Wisconsin 2005, Y.O.B.

Wisconsin 2005

Y.O.B. (Year of Ben)

Superior (#1), Grindstone, Teal (#1)

River inlet to Teal Lake

Back to Kubley's for another week of salmon, muskie, poker, and campfires (Sept. 25-30). The first two days were pretty slow--didn't even see a fish jump on Superior, and may have caused some compression fractures with the constant banging of the hull into the waves. Grindstone proved equally as tough, with a few muskies spotted, but none caught. We moved on to Teal Lake where we had our first taste of action, and so began the Y.O.B.

Ben with his 37" Muskie

_____________________________________

Turtle/Flambeau Flowage

The weather was changing, and with it, we hoped, our luck. We decided to put Superior off for another day to let the water temps cool down (64 degrees on Sunday) and give the salmon time to come in from the deep waters. It was a warm, breezy, sunny day, could the fish be active? We didn't know what they'd be eating, but we were sure to have a delicious shore lunch with seasoned hamburgers that Andy packed. Oh, and again the fish were pretty quiet, but we did pick up another legal towards dusk. She was a 36" beauty, striking the TopRaider just as it began to "ploop" through the water.

_____________________________________

Teal Lake (#2)

Wind kept coming strong out of the north, and we figured rather than be beat-up by waves on Superior again, we would try Teal Lake again as we did see a number of muskies waiting to be caught the last time we were there. Before noon, we had 2 fish in the boat on suckers-- 37" and 38" fish. We were creative in our hook sets, catching one fish in the back and pulling the other in with the sucker lodged in its mouth, no hooks buried. After a noon fire to warm up our cold hands (rainy and cold all day), we went back out. Ben was again the star of the show, catching a 41" fish and a 46 1/2" monster on the sucker rig, as well as a 37" fish on his reef hog. Brad also joined in the action, boating a 38" fish.

46 1/2" fish -- he has the record for our crew!

_____________________________________

Lake Superior (#2,3)

The wind finally switched our way--southwest wind would turn over the warm, shallow water and bring in the cool, outer-lake water. We fished hard the first day, boating one fish off the cliffs and having a few more on. When we met up with Rick's boat, he had found the fish--they were in the Soo. And they were jumping! It was nice to see the fish were in. Quickly, Ben hooked a nice Brown (?) and King, and we went home with a total of 6 fish. The next day was even better, again with the fish mainly at the Soo, Wayne boated 5 himself (and earning the title "Superior Wayne" for this trip, snatching it from Dan), and we ended up with a total of 11 fish when all was said and done. Amazing last few days of fishing!

_____________________________________

Misc. Northern Wisconsin Pictures