A Full Day Hucking the 9-Weight

I’ve been fishing a lot but not too much.  In fact, I’m fishing about what I expected to be fishing – at least once every three days if not more.  It took a while to get to this point with all the house fixing stuff but I’m officially here.  And the excitement of being surrounded … Read more

Slow Day on the Water

Bob Butler and I played around on a small lake near Hayward for about three hours through midday today.  The weather was tough with strong unsettled winds and scattered showers. It was the exact type of weather where you expect some larger fish to be feeding, which is why we went for it.   But, … Read more

A New Personal Best Smallmouth Bass

The man who helped Granny and I with this move to Wisconsin more than anyone was my old Northland College roommate Matt (Howie) Norton.  In the process Howie and I talked often about how much fishing we’d be doing once I got here.  But since officially moving here on May 9th, we have fished together … Read more

Popping for Gills

Bob Butler is on a fishing crusade.  He tried this morning for the musky that’s been riling him up this week – no luck – and for the first time in a few days he didn’t see him either.  So rather than try again this afternoon he opted to leave his own lake and chase … Read more

A Musky War has Started

I received a text during coffee this morning from Bob, “I saw the musky this around 6 AM.  He showed up near my fly but didn’t show much interest.  Then she stared me down again.  What are doing this afternoon?”   I’ll make this quick but of course I found a couple hours to go … Read more

A Musky with a Fancy for Bass

Granny and I put another 24 hours in on the house and at 3 PM today we headed over to my friend Bob Butlers house.  Butler is the Bob I’ve been floating with once a week pretty much all summer.  Bob and his wife Janna live on a cool little lake not too far out … Read more

Scoping Out Future Fishing

Granny and I talked about big time fishing plans the last few days for her days off this week, but the truth is, we still have work to do on our new fixer-upper Hayward, Wisconsin house.  We finally finished dressing up our foundation last week.  It’s pretty fancy and looks cool.   We also ripped … Read more

A Bear, A Porcupine and Smallmouth Slabs

Fall is in the air.  Bob Butler and I met at 5 AM in pitch dark.  A month ago, we didn’t need headlights at 5.  We drove an hour dodging deer the whole way to our boat launch on the unnamed river.  Even at 6 AM, though dawn was breaking, it wasn’t easy to see.  … Read more

Backwater Largemouth

And the exploration continues.  I crossed a creek the other day and stopped to check it out.  I looked upstream and it appeared big enough to drop in the boat and make some casts.  This morning Granny and I gave it a try and we were not disappointed.   There were plenty of lily pads … Read more

An Evening on Windigo Lake

I’ve been drooling over Google Earth Maps a few evenings now that it gets dark earlier.  There is so much water to fish within just ten miles of our house here in Hayward, WI its almost unbelievable.  While I’m certain may of the lakes are far from epic fisheries, all are fun to explore.  Late … Read more

Drifting with Sturgeon

Its hard to explain how invigorating it is to go fishing on new water almost every time I go fishing.  And to be able to do it from home – unreal!  The newfangled adventures around every corner had me bouncing from bed at 4:45 AM this morning to meet up with my friend Bob Butler … Read more

Docks Day on Lake Superior

I couldn’t wait to get back from Italy to once and for all start exploring the new waters around our Hayward, WI home.  Yeah, I hit the water some before I left for Italy, but I felt obligated to trout fish to be well tuned for the Worlds.  Once back I could do whatever fishing … Read more