8/7/25  Hi from the shores of "Kennedy Bay" on Lake Minocqua.  The first week of August has been just what you would expect of summer...HOT.  I started the month fishing with Bob Stanko and Ed Duquette  We had a good morning with a nice mixed bag of Pike and Bass.

Saturday the 2nd was fishing with Rob Schweigert and his 2 sons  Robbie, & Brennan.  We have been fishing together  for years when they are up here celebrating the King Family Reunion at The Beacons.  The guys are good fishermen and put together a nice mixed bag including Largemouth, Smallmouth, Pike, and Walleyes.  The highlight of the morning was Rob Sr. catching a number of Bass and Pike on a white Whopper Plopper.  A great morning.

Sunday, I fished with Ed Duquette and  Bob Stanko. We headed down to the Willow.  Fishing was slow forcing us to cover a lot of water and only catching fish in 3 small spots but they still managed a nice mixed bag.  Another good morning.  

Monday, it was 3 generations of  the Jamie Daull crew.  I headed back out to the reservation.  The 2 boys, Grant age 10 and Clark age 7, each of them caught fish and we ended the morning with 6 Pike and 1 Bass in the box. Another good mornng.

Tuesday, it was Charlie Langhoff, Mike  McKersie, and Phil Arts. They were my second crew from the King Family reunion.  Conditions were not ideal with flat water but the Canadian smoke keeping the sun from being too bright.  Using Chatter Baits and Jig & Minnow combinations  by the end of the morning the guys put together a nice mixed bag of 2 Largemouth, 1 Smallmouth, and 5 Pike.  The guys worked hard and we covered a lot of water but it was worth it.

Wednesday was the beginning of the slow down.  When I checked The Musky Metrics app, that predicts fish activity, I could see why activity had slowed.  The app's prediction was right at the bottom in the sluggish range.  When faced with conditions like this all you can do is cover your best water with a number of presentations you have faith in and adjust your expectations downward.  Fishing with Thomas Amundson, his wife and parents, we did manage to box 6 Pike and 1 Bass, under the conditions a good morning.

As to be expected Thursday didn't improve and being the second day in a row of those conditions it only gets tougher.  I had fished with Allen Jarosz a few times before. This year, he brought 2 of his buddies along with him.  It didn't take long to know that we had our work cut out for us.  The first couple of fish we caught were Pike that were too small for even me to think I could get fillets off of.  Our first and only fish caught on a Jig and minnow combination was a dandy 12" Perch that Al caught.  To add insult to injury, the fish that were hitting Chatter Baits were hitting so lightly that they missed entirely or got off the hook before they were in the net.  At the end of our morning the guys had 1 Perch and 2 nice Pike in the box. Enough for their fish fry but just barely.  We enjoyed the morning and planned a follow up trip. 

It was  a good week overall.  The most interesting lesson was that when the app predicted sluggish fish activity, I expected that most of our action would be on the slow Jig and minnow presentation, but just the opposite was true to the point where on Thursday the only bait being used were Chatter Baits.  Thats it for now folks! Good luck fishin" and remember,  KEEP YOUR LINE TIGHT AND A BEND IN YOUR ROD

DAVE LANG

7/30/25. Hi from the shores of "Kennedy Bay" on Lake Minocqua.  Last Friday I had the pleasure of guiding with Jason Heidle .  He had a job set up with 4 families  and their children to fish on Lake Minocqua.  He had it set up for each of us to fish with 1 set of parents and their 2 children  for 2-1/2 hours then return to their dock to drop  off our first  group and pick up our second group for the second 2-1/2 hour trip. My first group's morning was slow fishing to say the least.  We missed a few fish, only finishing with 1 nice Bass.  Group 2 got off to a much better start when their daughter caught a Pike at the first spot.  They finished their trip with that Pike, 1 Perch, and 2 Bass.  It was a good time for everyone and I look forward to doing it again.

Saturday I fished with Curtis Heit.  We headed out to the Reservation looking for Bass, Pike, and Walleye.  Conditions were a little on the bright side with little wind.  That being said, the guys did well.  By the end of the morning they had 1 Walleye that was just short of the 18" minimum, 1 nice Largemouth , 1 Largemouth that was just short of the 14" limit, and 7 nice Pike.  A good morning.

Sunday I fished with Kyle Nelson and his wife, Sam.  It was a good morning with plenty of action.  Part way through the morning Sam caught a nice Walleye that was just short of the 18" minimum.  By the end of their trip they had 1 Perch, 1 Largemouth, and 9 Pike, a SUPER MORNING.

Monday I fished with Greg Rypel , his daughter Rachel and her son.  We  had a good morning and at the end they had a nice catch including 4 nice Pike and an 18-1/2" Walleye.

Tuesday I fished with Alli and Colleen Weiss and Andrea Lindaghl, we have fished together numerous times in the last few years.  At the end of their morning they had a dandy bag including  1 Walleye, 2 Largemouth, and 4 Pike.   Great morning.

Today I fished with Al & Charyl Konitski for the first time.  We headed out to the same lake that I had been having such good action the last week.  Our day started off with Al getting a  bite but the fish got off.  The action was slow all morning after fishing my favorite 3 spots  we only had 1 Bass and 3 small Pike.   It was my worst nightmare taking new clients to a lake that I knew had been producing and having it stink up the morning.  We agreed we enjoyed meeting each other and plan to fish together again next year when they are in Minocqua.

That's it for now folks good luck fishin' and remember.

KEEP YOUR LINE TIGHT AND A BEND IN YOUR ROD. DAVE LANG

7/23/25  Hi from the shores of "KENNEDY BAY" on Lake Minocqua.  After my last fishing report was so long in coming I have to write this just 5 days later because of what  made the last 2 days on the water so special.  I know that I will be really busy for the rest of the month and won't have time to write a report.

Monday's trip started over a month ago when Gary Schmieden called me about a fishing trip in July.  Gary had rented a cottage and planned on doing some fishing.  Gary hadn't been fishing much for quite a while and wanted to renew his skills.  I told him I was familiar with  the lake he had rented on and would enjoy showing him the lake and giving him suggestions on how I would go about fishing it using weedless jig and minnow combinations. I don't fish it much but it has a decent fishery. It had been a few years since I fished it.  The last time I fished it with a client  and his grandson we managed a decent catch of Bass, Pike, and 1 Walleye.  I went to one of the spots I expected to find  good fish weeds  and I found the weeds had really over grown the areas and they were next to impossible to fish.  I managed a couple small Bass but was really disappointed.  The  water was low and  the last straw was when I got back to the landing and found that it was in need of some repair and I needed to use FWD just to get the boat out.  After some real soul searching I did something I had never done before and gave Gary a call.  I got his voice mail so I left him a message about my poor experience that morning.  I told him I would try to find  a guide that thought he could give him his moneys worth  if he wanted.  I asked him to at least return my call and we could talk.  When he called me back he said he understood and appreciated my honesty and said he was more interested  in learning techniques than the lake so our plans were to go to a lake of my choice.  We went out to the reservation to the lake I had been having good action on.  I spent 4 hours showing Gary how I picked weeds that held fish and the 2 methods, Jig & Minnow combinations and Chatter Baits to successfully catch fish. At the end of the morning we had 4 nice Pike and Gary felt pretty confident that he knew the basics that would help him catch fish.  It was a successful morning.

Tuesday I had the pleasure of fishing with Brett & Tammy Cayer and their 2 sons Jake & Jesse.  The trip was for the boys who were the real anglers in the family.  The boys started off casting Chatter Baits and produced Pike right off  the bat. Brett and Tammy used Jig and Minnow combinations that also produced fish.  What turned out to be the highlite of the trip started when Tammy landed a dandy 18 1/2 inch Walleye, her biggest ever.  We continued having good action all morning,  at the end of the morning they had 8 nice Pike & 1 Walleye in the box.  Tammy continued to be the hero of the morning,  She set the hook on a really nice fish that gave her quite a battle including a couple of jumps.  When she finally got it to the net she had a beautiful 20 1/2 inch Smallmouth Bass.  Our action slowed so we moved to another spot.  One of the boys  caught a Pike on our first drift.  We just started our second drift when Tammy had another big fish on, it turned out to be another dandy, this time it was a 20 1/2 inch Largemouth Bass.  Tammy released both of these trophy Bass after taking pictures.  The guys continued catching Pike but no one could match those trophies.  Later Tammy  caught a little Perch and there was some laughing that all she needed to catch now was a Musky.  It wasn't much longer when she caught what everyone thought was the smallest Pike of the day when I pointed out that it was a small Musky, only about 13 inches long.  What a day Tammy had.

I had trips this year when I caught more fish or bigger fish but when viewed over all this was the "BEST TRIP" of the season so far. I hope you can see why I felt compelled to write this report. These were 2 very interesting trips.  That's it for now folks, good luck fishin' and remember KEEP YOUR LINE TIGHT AND A BEND IN YOUR ROD.   DAVE LANG

7/18/25.  Hi from the shores of "KENNEDY BAY"  on Lake Minocqua.  My 4th of July weekend began with Jim Tsagalia &  Craig, We had fished the 4th of July last year.   We headed out to the reservation to one of my favorite  lakes that has  a good  miix of game fish.  The weather was a bit of a challenge with a bright sky and almost no breeze.  At the end of the morning the guys had a nice mixed bag with 3 Pike, 1 Largemouth, and 1 nice Crappie., In addition, they caught and released  2 Bass  & 4 Pike.  A good morning and we look forward to doing it again next 4th of July.

The next day I fished with Ed Duquette & his brother Jeff.  We fished the same lake as the day before.  They had a good day ending with 8 nice Pike in the box, and released 1 short Walleye and a small Musky.  

On the 11th I had the pleasure of being back on the water with Keith Passon. We have been getting together around the 4th of  July weekend for years.  We put together another nice bag including 6 Pike & 2 Largemouth.

On the 16th I had the pleasure of fishing with Roger & Janice Young & their grandson Simon Livengood. They were visiting Minocqua from Kansas. We headed out to a lake on the reservation that has no houses on it just forest land, I wanted it to be a totally different experience from Kansas.  It was a perfect morning and at the end of the trip they had 5 nice Pike in the box.  A good morning.

Today I fished with Mike Heroux. This was our 5th day fishing this year.  Mike had put a lot of Pike in his freezer this year already so we decided to take a  shot at a lake that we normally only fish early in the season before the weeds get too thick.  Mike's decision was based on the fact that we would be giving up action but getting a better chance at keeping some Walleyes.  His choice looked really good when his first fish on the first spot was a Walleye, a little on the short side so he released it.  That turned out to be a mistake,  Mike caught and released 1 nice Pike and a couple of Bass.  We never did box any Walleyes,   Evan though it was our least successful trip  this year it was a nice morning on the water.

As always fishing was good when we fished the right lake.  I had to scout a lake that I normally  fish once or twice a year because I am fishing with someone that is renting there.  Normally  it produces enough fish for a fish fry and decent action.  The water was a little low and the spots that I  normally find fish on 

did very poorly.  The final negative blow came at the landing when the low water made the landing almost  impossible to get  my boat out.  I talked to the client I was scheduled to fish it with and explained what my morning was like and he decided that he would rather let me pick a different lake that would produce better action.  We are fishing next week, my fingers are crossed.   I  had an open day and used it to scout the Willow Flowage. I hadn't been down there for a few weeks.  Evan though the water level was up and should have been good I spent a couple hours on good spots. I managed some fish but not good enough to go back.  Further checking with other people that was a common result.  That doesn't mean it wont get better but I will definitely scout it again before I take someone out there. 

The fishing has been good  in relatively shallow water 6 to 12 feet in weeds.  I reported a couple of weeks ago that this old dog was taught a new trick when I started using Chatter Baits.  Even though the Chatter Baits were out perfoming jig & minnow combinations I always used at least 1 jig and minnow combination. The value of being flexable proved  to be the best approach when this week the weedless jig tipped with Black Tail Chubs came back to being the most productive.  That's it for now folks, good luck fishin' and remember. 

"KEEP YOUR LINE TIGHT AND A BEND IN YOUR ROD".   Dave Lang 

7//3/25. Hi from the shores of "KENNEDY BAY"  on Lake Minocqua.  I am sorry that it has been over two weeks since my last fishing report.  Rather than trying to go through all 12 of the days  that I was on the water during that time I will try to give an overview.  We have finally gotten into  our summer weather pattern, water temperatures depending on the lake are between 71 to 74 degrees.  By far the most of my time has been spent on a lake on the reservation.  This lake has been producing good action with Pike representing the most of the catch along with Bass and Walleyes making up the rest.  These fish were caught in weeds in water from 5 to 10 feet deep.  We have been catching fish using weedless jigs tipped with blacktail chubs and Chatter baits.  The 2 methods are total opposites,  jig and minnow being the slowest presentation possible,  and Chatter Baits are a very simple presentation of casting it out and as soon as it hits the water cranking it in as fast as you can crank it.

I also spent some of my  time on one of my favorite lakes west of Minocqua.   This was the lake that we fished opening weekend with great success that continued  for a few weeks that followed.  The Pike and Walleyes are still there, but what has happened is that this lake"s weed growth is very quick , the result is that  many of the areas that hold the most  fish also have the heaviest weed growth  that is next to impossible to fish.

Fishing the same presentations in the same areas as the other lake we managed a nice mixed bag  of Walleyes and Pike but it was difficult and took an extra hour on the lake to accomplish it.

I also fished a couple of days  on the Minocqua Chain.   The first day I spent with Dick Novemti on  Lake Tomahawk.  It was his first experence on Tomahawk and he wanted to learn how and where to fish that lake.  Dick caught a couple of Largemouth at the first spot we fished, I thought "this is going to be a good morning".  Boy was I wrong! The next half dozen spots we hit never produced another game fish.  At the end of the trip Dick learned a lot of spots and how I fish them, but there wasn't any proof of their value. Not a good day for me.

The next trip out I spent on Lake Minocqua.  The first spot I fished produced a  Bass. When I am just out scouting, as soon as I catch a fish or have a bite from a good fish I move to the next spot.  Unlike the day before every spot except one produced action, including Bass, Pike, and Walleye.

That's it for now folks good luck fishin' and remember KEEP YOUR LINE TIGHT AND A BEND IN YOUR ROD

DAVE LANG

6/15/25. Hi from the shores of "KENNEDY  BAY". on Lake Minocqua.  The weather continues to be a major challenge. In the last 10 days I have had 1 trip canceled and 3 other trips  switched by a day or two.  I was scheduled to fish with Doug Drake on Monday and mother nature stepped in with wind, rain, and cold temperature, so Doug switched to Wednesday. The cold front that came through slowed fishing action but we managed a mixed bag of Pike and Walleyes.  Not a great bag but reasonable.

Again after a couple more days of below normal temperatures I headed back out to the reservation with Jason Heindl, fellow Minocqua guide that was fishing with me for the day.  We were fishing with 2 boats and 7 anglers.  The fishing forecast was about as bad as it could be.  Dressed with layered shirts, a hoodie, a jacket, and rain gear we hit the water hoping for the best.  To my surprise the first cast in my boat put one Pike in the box.  After about an hour and a half  the rain let up.  I pulled up near Jason to compare notes, he had a couple of Pike in the box and had to release a 17" Walleye that was too short to keep. In my boat the guys had 3 Pike in our box, but no Walleyes.  The weather held up with no more rain but never got above 48 degrees.  After 6 hours of fishing  the two boats with 7 anglers caught a total of 20 Pike ranging from 19 to 26".  Far  surpassing my or Jasons expectations; given the predictions.   These fish all came out of weeds in water from 5 to 10 feet deep. They came on a variety of baits, jig and minnow, Paddle Tails and Chatter Baits.  It was a tough 6 hours but everyone agreed it was worth it.

The weather finally took a slight turn back towards normal with high temperature getting into the mid 60s today.

 I am back on the water tomorrow with two anglers for a normal 4 hour trip.   With the weather improving, we should do well.  That's it for now folks good luck fishin" and remember. "KEEP YOUR LINE TIGHT AND A BEND IN YOUR ROD.

DAVE LANG

6/8/25  Hi from the shores of "KENNEDY BAY"  on Lake Minocqua. This Wednesday I had the pleasure of fishing with Jim & Ken, the pizza guys, and Ken's son.  We headed out to one of my favorite lakes on the reservation.  It was one of my first trips out there this season.  It was a good morning.  At the end of the morning the guys had 6 Pike in the box ranging from the low 20" to 

26 1/2". They caught and released 5 Walleyes. On reservation lakes the minimum size for Walleyes is 18", the largest Walleye they had was 17 1/2", they also had 4 Smallmouth, but that season doesn't open until June 21st.

A really good morning.

Friday I fished with Abe Shinners  and Marty Benes from Antigo. We fished one of my favorite  Pike and Walleye lakes west of Minocqua.  At the end of the day the guys put together a nice mixed bag  including 1 Walleye, 1 Largemouth, 2 Perch, and, 2 Pike.  The guys are good fisherman which certainly helped with their success.  Three of the fish they had in the box came in our last hour that morning. That means 3 tough hours of fishing. I often say  "patients and persistence is the secret to success" .

I was scheduled to fish with Randy Yockey, his wife Debbie and friends Mark and Linda, on Sunday.  Luckily  we were all able to move our trip up to Saturday when the Sunday weather forecast took a turn for the worst.  We headed back out to the reservation.  We started our morning out on a midlake weed hump only 6 feet deep. We had  action on  each drift for the first couple hours at least getting bites or