The First Turkey Season

To those who had the first hunting period for turkeys…..my sympathy.  Wow, I don’t think there could have been worse conditions.  I hunted in the same type of weather many years ago and it was not fun. 

Turkeys are hard enough to hunt when it’s nice out, let alone in the conditions we’ve had this past week.  The only way a hunter could have been remotely comfortable was if he had a pop-up blind.  Then with a little heater it would have been ok, except for the fact that the turkeys probably didn’t make a peep.

Turkeys do not like windy weather and we’ve had wind, snow, sleet, rain and cold all week.  If you could design the worst conditions for turkey hunting, it would be what the hunters had this week.  It makes it pretty hard to crawl out of a warm bed at 4am to go out into the woods.

But, not all is lost.  There are still left-over permits available for the 5^th and 6^th seasons.  You can buy them at license stations or online at www.dnr.wi.gov .  They cost $10 and you can buy one per day until they are all gone.  The way the year started out, those late seasons may be some of the best we’ll see, so you still have a chance.

post by: Dan Bomkamp

www.RuralPropertyPro.com

A Flood Is Not All Bad

Right now the Wisconsin River is out of its banks and even the river bottoms are running full and with quite a current.  It makes fishing very hard if not impossible.  But this flood will make things much better in the coming months and years.

Anyone who runs a boat on the river during the summer knows how hard it is to navigate.  The sandbars are sometimes nearly from bank to bank with a small channel or none at all.  A good flood will scour out those bars and create a new channel that will be deep and easy to run next summer.

The same thing happens in the bottoms when the water comes up and a current runs through the normally quiet waters.  The current will loosen big chunks of bogs and move them out of the sloughs.  It will also scour out some of the weed beds clearing places for the fish to hide and lay eggs.  Instead of a solid mass of vegetation, many of the sloughs become small lakes with open water for much better fishing.

The current will also wash out some of the smaller bluegills and bass and those that are left behind will have more food and a better chance of growing up to be a “keeper” fish.

Floods are nature’s way of restoring things in the water world.  While they sometimes are inconvenient, they do a lot of good too.

Wisconsin River Properties For Sale

post by: Dan Bomkamp

Turkey Hunting for the Kids

This weekend is the Youth Turkey Hunt.  It’s a great time to take a young hunter out and let them have a chance at a Tom.  The regular season opens next Wed. so this gives the kids a chance before the birds have been shot at.  And there are lots of birds out there.

The past week has seen many Toms standing in the fields all puffed up strutting for any hens that will watch them.  The weather is going to be beautiful this weekend so there should be lots of chances for a successful hunt.

Any hunter over age eighteen can accompany two youth hunters that are between ages ten and fifteen.  The kids must have a valid carcass tag for ANY season.  The tag must be for the zone they are hunting though.  If they don’t get a bird in the youth hunt, their permit is still good for the regular season.

If you’ve never taken a young hunter out…do so.  You get all the fun of the hunt and then get to see the excitement of a youngster when they see that first Tom.  It’ll be something you and your young hunter will never forget.

post by: Dan Bomkamp          Wisconsin Hunting Land

Trade That Jig Pole for an Ultralight

It’s time to put away your ice fishing poles and get out your spring fishing gear. But you don’t have to wait for spring to come, you can go right back to where you were fishing on the ice and keep right on fishing. Those fish are still there, they haven’t gone away. If you had a good spot on late ice, there’s no reason not to fish there now also.

Rig up your lightest rod and reel with the same jigs you used on the ice, and use the same baits and go right back to your favorite spot. In some cases you can fish off the shore, and others you’ll need a boat. But to think the fish are gone is a mistake. Whatever caused those fish to be in that area in the first place is why they’ll still be there. And with a little change of gear, you can go back and catch more of them.

It’s been a banner year on the Mississippi for big perch. Late ice had many fishermen at Cold Springs catching 12 inch beauties along the railroad tracks. If you’re willing to take a little hike down the tracks I’d bet you can come back with more of those golden beauties.

Choose your favorite spot and then give it a try with your light poles and the jigs you used through the ice. And now you don’t even have to drill a hole to get to them.

post by: Dan Bomkamp

http://www.ruralpropertypro.com/

A Ten Pound Walleye?

Have you ever wondered how many ten pound walleyes there were out there? I can tell you there are not many. The journey from egg to ten pound trophy is a long and hazardous one and very few fish make it to that goal.

In the spring, female walleyes move into areas that have a good gravel bottom and current to lay their eggs. A healthy female will lay about ½ million eggs. One problem that sometimes happens is that the female lays her eggs in high water conditions and by the time they are ready to hatch, they are on dry ground. If the eggs are in a place where they will be underwater, they take between 12 and 30 days to hatch depending on water temperature.

On the average, about 90% of those eggs that hatch will not survive to adulthood. The baby fish that do make it to adult will have a perilous life. Some will be eaten by bigger fish, some caught by fishermen and some just will be injured and die. Less than 1% will live long enough to become a 10# fish. It takes a combination of good genetics, luck and a good habitat to get a fish that big, and that combination is rare.

So next time you go out and happen to catch a big fish, walleye or any species, remember that you’re holding a very special critter. If you want to have a trophy to remember your fishing trip, by all means take it and have it mounted. But if you’re just going to chop it up and eat it, think about letting it go. That fish had all the right stuff going for it and it didn’t get to trophy size easily. Let it pass its luck and genetics onto the next generation and take some little ones home for eating. It’s a cool thing to watch that beautiful fish swim away, knowing that it will live on and make many more fish for you to catch in the future.

post by: Dan Bomkamp
 
http://www.ruralpropertypro.com/

Ice Fishing is Nearly Over

The nice sunny days have taken a toll on the ice. While it’s not gone yet, it won’t be long until the ice will be too rotten to fish on. Some places are fine yet. If you have a favorite lake that is sheltered with some trees and gets a little shade it should be fine. Those lakes right out in the sun and those with a lot of springs are getting a bit treacherous.

The first step onto the ice is the worst in most places. The ice gets thin next to the bank where the sunlight warms up the mud and sand and melts the ice. Once you get across that first few feet the ice is usually pretty good. But that first step can be a little scary.

Take a plank or a short ladder along and lay it across that long step and you’ll be safe to get out to the good ice. And it’s worth it. The fishing for the next week or so will be as good as it has been all winter, and the fun of sitting out on a nice spring day is just what we’ve been waiting for.

post by: Dan Bomkamp

Find free information about rural Wisconsin real estate here: www.WiPropertyInfo.net

High Water Woes

As usually happens, just when the walleye fishing was getting good below the dams, the water began to come up and the gates were raised. When that happens, the current gets fierce and the fish get blown away. This happens nearly every year and especially in years when we have a lot of snow like we had this year.

The only thing a fisherman can do is look for places where those fish have gone. They are out there somewhere and if you search long enough, you may find them. You want to look for places where the fish can get out of the strong current, feed and rest. Often side channels are good places to look. Check out slack water behind islands and anything else in the water that makes an eddy. The fish will get into those slack places and wait for an easy meal to swim past.

Also look for places where the water temperature may be a bit warmer. Check out side streams and below power plants where the warm water discharge runs into the river. On both the Wisconsin River and Mississippi, there are lots of places for those fish to hold, and if you find them, you’ll find a bunch of them. It’s worth the time to go looking.

Post by: Dan Bomkamp

Outdoor Sporting Properties For Sale