October 2018 Fishing Club Outing Nagawicka Lake

Took 10 members of our fishing club out on Nagawicka Lake today (October 14).  This trip was made up of 3 returning members and 7 new members.  Sports and other commitments took a lot of our returning members away today, but it was great hanging out and having fun with everyone.

It was an extremely slow day...not sure where the fish were as we tried all depths and a ton of techniques, but that is okay...we had a blast on a beautiful day.  The largest fish of the day are pictured here. 

We had some great volunteers offer their time, equipment, and boats to take these kids out, and fish or no fish, I could have stayed out all day.

This year we will be going on another soft water outing, down to the Lake Michigan lakefront where we had some good success last year and we hope to try our hand at a couple ice fishing tournaments.

My Lake Michigan Monsters

This is my person best Brown Trout.  it was caught in the summer fest lagoon on a cool March day.  I caught it on a firetiger scatter rap shad.  It measured 33" in earned me a Master Angler Award from In-Fisherman Magazine

This is my personal best King Salmon.  It was caught in September on a 3/4oz Glow Kastmaster Spoon.  Great fighting fish.  It measured 36" long. 

Summer fishing with the fam

I did a lot of fishing this summer, but much of it was in short bursts.  I did not really explore any new waters and I did not really master any new techniques, but I had a great time helping my kids catch fish and catching a few of my own.

Things I learned this summer:

1. The Vision 110 Megabass Jerkbait is absolutely deadly when tied to anyone's rod but my own.
2. A new spot on my favorite lake.
3. The pond in Downtown Delafield has some surprisingly large bass in it.
4. You need to transfer the warranty on a Lund boat right after purchase otherwise the stupid company won't honor it.
5. Carter can name almost all Wisconsin fish and tell you which ones have teeth prohibiting him from lipping them.
6. Rewarding Norah with a gummy worm every time she catches a fish keeps her laser focused.
7. John is notably better at bass fishing than me now.

Pewaukee Lake Fishing Club Outing

In late May 2018 fishing club had its first "bass tournament" where we competed both for the biggest bass and the longest 5 bass. 

The team of Max, Tate, and Nick ended up edging out the team of Riley, Sam and Mark and handily defeated the team of Jackson, Aiden, and Steve.

Despite their last place finish, Aiden did take home big fish honors with an 18" largemouth caught on a red scatterrap shad that...incidentally...I had lent him.

The weather was terrible, but we had a great time.

Carter's First Ice Fishing Trip

Today (1/20) is Carter's second birthday and it just so happened to also be an unseasonably warm day.  We had temperatures in the high 40s so it was a great day to take him out for his first ice fishing trip.  It was also Norah's second ever ice fishing trip. 

Bill and I headed out early to get everything set up, then Carly brought the kids out.  We had a flurry of activity right away, then things slowed down.  At one point we had three flags up at one time with 2 of the fish being in the 30" class.

Norah caught her first fish on a tipup (with some help) and Carter somehow jigged up and reeled in a bluegill all by himself. 

Below are the pictures of one of my favorite ever ice fishing trips.

Fishing Club Ice Outing

January 13th was our first Waukesha West Fishing Club trip out onto the ice.  We headed down to the kettle on Nagawicka for some northern pike action.

I tried to convince the kids that we should move the trip to a different day because when we woke up it was -1 degrees with an -18 wind chill.  They convinced me to go and I am glad we did.  Action wasn't super fast, but it was enough to keep us interested.  We landed somewhere around 8 pike and had a lot of drops.  Strangely, it didn't seem as cold as it was and we had a great time.  I look forward to our next excursion. 

The pike were caught on Beaver Dam tipups with 40lb fluorocarbon leaders and a large shiner.  We were fishing from 3-10 feet of water. 

Fall on Lake Michigan

I intended to have more fall/winter trout fishing pictures, but man did it turn cold for winter break.  The lake's main access points are frozen now and it will take a nice warm snap to open them up.  I am hoping to try down by the Oak Creek power plant for the first time this January/February.

We caught many more fish than are pictured, but included are the highlights.

Some of the fish pictured here were caught on our first Waukesha West Fishing Club outing where we fished from shore using spawn, jerk baits, crank baits, and jigs with plastic.  Other fish were caught by fishing club members who returned on their own, and some were caught by Tim, Bill and me on our own.

It was great sharing Lake Michigan shore spots with the kids, and while I personally didn't catch any monsters this fall it was still a great time each trip.

It appears there is enough ice out on local lakes now so I guess it will be time to start ice fishing...although I am not a huge fan of that.

Here are links to some of our favorite lures...almost all of which can be purchased at Dick Smith's in Delafield.

Firetiger Scatterrap Shad
White Shadow Rap Shad
White Kaitech Swimbaits