pete Conroy of Toronto and Clint Baile of Calgery,Canada,we hit a local lake in search of Pike and Walleyes the Walleyes never showed up but we had a great time catching a bunch of Pike in the high 20 inch range. These Pike were in shallow water 3-8 feet deep in weeds, we used 1/16 oz weedless rigs tipped with redtail chubs.
Saturday I fished with Dan Hoppe and his wife Sherrly, they own a cottage on an area lake and hadn't had any success catching Walleyes. The lake is known for great eater size Walleyes, it has stained water, few weeds, but good rock structure. when fishing this lake my bait of choice is fathead minnows they are smaller than the chubs and seem to produce more bites, any light jig will work because weeds aren't a problem. At the end of the morning we had 7 nice walleyes the largest 16 inches, 1 small Walleye we released, 1 perch and a Smallmouth Bass that was released (in the north our Bass season doesn't open until June 19). The morning was a success and Dan learned a number of spots to fish and a method that will put Walleyes in his boat.
Saturday we had 6 fisherman so that called for 2 boats, I had Arbor Vitae guide Dennis Holms join me, we each took 3 guys and headed out to Lac Du Flambeau for a morning of action. I had three generations of "Cajuns" in my boat Larry LeBlanc his son Richard and his son Cord, they are all from Duson, Louisiana. We had a great time catching Pike ranging up to 26" with Grandpa having the biggest fish of the day getting off at boat side (looked to be 35"). Dennis fished with Ron Bradac and his son Deven from Brookfeild WI. and Kieth Passon of Fishers IN.they caught their limit of Pike and released some as well. It was a good lesson about bait size when we got to the bait shop minnow choices wheren't the best. When fishing for Pike I opt out for large, the large were bigger than I would normally use but I took them anyway. We had a lot of problems hooking many of our bites because the fish were just holding the bait and not getting the jig in their mouth, when we let them have it longer we had a lot of bite offs. When I moved to a different area we got into larger fish the hookup % improved. Dennis had taken some smaller minnows and deffinatly caught more of the medium size Pike, size counts be picky about your bait. "Lesson" the larger bait produced larger fish but not as many. That's it for now folks remember
KEEP YOUR LINE TIGHT AND A BEND IN YOUR ROD DAVE LANG
Hi from the shores of Lake Minocqua, sorry that my fishing report is so late it has been a traumatic couple of weeks for me. Two weeks ago I lost my dear friend and mentor "Tadpole Tommy Zinda" to his fight with lung cancer. It was Tommy that gave me my start guiding as well as a great friend. Then two days latter my wife's sister pasted away which led to quick flights to FL. between guide dates. So I have been busy off the water.
Getting to what this report is all about, it has been a good season for the most part. Opening weekend was a challenge due to the wind, we were forced off our lake of choice by noon due to wind. Our second choice had bays we could hide in, at the end of the day we had a mixed bag with enough fish for a fish fry and some for the guys to take home. Sunday was more of the same and somewhat better conditions leading to more Walleyes in our bag. Then came the second weekend with 4 inches of snow that slowed the action down for a while. With the warm weather action has picked up and I have had consistent action on numerous lakes including Walleyes, Pike, Perch, Bass and a muskie thrown in. These fish have been in 4-10 feet of water and weeds for the most part. I did find Walleyes on shallow rocks in one lake with stained water. As usual I am fishing 1/16 oz. weedless jigs tipped with minnows, larger dace and redtails have out performed fat heads for me on all lakes except the stained water on rocks. It shows the value of having bait choices. There hasn't been a big difference in jig color I have caught fish on yellow, pink, and fire tiger. That's it for now I'll try to have a report every Tuesday for the rest of the season. Feel free to e-mail any questions you have about fishing in the lakeland area dave@fishminocqua.com remember
KEEP YOUR LINE TIGHT AND A BEND IN YOUR ROD
DAVE LANG
4/4/10 Hi from the shores of Lake Minocqua, it's the start of a new year. Big news is that ice off was weeks earlier than normal, spawning was done well before the opener. Lake temps ranged from 52 to 57 degrees in one bay on Kawaga, weed growth is a week to two weeks ahead of normal. Our big concern for the weekend was the wind gusts over 30 mph made fishing many sport impossible. We started out Sat fishing a shallow weed filled bay puting one Walleye and 6 Pike in the box when the wind made it impossible to fish we headed back to Kawaga fishing bays to hide from the wind. We added more Pike to the box but no Walleyes. Pike ranged from 20" to 27". Sunday we were on the water earlier and were able to stay in the weedy bay longer before the wind made it impossible. We left with 6 Walleyes largest being 18", and 9 Pike were kept rangeing from 21-25 inches, many smaller ones were released. All fish were caught on weedless jigs tipped with minows,pink,yellow,and green colors 1/16 oz. Looks like a good early season. Thats it for now folks KEEP YOUR LINE TIGHTAND A BEND IN YOUR ROD DAVE LANG
10/15/09 Hi from the shores of Lake Minocqua.
Last week before I left for Ont. I had the pleasure of fishing with Jake Reno and Ryan Helser of Madison on Wednesday. We started our day looking for some fall walleyes, the fish hit well when we hit our first spot but the action came to as quick a stop and we decided to switch lakes and look for some Pike action. The guys did a good job and put together a nice mixed 10 fish bag of Walleyes and Pike in a 1/2 day on the water.
Thursday I fished with Hank Rein and his granddaughter Andrea. We started out on fall Walleyes putting 6 nice eaters in the box then topped it off with a 27" 6 1/2 pound beauty. Andre said she wanted to fish for some Pike so we changed lakes in search of Pike. The weather was against us but we did catch some Pike but not the big ones that we caught when we fished together earlier this season. We ended the morning with a nice mixed bag of Walleyes and Pike.
Friday I got the boat ready for Canada the plan was for my son David to get to Minocqua Friday night and we would hit the road early Friday morning. We hit the road at 5 and within 20 minutes it was snowing, before we got to Hurley the roads were snow covered and getting slippery, The snow let up, the wind was blowing about 30 mph and the the roads were slick, covered with black ice. At times we were down to 30 mph in FWD and still slipping and sliding. We pulled off and ate breakfast hopping the roads would improve, it helped but not much. Obviously this early storm highway crews and no salt on the roads. We got to Duluth an hour late we were out of the black ice and roads with hard packed snow and spotty ice seemed good. When we arrived at Nestter Fall they had 8 inches of snow on the ground. The day before they were playing golf I don't need to tell you what this did to fishing, to begin with the road into one of the lakes was impassable. We spent our time on Lake of The Woods, fish were nonexistent. It was a trip that saw snow everyday, windy conditions, and temps that never got higher than 35 degrees. It was the trip from hell but it was a good time with my sons too much eating and drinking but plans in the making for next year. That's it for now remember
KEEP YOUR LINE TIGHT AND A BEND IN YOUR ROD DAVE LANG
10/4/09 Hi from the shores of Lake Minocqua. Yes weather continues to be the big factor in the north woods, it has been cold,raining,with winds gusting to 35 mph making fishing impossible some days. My Monday trip was postponed to Wednesday, I fished with Frank Peters from the Chicago area he had just purchased a Time Share and wanted to learn spots on Lake Minocqua. We fished 7 spots and had action on 4 of them which I consider good for the conditions we've had. Thursday I checked out a good fall Walleye lake, I caught 1 14" Walleye in 42 ft. of water and mid 20" Pike in 44 ft, not the lake I am going to take clients.
Saturday I had the pleasure of fishing with Mike Heroux, Mike Jr. and Mike's brother Tom all from the Fox Valley area. We met at Great Outdoors Sports Shop in Woodruff at 7:00 AM and headed out to the LDF Reservation for some action fishing. My hopes were not real high because of the weather we've had the past week with water temps dropping 13 degrees in the past week.The guys did a great job and at the end of 6 hours they had their 15 fish limit of Pike in the box releasing a number of Pike that were too small, along with about 10 Bass. It was a great day with all these fish coming from 5-12 ft of water. We fished 4 spots with out a bite it wasn't until we hit the last spot that the guys produced all their fish.
Next week at this time I will be in ONT. for my annual fall Musky trip with my sons in search of a trophy Musky in the 50"+ range. As all of you that have fished in my boat for the past couple of years know I use Elk River Custom Rods, Marc built me a 7 Ft Med Heavy Action rod for this trip. The rod blank is state of the art multi-modulus construction that provides great strength and still light weight. Marc's rods give the same or better performance as the big name high end rods that cost $300.00 + at 1/2 the cost. You can see his work on his web-site www.elkrivercustomrods.com Marc will also personalize with the owner's name or inscription.
Thats it for now remember
KEEP YOUR LINE TIGHT AND A BEND IN YOUR ROD
9/28/09 Hi from the shores of Lake Minocqua. Mother nature continues to be the main story in the north woods, we had a remarkable 27 days straight of 70+ degrees. The Walleyes are saying fall pattern, what fall pattern. Last Thursday I fished with freind and fellow guide Tom Schodren on one of our favorite fall lakes after 2 1/2 hours and 6 different humps we didn't have a bite. Before we called it a morning I told Tom I wanted to fish a weed bed, after about 15 minutes I missed a fish and caught a nice Walleye on the next cast. Shortly after that I boated a nice Pike in the high 20" class. Before we got to the end of the weed line Tom caught and released a dandy 20 1/2 inch Smallmouth. We went back and worked the weed line one more time with no bites, not great but it did prove that these fish are still in 5-12 feet of water and weeds "pure summer pattern". The next day I hit the water with freind and Hall Of Fame guide Van Jolin looking for Walleyes. We hit a different lake and caught 7 Walleyes ranging 15 - 17 inches, we were on the reservation so all these fish were returned because they didn't meet the 18" minimum. We caught these fish in 27 feet of water on flats with chubs out producing crawlers. As I am writing this the weather has changed 180 degrees, current temp is 48 with wind out of the north gusting to 30 mph with higher gusts predicted for this afternoon. I was suposed to be fishing with Frank Peters and his wife today but they are going to be in the area for the week and wisely posponed until Wedensday.
Earlier this month the Brands Direct Group returned to Minocqua for their annual meeting. They took some time out from their meetings for a little time on the water with area guides. I had the pleasure of fishing with Glen Matthews and Howard Khouri. Howard was planning a meeting with some of his managers and thought it would be nice to have a fish fry with fish he caught in northern WI. We had a great afternoon fishing weeds 5-12 deep with jigs tipped with minnows and Howard got on his plane to return to TN. with plenty of filletes for his fish fry.
The next day Tom Edinger and his son Jack from Chicago met me at Great Outdoors Sports Shop and we headed out for some action. The guys had a nice morning on the water putting together a nice mixed bag of Pike and Bass. Again all fish were caught on jig and minnow combinations.
That's it for now folks remember
KEEP YOUR LINE TIGHT AND A BEND IN YOUR ROD DAVE LANG
9/14/09 Hi from the shores of Lake Minocqua. Mother nature continues to mess with us in the northwoods. All summer we waited for the summer patterns to develope and we had cool days and cold nights water temps never really warmed up to where they should. Now fall is here and we are looking for falling water temps to set Walleyes into thier fall patterns and we are having weather more like July and August than we had all summer, the water temp this morning was 71.8 highest that I've seen all year. I have fished 3 of my favorite fall lakes in the past week never catching more than 1 Walleye on any lake. I know it is only a matter of time, it's all about weather.
Last week I had the pleasure of fishing with Pete Kozlowski his brother Bill and father Bill they were visiting the Minocqua area from Cedar Lake IN. We met at Great Outdoors Sports Shop at 6:30 Thursday morning and headed out for some action fishing. At the end of our 8 hours on the water the guys had a nice mixed bag of Pike and Bass to take home for a great fish fry for their families and neighbors when they get back to IN.
Brian Manning returned to the Minocqua area Friday with his grade school buddy Pete delongis from Naperville IL. for a couple of afternoons fishing. I met them on our first fishing trip in 2008, Brian has returned to the area numerous time since and we have had good times fishing together. The plan for the weekend was to repeat the trip we had last Septmember when we caught an easy limit of Walleyes topped off when Brian's nephew Danny caught a beautiful Tigger Musky. After we discussed my recent Walleye action we decided to head out west to the Lac Du Flambeau area for some action fishing. We hit the lake at 12 noon and the guys had a great afternoon fishing as the saying goes "they killed em" at the end of the 4 hours the guys put together a beatiful mixed bag of Pike and Bass. It's always great when I can put down my rod and just let the guys produce fish for all of us.
Saturday we met at Great Outdoors Sports Shop at 11:30 for the afternoon on the water. We decided to return to the same lake as the day before. Conditions were a little tougher than than the day before, we had a mile high blue bird sky and the lake was flat as glass. We still had a good afternoon but no where near what we had the day before. The highlight of the day was when Pete hooked into a great Smallmouth that made 3 drag screaming runs only to have the line break right at the reel. I checked out the bail on the reel for nicks, burrs, or any thing that could have caused the break, nothing. I change line on all my reels numerous times a year just so that this doesn't happen. "Sorry Pete". All these fish were caught on 1/8 oz weedless jigs tipped with redtail chubs. That's it for now folks remember KEEP YOUR LINE TIGHT AND A BEND IN YOUR ROD
8/28/09 Hi from the shores of Lake Minocqua. Fishing continues to be good in the Lakeland area nothing exceptional but steady. I have been fishing with a number of families in the last weeks. I had the pleasure of fishing with Bump Wagoner and his girls, 7 year old Savana and 9 year old Sierra, again this year. The girls really enjoy fishing. It is fun fishing with them because they never give up. We had a great morning out and put together a nice mixed bag of Pike and Smallmouth. The best of the Smallmouth was a dandy 20 incher. We had a moment of comedy when Savana accidently ended up sitting in my cooler of minnows the only thing hurt was her pride, but she made up for it by catching the most fish for the day.Good job girls.
In the past week I have fished with people that have never fished before. The first was Erica Sherr from Lincolnwood Ill and her dog Lilly. We met at Great Outdoors Sports Shop and headed out to the Flambeau Chain. We put together a nice mixed bag of Pike and Bass. Continuing with the comedy, then as I was netting a Bass for Erica her dog jumped overboard. It was the first time in my boat that a double was landing a Bass and pulling a 50 pound Siberian Husky into the back of the boat.
This week I had the pleasure of fishing with Cheryl McCorth, her 6 year old son, Ryan and 9 year old daughter, Ellen. None of them had fished from a boat before and we had a great time putting together a nice mixed bag of Pike and Bass on Sunday for a fish fry. I fished with them again later in the week and again we put together a nice mixed bag. This time including Perch, Pike, and Bass enough for their second fish fry. Cheryl and her children will head back to their home in the Madison area with fond memories of their first fishing trips and their first trip to the Minocqua area.
Most of my fishing has been in weeds using 1/16th - 1/8th oz jigs tipped with redtail chubs. With September only days away and the cold water temps we've had this year I look for Walleyes to start their fall movment into deep water earlier than normal. I spent some time on one of my fall lakes hitting spots with no success but I intend to continue to keep checking out fall spots. That's it for now and remember
KEEP YOUR LINE TIGHT AND A BEND IN YOUR ROD
DAVE LANG
8/9/09 Hi from the shores of Lake Minocqua. My daughter Kris and I had a great trip to Sioux Lookout although she doesn't share my desire to catch every fish in the lake we caught enough for shore lunch and walleyes to bring home. The interesting part of our trip was when we arrived and Anderson's Lodge my old friend Roy who has been guiding for them for years saw me and came over to tell me that walleye fishing was unusual this year. Just what I needed to hear after driving 500 miles, he told me the walleyes were still in shallow spring spots 12-15 feet deep normally these fish are on humps 25-35 feet deep at this time of the year. He also told me that he cleaned some Smallmouth the day before that still had spawn in them, he was even more
surprised when I told him that I had the same experience two weeks earlier here in WI. Even though we are 500 miles south the fish are reacting the same.
After returning home I had the pleasure of fishing with Dan Halley, his wife Mary,daughter Brianna, and son Danny. Danny was back trying to better the dandy Tiger Musky he caught while fishing with me last fall. The weather left something to be desired but they stuck it out for nearly 4 hours and put together a nice mixed bag of fish to take home.
This past Thursday I fished with Kathryn Gilbertson & Joel Bornitzke from the Devils Lake area of WI. I picked them up at their motel and headed out to the Flambeau area for a 8 hours on the water. The morning started out with some nice Smallmouth action, Kathryn let us know that she had a big fish on, after quite a battle she slid a monster Smallmouth into the net and I told her the cost of her trip just went up a few hundred dollars for taxidermist fees. The fish was 22 inches a trophy Smallmouth in anyones book but she decided to release her trophy so someone else can catch a trophy. We ended up fishing two lakes before the day was over and came in with a great mixed bag. That's it for now remember
KEEP YOUR LINE TIGHT AND A BEND IN YOUR ROD
7/22/09 Hi from the shores of Lake Minocqua
fishing continues to be in the good category. Last weekend I had the pleasure of fishing with Gary Kapitan and his son Kevin they were staying at the Johnson Wax Light House Resort. I picked them up at 6:30AM and were on the water shortly afterwords in the next 4 hours the guys caught and released over 25 Pike and Smallmouth. Monday morning we followed up that day with another nice morning boating over 15 fish in 4 hours.
Water temps on some of our lakes had risen to the low 70s a couple weeks ago and then the weather took a turn for the worst and water temps plummeted back down to 62 degrees. As all of you know this is bad knows for anyone hoping to catch fish. I am happy to report that in the worst of conditions last Friday & Saturday I fished with Brian Galley and his father Bernie of Kenosha WI. We had two good days fishing putting together beautiful mixed bags of Pike and Smallmouth. Our catch included a pair of Smallmouths over 20 inches one of which is going on Bernie's wall, a couple big Pike one that measured 31 1/2 " we also had a couple of walleyes that missed the 18"size limit by less than a 1/4 inch. It just goes to show, don't give up just because the conditions are bad.
Then Sunday I fished with My son Jeff of Menasha who is the real musky expert of the family and Norm McDougall of Wheaton IL. we fished Minocqua Lake the weather had turned back to summer with sunshine and temps back in the 70s, we hit the water at 6 AM and raised a nice Musky in the first 1/2 hour then shortly after that Jeff had a musky come in after his buck tail, he made a figure 8 and the fish hit. After a good battle Jeff slid the fish into the waiting net, it measured 48" and was a real heavy fish estimated weight over 30 lbs. we saw one more fish and called it a great morning The perfect ending to a great weekend highlighted with 4 trophy class fish.
This Friday I am heading to Ontario for a father daughter fishing trip I'll have a full report when we get back. That's it for now rememberKEEP YOUR LINE TIGHT AND A BEND IN YOUR ROD
DAVE LANG
7/11/09 Hi from the shores of Lake Minocqua.
Fishing continues to be in the fair to good category with the best action on Pike, Smallmouth, and Largemouth. Walleye action continues to be difficult at best. Last week I spent a morning scouting on the Willow Flowage and ran into 2 of the guides I fish with at the end of the morning we only had 4 walleyes between the three boats and only one that met the 15 inch limit. A word of warning we are still in a 5 year drought up here and the flowages are very low use caution and go slow. When I got back to Great Outdoors Sports Shop to clean fish with my clients yesterday Dennis had caught two walleyes that morning while he was fishing Lake Trout both of these walleyes were on the bottom in 95 ft, of water. "GO FIGURE"
Last Tuesday I had the pleasure of fishing with Mike and Beth Kratzer of Brookfield WI. We put together a nice mixed bag of Pike and Bass with the fish of the day being a beautiful 38 1/2 inch Musky that Beth caught on 8 lbs. test line and a 1/16 oz. jig.The best action has been fishing weedlines and as shallow as 4 ft. These areas are all surrounded by deep water but most of the active fish have been 9 ft. and shallower. I have been using 1/16 weedless jigs either chartreuse or a orange/yellow combination. Use large minnows even though they are more expensive they are worth it.That's it for now good luck fishin and remember.
KEEP YOUR LINE TIGHT AND A BEND IN YOUR ROD
6/22/09 Hi from the shores of Lake Minocqua. Sorry that it has been so long since my last report I have been on the water almost everyday. Fishing was slow to start this year, the weather never stable long enough for the fish to setup in a pattern.
Two weeks ago I was invited to fish in the 17th annual Partners Gathering in Lac Du Flambeau, it is a gathering of the Great Lakes Indian Fish & Wildlife Council, the WI. DNR, Tribal Members and guides from both Communities. It was two days on the water and I had the pleasure of fishing with Carl Edwards the president of the Tribe and Matt Frank the Secretary of the WI. DNR on the second day, it was a great experience to spend four hours with the two of them in the boat. Although I don't agree with everything the way it is I do feel that they are trying to make things work for both communities.
This past week I had the pleasure of fishing with Brian Maning of the Chicago area, we had a good afternoon on the water but worked hard to put fish in the boat. The next day I fished with Tim Dul, he was staying at Tomah Ridge Resort on Lake Tomahawk and wanted to find some bass. We spent 1/2 day hitting spots and put together a nice bunch of Largemouth including some 2 1/2 to 3 pounders.
The weather has improved and in the last few days I had the pleasure of fishing with Jim Kluzek and his son Jimmy Thursday, Dr John Sholl his son Dr Andy from CO. Friday, and Sunday with Paul Tishim and Pat Hughs of Marshfield all three trips led to limits of nice Pike and some Bass that were caught and released.
All fish were caught fishing 1/8-1/16 jigs tipped with redtail chubs. We were fishing weeds in 6-9 feet of water. If the weather holds I look for this pattern to hold with the fish moving deeper as the weeds grow deeper as water warms. Walleye action continues to be tough with the best reports being the evening bite on leaches and crawlers.
With the water temps on the rise Musky action has started to pickup and should get better as the water warms. That's it for now folks remember
KEEP YOUR LINE TIGHT AND A BEND IN YOR ROD
DAVE LANG
5/29/09 Hi from the shores of Lake Minocqua. Fishing continues to be unpredictable in the Minocqua area. I had pleasure of fishing with 3 generations of Bittners led by John from Port Charlotte FL.,his two sons Bruce from IL., Scott and his son John from MN. Saturday morning we met at Great Outdoors Sports Shop and headed out to Squirrel Lake by noon we had two Walleyes,
10 Pike, some Crappies and 1 Perch, We went to Lac Du Flambeau for the afternoon and caught the rest of our limit of Pike and young John caught and released his first Musky on the first day of the 2009 Musky season a nice 36 1/2 incher. Sunday found us on the same lake with different conditions, the lake was flat as glass and mile high blue skies we did put together a limit of Pike including a 6 and 8 pounder but it took us 8 hours. All these fish were caught in 5 - 9 feet of water most on a jig and minnow combination including Johns Musky although we did have some Pike action on X-rapps. Memorial Day we hit the Lac Du Flambeau Chain when we met for lunch at 11:30 we had only caught 5 fish in my boat 1 Pike, 1 Perch, 1 Walleye, 1 Smallmouth, and 1 Largemouth Bass. The other boat wasn't any better. We continued the rest of the afternoon with the same results. That's why we call it fishing and not catching. That's it for now folks good luck fishin.
KEEP YOUR LINE TIGHT AND A BEND IN YOUR ROD
DAVE LANG
5/18/09 Hi from the shores of Lake Minocqua. Fishing has been spotty for the first few weeks of the season. Our weather has been a roller coaster and this has kept the fish from setting up in any pattern. Walleyes, Pike, and Bass are relating to weeds in shallow water with any fresh green weeds being the thing to look for. As usual a jig and minnow combination has been the best producer. Last weekend we held the 5th annual Tadpole Classic out of my house on Lake Minocqua with 17 fishermen. The day produced a mixed bag of Walleyes, Pike, Perch, and Crappies for a great fish fry feeding 24 people. Big Walleye was a nice 24 incher and big Pike was a 26 1/2 incher. All fish were caught on jig and minnow combinations. We also caught and released a number of bass both Largemouth and Smallmouth remember that the bass season doesn't open until next month.
In spite of howling winds and an occasional snow flurry last Sat I had the pleasure of fishing with Brent La Rue and his 5 year old son Nolan of Manhattan IL. Nolan proved to be a true fisherman and put up with conditions that would have sent many fishermen off the water. At the end of the day Nolan caught the big fish of the day, a beautiful 26 1/4 inch Pike good job Nolan.
There have been good reports of crappies getting active with reports of limits being caught. That's it for now good luck fishing.
KEEP YOUR LINE TIGHT AND A BEND IN YOUR ROD
DAVE LANG
5/7/09 Hi from the shores of Lake Minocqua the opener is 6 days in the rear view mirror and my head is spinning. As usual the Lang group fished the Minocqua Chain contrary to common wisdom of fishing small, shallow, stained water lakes, traditions are hard to brake. Even though the ice was off the lake a week earlier than last
year the water temp was only in the mid 40's. We did have walleyes that I would die for in a tournament but there were only two of them. We did catch some nice pike a 26 & 28 incher along with numerous smaller ones, some small & large mouth bass. Over all it was a poor opener for the Langs. The only good reports I heard were from the flowages with the best from the Turtle Flambeau, water levels are extemly low to the point where I can"t even launch on the Willow. Monday I had the pleasure of guiding Charles Latimere from Oshkosh WI. we targeted Pike catching a limit one of witch he is having mounteby Reel To Nature Taxidermy at Great Outdoors Sports Shop. The next 3 days my friend & fellew guide Tom Schodren have fished a number of area lakes and have not found any that were really going. My guess is that the the fish are in that post spawn time that they go dormant bear eating, with the water temps on the rise they
should get active soon. Fishing should improve in the coming days, look for Walleyes & Pike in emerging weeds using a light jig and minnow combination in 4-8 feet of water. Some fish have been cauht on crank baits but these fishemen are staying until midnight. Good luck fishin
KEEP YOUR LINE TIGHT AND A BEND IN YOUR ROD
DAVE LANG
/19/09 13 DAYS AND COUNTING. Spring is coming to the Northwoods at long last, it was a long and brutal winter with long stretchs of cold and windy conditions. I am anxiously looking forward to the opening of the walleye season as I know all of you are, too. Hooker, the fishing dog and I took a ride around the area this morning. Lake Minocqua west of highway 51 is mostly open, the east side is always a day or two behind. Arrowhead, Brandy,& Little Musky are open, Little Arb is mostly open. As usual Big Arb lags behind and even had some of the die hard crappie fisherman still out there yesterday; not today (8-10 inches of poor ice) Lake Tomahawk is opening up along the shore. This is a week earlier than last year and should give us a good opening weekend. A look at the Rainbow at the landing on "D" confirmed my fears of low water the concrete ram barely reaches the water. We are in a 4 year draught in this part of Wisconsin that shows no sign of ending. We are getting our first rain of the season this morning not much but every little bit helps. That's it for now I'll keep you up dated on conditions as they change.
KEEP YOUR LINE TIGHT AND A BEND IN YOUR ROD
DAVE LANG
1/8/09 HAPPY NEW YEAR from the shores of Lake Minocqua. Ice fishing is in full swing for all you hard water anglers. We have plenty of ice and most lakes are supporting truck traffic [remember ice travel is never 100% be safe]. I have heard some good pan fish reports from Lake Minocqua, Carol, and Big Arb. Four of the best ice guys out of Arber Vitae have found a nice bunch of big eyes 4 fish from 28.5 to 31.5 11lbs. it's Lake Tomahawk but they aren't saying where. Big Muskellunge is always a good shot for walleyes on the ice, evening bite is best look for the shacks.
Two weeks from Friday I'll have the boat behind the truck my wife Dianna as navigator and Hooker the fishing dog asleep in her bed between us heading south. We make it an easy drive visiting family and playing some golf along the way. January 27th we'll be in Cape Coral FL. where we will stay until March chasing Snook, Redfish, Trout, and anything else that will bite it's always a surprise. We will return to Minocqua March 8th and begin to get ready for spring hopefully it will come earlier than last year. That's it for now good luck in the new year.
KEEP YOUR LINE TIGHT AND A BEND IN YOUR ROD
DAVE LANG
10/6/08 Hi from the shores of Lake Minocqua on a cold wet Monday. Fall is definitely here in the Northwoods. Water tempatures have dropped into the high 50's and we are in preturnover. I have continued to have a good walleye bite, these fish are relating to deep water breaks out of 30 feet and are relating to sharp breaks on humps that are topping out at 20 feet. I am vertical jigging 1/8 - 1/4 oz. jigs tipped with fathead
minnows. A very slow presentation is necessary because the bite is very light, often just feeling like weight on the end of your line. Be sure and use a marker when you catch a fish because these fish are schooled tightly and when you catch one you can catch more in the same spot. I have also caught walleyes on mud flats as deep as 47 feet.
Musky mania has hit the Northwoods with musky fisherman out in full force. Kevin at Great Outdoors Sport Shop on Highway 51 in Arbor Vitae was selling suckers as fast as he could dip them when I was in there Saturday and Sunday morning. There were good reports of muskies hitting suckers but no hookups even though the guys were using quick set rigs. I have not been musky fishing but have seen muskies on the surface, one of these was a large fish over a 47 foot hole, we also caught a 14 inch walleye that was all chewed up in 15 feet of water, so be sure and hit some deep water spots when you're out there.
That's it for now be sure and try to get up here and enjoy some great fall fishing while there is still some time left.
KEEP YOUR LINE TIGHT AND A BEND IN YOUR ROD
Hi folks this is Minocqua fishing guide Dave Lang with your Monday September 29th Great Outdoors fishing report. Oh how nice it is to be back in northern WI. Friday I had the pleasure of fishing with Dr. John Butler of Minocqua. We met at Great Outdoors at 6:30 and headed out in search of some fall walleyes. We found an active school in 22-30 feet of water. We were using extra large fat heads on 1/8 oz. yellow and chart use jig heads. It didn't’t take us long and John caught our limit of great eater walleyes so we pulled the boat and headed out to Lac Du Flambeau for some more action. We finished up the morning catching bass, pike, and the biggest walleye of the day. These fish were caught working weed edges in 8-19 feet of water with weedless jigs and redtail chubs.
This morning I left for Ontario with my sons David and Jeff along with Bob Ulrich in search of monster muskies. We will be spending 4 days camping north of Nester Falls, the lake has musky, smallmouth, and lake trout; you know I will spend some time looking for lake trout. I’ll have a report for you when I get back next week.
5/2/08 6:45 AM LESS THAN 24 HOURS TO THE OPENER. CONDITIONS LOOK TO BE WET AND COOL BUT US HARD CORE ANGLERS WILL BE OUT THERE. MOST LAKES WILL BE OPEN WITH A FEW EXCEPTIONS, TOMAHAWK,TROUT,FENCE,AND BIG ARBOR VITAE. LAKE MINOCQUA STILL HAS 2 PATCHES OF ICE BUT THEY SHOULD BE GONE TODAY. THOSE OF YOU THAT FISH BUCKSKIN LAKE SHOULD BE AWARE THAT THERE WAS A DIE OFF THIS WINTER, THE DNR WAS SENDING OUT A SHOCKING CREW LAST NIGHT TO EVALUATE THE SITUATION. TOU CAN CONTACT THEM AT
THE MINNOW REGULATIONS HAVE BEEN SET AND ARE NOT AS RESTRICTIVE AS THROUGHT YOU CAN GET THEM AT YOUR BAIT SHOP OR ON LINE AT FISHINGWISCONSIN.ORG.
THE LANG CREW WILL CONSIST OF 9 FISHERMEN IN 4 BOATS. TRADITION DICTATES WE WILL FISH THE MINOCQUA CHAIN LOOKING FOR PRESPAWN WALLEYES ALONG ROCKY STRUCTURE WITH JIG A MINNOWS.
I WILL BE BACK WITH A FULL REPORT GOOD LUCK FISHING.
KEEP YOUR LINE TIGHT AND A BEEN IN YOUR ROD
DAVE LANG
5/2/08 6:30 pm OH WHAT A DIFFERENCE 12 HOURS CAN MAKE. JUST CHECKED OUT BIG ARBER VITAE MOST OF THE ICE IS OUT, LARGE FLOAT IN MUDLE BUT WITH HEAVEY RAIN WE'RE HAVE SHOULD BE OUT TOMORROW LOVE TO EAT MY WORLDS.
KEEP YOUR LINE TIGHT AND A BEND IN YOR ROR
DAVE LANG
5/5/08 7 AM HI FISHERMEN, THE OPENER IN THE LAKELAND AREA WAS VERY TYPICAL WITH WATER TEMPS IN THE LOW 40,S AND THE AIR TEMP IN THE 30'S WITH THE WIND HOWLING. WE FOUND FISH IN SHALLOW WATER [3 TO 5 FT] USING JIGS TIPPED WITH 2'' FAT HEADS. THE FISH THAT WE CAUGHT ON MINOCQUA WERE SPAWNED OUT. PAUL PEERENBOOM WAS THE HOT ROD WITH TWO NICE WALLEYES 3 1/2 AND 5 1/2 LBS. PICTURES ON SITE. OTHER REPORTS WERE OF WALLEYES IN DEAD GRASS AND ON SHALLOW BARS HITTING MINNOWS AND CRANK BAITS ON THE FLOWAGES. I AM HEADING OUT TO THE RAINBOW THIS MORNING AND WILL GIVE YOU A REPORT.
KEEP YOUR LINE TIGHT AND A BEND IN YOUR ROD