May 2017

Episode 19
Taking My Daughter Bass Fishing
Show Date: May 6th & 7th, 2017
Location: Newton Lake, Newton, IL
Accommodations: The Outdoor Sportsman’s Lodge [ 618-752-5075 | outdoorsportsmanslodge.com ]

We’ve been coming to Newton Lake in southern Illinois for over 10 years, and this is the first time that we’ve come when the weather is warm.  This time we’ve also got Johns daughter Taylor along to show off the skills she’s learned over the years.  As always, we’ve got Matt Bichanich putting us on fish, and showing us the technique to catch these fish, which are very shallow this time of year.  

We are using jigs, wack-o worms, and tubes to get these fish out of the reeds. Sometimes we’re casting right into the base of the reeds.  The fun part about this time of year, is that these fish are in all three phases of the spawn, so you can catch them in variety of different ways or skill levels.  

Huge thanks to our wonderful hosts Tab and Vicki at the Outdoor Sportsman’s Lodge, they’ve got a beautiful place to stay just minutes from the lake.  They provide guide services as well, so you don’t need to bring your boat either.

Episode 20
Bay Walleyes & Northwoods Bass
Show Date: May 13th & 14th, 2017
Locations: The Bay of Green Bay, Door County, WI & Vilas County, WI
Guides: Pro Guide Dale Stroschein [ 920-743-5731 | wackywalleye.com] & Pro Guide Rob Manthei [715-477-2042 | robmanthei.com]

This weeks episode we travel to Door County for walleyes, and then up to Vilas County to fish bass.  

Starting out in Door County, we’re on one of our favorite trips of the year, jigging for walleyes.  This trip starting kind of by accident while we were setting up to troll many years back.  Now we only jig this time of year, and haven’t trolled since.  We’re out with Dale and co-guide Caleb.  We are coming off of a very severe cold front that brought with it a lot of wind, so we will have to work to find these fish.  We couldn’t ask for better weather the days that we do fish, just about flat calm, with wind picking up later on.  What we are doing is looking for a fish of a lifetime, this is not typically a big numbers bite.  We are rip jigging with jerk minnows and hair jigs.  The bite is just amazing, no matter the size of fish, but when you get a slob on, they hit and fight are just so much fun!

In Vilas County with Rob Manthei, we’re throwing crank baits and hair jigs over center bars for bass. We are catching some fat fish that finally need the Frabill to be utilized. 

Episode 21
The Beautiful Willow Flowage
Show Date: May 20th, & 21st, 2017
Location: The Willow Flowage, Oneida Co., Wisconsin
Guide: Pro Guide Jeff Winters [715-385-9313 | jeffsguideservice.com]

The Willow Flowage is a beautiful body of water in the central northern part of Wisconsin in Onieda County. It is largely undeveloped, and has 73 miles of picturesque shoreline. There are also 106 islands, and 7 boat landings.  This is a close as you can get to a Canada-like setting in the state. 
 
Along with the all the islands and untouched forests are a lot of fish!  Our guide Jeff Winters knows this massive lake inside and out, and along with his son-in-law Ed, and his client Jeff, we’ve got lots of people in the boat to catch fish.  This time of year with cooler water temps, Jeff likes to focus his efforts on shallower areas, and uses live bait.  The fish are still not moving that fast, and it’s easy to see that when you’re letting the walleye eat for nearly 30 seconds before you set the hook.  John on the other hand just can’t set his Kalin’s Jerk Minnow down, and is jigging all day, and catches some of the bigger fish, but not in the numbers that the rest of the guys are catching.  Jeff’s philosophy is to “always keep the rod bending.”  He says you’ll have lots of fun catching lots of fish, and you’ll be able to get your fish to eat too.

Episode 22
Northwoods Fishing
Show Date: May 27th & 28th, 2017
Location: Vilas County, Wisconsin
Guide: Pro Guide Rob Manthei [715-477-2042 | robmanthei.com]

May is a great month to visit Vilas County in northern Wisconsin.  The fishing can be very versatile, letting you choose what you’d like to target.  Our friend and pro guide Rob Manthei tells us that the warm up that they are experiencing now should trigger the fish after the terrible cold that has been blanketing the state for most of the month.  

We start out for small mouth bass, looking in shallow water, throwing plastics like the Kalin’s Jerk Minnow and casting crank baits into any weeds or wood that we can find.  With the warmer weather a few weeks behind, the weed growth is a little behind, so wood is the next best option if you can’t find weeds.  

After the bass, we move out to the center of the lake to structure, specifically a rock bar, to cast for walleye.

The last species we target are crappies, and Rob has left live bait behind may years ago to use plastics exclusively.  Doing what he calls “interactive fishing” using a stick bobber with crappie plastics, you

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