It's Opening Weekend

If you like to fish the inland lakes of Wisconsin this is a big weekend for you. Saturday is the first Saturday in May and that is the opener for all game fish. That means you can fish Blackhawk, Govenor Dodge, Redstone, Yellowstone or one of the other lakes in SW Wisconsin and keep a walleye, bass, or northern if you catch it.

If you live in our area and fish the Wisconsin or Mississippi rivers you really don’t care about the opener too much. Both of our rivers are open year round so we can catch and keep game fish any time we fish. On the Mississippi we are either fishing in Iowa/Wisconsin Boundary waters or Minnesota/Wisconsin Boundary waters. The only place on the entire Mississippi in our area that is governed by the Inland Waters rules is Cold Springs. Since Cold Springs is inside the railroad tracks, it is officially an inland water and has a closed season on game fish.

We have no restrictions if we fish on the rivers or in the river bottoms which are considered part of the river. Even the streams that run into the Wisconsin are open up to the first highway bridge, so our possibilities are nearly endless. Just another of the benefits of living in Southwest Wisconsin.

Dan Bomkamp - Author & Host of "How's Fishing"

http://www.myoakpro.com/

One of Dan's foreign exchange students with a couple walleyes.

Turkey Blinds

For years I resisted the temptation to buy a portable turkey blind. I couldn’t get it through my mind that a turkey wouldn’t see that big thing sitting in his woods and run for the hills. Many other hunters told me I was wrong and finally I relented and bought my own blind.

One of the reasons that convinced me was that I usually take my foreign exchange students turkey hunting and no matter how many times I tell them that they have to sit perfectly still….they move and spook the turkey. It’s happened more times than I can count. The other reason is that a blind lets you sit on a stool, which is nice for an old guy like me who has bad knees and needs a crane to get me back up after I’ve been sitting on the ground for a while.

I became a believer the first time we used the blind. A hen walked up close enough that we could have reached out and grabbed her by the neck. And later a Tom came up to our decoy without a second glance at the blind.

They keep you dry on a rainy day, and keep you warm on a cold morning, but most of all they let you get away with a bit of movement so you can get your gun into position for that Tom. Check them out they’re another toy for big boys who call themselves turkey hunters.

Dan Bomkamp - Author & Host of "How's Fishing"
 


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Fishing is Better and Improving

While the fishing isn’t what you’d call great, it is improving. Water levels on the Miss are getting to a stage where things will be back to normal soon. The spawn is over for the walleyes but now they are feeding in post-spawn mode and will be active. Fishermen need to do some searching for schools of fish and when they find them they will have some good action.


The walleyes will be in places where there is some cover and lots of food. Places like the cuts that run back into sloughs, side channels and wing dams hold a lot of food. Rocky areas are always good because there are insects which are fed on my small fish, which in turn are fed on by the larger predator fish like walleye, bass and northerns.

The Wisconsin River is in very good shape. Fish are beginning to bite and a mixed bag is possible. As the water warms up things will improve even more.

Look for food and you’ll find fish in the same places. It takes a little more work but it’s worth the effort.

Dan Bomkamp - Author & Host of "How's Fishing"

With Nice Weather Come Ticks

Spring is a beautiful time of year in this part of Wisconsin. The hills are alive with the sounds of wild turkeys gobbling and yelping. The mushrooms are pushing up through the leaf litter. The asparagus is coming up through the grass. Trees are leafing out and turning a gray landscape green again.

But with all the good stuff comes a little pest that you have to watch out for also. That little pest is the wood tick. While regular ticks are not much more than an inconvenience, the deer tick can be more of a problem. Deer ticks are tiny…..about the size of large grain of pepper. They crawl around until they find a spot they like and then burrow into your hide and begin to feed.

That’s nasty enough but some of them carry Lymes Disease which can be very dangerous if it goes untreated. Lymes makes some people very sick with muscle and joint pain and many other symptoms. It’s treatable with simple antibiotics though.

So when you get back from an excursion in the woods, take a good look at yourself from head to toe. If you find any unwanted guests, get rid of them before they have a chance to attach to you and cause problems. For my money, a tick or two is well worth the time spent in the outdoors at this great time of year.

Dan Bomkamp - Author & Host of "How's Fishing"

http://www.myoakpro.com/

Passing On The Tradition

Anyone who has hunted for wild turkeys in the spring knows what an exciting sport it can be. A few years ago the Wisconsin Legislature passed a law that allowed hunters to take up to two young hunters out the weekend before the regular turkey season opened and give them a chance at bagging a turkey.

This Youth Hunt was last weekend and one of the young hunters who had success was Ryan Furstenberg of the Fennimore area. Ryan hunted with his uncle Lonnie Helpin and together they called in and bagged a dandy tom. Turkey hunting is much more difficult than many would think and average success shows that one in four hunters manages to get a bird. I’m sure Ryan will remember that day for the rest of his life. Thanks to mentors like Lonnie and many others who take the time to share the outdoors with youngsters, we will have a great hunting and fishing tradition in Wisconsin for the coming generations.

There are Youth Hunts for deer season and duck season coming up this fall, so find a young hunter and get them ready for some new experiences. In the meantime take them fishing. You’ll have a friend for life.

Dan Bomkamp
Author & Host of "How's Fishing"

Congratulations Ryan!

http://www.southwest-wi-hunting-land.com/

Spring in the River Bottoms

I’ve poked around in the Wisconsin River bottoms since I got my first two wheel bike. It would be interesting to know how many hours I’ve spent fishing, hunting and just sitting and watching nature in this beautiful place we call the bottoms.

Yesterday I saw something I’ve not seen before despite thousands of hours of time enjoying the diverse nature just a mile from my home. I took my exchange student down to fish for a while so we could enjoy a perfect spring day. When we got there we saw blue winged teal, wood ducks, sandhill cranes, many shore birds and a pair of geese. The Papa goose was patrolling the area around Mama goose who was sitting on a muskrat house, most likely incubating eggs.

After a while we could see a sandhill crane sneaking through the cattails toward the geese and Papa got all excited and began honking and flapping his wings and drove the crane away. A few minutes later a second goose which I would think must have been another male flew in and began harassing Papa goose. The two swam around honking up a storm and then took off flying and Papa flew right into the Intruder and they both crashed to the water. Up they went again and Papa knocked Intruder into the water again. This went on for several minutes and they flew and crashed at least half a dozen times.

Finally Intruder swam off honking up a storm. Papa went over by Mama and they honked and waddled around with him hooking his neck around hers. Then she went back to the nest and he went back on patrol.

We didn’t catch any fish but what a cool show we got to see. That’s the beauty of the river bottoms, Mother Nature is preparing a new show all the time and all you have to do is be there at the right time to watch.

Dan Bomkamp - Author and Host of "How's Fishing"

http://www.waterfront-property-wisconsin.com/

Lions, Turkeys, and Bears . . .Oh My!

Twenty five years ago the sound of a wild turkey gobbling, echoed through the hills of Southwest Wisconsin for the first time since the late 1800’s. A small flock of turkeys were trapped in Missouri and traded for a number of Wisconsin Grouse. Those few birds thrived and now there are thousands of these amazing birds in the hills and valleys of the area.

Fifteen years ago the UPS man came into my Sport Shop and told me he’d seen a cougar crossing the road near Castle Rock Church in Grant County. Later I talked to a Grant County Sheriff, a Doctor and a friend who’d also seen a cougar in the same general area.

A few years ago a black bear denned in Iowa County and was tagged and then followed as it traveled back to the north where it was shot during bear season. Last week a 300 pound black bear was hit by a vehicle in Richland County and killed.

What’s the point? The point is that this part of Wisconsin has some remote valleys, steep hills and deep woods that can support wildlife that is not suppose to be here. The Wisconsin River and its sloughs and the many streams in the area contain every species of fish found in Wisconsin with the exception of salmon. The river bottoms and hills support hundreds of species of birds and waterfowl. We live in a wonderful area and every time you go around a corner you have the potential to say….”Wow, look at that!” How lucky we are to live in this amazing place!

Dan Bomkamp - Author & Host of "How's Fishing"

http://www.southwest-wisconsin-real-estate.com/

The Walleye and its Cousins

A lot of people get confused between walleyes and their cousin the sauger. If you catch one of each and lay them side by side it’s easy to tell them apart. The walleye is green and has a white spot on the bottom tip of its tail. The sauger is more of a brown color and has a mottled pattern on its back. Sauger also have black spots on their dorsal fin. It does not have the white tip.

To confuse things these two fish will cross breed, producing a critter called a Saugeye. These have characteristics of both their parents. Most of them are green but mottled, with spots on the fin, but sometimes not, and sometimes they have a white tip, sometimes not. But it really doesn’t matter because your bag limit includes Walleye, Sauger and Saugeye. Put them in the frying pan and they all taste the same….great!

Dan Bomkamp - Author & Host of "How's Fishing"

http://www.southwest-wisconsin-real-estate.com/

Fishing is Improving

The water is still high on the Mississippi River, but there are a few fish being caught. At Genoa they are fishing around the pillars that the barges tie up to and catching some sauger and smaller walleyes.

There are many people fishing off the wall of the dam and in boats near it for perch and they are doing pretty well. Another week and some warm nights will improve things a lot.

Dan Bomkamp - Author & Host of "How's Fishing"



Best wishes for a blessed Easter from Mossy Oak Properties of Wisconsin, llc.