Florence County Wisconsin

Florence County

Escape and explore outdoors with family and friends this winter

By: Wendy Gehlhoff

Looking for outdoor winter adventures or a cozy spot to come in from the cold and enjoy great food and great times with friends and family?  Look no further than Florence County, located in northeastern Wisconsin on the border of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Florence County has a population of only 4,500 and 195,193 acres of land under public ownership.  That means over 60% of county land is available to the public giving you endless possibilities for your adventure into the outdoors. With 28 locally-owned restaurants and family-friendly taverns, there is a wide range of food and atmospheres to choose from when you want to relax and refuel after your excitement outdoors.  

If you haven’t heard of Florence County, it may be because it’s so small; after all, there are no stop lights in the whole county.  Perhaps it’s because it isn’t on the main north-south highway routes.  No matter what the reason, now you know about Florence County and it’s time to explore this fantastic place with its friendly people and natural beauty.

Here is just a sampling of activities and events this winter:

Ice Fishing:  With 265 lakes and four major rivers, there are many places to fish.  Ice fishing up north is a social activity aimed at curing cabin fever as well as catching some fish to eat.  The most social form of this activity happens at ice fishing derbies.  For a small entry fee, participants have the chance to win prizes while having fun with family and friends and meeting many new acquaintances.

The Roadhouse 139 Ice Fishing Derby on Long Lake is February 4^th this year.  Long Lake is known for nice northern pike and panfish.  Leff’s Sports Bar is hosting their 6^th Annual Ice Fishing Derby on February 11. This derby allows fishermen to fish on Lake Emily or Keyes Lake.  The Homestead and Aurora Conservation Club sponsor the Pete “Toad” Church Memorial Ice Fishing Derby generally in January, but depending on ice conditions, it has been postponed some years.  Check out the ExploreFlorenceCounty.com events tab for the latest information.  This event is held on the Pine River Flowage known as an excellent smallmouth bass fishery.

Tip-up fishing for northern pike is a relaxing family activity.  Northern pike feed actively throughout the daylight hours, so you don’t have to brave the dark and cold.  And once you get your tip-ups set, you can sit back and watch them, or throw a football, play a game of badminton or snow-golf on the ice.  The best lakes in Florence County to catch northern pike through the ice are; Patten Lake, Twin Falls Flowage, Fay Lake, Seidel Lake and Sea Lion Lake.  If you are looking for a trophy pike, give Lake Ellwood or the Brule River Flowage a try.  There aren’t as many fish per acre in these two lakes, but the fish there are monsters.

If you are looking to jig for panfish, the better waters are the Spread Eagle Chain of Lakes, Sea Lion Lake, Twin Falls Flowage and Halsey Lake.  Or if you prefer walleye, Patten Lake and the Brule River Flowage are the hot spots through the ice.  So call ahead to make sure the ice is thick enough and then pack up your ice fishing gear, shanty or bucket and come join the fun.

Snowmobiles and ATV/UTVs:  Winter is a great time to enjoy rolling hills, miles of rivers and streams, tall pine and hardwood forests as you travel Florence County’s 160 miles of ATV and 180 miles of groomed snowmobile trails.  Many town roads are also open for snowmobile/ATV/UTV access to local businesses.  While traveling the trails, stop for a breathtaking winter picture at a scenic overlook or beautiful frozen waterfall.  ATV enthusiasts can also go off trail through sand dunes and mud at the 17-acre ATV park east of Florence just off Trail 2.  Trail passes and any required registrations are sold at the visitor center on the corner of US 2 and Hwy 70.  The visitor center is located on one of the main ATV/snowmobile trails and offers parking for those wishing to drop their trailers and go.

Florence County trails are known to be the best-groomed trails in the region thanks to the Blue Ox Trail Riders; the local ATV/UTV/Snowmobile club.  The club maintains the trails in Florence County and works hand-in-hand with Florence County, State of Wisconsin, Federal government and private landowners to assure continued availability of the trail system.  The members of the club are all unpaid volunteers and are responsible for grooming, brushing, signing and re-routes as well as all maintenance on the grooming equipment. The club owns and operates four groomers which maintain all of the snowmobile trails in Florence County. There are four trail coordinators that set up their own grooming schedules; so please ride safely and watch out for the groomers.  About 50% of the trail system in Florence County crosses private landowner property. Please respect their property and stay on the trail.  Visit BlueOxTrailRiders.org for more events, trail rides and other information.  Or why not donate $20 to become a single or family club member and support the club’s efforts.

Keyes Peak Hill Climb and Hill Cross:  Snowmobile enthusiasts should mark their calendars for February 11^thand 12^th when the MASTERS Circuit (Mid-America Snow and Terrain Expert Racers) will host the Wisconsin State Championship Snowmobile event at Keyes Peak on Hwy 101.  Saturday, February 11th features the Keyes Peak Snowmobile Hill Climb event.  Multiple divisions covering a variety of snowmobile sizes and styles will be running throughout the day.  The course travels through turns up the triple-X chute on the ski hill.  Until you watch them, you’d bet big money that nothing could climb this hill.  The Hill Cross event follows on Sunday February 12^th.  Viewers will be thrilled watching racers compete against each other on a course of man-made jumps.  A weekend pass costs $10 and kids under 12 get in free.  Gates open at 9 am with competition starting at 10am on both days. Concessions are available in the Keyes Peak Ski Lodge. Proceeds go to the Keyes Peak Ski Hill Committee to improve the hill.  For more info call 906-884-9101 or visit www.MastersRacing.net.

Keyes Peak Winter Recreation Area:   Keyes Peak Ski Hill is open Friday through Sunday and other non-school days.  It offers six downhill ski runs for beginners to experts plus rails and jumps for snowboarders.  New to the hill this year is an extreme skiing triple-X cut-out-run.  Keyes Peak also boasts one of the longest vertical drop tubing runs in the state.  For younger kids or those less adventurous, a beginner’s snow tubing run is located next to the bunny hill.  Keyes Peak is owned and operated by the county so the prices are a great value.  A single season pass is $100 and a family season pass is only $150.  Daily lift tickets range from $8-$12.  Rental equipment is available for a small fee too.

If downhill skiing or tubing isn’t what you are looking for, try snowshoeing the Chickadee Snowshoe trails that start and end near the ski lodge.  The packed trails are suitable for all snowshoe types.  This 2-mile signed trail system winds through tall pines and mixed hardwoods on a gently rolling terrain.  Or make your own route on the many acres of public land adjacent to the ski hill.

The gorgeous Keyes Peak Ski Lodge is constructed from large pine logs harvested from the property.  It offers games and concessions for visitors to warm up and fuel up before their next run.  The lodge is also available to rent for parties and weddings from April-November.  It features a full kitchen, hardwood dance floor, air conditioning and a new outdoor playground set to keep kids entertained.  For more information, contact Florence County Forestry and Parks at 715-528-3207 or during season the lodge number is 715-528-3228.

Family Winter Events at Keyes Peak:

Mike Roberts Memorial Ski Race and Lessons:  On Saturday, January 28 coaches from the Granite Peak Ski Team out of Wausau, WI are offering a ski instruction and ski racing day at Keyes Peak for kids ages 6-17 for only $10 per child.  This fee includes lessons, lift ticket and ski rentals and maxes out at $20 per family.  Thanks to the generous donation of time by these professional ski coaches, this event is the most affordable opportunity to expose your family to the joys of downhill skiing.  From9am until 11:30am coaches guide students in small groups through proper skiing techniques on the slopes. Then from 12:30 until 3pm these students have the option of taking several timed runs through a NASTAR type ski racing course where they will receive times that could qualify them for other racing events. All participants receive a medal and awards are given to the top three male and female finishers in many age categories.  All proceeds go to the Keyes Peak Ski Hill Committee to continue funding this great facility.

Keyes Peak Winterfest:  On Saturday, March 4th enjoy the last days of winter at Keyes Peak.  For only $15/person you and your family and friends can enjoy a whole day of skiing, snowboarding, tubing, snowshoeing and games. The price includes a lift ticket, rental equipment and the chance to take part in many fun activities. The event starts at 11:00 am and the lift ticket is good until the hill closing at 9:00 pm. This is a great family value and is often a warm, sunny day.  Activities include snow carving, snowshoe potato races, human bowling and guided snowshoe hikes on the Chickadee Snowshoe trails.  Make sure to try the fastest tube run in the region.  Helmets are provided.

Keyes Peak Recreational area is not only known for winter recreation.  There is a beach and boat landing on Keyes Lake with a pavilion for family picnics.  It is also home to a 12-hole disc golf course cut into the forest adjacent to the ski runs.  The #7 hole has a spectacular view teeing off from the top of Keyes Peak.  Or you can drive, hike, bike, ATV or snowmobile to the top of Keyes Peak for gorgeous sunsets any time of the year.  The most impressive view is in the fall when the blazing reds, oranges and yellows of Florence County hardwood forests cover the horizon.  Keyes Peak Recreation Area is located on State Highway 101 approximately four miles south of Florence.

Cross Country Ski Trails:  Another silent sport to try is cross country skiing.  Florence County offers three groomed cross country ski trails traveling through scenic forests and terrain.  The medium difficulty 2.5-mile Lake Emily trail is located just south of Keyes Peak Ski Hill on County Highway D.  The more difficult 9-mile Lauterman Lake trail is on Hwy 70 just eight miles west of Florence.  And the relatively flat 7-mile Hall’s Creek Trail is on LaSalle Falls Road north of County Highway C.  The Friends of the Wild Rivers and the US Forest Service host an annual Chili Ski-In event on Saturday, February 4^th.  Attendees to this event from 10am-2pm can ski, snowshoe or hike the short distance into the pavilion to enjoy free chili, hot dogs, hot chocolate, coffee and cookies.  

Winter Waterfalls:  If you love to take photos or need a destination for an adventure, why not snowshoe or ski into one of Florence County’s seven waterfalls on the Pine and Popple Wild Rivers.  These two rivers were designated as official Wild Rivers by the state back in 1965 and thus have remained undeveloped.  The geologically diverse rocky bluffs, evergreens and mixed hardwoods surrounding the rivers make for gorgeous waterfall pictures year round.  Winter can be especially breathtaking due to the frozen ice on the edges of the falls and the wind-whipped snow ridges and hollows.   The Wisconsin Wild Rivers logo signs will guide you to the waterfalls located off Hwy 70, Hwy 101, County Road C and County Road N.  The largest continuous falls is 22-foot LaSalle Falls on County Road C.  The 1-mile hike in is a great workout on snowshoes or cross country skis.

28 Restaurants and Family Friendly Taverns:

Florence County is known for its family friendly bar and grills, casual Northwoods supper clubs and even fine dining that’s affordable and intimate in an elegantly restored early 1900s home.  After a day outdoors, whether ice fishing, snowshoeing to a waterfall or riding the freshly groomed trails on your snowmobile, you can warm up, quench your thirst and enjoy warm hearty food with your travel companions.  If you strike up a conversation, you’ll likely meet some new northern Wisconsin friends during your stay too.  More detailed information about these businesses can be found in the Dining Guide at ExploreFlorenceCounty.com.

Florence County is located on US 2 east of Eagle River and west of Iron Mountain, Michigan. The county’s largest township, Florence, is the county seat and home to the visitor center at the corner of US 2 and Hwy 70. Visit ExploreFlorenceCounty.com  to view a recreation guide, lodging guide and dining guide as well as maps and brochures.   Materials are also available via mail delivery by clicking on the “Contact Us” page to submit a request.

Florence County might be small, but it is loaded with opportunity to escape the crowds and explore the great outdoors, while renewing your spirit and making new friends.  So why not escape, explore and renew in Florence County this winter? Plan your trip at ExploreFlorenceCounty.com or call the visitor center at 888-889-0049.

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Weekly Morning Trail Mix 2-19

Trail Mix

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Picking the Right Fish Locator

If You’re Looking For Electronics, It’s All About Visibility

By Gary Parsons and Keith Kavajecz

Winter has arrived, but spring will be here quicker than you think! If you are like us, when you’re not on the ice chasing walleyes, you are using this time to spool new line on your reels, reorganize tackle, and sort out all of the odds and ends that somehow made their way into the glove box of the boat over the summer!

The off-season also means it might be time to check out electronics options for anyone buying a new boat or anyone who is looking to upgrade their current sonar and or GPS unit.

When we first started fishing for walleye, our sonar was the “Green Box” and our “GPS” was using our eyes to triangulate a tree, a silo and a house to put our boat in the general area that we wanted to be. We marked “waypoints” by throwing out a marker buoy once we found a school of fish or a piece of structure.

We’ve come a long way since then, as advances in electronics have created efficiencies in locating fish and finding a spot on a spot. However, there are some very basic considerations to factor in when you are selecting a new unit 

Key sonar features

The first is having a color screen. Most electronics now come with color screens that show the bottom in yellow with a thin blue line. You can change these colors by selecting a different “pallete,” but for this article we will talk about the colors that show up on the default pallete for a Lowrance unit.

A strong sonar echo (hard bottom) shows up as a wide bright yellow area, while a softer echo (mud) will show up with red or blue intermixed in the yellow. The colors make it easier for you to distinguish fish from structure and the bottom. Often a walleye tight on the bottom will show up as a yellow bump, but just below the bump will be a thin red line showing separation – that’s a fish! On non-color units, it is hard to tell the difference between various shades of gray that represent the fish, structure and bottom.

Next, your unit should run with minimal adjustments straight out of the box. The bottom of the screen should be bright yellow and the blue line representing the bottom should be crisp. Bigger fish should show up as arcs surrounded by red with a yellow middle. If this is not the case, turn up the sensitivity to show a little bit of clutter in the water column. This should make the yellow appear sharper.

Finally, it is important to have a good chart scroll speed and ping speed. The faster the chart scrolls, the more pixels are turned on as the fish passes through the cone, giving you more detail about what’s happening below the water. This speed will also let you search faster but still show you the clues to tell you fish are present.

Key GPS features

Most units have the GPS built right in. In addition to saving waypoints, the GPS can help you follow contours to find fish that are relating to breaks and humps. While some units come with preloaded maps, you can also purchase a chip containing maps to insert into your electronics. For many lakes, these maps will help find great areas before you even get on the water. Look for sharp breaks close to deep water, feeding shelves and even expansive mud flats in the 20 to 30 foot range.

One reason to consider a higher end unit is that the computer processor inside the unit will update these complex maps on your screen much quicker. Plus if you want to scroll to different areas of the lake, the faster units will more quickly draw all the mapping contours.

One feature that is becoming more prevalent is the ability to control an electric trolling motor from the fish finder. The GPS functions on the Lowrance HDS integrate with the Motorguide Xi5 bow mount trolling motor. What does that mean to an angler? One example is for you to locate a piece of structure from the unit on your console that looks fishy – maybe a windblown point. With the Motorguide Gateway, you can move the GPS cursor just upwind of the spot then press a few buttons and tell the Xi5 to “Anchor at Cursor.” If the approximate positioning was not just right, you can also use arrows on the HDS unit to jog the trolling motor to just the right position.

Does size matter?

So how do you decide what size unit is right for you? That depends on your needs and your budget. The price of the unit within each series is dependent on the size of the screen and the processor needed to drive that screen. The transducer, sonar technology, and GPS technology are all similar from model to model.

If your unit is being used strictly for ice fishing, a Lowrance Elite 5 is a good choice because you only need to view one screen at a time. While you are jigging you can watch the sonar screen and when you decide to travel to another spot you can switch over to the GPS screen.

If you are putting a unit on the console of your boat to use while you are searching for fish, you will want to choose an Elite 7 or 9 or a Lowrance HDS 7 or HDS 9. This will allow you to run a split screen showing both the sonar and GPS at the same time.

You will need to go to a bigger unit if you want to be able to see multiple views of what is under the water by watching several windows on the screen at the same time. Some of these views might include GPS, conventional sonar, SideScan, DownScan, 3D StructureScan and one window might even have controls for the Xi5 Motorguide bow mount trolling motor. This requires a minimum of an HDS 9 or HDS 12. The option we use is to mount two units on the console – just so we can see all the data at a glance.

You also have to take into consideration how far away you will be from the electronics in your boat and how much you need to see from a distance. Are you usually at the console while trolling? Can you see the detail you are looking for when you are by the transom?

The second area on a boat that needs a unit is the bow. We recommend a minimum of an Elite 7 or HDS 7 (if you just want to split the screen with conventional sonar and GPS), all the way up to an HDS 12 (if you want to have more windows showing more data). Remember, it is all about visibility!

Once you have found the electronics that are right fit for your needs, take some time to view videos on the internet, read articles and talk to various pros at sport shows to learn more about how they use different features on their GPS and sonar in different situations. Before you know it, the ice will be breaking up, the ramps will be open and you will be prepared to find your Next Bite!

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ID Fish on Any Flasher!

How to ID Fish on ANY Flasher (Without a Camera)

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Remembering Little Lake: Butte Des Morts

REMEMBERING LITTLE LAKE

BUTTE DES MORTS

     Most people who live in the Fox River Valley in eastern-central Wisconsin do not realize there is a lake on the Fox River between Green Bay and Lake Winnebago. It actually isn’t much of lake and no more than a widening out of the Fox River so perhaps that is why it is overlooked by many people.

     The lake is called Little Lake Butte des Morts. It is surrounded by the cities of the Fox River Valley. To the north is the city of Appleton and to the south is Neenah. Much of the lake is bordered on the east by the city of Menasha and to the west by Highway 41. It is easy to miss.

When you look at a map of the Fox River Valley you clearly see Lake Butte Des Morts just to the west of Oshkosh, up the Fox River from Lake Winnebago. But Little Lake Butte des Morts is a bit more difficult to find even on a map.

I am not sure how I heard of Little Lake Butte des Morts, but I found it when I came home on leave one winter when I was stationed at Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri. It was the last year of my enlistment, and I had returned to the states after my first tour in Germany. I took a short one week leave in February to return to Oshkosh. Leonard Wood was only a one day drive and we ended up driving through a blizzard in Illinois to get to Oshkosh. Looking back at it now I realize what a dumb thing it was to drive through a blizzard with my wife and two young daughters. But we had a relatively new car, a three year old Gremlin, and my wife and I were young so we didn’t recognize the risks then.

I was back in Oshkosh for a couple of days when someone told me about this little lake in Menasha. I do not know who told me about it but they assured me it had lots of perch in it. One of the things I truly missed during my two years in Germany was fresh fish. I caught trout while I was there but they didn’t have anything like perch. Actually, Europe does have a fish similar to our perch but they have a humped back and they were relatively rare to catch. On another tour to Germany I would catch a perch or two but that was it. What I really missed was catching perch or panfish and having a fish fry.

In my parent’s basement I had left a bucket of ice fishing rods, an ice scoop and my ice chisel, or pick or spud as they were called. Ice fishing was simple and a bit rustic in those days. I got out the ice fishing gear, picked up a couple dozen wax worms, and filled a thermos jig with hot coffee. I didn’t have a lot of cold weather clothing but I had my grandfather’s red insulated deer hunting pants and jacket. Red was the deer hunting color then before the orange laws went into effect. I also had a pair of cheap rubber boots with a thick felt lining. They were the warmest pair of boots I had then and they actually worked well. On top I had a pull-on wool stocking hat and a lined pair of leather mittens. For years that was my ice fishing clothes. I still have the mittens but the rest is long gone, out-grown and discarded

I was all set and one afternoon drove over to Little Lake Butte des Morts. I found a street taking me down to the edge of the lake. There was a place to park my car and a path through the snow other fishermen took to get out on the lake. There were about ten guys fishing so it seemed I found the right place. I gathered my gear and walked out on the ice. I realized it had been over two years since the last time I walked on a frozen lake.

I talked with a couple of the other fishermen and they told me to chop a couple of holes through the ice anywhere in this small bay and I should catch perch. Everyone also had a small pile of perch sitting on the ice. I chopped two holes, turned over my bucket, put wax worms on a couple of jigs and dropped them down through the ice holes. I then poured myself a cup of coffee and watched the two small bobbers floating on the water. It was incredibly simple.

The bay was shallow and there was only about six feet of water under the ice. As I looked through the ice holes I could see green weeds on the bottom. Every now and then I would lift the rods, jig it a couple times and then set it back down again. It didn’t take long, perhaps only a few minutes when one of the bobbers began to dip under the water and shaking off my mittens I grabbed the ice rod and set the hook. The light jig rod doubled over as a fish ran off. Since the water was so shallow, I only had to lift the rod up and the fish was splashing in the ice hole. The fish was a small perch like the others I saw on laying on the ice. Although I was using a very light jig stick, I was amazed at what a good fight this little perch had in him.

I baited the jig stick and dropped it down again. Slipping back on my mittens, I reached for my coffee. A moment or two later my bobber began to move again. For the next fifteen or twenty minutes a small school of perch must have come through under the ice where I was because one or both of my bobbers seemed to constantly be sinking in the ice hole. I was so busy catching fish and baiting hooks I did not have time to put my mittens back on. By the time this school moved off I had about a dozen fish lying on the ice and my hands were red and stiff from the cold.

The fishing stayed fairly consistent for the next couple of hours and I amassed a good size pile of perch on the ice. By this time I also ran out of coffee and it looked like I had enough perch for a fish fry. They might have been small but I caught enough of them to make up in numbers for what I might not have in size. I turned my bucket back over again, dumped in the perch and walked back to my car and drove home. That night we ate those perch and it might have been one of the best fish fries I ever had. The fish were breaded and cooked in lard. We used lard in those days; everyone did. There were few kitchens in those days that did not have a tub of lard in the refrigerator. It was cheap and tasted good and we were not aware of today’s health risks associated with lard or animal fats. Besides then we were young and invincible.

 ONCE A LONG TIME AGO

When you look around Little Lake Butte des Morts today it is hard to believe what it must once have looked like before the cities, streets, houses and businesses were there. A forest surrounded the lake four hundred years ago. Wild rice grew in the shallow waters bringing in rafts of ducks. The land around it was abundant with game. It was the land of the Fox Indians and then later the French explorers, trappers and traders.

 

Butte des Morts means “Hill of the Dead” and that name came after two battles between the French and the Fox Indians. In the early 1700s, a large camp of Fox Indians, estimated over eight thousand men, women and children lived in a walled town on the banks of the lake across from what today is Neenah. The Fox Indians were like pirates. They controlled the waterway, intercepting both other Indians and whites as they came through their area taking hostages and extorting furs and other items from those traveling through. This significantly harassed and interfered with the very lucrative fur trade, which in those days was not only a major financial but also political enterprise.

The French could not allow such disruption within their empire so they sent an armed group under the supervision of one of their military commanders to eliminate this band of Indian pirates. It was, as with many of these Indian battles were in those days, a no holds barred, no quarter asked or given, with death to the last enemy person. The French won both battles and the bodies of Fox Indian’s, men, women and children, were piled high and covered with dirt. These mounds became the “Hill of the Dead” and mentioned prominently in writing by exploreres and travelers through the area in the early 1800s.

 THE NEXT WINTER

Six months after I first fished Little Lake Butte des Morts my enlistment ended and I returned to Oshkosh. The plan was to go back to school at the University of Oshkosh, get a commission through their ROTC program and go back in the Army. I had the GI Bill, my wife and I both had part time jobs and between a Wisconsin Vietnam era tuition grant and the money I was making selling magazine stories, I was able to put together what I needed to pay for college tuition. We would be barely comfortable enough to get through the next two years until I could graduate and get my commission. There were some risks involved, but again it was good to be young and be willing to take the chance.

It was exciting to be going back in college again. My grades were much better than they were the first time I was in college before I joined the Army; being a bit older with a sense of purpose made me a much better student. I breezed through the fall and then the first of winter settled in. I got through the first semester and now had almost a month off for winter break. Ice covered the lakes and snow was on the ground. I wanted to go ice fishing and I remembered how good it was on Little Lake Butte des Morts. I got my ice fishing stuff again out of my parent’s basement and got one of my ROTC buddies to go perch fishing with me on Little Lake Butte des Morts.

I remember the day was gray, promising more snow but not for that afternoon. It was chilly but not real cold yet and there was a light wind. We filled thermos jigs with coffee and stopped at a bait shop for three dozen wax worms. This particular bait shop put their wax worms in empty chewing tobacco cans. A couple of weeks later my wife found the container in the refrigerator where I put it, containing the left over wax worms from the last fishing trip. She was upset, thinking I had taken up chewing tobacco. I have had enough bad habits in my life but chewing tobacco wasn’t one of them. I explained those cans were used by the bait shop to pack wax worms in and I hadn’t taken up chewing tobacco. She really didn’t like the idea of having grubs in her refrigerator any more then the thought of my chewing tobacco, but she tolerated them as long as I pushed them way to the back where she wouldn’t see them. We survived the rest of the winter with the grubs in the tobacco cans as long as they were out of sight.

With coffee and bait we were all set up and I drove back to the street in Menasha that took us down to the lake. It was early in the ice fishing season yet and ice wasn’t very thick so it didn’t take long to punch a couple of holes through ice with the water gushing up in the ice holes. Throughout the winter the ice never got anymore then about a foot thick thanks to the current from the Fox River running through the lake. We scooped out the slush, dumped our gear on the ice, turned over the buckets, baited our hooks and we were fishing.

We fished in the shallow bay again like I had a few months before. As it turned out I never fished anywhere else on Little Lake Butte des Morts. For the rest of the winter I fished that bay and caught all the fish I wanted. We poured ourselves a cup of coffee and before we finished it our little bobbers were beginning to dip, bounce and sink in our ice holes. Sitting side by side, there were times we both had fish on at the same time and there were times one of us would have a fish on both jig poles. By the time it was getting dark and night was crawling across the lake, we were out of coffee and had a big pile of perch sitting on the ice. That night my buddy and his wife had a fish fry at his house and my wife and two daughters and I were eating fresh perch fillets at our house. The ice fishing season had good a start.

For the rest of my winter break I worked, wrote a couple articles, watched my two daughters when my wife worked, went rabbit hunting a couple of times and went fishing as often as I could on Little Lake Butte des Morts. Sometime after the middle of January my second semester began. Now the only day I had available to fish was Saturdays. Every Saturday I would leave about mid-morning and fished until I had enough fish for a fish fry. Once I got back home I put the frozen pile of perch in the basement until early evening when they were thawed out enough for me to clean. I would scale and fillet the fish and on Monday evening we had a fish fry.

I did this every Saturday for the next two months and always caught enough fish for our Monday dinner. This became my routine for the winter. Not only was it my outlet and excuse to go fishing every week but it also was a fairly cheap meal every Monday. It only cost me a couple gallons of gas and grubs. There were a couple different types of grubs available at the bait shop. One was wax worms which I started fishing with and the other was mousies. I found mousies to be more durable and worked just as good as wax worms so I used them to extend the use of my bait and normally I could get two weeks out of a three dozen tobacco can. My guess was my weekly fishing trip was costing less than five dollars a week. It was both cheap entertainment as well as an inexpensive meal for a family of four.

Most of my buddies and a few family members joined me every Saturday and we never left without a meal of perch. Some days it was cold and other days warmer. Sometimes it snowed and other days the wind swirled the snow on the ice around us. I remember one morning I only had a sip or two out of my coffee cup when a school of perch came through. It seemed for the next thirty or forty minutes we were very busy. Finally when the fishing slowed down I looked at me coffee cup to see it was full of snow blown into it by the wind.

Another time I came off the ice and wasn’t feeling well. When I got home my face was flushed with fever and when I got home I laid down for a nap. The nap and a handful of aspirin didn’t do much for what was ailing me and I still had a pile of a perch to clean. My wife took pity on me and went down in the basement to help me clean fish. She scaled the fish while I filleted them. Another day I came home with a bad case of chills. I kicked off my boots and sat down in the living room still dressed in Grandpa’s old deer hunting suit and she tucked blankets around me, brought me hot tea and aspirins. It took me a couple of hours before I felt normal again.

Although the fish were small we made up for the size in numbers. I figured for my family of four we needed two dozen of the small perch to make a meal. There were days I caught what I needed in couple of hours and other times it took me four or five hours to catch a meal. I used light fiberglass jig sticks and was always amazed at what a good fight even the smaller perch put up. I had about a dozen jigs I carried in a plastic 35mm film container. There seemed only a handful of panfish jigs available in those days. I used either what was called a tear drop of rocker jig. I used only three colors; either yellow, red or orange. One of those two jigs in one of those colors always seemed to catch fish. In another film container I carried about a half dozen small ice bobbers that weren’t any bigger then a finger nail. Ice fishing in those days was delightfully simple but effective.

Finally the ice fishing season came to an end. It started to get warm as we were edging into spring. It was a warm, bright sunny day. I drove over to the small bay for my Saturday morning a fishing trip. There were a few guys already on the ice when I walked out, and I felt it moving underneath me. Taking my ice pick I jabbed it into the ice and with one blow it went through the ice and water was bubbling up. I slowly backed up until I found thicker ice. I did fish that day and caught a meal of perch but I knew as I walked off the ice a few hours later the season had come to an end.

TWO FISHING BUDDIES

Some forty years later Little Lake Butte des Morts would come back to me. A fishing buddy, Doug Hurd, and I were traveling to northern Wisconsin on a fishing trip and we were talking. Doug grew up in Beloit in southern Wisconsin and I grew up in Oshkosh. In 1972 he enlisted in the Army and went to Alaska. In 1972 I enlisted in the Army and first went to Germany and then Missouri. We did not know each other until some twenty years later we both ended up at Fort Snelling in Minnesota. I would buy my first bass boat from him when he sold it so he could buy a bigger boat. Two years later, we both retired from the Army a month apart from each other. Doug and I became friends and fishing buddies and since then have fished all over Wisconsin and Minnesota together as well as parts of North Dakota and Canada. We have become like brothers and we are part of each other’s family. He and his wife and I and my wife get together regularly to watch Packer games or to have dinner. We know each other’s children, brothers and sisters and parents. We have shared weddings and funerals within each other’s family and births of grandchildren and all the good times and occasional bad times our families have gone through over the years.

At another time our lives converged and we never knew it until we were talking on the drive north to another fishing adventure we shared. In 1975, we both completed our enlistments and both left the Army to go to school. I was living in Oshkosh and going to the college there and Doug lived in Appleton and was going to school there. He also was married but did not have any children then. On Saturdays during the winter he also went ice fishing on Little Lake Butte des Morts. It is very likely we may have fished next to each other or at least close and never knew it. We would both soon return to active duty with the Army and seventeen years later we finally met while work together in the same unit where we both retired.

Now we share a lot of fishing adventures together as well as the common bond of once being brothers in arms. Of the places Doug and I have been to and the friendship we now share, it actually was at Little Lake Butte des Morts where we might have first met and never knew it.

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Hit and Run Perch

By: Jason Mitchell 

Schools of perch often seem to continually be on the move. When there are several mouths to feed, sitting in one location doesn’t work. A school of perch can devour everything in its path. I would hate to be a minnow or crawfish when jumbo and all of his friends roll through. Because schools of perch are typically here today and gone tomorrow because of their nomadic lifestyle, finding and getting on top of fish can be always fleeting. 

How do you land on a moving target? Sitting in a good location where fish are likely to roll through isn’t a bad strategy. If the fish are moving through and you have good traffic underneath you… why move? The other strategy is a run and gun mentality where you approach the ice much more aggressively and move when you are not on fish and move when you stop catching fish. If you are experiencing some success, cycle back through the holes until you wear out your welcome.

Finding and landing on fish is half the battle but the other factor that can enhance your success on the ice is how you capitalize on the opportunities. Perch fishing is often intense where a ten percent window can often produce ninety percent of your catch. You can go from zero to hero in a hurry. This all depends however on how quickly you can get back down into the water and how long you can keep these drifters down below.

The “turn around” is probably one of the most important factors that dictates how many fish you catch. How fast can you get the fish up into your hand and unhooked and how fast you can get back in the water. There are a few ways to increase the turn around.

Choosing lures that fall fast is one angle. Fast dropping lures include the classic Buckshot Rattle Spoon and the Northland Tackle Puppet Minnow. On a really torrid bite, using lures that can be unhooked more quickly (one hook versus treble hook) can speed up the turn around. You can also bend out the hook slightly and pinch off the barb so that the fish can pop off the hook easy. Lures like the Forage Minnow or the classic Russian Spoons. The final way to increase turnaround is to speed up the elevator ride. Stiffer rods allow you to reel in fish faster, heavier line also allows you to lift the fish out of the water and can make you more effeicient. So in a perfect world on top of a crazed school of perch, you want to throw a fast dropping lure with one hook on the heaviest line you can get away paired up on a heavier rod so that you can just windmill fish.

 

Of course we don’t live in a perfect world all the time so often, we can’t get away with maximizing the turn around on every front. Usually, we can only incorporate pieces of the basic formula above. What can often happen however is that while the overall conditions or tone of the day might require more finesse like using three pound test and a Meat Stick, when the fish finally do get wound up, you can do a lot of damage having that extra rod nearby that is rigged up for total destruction. So often, we might get the school started on the more subtle and finesse and do the real damage once we get into a rhythm where we get the school to rise up higher and start competing.

Besides being conscience of and manipulating the “turn around,” the other variable is how you can manipulate the school. Keeping fish around and staying on fish is much easier to do with a few other anglers. When you get a good school below you, get your friends in as tight to you as possible. Often, in shallow water especially…. I am not a big fan of drilling holes right next to somebody catching fish. If there are no holes close to you and you have fish stacked below, tag team the fish. When you reel up a fish, have your buddy drop down. That way there is a line in the water as you are unhooking the fish. When the bite gets intense, you can literally double the damage.

Besides keeping a line in the water, some other ways to increase your success is to pick fish off the top of the school, lift the fish higher in the water column by either fishing above the fish or using a fish on your line to pull fish up higher.

All of these variables can enable you to maximize your opportunities. In the end, you have to take what the fish will give you but the more things you can get going in your favor, the more perch you can catch. Only on the best days do all of the factors above work. Usually, you can increase your success exponentially with each facet you can incorporate.

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Invading the Midwest

Spin-n-Glo’s: Invading the Midwest for Walleye 

By Captain Pat Kalmerton 

When fishing the Midwest for walleye there is always a “must have” in every angler’s arsenal.  However, those “must haves” are changing ever so rapidly it is hard to keep up with what is new on the market yet actually works. Sometimes there are those hidden jewels that have been around for years that maybe couldn’t be found in your area, therefore, you would have no idea what they are or if they work. 

I am co-owner of a business, out of Sheboygan, Wisconsin, named Wolf Pack Adventures. We guide salmon fishing charters on Lake Michigan, walleye fishing charters on Lake Winnebago, as well as the Bay of Green Bay, up into the tip of Sturgeon Bay and travel all over the United States chasing the elusive walleye. When your means of survival and putting food on the table for your family depends on putting fish in the boat, we are always looking for the next “must have” lure or technique.  

A few years ago, while I was packing and doing research on Lake Winnebago for a walleye tournament, I was studying the lake maps provided on Lake-Link and reading forums. I ran across a person talking about a lure that had wings that spun at the slowest speeds and did not drop into the rocks, due to its floating body. He was crushing fish on this lure as the bottom walker was dragging through the rocks. He could run these on his extra rods while jigging rock piles.  

This intrigued me to the point that it became an obsession. I was going to find these come, “hell or high water.” The more I talked about them, the more people became intrigued as well. What in the world are these things called? I got on the Lake-Link forum and found out who was talking about them and messaged him. He sent me pictures, told me they were called Spin-n-Glo’s, but I still could not find them. That tournament was over, and then I was doing my research on the Bay of Green Bay for the next upcoming tournament and, again, here is a person talking about these Spin-n-Glo’s.  

BINGO!!! SPIN-N-GLO BY YAKIMA BAIT COMPANY! This is a company from Yakima, Washington that has been around forever. This is a lure people have been crushing fish on out west for years but it just has not come across the plains due to tight lipped secrets. LET THE SECRET BE KNOWN…. THESE THINGS WORK! Spin-n-Glo’s come in bulk bodies and then can be rigged however you wish, or can be purchased pre-rigged with the Bottom Walker or Rufus Special, a blade combo spinner with a tandem hook design, in a variety of colors and sizes. 

I ordered a bunch and started playing. To no surprise, I started catching more money fish, and here is why. When trolling any weeds or rocks, and using bladed meat rigs, you need to be trolling fast enough so that the blade creates enough tension or drag to keep from falling to the bottom and getting gunked up by weeds or hanging up on rocks. With the Spin-n-Glo I can be completely stopped, if I wish, and have no worries. This bait floats, keeping your bait up and off the bottom at all times.  Not only that, but it spins so freely. Let’s say I want to jig an area or rip cast…. this bait can be drug behind also fishing by using a Bottom Walker with desired lead, and your set.  

It runs differently though. When first trying these Spin-n-Glo’s, I used my average lead lengths and it wasn’t as productive as I would have liked. Here is why…. it floats. I shortened my lead to keep my bait in the magic striking area and caught more fish. When running lead core, shorten your lead because your Spin-n-Glo’s will ride up on you.  

 

Do yourself a favor, if you are fishing the Midwest and put some of these in your boat, or better yet, in the water….you will not be disappointed! 

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