Visit “Pro Fishing Deals” Your Site for Fishing, Fishing Equipment & Travel Deals

Author: John Neilio

If you’re looking for fantastic nonstop walleye fishing action, Lake of The Woods in Ontario, Canada is the place for you. There are 14,582 islands which have rocky outcroppings and underwater shelves, where walleye thrive. Not only is there great fishing but the lake is very relaxing with beautiful scenery, pelicans, eagles, loons and many other wildlife.

Lake of the Woods borders Minnesota, Ontario and Manitoba. It has approximately 65,000 shoreline miles. It is 90 miles long and 55 miles wide. A great place to get onto Lake of The Woods in Ontario is at Sioux Narrows. This little town has plenty of lodging in resorts, cabins and campgrounds. You can transport your own boat, rent a boat or go out with any number of guide services available. There is also another unique way to fish the lake, which is by houseboat.

Floating Lodges offers several different size house boats to rent for the week from 40 feet to a 60 foot double decker. These house boats are modern and are totally self contained, motorized base camps. All you have to do is load them up with your supplies, tow your boats or rental boats and drive them out to one of the numerous designated landing sites on the many islands of the lake. Because the lake is so vast with so many islands, a GPS unit with a map chip of Lake of The Woods is an absolute necessity to find your way out, fishing, and find your way back.

These houseboats can easily sleep a group of 8 guys or more, several couples or family groups. It is not uncommon to run these houseboats out twenty miles or more to find more secluded areas to fish. Some of my favorite islands to fish are Cliff, Chisholm, Bath, and Gull. Most islands have under water shelves of shallower water around them before dropping off to 60 feet or deeper. If you have a GPS map chip or a lake map you will see all the structure, excellent for walleyes.

Start in 6 to 12 feet of water for casting or trolling crank baits. As you move out into 20 to 30 feet, try some my favorites, such as bottom bouncers and crawler harness.  Use a bait casting reel with a flipping switch so you can easily control your depth, spool it with Power Pro or Fireline with a medium rod, so you can feel the bottom and the slightest nibble on your line. The bottom is full of rocks and boulders filled with snags, so the better control you have the more rigs you’ll save and the more fish you will catch.

Working these shore lines will produce large concentrations of walleyes and some yellow perch. You can mark these spots with GPS or with a rock or tree on the shore. Go back to these spots and drift or anchor and send down a jig head. Early in the summer minnows and leaches are a good bait choice, but late June and into July crawlers work great.

Any pro will tell you the windward shores are the best bet for catching fish, however if there is too much wind you can find protection on the leeward sides of thousands of islands. The protected sides of these islands will produce all the walleyes you can shake an ugly stick at.

Good luck and good fishing.

Visit “Pro Fishing Deals” Your Site for Fishing, Fishing Equipment & Travel Deals

Author: John Neilio 

As the Lake Michigan water temperature warms in late spring, the combination of Salmon, on their annual migration northward and the more actively feeding Rainbows and Lakers, create fantastic fishing.

Test Free Fishing Gear…And Keep It!

This article covers the areas of Kewaunee, Algoma and Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin. The fishing here typically starts in mid to late May and runs through the summer and fall. At the onset, fish can be found in around 100 feet of water, which is only a few miles off shore at Kewaunee and Algoma and on the Bank Reef at Sturgeon Bay.

Hotels.com

All methods of deep water trolling can be employed such as downriggers and Dipsey Divers. Dipseys can be used off of wire lines or PowerPro rods. Another method, which is relatively new, is the use of lead core and copper lines to get your lures down. Lead core is color coded 10 yards per color and each color drops your lure about 5 feet down. Three colors will get you about 15 feet deep, five colors about 25 feet down and so on. Copper is typically run in 100, 200 or 300 feet per reel. Both these lines are generally backed with PowerPro and tipped with floral carbon leaders. One hundred feet of copper drops your lure about 20 feet, 200 about 40 feet and 300 feet of copper will get you down about 60 feet. If you are new to using copper lines, get advice from a dealer or someone who has used it. It is not easy to deal with.

Buy.com
If you choose to use surface lines with snap weights, lead core or copper you will have to use planer boards or skies to separate your lines and get them away from the boat. Run the highest lines furthest away from the boat, and set the deeper lines progressively closer to the boat. This helps a great deal with preventing fish tangling your lines.

There is an endless supply of lures to use for this type of fishing. Typically Pro King, Diamond King, or Moonshine spoons in bright colors with silver backs or diamond reflective patterns are good. E-chip Dodger or Spin Doctor and flies are also used with many different manufactures in many styles and colors. Bright colors with flashy tape are good choices. Faster trolling speeds are typically used in this type of fishing with 2 to 3 mph being most common.

Electronics at Basspro.com

For information on fishing in a particular location, check out the area sport shops, talk to local fishermen, listen to the marine radio or search the internet for local fishing reports. You can find a lot of info on the internet or click on to our fishing-license page.
If you don’t have a bigger boat and would like to participate in this fishery there are plenty of charters available in most towns along the shores of Lake Michigan.

Good Luck and Good Fishing

All-Battery.com

Visit “Pro Fishing Deals” Your Site for Fishing, Fishing Equipment & Travel Deals

Author: John Neilio 

As the waters of Green Bay warm in late spring and early summer the night time walleye bite turns on. The West shoreline of Green Bay along Oconto and Marinette Counties in Wisconsin, and Menominee County in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan are excellent spots for night time fishing. The common method of fishing is trolling along the shorelines in four to twenty feet of water.

Win Free Fishing Tackle

Start just before dark to get your initial setup and your bearings. Make sure you have plenty of lights onboard for night time fishing. Stick baits are the most common lure used during night fishing. Rapala, Thunder Stick, Reef Runners and other similar baits in a wide assortment of colors are the most popular choice. Check local fishing reports, talk to local fishermen and listen to the marine radio to get information about the area you are interested in fishing. A variety of lure sizes are also used, small lures for shallow water and larger and deeper divers for deeper waters.

If you are planning to troll along the shore line for a long distance set the shallow running lures on the shore side and the deeper runners on the outside pattern of your boat. Just like any type of fishing experiment with different sizes and colors until you find one that works best, then duplicate. Some days the fish will hit on several different lures and other days they may only want a particular type, size or color.

You will need some electronics on your boat for depth and speed. Typically slower speeds are better, from 1.2 mph to 2.0 mph. The best thing to do is experiment. Some days the fish like slower speeds more than other days. At this time of the year water temperature is not as important as early spring.

GPS can be a great tool for this type of fishing. Units with water depth or depth contour lines either in the hard drive or on map chips are amazing. This allows you to follow depth contour and fish structure which is very important for finding the walleye hang outs and to find your way back to the launch.

Electronics at Basspro.com

As always when fishing multiple lines in shallow waters, you will need to use a method to get your lines away from the boat. Skis or off shore planer boards will do the trick. Planer boards allow you to spread your lines and get them away from the boat at the same time. There are also light kits available for some of the planer boards, which make strikes much more apparent. Line counter reels can really help keep track when running several lines in shallow water.

There are several access points to the bay along the West shoreline. There is a launch in the Pensaukee River in Pensaukee off of County highway “S”. Follow the river out to the bay but be careful at the mouth, as it can be a little shallow. The Oconto River has a municipal boat launch at the bay. Oconto County has a launch at their County Park II off of County highway “Y”. Marinette County has a launch at Little River but the water is shallow. The Menominee River has several launches on both the Marinette and Menominee sides. The most popular is the State of Michigan launch at the Lighthouse on the Menominee side. It is a good idea to check out these facilities during the day, before your night time excursions.
Please check both Michigan and Wisconsin regulations for current species rules and regulations.

Good luck and good fishing.

All-Battery.com – Site Wide 11% off Coupon Code: battery2008 Expires: 12/31/10 Minimum $25.00 purchase required.

Author John Neilio

Late spring walleye fishing on the waters of Green Bay can be very rewarding and lots of fun. Generally we’re talking about late April into May along the shore lines of Oconto and southern Marinette Counties in Wisconsin. Just like early spring, shallow water trolling in 8 feet to 20 feet of water produces the best results.

The big difference in day time trolling is a switch from crank and stick baits to crawler harnesses. Two hooks are most popular but the important part is a quick change clevis which enables you to replace the spinner blades. Make sure you have an ample supply of different colored blades in different sizes. Check with local sport shops and other fishermen for advice to get you started. As always, experimentation is the key to success. Holographic blades are popular and the Colorado Spinner Blades are designed to produce maximum flash, vibration and realism, regardless of water color. Check out Bass Pro Shop’s website, search crawler harnesses and you will be amazed are the variety available.

The harnesses can be weighted in several different ways:

Light weight bottom bouncers can be used, however you may run into weeds in certain areas.
Snap weights are another method employed, again using light weights.
The last method is simply attaching split shots to the line a few feet above the harness. Experiment with these methods and weight to find what works best for you and the depth you’re fishing in.

The waters of Green Bay are very clear due to Zebra Mussels, so you will need to use a method to get your lines away from the boat. Skis or off shore planer boards will do the trick. Planer boards allow you to spread your lines and get them away from the boat at the same time. Line counter reels can really help keep track when running several lines in shallow water. 

TigerGPS.com

There is still stick and crank bait fishing available but after dark is the best time for this type of fishing. Start just before dark to get your initial setup and your bearings. Make sure you have plenty of lights onboard for night time fishing. There are also light kits available for some of the planer boards, which make strikes much more apparent. Rapala, Thunder Stick, Reef Runners and other similar baits in a wide assortment of colors are the most popular choices.

You will need some electronics on your boat for depth and speed, although water temperature isn’t as important at this time of year. Typically slower speeds are better, from just below to just above 1 mph. The best thing to do is experiment. Some days the fish like slower speeds more than other days.

There are a few access points to Green Bay along this area of the West shoreline. There is a launch in the Pensaukee River in the City of Pensaukee off of County highway “S”. Follow the river out to the bay but be careful at the mouth, as it can be a little shallow. The City of Oconto has a municipal boat launch where the Oconto River enters Green Bay. Oconto County has a launch at their County Park II off of County Highway “Y”.

Good luck and good fishing.

Author: John Neilio

Green Bay is a bay of Lake Michigan and one of the largest fresh water bodies in the world that normally freezes during the winter months. It is bordered by Northeastern Wisconsin, the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and the Door County Peninsula of Wisconsin. The bay extends from Green Bay, Wisconsin to Escanaba, Michigan.

1-Day Sale Today Only! Save up to 45% on Hotels and Vacations!

The West shoreline of Green Bay along Oconto and Marinette Counties in Wisconsin, and Menominee County in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan is an excellent spot for spring fishing, whether you are a resident or a visitor to the area. Fishing gets started just after the ice moves out and continues through April and into May. The common method of fishing is trolling along the shorelines in four to twelve feet of water.

Thirty years ago the shallow waters along this shoreline were teeming with Brown Trout and Splake which were planted by the Michigan and Wisconsin DNR Fisheries Divisions. Today a new planting program by these states has made this area into a world class Walleye fishery. It is not uncommon to catch walleye in the 30 inch class. Trolling in the spring produces a majority of walleyes with incidental browns mixed in the catch.

New laws only allow one walleye to be kept during this spring spawning season along the entire Wisconsin shore line and in Michigan shores to a point approximately 12 miles north of the Menominee River. More trout are allowed in each state’s bag limit. Please check both Michigan and Wisconsin regulations for current species limitations.

Stick baits are the most common lure used during the spring season. Rapala, Thunder Stick, Reef Runners and other similar baits in a wide assortment of colors are the most popular choice.  Check local fishing reports, talk to local fishermen and listen to the marine radio to get information about the area you are interested in fishing.  A variety of lure sizes are also used, small lures for shallow water and larger and deeper divers for deeper waters.

You will need some electronics on your boat for depth, speed and water temperature.  Typically slower speeds are better, from 1.2 mph to 2.0 mph. The best thing to do is experiment. Some days the fish like slower speeds more than other days. Water temperature can be extremely important as well.  Just after ice out the temperatures are 36 to 38 degrees and as the spring goes on the water heats up into the 40’s. The most important thing to look for is pockets of warmer water, just a couple of degrees increase can hold fish. When you find pockets of warmer water, work them for a while and you may be pleasantly surprised.

The waters of Green Bay are very clear due to Zebra Mussels, so you will need to use a method to get your lines away from the boat.   Skis or off shore planer boards will do the trick. Planer boards allow you to spread your lines and get them away from the boat at the same time. Line counter reels can really help keep track when running several lines in shallow water.

There are many access points to the bay along the West shoreline. The Oconto River has a municipal boat lunch at the bay. Oconto County has a launch at their County Park II. There are a couple of launch areas at the mouth of the Peshtigo River although they are crude and have no docks. Marinette County has a launch at Little River but the water is shallow.  This launch is only good for smaller boats and you may have to use waders to get over sand bars. The Menominee River has several launches on both the Marinette and Menominee sides. The most popular is the State of Michigan launch at the Lighthouse on the Menominee side.

All LED, HID Flashlights 20% off with code “flash09″

Good luck and good fishing.