South East Wisconsin Musky reports

[Ben Kueng]

Thanks for checking out the SE WI Musky reports thread. Hopefully I will have something to report everyday!

Hit the lake today with first time clients Mike and his girlfriend Amy from 4-11pm. Amy got it started at 430 with a nice 36" that smacked her lure after she ripped it out of a weed. On the next spot Amy lost a mid 30s at the boat and we each raised a fish. From 5-11, Mike pretty much took over, boating 5 (29,30,32,34,35) and loosing 1! We also had 2 other hot fish up to the boat that didnt srtike. Everything came on small crank baits twitched over the weeds.

After today Im up to 46 fish in the boat for the year! All thats missing is a couple over 45"...If only they would quit following and open there mouths already..

Anyone have any luck with the skies' this weekend?

Back out tomorrow

Ben

[Eric Haataja]

Ben please leave your contact info (phone number website etc..)after your reports in case any one is interested in booking a trip with you. Thanks for the great report!

Eric Haataja

[BigMusky]

what lakes do you fish mostly? For some reason I get the impression that it is not Pewaukee/Okauchee or Oconowoc.

[Ben Kueng]

I fish the lakes you mentioned,plus two smaller numbers lakes north east of there. Every trip I've had so far this year on the "big 3" has yielded big follows and small fish in the boat, so I am saving the gas money and playing the numbers game till I hear more favorable reports.

Fished last night till the tornado sirens started going off. My girlfriend raised and missed two mid 30s at the boat.

Fished this morning for a couple hours, raised 2 and boated a 34" on a Shallow Invader.

Taking a break to clean my boat out for the first time this year...Not a pretty site!

Ben Kueng
Guaranteed Guide Service
414-232-8459

[Ben Kueng]

Tonight we had one blow up on a topwater and rescheduled the trip when the N-NE winds started kickin.

Fishing has continued to improve and should only get better as the weather stabilizes. Fish are starting to show up in there summer spots and have been very active during early morning and late afternoon.

Back out tomorrow..

www.benkueng.com

[Eric Haataja]

Ben get out on Ockachee it's happening now! Big fish and lots of them!!!!!!!!

Eric

[Eric Haataja]

Here's a few of the ski's landed this year so far. Biggest was 48 inches from Delavan. also are a 45 and 47 incher caught night fishing.

Eric Haataja

Big Fish Guide Service

www.wibigfish.com

[Ben Kueng]

Nice fish Eric! and thanks for the salt, I applied it to my wounds as directed and it sure does BURN..LOL

Fished today from 12-10pm. Popped a 30" right off the bat and raised two. Switched lakes around 3:00, Had 3 fish (30-35") to the boat and missed another. Switched lakes again around 7 and missed two mid 30s at the boat.

Rough day for boating fish, but the pattern is still there..

Back out tomorrow

Ben

[Eric Haataja]

As far as I know Ben your putting more ski's in the boat per trip more than any other muskie guide in the area that I'm aware of, so if I was looking to catch my 1st muskie I would be calling you! I hope you made it out to Ockachee! Try the north flat as well, anywhere you see the big schools of pan fish piled up on the breaks. Along with the finger just east of the Big Island and South Point. My bet is it's one of the best places for a monster the next 2-3 weeks just like last year. The lake should be blooming any day now out there which should only help the day bite as well. Thanks for the report and take care!

Eric

[Ben Kueng]

Thanks for the heads up Eric! Couple more "first muskies" this week and its all Waukesha!!

Ben

[Ben Kueng]

A few pics from this year so far.

[Ben Kueng]

Few more.

[Ben Kueng]

Fished today from 8-2pm with Dale J. At 8:30, not 20 minutes into the trip, I lost a mid 30s on a crankbait. Dale followed up with a 31" that didn't shake the hooks till she was safely in the net. For the next two hours we raised 3 mid 30s, all on crank baits. Around 12 Dale had a low-mid 40s chase his crankbait to the boat, but unfortunately it had a clump of weed hanging off the back trebile and the fish wasn't interested in a vegetarian meal.In the last hour I had a mid-high 30s follow in a topwater but turn off at the boat and Dale lost a shorty on the 8.

At 3:00pm my afternoon client arrived and the hunt was on! Chad and I pretty much left off where Dale and I finished, but didn't raise any fish. I decided to hit some shoreline spots and Chad had two low-mid 30s come in on a bucktail that never even turned on the bait. We switched back to the deep weed edge and right away I missed one on a crankbait. By this time, it was close to 6 (moon set) and I was thinking about the nice fish that Dale raised earlier. Sure enough, she was still in the exact same spot and smashed Chads crankbait within the first few casts. unfortunately, Chads lure was hooked around the leader and he never got hooks into the fish. I turned around and fired a cast right at the fish and she came screaming in on my topwater, but shot off like a bullet when she saw the boat. 3 strikes and we were out! 20 minutes later the winds stopped, switched to the north east and picked back up to 25+ mph, which put an instant hault to the fishing.

All in all a good day on the water with some great guys, but the fish definitely won this round..

Back out tomorrow..

benkueng.com

[Ben Kueng]

Fished yesterday morning from 5-10. Popped a 35" around 7:00 and raised two. Pretty poor day since I watched two other boats stick decent fish right in front of me-which ROCKS when you do it to someone else,but SUCKS when they do it to you! LOL
Fished the evening from 6-1030 on a different lake. My partner missed a fish on a topraider and I raised one super small one.

Fishing has been pretty slow the last couple days and the fish seem to be scattered everywhere, not holding to any specific spots or pattern. One thing I have noticed, is that the larger fish seem to be up shallow, while the smaller fish are on the deep edge. Stupid fish!

Thinking about taking the day off today, but it will never happen..

Take care

Ben
www.benkueng.com

[Ben Kueng]

Fished today from 4-9pm with first time clients Bill and his 19 year old son John. From 1-4pm I was out by myself, trolling schools of baitfish over deep water with no success, so the plan was to cast wind blown shorelines and outside weed edges. I drove around the lake for a little while setting up a milk run in my head and then headed to the launch to pick up my clients. After getting the "musky formalities" out of the way, we were ready to attack are first spot. I was just starting to question my decision to fish this particular spot first, when all hell broke loose! I still cant remember what Bill said to get my attention ( I think he just made a noise LOL) but whatever it was, it made me look down just in time to see Johns crankbait being engulfed by a gigantic skie! I couldn't even see the lure in its mouth when she broke the surface and started shaking like mad. I told John to keep her down and proceeded to burn my lure back to the boat and grab the net. I could tell this fatty wanted to make some serious runs, but it wasn't going down like that. I had her in the net quick, before she had a chance to ruin my day. 47.5" and definitely on her way to 50! For a 47+ she had a super huge head. unfortunately, the storms scared us off at 9 and put an end to are musky hunting for the day.

Good ole Mr faithful Minn Kota took a crap on me today, but who cares!

Out to the garage to fix my trolling motor..

www.benkueng.com

[MLoppnow]

Good job my friend! Excellent fish!

[Eric Haataja]

Ben those are some awesome reports wow!!!!!!!! Glad to hear your doing well on the ski's!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Got me pumped up just reading the posts.

Eric

[Ben Kueng]

I fished with John and his buddy Kevin today from 3-10pm. Things started off really slow, not seeing a fish for at least 3 hours.The fish finally came around and Kevin scored first with a 30" shorty on a bucktail. A couple hours later he boated a 42" on a different bucktail and John popped a 30" on a bucktail about 30 minutes later. We raised two fish and john and I each missed a fish,mine on a topwater. I told my clients, that it wasnt going to be a matter of if it was going to happen as much as when. They did a great job staying on point and reaped the rewards.Thanks guys!

Take care..

www.benkueng.com

[Ben Kueng]

I've been having some mechanical problems and havent been out a ton the last few days. My tilt/trim has been giving me problems and I think I finally have it fixed.

I boated a 35" today and a 32" yesterday on bucktails in shallow water. The 32" hit as I was demonstarting to a friend in another boat how my client was fighting the 47.5" last week. as I was telling him the story and pulling my lure through the water the fish came up and inhaled my bucktail. My buddy and I both stood there stunned for a minute and then almost fell out of are boats laughing. Thats the second time thats happened to me..

Running trips the rest of the week into the weekend, so I should have a little more to report.

Good Luck!

Ben
www.benkueng.com

[Ben Kueng]

3 days of fishing, 3 fish boated (32,34,35...And thats about IT. No follows,misses or losses.Weird!

One very interesting thing is that all 3 fish came within 10 minutes of moon rise and smashed the bait on the retrieve.

2 were caught on shallow running crank baits while fishing shallow weed flats/edges (5-10 feet) and the third was caught on a bucktail on the same type of wind blown structure.

I have to do some real work for a few hours and then its back to fishing for the evening bite,if there is one..

later

www.benkueng.com

[Ben Kueng]

Fished yesterday with first time client Eric from 5am-1pm and then again from 5pm-1030pm.

Conditions were hot and flat for the morning bite,but like the last five days on the water, the muskies were nowhere to be found.I boated a 30" on a bucktail around 8am casting the docks to put my boat at 59 fish for the year, but we couldn't buy another strike. I ended up raising a low-mid forties around 11am in 12 FOW and that was it.

unfortunately, things didn't turn out much better for the evening bite. We hit the lake at 5, just before one of the weirdest fronts I have ever witnessed hit the area. The wind switched from the south, to just about every direction that it could before settling to a stiff E-NE. Despite the pour conditions, Eric raised two mid 30s and missed one on a shallow invader and I raised a low 30s on a hellhound.Fish were in shallow weeds.

Heading out at 4.let you know how we do.

Ben

www.benkueng.com

[Ben Kueng]

Fished yesterday with John S. from 5-11pm. started off throwing a G-Train and a Shallow Invader and ended up switching to everything I could think of without so much as a follow. Switched to trolling for moonrise and had pretty much the same luck. Didnt feel like pulling out the boards for an hour so we ran a Tuff Shad and a Shallow invader straight back. I marked schools of baitfish (20-30 FOW) so thick that the sonar would blank out every 5 minutes or so. No action though

Fished this morning from 6-930 by myself. raised 4 fish (2 high 30s,2 maybe 30s)bigger ones came in on a custom, double colorado llungen (yellow/black/orange) the two smaller fish followed a Musky Innovations Chatterbait (white)

Boat in 10 FOW, fish in 3.

Running an evening trip tonight, should be good with the wind switch (finally) happening today.

Good luck this weekend!

Ben

www.benkueng.com

[Ben Kueng]

Hey everybody,

Well, the muskies have been moving pretty good for the last week, we just cant seem to keep em "hemmed up" On multiple trips this past week we hooked up with some nice fish, but couldnt get them to the net. Not getting a ton of follows and most fish are hitting on the retrieve, so you gotta be ready for the hit.

Llungens, Shallow Invaders, Topraiders and mantas are all producing for us. Saturday my client lost a nice mid 40s muskie that broke the surface and shook the hooks, on a Shallow Invader and also lost two other unidentifieds on live bait. Sunday night I lost a low-mid 40s on a baby Loon Topraider right at dusk. 15 minutes prior I had a low 30s cartwheel out of the water after a Surface Skimmer Manta.Fished this morning and lost a low 20s and a high 30s on a single blade Llungen. Bluegill and walleye patterns have been producing as well as black/white.

The fish are scattered everywhere! thats the best I can tell you as far as location goes. The best thing you can do is fish everything. No matter how many times I have fished a lake in the past, I always have a game plan before I even hit the water. Pay close attention to the wind on a daily basis and you can usually pattern out a portion of the fish, on any given lake, on any given day.

See you on the water...

Ben
www.benkueng.com

[Ben Kueng]

The last two days of fishing have produced a 34" ski and a couple lost fish around the same size. I resceduled most of my clients for Aug and have only been fishing in the evening or doing split days, so I havent been on the water allot. next week looks like we are getting a cool down and I will be back out all day, with hopefully more to report. best pattern has been working the weed edge with deep-diving cranks. Salmo Perch,depthraiders and triple ds have all been showing fish.

Water temps are climbing into the mid 80s again, so a speedy release is crucial for the muskies survival. If you dont have to take the fish out of the water for a picture,just do a water release.

Good luck!

Ben
www.benkueng.com

[Ben Kueng]

Fished tonight with Bill Kaiser and his grandson Michael, from 6-10pm. Bill is the maker of the "Kaiser Creeper" and learned to make topwaters from Frenchy LeMay himself. Bill had some great stories from the past and I could of asked him questions all night, but the goal was to get Michael his first Lunge. For the first two hours we casted the deep weed edge with cranks while Bill worked the tops of the weeds with one of his prop baits. I tried all the wind blown points that normally hold fish under a south wind, but came up empty. I decided to move up shallow, had Michael switch to a spinnerbait and five casts later he hooks into a nice fish! After a brief battle, Michaels first ski was in the net. She taped out at just over 39" and swam off strong after a few pics. Michael did a geat job setting the hook and fighting the fish to the net...not to mention being ready for the strike after not having any action for 2+ hours. Great work Michael!

The three of us are fishing again tomorrow morning at 6..let you know how we do..

Ben
www.benkueng.com

[Eric Haataja]

Nice fish Ben great job!

Eric

[Ben Kueng]

Hey there,

Fished yesterday by myself in the morning and evening. I missed and raised a fish on consecutive casts around 8 and had a nice fish blow my spinnerbait out of the water around 10am. I never got a good look at the fish, but it made a hell of a splash when it lunged at my bait. Jumped back in the boat around 7pm to redeem myself and ended up going deeper in the hole. Not 20 minutes into my evening excursion I had a nice hit on a spinnerbait, but was asleep at the wheel and totally missed the fish. 10 minutes later I missed another fish and 10 minutes after that I pulled my fouled spinnerbait out of the water, failing to notice the 45+ inch ski that was RIGHT behind it. Even though the blades werent spinning, I think she still would of ate it. Instead of a hook-up, I got a nice leg shower when she turned and bolted off at 100 MPH. After that, I lost my momentum and called it a night around 9.

All my action came slow-rolling spinnerbaits along the deep weed edge...again. Talked to a couple guys at the launch who had action on Shallow Bulldawgs in 2-3 FOW. Just goes to show you that the fish are scattered EVERYWHERE right now, so fish everything when your out there.

Good luck!

Ben
www.benkueng.com

[Ben Kueng]

Hit the lake today with Mike (aka Pointer Pride) For an afternoon/evening of trolling. Our one and only hit (mid 30s) came around 730 on a swim bait running 20' down on a dipsy diver over 40' FOW. Slow night,but we still had a blast chasing some skis!

Water temps were 80.5 towards the evening. Calm for most of the day untill the front pushed through around 630 and kicked up a 15 mph E-NE wind. Could of stayed out longer if I wasnt a cheap a$$ and put the extra 10 bucks in my tank this morning..LOL

Good luck!

Ben
www.benkueng.com

[Ben Kueng]

Fished today with Dale (aka EsoxJake) from 10-8pm. Dale raised a mid 30s on the first spot and the action pretty much continued from there untill 7pm. I lost count on how many fish we had to the boat, but it was allot...and only 3 of them were small. The rest of the fish we raised were high 30s-mid 40s. Dale missed/lost 3 nice ones and I boated two (40,low 30s) and missed 1.

Most of our action came on gliders and small bucktails in 6 FOW or less.

Good luck!

Ben
www.benkueng.com

[Ben Kueng]

Fished for a few hours by myself yesterday. I started off working the deep, wind blown weed edges for the first two hours and only saw one low 30s fish that came in hot on a swim bait. After getting skunked on the deep edge, I moved into shallow water where I soon hooked up with this 42" spotted. She was sitting just outside an artificial neckdown area that was only 6 feet wide, but creating some serious current. It was one of those "I know theres a fish there and Im not leaving till I catch it" kind of scenarios. Well, after about the 10th cast, she smashed a storm swimbait on the third crank!
Heading back out now for an all day excursion...let ya know how we do.

Good luck!

Ben
www.benkueng.com

[Ben Kueng]

Hey there,

Sorry for the lack of reports,been busy with trips lately...Glad to say most have been succesfull!

Fished with first time clients Mike and Steve this afternoon from 1-8pm. Things started off slow for the first two hours, not even raising a fish between the three of us. I assured my clients that the days you usually see allot of fish are the days you dont usually catch any, and that the fish HAVE TO be on today, so stay on point. Well, lets just say that I was right (as usual! LOL) Around 4pm, Mike had the first action of the day when a mid 30s grabbed his topraider 3 feet from the boat and started "breaking loose" at the surface...2 jumps later it shook the hooks and split. Mike, being from Alabama has never experienced a fish attacking so close to the boat and the look on his face when she started jumping was priceless. Things were pretty quiet on the next few spots, until we hit a nice group of fish on the fourth spot. Steve scored first with a 34, I followed with a 36 and Steve popped a 35 not 5 casts after I released mine. Mike missed a "basski" and lost a SUPER NICE fish on a sucker(still feeling the pain from that one..LOL) In between catching fish we all had action, including some nice wakes and blowups, plus one nice 40+ follow on the last run. I also had a mid 40s go airborne and blow my skimmer 3 feet in the air! Everything in less than 4 FOW on topwaters (raiders,wobbler,skimmer manta)


Pulling a all dayer tomorrow for sure!

Ben
www.benkueng.com

[Ben Kueng]

One more pic

[Ben Kueng]

Hey there,

14th I fished with first time client Adam.Adam was in search of his first musky and spent all day trying. Adams first chance was a mid 30s that followed in his bucktail and was just about to eat, but Adam was caught off guard and fumbled on the figure 8. That was at 10am and his next shot didnt come till 8pm when a ski grabbed the boatside sucker and took off. Adam grabbed the rod and executed one of the slickest hook sets I have ever seen. After a brief battle, Adams first ski was in the net, a nice 34 incher. Not five casts after releasing his first, he popped his second on a topraider, which was about the same size as the first so we didnt even bother netting it.

15th I fished with regular client Mike from 3-8pm. I scored a mid 30s and missed 2 other fish and Mike missed a nice fish on a Topraider. We saw 4 other fish including one that was pushing 45.

16th I fished with first time clients Bob and Dean from 6am-130pm. Dean started it off right away with a 34" that followed in his topwater and hit on the figure 8. I was up next with a low 30s that popped my skimmer. Around 10am Dean stuck a 30 on a bucktail. No other fish seen or missed.

Everything shallow, running the same pattern

The best is still yet to come. Fishing will really start to pick up as the water temps fall to a consistent 60 degrees.

Getting a little shut eye and hitting the lake in the AM before the storms roll through..

Later

Ben
www.benkueng.com

[Ben Kueng]

Hey there,
Fished today with first time clients Helen and Doug. neither had caught a musky before, or even had a follow up in there last 6 trips! I assured them that it wasnt going down like that today and that we werent leving till one of them caught a ski! On the first spot, Doug had a quick follow up that bolted away and left him with only a glimpse of the fish. Soon after Doug had his follow, the sucker I was dragging on the bottom got caught in the weeds. As I was reeling it in I noticed a Bucher Flutter Tail had attached itself to the clump of weeds. The cool part about it is that Ive been meaning to buy one...The sad part about it, is that the clasp on the Flutter wouldnt hold a 10" gill and was tied on with 10 lb mono! I cleaned off the Flutter, took five casts and had a mid 30s climbing all over it that wouldnt open its mouth. Action slowed for a bit till around noon when Helen stuck a high 20s on a skimmer. We fished around for awhile, raised two more small fish and ended up back where Helen caught her fish. Helen had a nice thick 40 take a swipe at her Skimmer and I had a blow up on a topraider. We hit a different spot, where apparantly all the fish had gathered for some sort of event LOL. Between 5 and 6 the fish were jumping in the boat! We had numerous follows and blow ups,I lost a high 30s at the boat and Helen stuck a nice thick mid 30s. Just as quick as it started, it was over.Gotta love those fall feeding windows!!

Now, not to take anything away from Doug, but helen was a fishing machine!! This girl could cast and work a skimmer like a pro! And shes only only 4'11 and (maybe) 90 lbs.. She even offered me a few tips... Laura Morrison better watch her back.LOL

Moon set was at 6:00

Everything super shallow..I have 8" leaders on my suckers, the bobber is at the leader and they still snag the weeds on a regular basis.

Good luck!

Ben
www.benkueng.com

[Ben Kueng]

Hey there,

Ran trips Friday,Sat, and today for a vets outing through my Muskies inc club..all were awesome trips!! The muskies are shallow and stacked up in particular areas. we are Catching most of our fish in 2-10 FOW along the edge or in the flats. Crane baits,Mantas and Bulldawgs have been the top producers. Topwater bite seems to be hit or miss, but still productive. Not like last week when everyone in the boat was throwing a topwater though.

Friday I fished with second time client Mark from 11-8pm. We were greeted with a steady 15 mph S-SE winds with 25 mph gusts. I tried some deep water stuff to no avail, so we moved in shallow. Mark scored a skinny 33 on a bulldawg as soon as we moved up, so we hit all the shallow flats for the rest of the day. On the next spot I had a high 30-low 40 engage my Manta and inhale it boatside. After a 30 second battle she managed to shake the hooks. Came back after an hour and Mark scored a chunky 32 on a Crane bait. Saw a few other decent fish as well..

Saturday I fished with Mike and Jim from 8-8pm. The plan was to hit OC first and than head next door mid afternoon when the launch cleared out.Around 10am, Jim had a high 30-low 40 nipping at his Bulldawg,but never hooked up. 15 minutes later, Jim had another high 30s follow that turned off. Not 10 minutes after his follow, he had a mid 30s grab his Bulldawg on the 8! He set the hook and we soon had the fish in the net.heres the kicker...I was just about to measure the fish and take a pic, when she slipped through a gapping hole in my net that I thought I had sealed back up with Power Pro. I tried to grad her tail,but she was too quick. Mike didnt give me too hard of a time about it, but I was still shocked that it happened. I had to cut a muskies head out of my net the other day and forgot to seal all the holes up. Lets just say lesson learned. The lesson is,dont buy crappy Frabill nets! (any posts defending Frabill will be DELETED..LOL) Actually, my bag sucks and I really need a replacement! We switched spots and just as I was about to set up, I noticed someone else who was working the same spot, so I took off for my second choice. Half way through the spot, Mike hooks up with a fish on Jims Bulldawg. There wasnt much of a bend in the rod and I saw (what I thought was) a smallmouth so I wasnt getting excited,until the fish started pulling back. Gills flared, the rod tip doubled over and I soon saw that this phantom smallie was actually a nice ski! Mike did an awesome job of fighting the fish to the net and we soon had his personal best, a dark 42" in the bag! Soon after, the major front that had been lingering all day finally moved through and blew us off the lake. Hit Rookies for lunch and finished up on Okauchee.never saw a fish,but we only hit a few spots and called it a night when the winds started blowing hard.

Today I took out a father and son trio for our clubs annual "vets outing" from 7-1130am. Todd and his dad Glen were both looking for there first musky. I missed two fish early on a manta and ended up boating a mid 30s on the same manta about an hour later. Five minutes later, Todd has a 35" smash his Crane 10 feet from the boat and soon after had his first musky in the net. Todd also stuck a shorty in the last five minutes of fishing on the same Crane..

Heading to Pewaukee tomorrow if my buddy doesnt biotch out again..LOL

NOWS the time to be on the water!

Ben
www.benkueng.com

[Ben Kueng]

Hey there,

Well, I finally have some free time and a working computer. Fishing has been excellent lately,but the catching hasnt been going great. Tons of missed/lost fish this week,including a couple fattys! Not to mention the stupid fish that keep baby sitting are suckers.

Tuesday I fished all day on Pewaukee with a buddy. Adam was running a little late and I was early, so I decided to fish for a half hour. Ended up stickin a 36" 15 minutes into the first spot on a sucker. For the rest of the day we raised 10 fish,but couldnt get anything else to bite. Most of the fish were mid 30s with a few niceys mixed in.

Thursday I hit the Fox River with a buddy. I boated a mid 30s and that was the only fish we saw...except for the 5 fish we saw other guys catch trolling. Talked to one boat that popped 14!! biggest was 47" Lets just say that the shi%s really hittin the fan up there. Saw 4 other boats taping, including Mike Keyes...

friday I went back up to the Fox,but never saw a fish.

Saturday I fished with regular client Curtis and his Girlfriend Lynette. Fishing was extremely slow,but we still had a couple shots at fish. Curtis and I both missed our oppurtunities and a mid 30s missed his chance to eat a nice river sucker. I have never seen a muskie put that much effort into chasing a sucker and not eat it. I could of just clubbed the dam thing over the head if I wanted to...LOL

Sunday I fished with first time client Mike. We started off by missing two mid 30s at the boat on Pewaukee,switched to Labelle for 2 hours and than finished it up on Oconomowoc. We never saw a fish on LL, but Mike did mange to raise a nice thick mid 40s on OC. She came back on my glider and also harrased the sucker for a minute,but just wouldnt open her mouth. From what I hear, I should of been on Okauchee that day LOL.

This morning I fished with regular client Al and his son in law Ron. Al lost a mid 30s and I rolled a low 40s on the first spot. About an hour later,Al had a nice fish attack his topraider, but she never got hooked. We switched spots and Ron had a mid 30s chase his flutter tail up to the boat. Ron got a case of the "begginer blues" and didnt do an L turn. I informed Ron that he had a musky waiting for his bait, but by the time he had a chance to do an 8 the fish was already swimming away with the boatside sucker. Ron gave er the ole death blow and his first musky was in the net. After that we headed back to the stretch we fished earlier and Ron had a super thick mid 40s come up and inhale his flutter tail. Ron was a little slow on the hook set and the fish just spit out the lure.Initially Ron thought there were 2 fish down there and it really broke my heart to tell him it was only one BIG fish. Let me tell you this-Ron will never be slow on the hookset again...LOL

All of our action has come running the same pattern. Most of the fish are shallow and this cooler weather is going to really turn things around and turn some of these big daddys into eaters. Bulldawgs,mantas,fluttertails,topwaters and suckers have all been productive. Wind blown structure has been the ticket, but everything this morning came from the wind blocked side of the lake.

Good luck out there!

Ben
www.benkueng.com

[Ben Kueng]

Hey there,
Fished today with Mike L. from 10-4pm. Water temps were 45 with Mostly cloudy skis and a stiff west wind. I raised a mid 30s on a glider around 11:30. 20 minutes later we had a fish grab our float sucker, but we never got hooks into it. Fished a few more spots without any luck, until around 230 when our float sucker got hit...Mike grabbed the rod and set the hook like a pro! The fish was about 30 feet out, but wouldnt budge. Mike kept tension on the line and slowly worked the fish back to the boat. Half way back, this thing starts pulling out drag and almost pulls the rod from Mikes hands! I got one good glimpse of the fish when she rolled at the top and could see it was a upper 40" fish. She made 3 or 4 more good runs, hugged the bottom for awile and FINALLY, after a 6 minute nail biter of a fight, found her way into the net..Mikes PB and one of the fattest fish Ive ever had in my boat...A modest 48X22

Caught along a 6 foot (wind blown) weed edge on a sucker, rigged with (you guessed it!) a Finadk quick strike rig.

Gotta love SE WI in the fall!!

Ben
www.benkueng.com

[Ben Kueng]

pic

[Ben Kueng]

Hey there,

Fished with first time clients Dave and Jerry from 10-6pm. Things started off slow, only seeing 3 fish between 10 and 2. Around 230, Jerry was the first to score with a healthy 41" that ate a float sucker. 5 and 10 casts later Dave has a high 30s and mid-upper 40s chasing his glide bait. Moonrise was at 430 so I decided to step off the spot untill around 345. We watched from the other side of the lake as 3 other boats worked the same area with no action that we could see. At 345 as we were approaching the area, the guy who had been squatting there for the last 20 minutes decided to jump in front of me, so I decided to work the spot he was just fishing..Well,me Dave and Jerry would like to thank that "kind" "gentlemen" for changing our course, because not 10 casts later Dave has a 43" SMASH his glider 5 feet from the boat. After a short, but tense match she was safely in the net. For the next 45 minutes, we did some squatting of our own and boated two more skis! Jerry got a 39" on a sucker and I popped a mid 30s on a glider.. Everything ultra shallow within a 100 foot stretch of weeds..

Would of liked to get that 45+ that Jerry rolled, but 4 fish in the boat with a couple over 40 aint to shabby of a day..

Let ya know how it goes tomorrow..

Ben
www.benkueng.com

[Ben Kueng]

Musky fishing continues to be on FIRE throughout Southeast Wisconsin! Every guide trip is ending with at least one legal fish boated and 3 fish during a 8 hour trip has been very common.

Monday I was out with regular client marc McDermott. From 2-430 pm we had 6 fish hooked up, but only 3 made it to the net (33,35,37)

Tuesday I was out by 830am and by 930am I had to pull out to get more suckers. I had 3 fish grab meat, but only managed to boat one (mid 30s) Made it back out for the evening bite and didn't have any action.

Wednesday I was out with a couple buddies for the afternoon bite. Matt boated a 38, Mike lost 3 and I finished it up with a super fat 47+..

All of our action was on suckers fished through shallow weed beds.

Water temps are holding at 40 degrees. Weeds are dying off quickly, which is actually concentrating most of the fish in a few particular areas. Feeding windows have been fierce in the early morning and late afternoon, but fish are being caught all day long. We are still getting 5-10 follows a day, but haven't caught a fish on artificials for over two weeks!!

Most often, the best spots in fall are usually unfishable during most of the season.

One thing I've noticed this fall, is that the fish seem to be much shallower than in years past. Not to say that some fish arent deep, but after catching 2 30lbers in two weeks up shallow, I think Ill stick with this pattern for a while...LOL

Get out there!

Ben
www.benkueng.com

[Ben Kueng]

One more client pic from last week..

[Eric Haataja]

Very nice job putting the hurt on the ski's!

Great Job!

Eric

[Ben Kueng]

Thanks Eric!

I dont even know what to say! Had another SLAMMIN!! day on the water today..

Couldnt rustle up a fishing partner today, so I hit er up by my self. Got on the water at 8 with a full livewell of suckers and a positive outlook for the day. I got to my spot, cranked up the smooooooth jazz and had a low 30s grab a sucker just as Patty Ganko was giving me the traffic report. I laughed at all the "suckers" (LOL) who were sitting in rush hour and than put my first fish in the boat. A buddy was fishing close by and snapped a few pics for me..

I moved out to deeper water and had another hit on a sucker, but I lost the fish soon after hookset.

...And than it happened. The far bobber went off so I reeled up my lure and went back to grab the rod. Before I grabbed the "live" rod, I reeled in my other sucker rod which was 10 feet behind the boat. As the sucker approached the boat, I noticed an upper 30" fish following it in. I reeled the sucker up to the boat, engaged the reel and grabbed the "live" rod. I went to the front of the boat and started chasing down the musky. As I got close to the bobber, I looked back to see the upper 30" ski grab the other sucker that was next to the boat! HOLY CRAP!! I set the hook on the first fish, fought it to the net, stepped on the net handle and grabbed the other rod..I couldnt chase the fish down because my pedal was in the front and I was in the back with my foot on the net, which contained a mid 30" fish. I swung a hail mary hook set and the fish was ON! I fought it for a couple minutes and finally slipped #2 in the net just as the hooks popped out!! Luckily some fellow muskie inc guys were out and came over to snap some sweet photos for me..

Ohh, I almost forgot...I also boated a 38" (after the first one, and before the double)

One other hit and miss before dark and that was that..

Let ya know how it goes tomorrow

Good luck this weekend!!

Ben
www.benkueng.com

[Eric Haataja]

Great job again Ben! Maan what an awsome fall you've had! Congrats again!

Eric Haataja

[Bigman]

Here is a pic of a nice fish I got this weekend on a southern Wisconsin lake
http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h43/djbizeone/fat42differentangle.jpg

[Ben Kueng]

In the last 9 days of fishing, clients and I have boated 30 muskies from 34"-47"!!! I dont think I can ask for a better week of fishing, but I have a feeling this week is going to be just as good..All of our action has been on suckers fished through the last standing weeds in 5-10 FOW.

Our best day so far has been 7 fish boated!

7 more days left!!

Ben
www.benkueng.com

[Ben Kueng]

Thanks to everyone for checking out my reports and thanks to Eric for letting me post!!

We ended with 150 fish over 30" boated!!

I look forward to an even better season in 2007

If your at the Milwaukee Musky show this winter, stop by the booth and say hi..

Have a safe and happy holiday season!!

Ben Kueng
Guaranteed Guide Service
www.benkueng.com
414-232-8459

[steinmj]

I'm planning on doing more trolling this year for muskies. I'm looking for any advice on setups...like what rods you guys are using, are you using regular braided line or are you trolling with lead core, what type of leader are you using...etc. I haven't done much trolling so any general advice is appreciated....Thanks for the help! Jim

[Eric Haataja]

Only a few more weeks........ My main season for ski's will start in June, May I will be doing a lot of bass fishing.

[Ben Kueng]

May 1st I take up residence ON Okauchee lake so needless to say Im pumped for the upcoming season!!!

See you out there, Eric..

[BigMusky]

did you actually buy a place on the lake or are you just going to be fishing it alot.

[Ben Kueng]

I couldnt even afford to buy a dog house on Okauchee Lake..LOL

Renting a 2 bedroom house...

Either way Im never leaving..

[Eric Haataja]

How are those ski's biting Ben???

[Ben Kueng]

Skis have been on and off depending on where your fishing. For a select few, Okauchee has been on fire for big fish, but for the rest of us chumps its been anything but sweet..Been seeing nice fish but they wont open there jaws. Pewaukee has been consistent and every trip we've been seeing at least one fish over 40, but its pretty much the same story..The fish are just nudging the baits and most wont even take a look at our boatside sucker. FINALLY got the new rig slimed with a mid-upper 30s that my client boated today on a sucker. Switched over to OC for 3 hours and didnt see a fish. Forgot to get my yearly pass last week and got a little "sticker shock" when I saw the new launch fee (8.75..10.25 on the weekends!!!) Good to hear that the yearly is still only $75..

Once the weather finally stabilizes out the action should increase drastically..

Let ya know how it plays out..

[Big_D]

Had a good 20-30 minutes of entertainment on Saturday on the OC... Got to watch a 40" musky stalk a 16" bed-sitting smallie. Shallow flat, adjacent to steep break, smallie bedded right on top. Musky tried sneaking up behind but the bass was wise to that trick. Musky chased smallie off the breakline and looped around in a great big circle back across the flat, waiting for the smallie to return... Diligent bed-keeper as he was, smallie was right back on that bed as soon as Musky was out of site, and it started all over again. Musky stealthily sneaking up for a pounce... smallie got wise and lured him off the break.

Watched this 2-3 times while I was digging out my musky rod... tried a bucktail, a spinner and a couple jerk-baits to steal the musky's attention, but the kept right on, completely oblivious to my presence. They must have gone through that cycle 6 or 7 times, while I was right there with them on the flat in 2-3 fow, crystal clear. Now that's FOCUS! One think (wierd) did get it's attention for a 10-15 seconds... the musky stopped to check out my trolling motor at one point.... no bait in the water... just stopped right at the motor after one of it's smallie chases... paused, looked for a moment and then moved.

Anyway, thought y'all might enjoy this little episode. Maybe them jaws will loosen up when the bed-chasing season slows down. :)

I did have a Musky pick my sucker-rig clean on Saturday, dragging deep behind the boat off the breakline... probably my fault for trying to set the hook while it was still vertical... but we live and we learn. Saw quite a few other ski's up cruising the flats too, but by the time I see them, they usually have no interest in anything I would throw thier way.

[Ben Kueng]

Musky fishing has been up and down, but we are still seeing and loosing some nice fish. Catching them is another story...I have over 20 fish in the boat this year and only 4 are legal:( :mad: I was out on Okauchee today for a few hours and lost a NICE fish ripping a dawg in 30 FOW. She caught me off guard and I didnt get a good hookset. By the time I reeled down to set the hook again she rolled at the surface and spit the hooks:mad: :mad:...Thats the only fish I saw. Plenty of JR gills in 15-30 FOW along the islands and north flat..

Let ya know how it goes this week..Hopefully we can get one of these big girls to eat!!

[Eric Haataja]

My guess is that in about 2 weeks or maybe even a little less all heck is going to break out for the ski's typically I wait until mid june threw mid July for the best casting bitw for nice fish locally. Thanks for the up date Ben!!

Eric

[Ben Kueng]

If we could get a little stable weather it woyuldnt be half bad..On any given day we;ve been catching and seeing fish in 10-80 FOW. My main focus lately has been Okauchee and after loosing one of the biggest fish of my life last week I probably wont be budging much this summer. We've been seeing a lot of nice fish including a TRUCK that followed in my bulldawg on Sat. My client that day also had a thick mid 40s up to the boat in the morning and stuck a mid 30s later in the day. Fished with gary and Tom last week and they had a 2 fish day (38,35) one caught shallow on a dawg and the other over 80 FOW trolling a depthraider. Yesterday I fished by myself before the major storm front came through. tried everything thats been working without any action..Snapped on a weagle and ended up raising 4 fish (2 over 40) within 15 casts. The hottest fish was low/mid 40s and was crawling all over the bait, but just wouldnt go.Kicked myself a few times for not throwing the weagle on sooner....and than it poured!

Definitely looking forward to the next month!!

[Ben Kueng]

Fishings been getting a lot better in the last few days and should only improve. from what I heard last week Pewaukee has been decent for low-mid 30" fish. Personally, Ive lost 3 fish over 45" on Okauchee so thats where Ive been spending all of my time. The bigger fish are moving along the weed edges in 10-20 FOW depending on weed growth and where you are on the lake. We've also been picking up a few upper 30s trolling over deep water during the middle of the day. Night bite has been non existent for us so far and the most consistent action has been from 11-3pm. Bucktails, dawgs, slammers, and depthraiders have been putting fish in the boat.

Heres a 40 from a couple days ago

[Ben Kueng]

Sunday-38,39,40,40,43
Monday-35,35,41
Tuesday-38,41
wednesday-35,35,39,40,40,44
Today-37,(38 and 41 double header) 38,43

Casting, trolling, jigging, live bait....Take your pick.

A few pics and I gotta get to sleep..

[Ben Kueng]

couple more...

[Ben Kueng]

What an amazing week! One week Im getting hit by a ski boat and almost put out of business and the next week I get on the most amazing pattern ever that results in 30 fish from 35-44 in 8 days of fishing!!

water temps are too warm now to musky fish. The first fish I caught yesterday took over an hour to release. Gonna take a break for a week or until things cool down a little bit.

[Big_D]

That's some SWEET action Ben! I might get my fall-itch early this year if you keep posting like this. ;)

[Ben Kueng]

Few more pics.

All fish from SE WI and most caught trolling shallow running cranks..

[Ben Kueng]

Tell me about it D! Im soooo ready for fall..LOL

[Eric Haataja]

Awesome Ben!!!

[Ben Kueng]

Been fishing on and off after the rain, or when temps get under 80 for a second..Havent been doing to bad either..was out sat by myself and water released 4 (one 40+ and the rest mid-upper 30s)Couple other pics from before the heat wave..

[Ben Kueng]

Got out for a few hours today with a buddy before the monsoon rolled through ..Raised an upper 30s and boated a low 40s on a show girl (goldy locks) Fish was in 4 FOW near a patch of cabbage...Find the "glass shad" and youll find the skis!!

[Ben Kueng]

The trolling bite as well as the casting bite are going strong right now..We picked up some nice fish from numerous bodies of water in my area this week as well as a pile of shorties..Basically runnin the same pattern as the last few weeks. Hopefully we can get some cooler weather to move through.The casting bite kinda faded as the temps went back on the rise, but the fish didnt go far and are still biting.Shallow cranks and swimbaits are producing most of the action. Still picking up fish on small depthraiders and swimmin joes fished deep though.

On Pewaukee the fish are all over. casting in the evening and trolling during the day has been best.

On Okauchee I havent had a sniff trolling besides the pesky pike (biggest was 36" last week..All of the action Im having out there is up shallow or just off the weed edge.This one G-spot I have is showing allot of fish,but it cant be fished in extremely shallow water..For that Ive been throwing Llungens and show girls..

oconomowoc will start to produce more as the temps cool. Ive been seeing some half way decent fish while sitting shallow and casting deep, so there thinking about moving shallow but theres still allot of baitfish suspended over deep water out there..

Looking forward to fall!!

EDIT-The first and last pics were taken 2 days apart, but I think it may be the same fish..The wound on the top is the same,but some of the tail markings are different..

[slob sticker]

Musky seem to biting very good last 2 weeks. We have been getting quite a few while fishing for smallmouth. Bass sized spinnerbaits fished down a couple of feet have caught a few musky over 40 inches for us recently. Best time has been around 745-815 p.m. The ones we have been catching are pretty thick. The lake we have been getting em from has alot of white bass.
Are musky known to eat alot of white bass because some of the white bass we have been catching have some serious wounds on em, that are from either pike or musky.

[Ben Kueng]

Theres a TON more whitebass in there than most people think. If you found some stick withem as long as you can. Its not all that the muskies eat, but expect to find the bigger (over 40s) relating to the whitebass year round..

[slob sticker]

The musky fishing has been pretty steady last couple trips. Several in the mid 30's and seen one that is close to 50 inches on two different occasions. The big one is hanging near a feeder creek and it has been sluggish both times we have seen her. Gonna try for the fish during the moonrise this weekend and see if we can get her. Our recent fish have been coming on bass sized cranks and small bucktails.

[Ben Kueng]

Fishing is really starting to heat up in SE WI. Cooler weather has brought the fish out of there summer daze and there on the prowl for a meal. Yesterday I fished the IMTT by myself and it should of been a great day, but the fish werent cooperating. Around 10am I lost what would of been a 34/35" fish right at the boat. Nothing than all day until 3:57 when I noticed a mid-upper 30s following my float. I pulled the sucker up to the surface and the stupid musky took a swipe at the bobber, but than saw the sucker and went after it. It took about 30 seconds for him to grab it,but unfourtantly it had the sucker by its tail so I had to sit there and wait for the musky to get a better grip on the sucker. My plan was to call the judge boat just before I set the hook and than hopefully get the musky in the net before he got there. As I sat there watching this stupid fish in 8 FOW with the sucker by the tail I knew it wasnt going to pan out...and it didnt. The fish decided to finally turn the sucker just as the clock rang 4 and everyone started heading in. I boated the ski and for a just brief minute thought about throwing him in the bottom of my boat and having musky steaks for dinner..

At least I had a good week though.Mon I fished Sam and his buddy Scott. Both are from TN and had never caught a musky before. Scott got a 42 and Sam a 35+,and we also got a bunch of decent pike.

Tues I fished with Derik and his 10 year old nephew Trevon. Deriks a fly fishing guide in Alaska and was heading up to guide in new york state til may. It was a rough day on the water wind wise, but I managed to get Trevon his first musky at 35 inches. We also got a few decent pike.

Thurs I fished with Jacek and his buddy Andy from Sweden. Andy caught his first musky, a 40+ early in the morning on a sucker and the rest of the day was non stop action.. Raised over 15 fish, lost 2, missed 2 and had another fish grab a sucker but drop it. Switched lakes and had action from the first spot to the last. andy raised a MONSTER on the first and than there were a couple decent fish looking at suckers, Jacek raised 2 upper 30s and I raised a mid 30s right before dusk. On the last spot of the night we had a nice mid 40s chasing the sucker but didnt grab it..All in all a good,but frustrating day.

Fri I thought would be even better when I fished with Jim and Linda, but I couldnt find either of the bigger fish from thurs. However, Jim boated a 39 on a sucker right after moonrise and later in the day Linda caught a nice Pike. In between we had a couple mid-upper 30s chasing suckers..

Action was on suckers, swimming joes, Cow girls, swim baits, crank baits and glide baits..Found fish in 10-35 FOW..Most of our action was shallow though.

Good luck out there!!

[Ben Kueng]

Jim and Lindas fish plus another fatty my buddy caught with me last week..

[Big_D]

:eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek:

Right back at ya! :)

[Ben Kueng]

Cool pic from Wed..8 year old Evan with his biggest, but not first musky. If Im not retired by the time he starts guiding he'll probably put me outta business ;) ;) :D

[Ben Kueng]

The lakes are done with turnover and the fishing is starting to get really good..Most of our action has been on Swimming joes,suzy suckers and live suckers.

Tuesday my client caught his first musky Hit a suzy sucker boatside..

Today I boated a 47 and lost another that was 44/45 both on suckers

get out there!!

[LM Lunatic]

Nice fish Ben. Was out in the wind the other day and caught a mid 30 inch ski on Oconomowoc Lake. Took some pics I will post pretty soon. Fish was very shallow probably about 2-3 ft on a sandy flat. Caught it dragging plastic for smallies.

[Ben Kueng]

Thanks! Glad you guys have been seeing some action out there!

Fished the new moon all weekend and it should of been an awesome couple days,but the fish decided to taunt and harras us instead. Saturday we had a high 40s/maybe 50 following a sucker on the first spot before I could get them all rigged up. The stupid fish followed the sucker for over an hour, nipping at it to the point where the sucker had several scrape marks on its back and side. Had 4 other fish grab suckers,run out 20 feet of line and than drop them before we could get a hookset. Saw a few other fsih patrolling suckers but werent active..

Today we had a little better day. Lost one (40+) on a sucker, had another pull the ole "grab and drop" and boated a 40 on a sucker.

The fish have been along the weed edge or just off the break. Ive been pulling 4 suckers at various depths to cover the entire water column. I generally zig zag the boat with my trolling motor between 15 and 25 FOW.

Good luck!!

[Ben Kueng]

Out yesterday and we put 3 in the boat all on suckers and missed 2 others that picked up the suckers and dropped them before we could set the hook..The last fish was quite a little freak of nature. half was clear,half was barred and it was real skinny. all our action in the weeds or just off the breaks..

[Ben Kueng]

Ive been fishing a variety of lakes in SE WI with mixed results..The unstable weather has been throwing us for a loop some days but,The key has been to find the baitfish/new green weeds and the fish are there..Swim baits, cranks, small gliders and spinners have all been productive..No monsters boated yet, but alot of fish caught in the 15-20lb range so far this year..

Hope everyones having a productive spring!

[Ben Kueng]

Its been a tough week for nice skis, but we still managed to pull some fattys to show for our efforts..It could be so much better if it wasnt for the constant high pressure and unstable conditions..Yesterday we counted at least 4 different fronts that came through which really screwed things up for the afternoon..Ive been working shallow,deep and everywhere in between..Trolling cranks anywhere theres baitfish stacked up has provided the best action.

My client this week had to reschedule for the fall so I now have the next 5 days off.If anyone was looking for a last minute trip on Okauchee or Oconomowoc (OC will be open on tuesday) shoot me an email..The casting bite has been weak, but the trolling and live bait bites are just starting to pick up..

[Ben Kueng]

Fished with Jim S. today and although it was a bit slow Jim popped a nice fat 44" musky and a handfull of pike from 28-33..Trolling cranks around huge flats of baitfish in 12 FOW..

[Ben Kueng]

Havent been out since last thursday and i couldnt take it anymore, so i woke my girl up at 4am for a little scouting mission today..We were out the door by 5 and fishing by 6am..First fish came at 8 and the second at 10:30 (40/41+)..Packed it up after that and headed back to the boat launch mumbling "I love it when a plan comes together" LOL...Everything trolling shallow cranks..Ill be back out tomorrow for a full day with clients..

[Finese Fisherman]

been fishing north lake religiously for the past week. havn't seen a musky been throwing heli dawgs and crankbaits, with some buck tails and come night time been been throwing cowgirls and topwatersover sand flats
is their anything i am doing wrong

[Ben Kueng]

Doesnt sound like your fishing with the wrong lures..Maybe try some different areas..I catch alot of fish on sand flats in the spring, but not so many in the summer.Not to say that there isnt a monster sitting on the sand in the summer, just that the majority of the population is on the deep weed edges or suspended over open water..Ive never fished north lake so Im not sure what kind of musky population there is, but I would assume theres not a ton..Would love to get out there sometime if you ever have the room;)..Wish they would get the "new launch" figured out, but as I talk to more people it sounds like it might not go in at all..

Fished today with clients from 7-7..Spent the first 9 hours looking for a biggie with no luck..switched lakes for the last 3 hours and we boated 3 (34,34,39) trolling small cranks on the weed edge in 8-10 FOW..Will post pics when my client emails them to me..

[Finese Fisherman]

thanks for the tipi will bring my stratigies deeper and their is a good populaion of muskies cause the oconomowoc river starts on north lake so i have seen couple 50" skis spawning.


David

[Ben Kueng]

I guess it depends on what your definition of a "good population" is..As far as I know, the only reason theres muskies in north is because they swam up stream from Okauchee.... I doubt theres half as many muskies in North as Okauchee, and okauchee only has 1 adult fish per every 4-6 acres of water..I would imagine it would be more like every 10-15 acres on North..The flip side to that is the ones that are in there are probably huge.

[Finese Fisherman]

ya you are right with all that info and i can say there are many in the 50" clase range and that is what drives me

[BigMusky]

dont know about that Ben....Oconowoc has never been stocked with muskies and has the same population density as Okauchee from fish that swam down to it...so North might be right in line with the other two.

[Finese Fisherman]

idk know i know their is a muskie population its just that with how hard i have been fishing i have only got one follow up so their is a few but i dont think that many

but im goin to keep it up to get my first ski

david

[Ben Kueng]

Some pics from this week.

I dont think Okauchee and OC have anywhere near the same density of fish per acre, but I only spend like 120 days a year between the 2 so what do I know..:) Theres specific reasons why North doesnt hold fish like OC, you just have to do your research to find out why..

[BigMusky]

I trust you about North...but someone on lake link presenting themselves as a DNR surveyor is my source for population density of OC vs. Okauchee. Who knows the validity of that statement, so I am not going to argue with you on that.

I have always seen more fish on Oconowoc then Okauchee when I musky fish...so I am not sure they can be that far off unless the amount of fishing pressure is just that drastic. Maybe you will have to share some tips with me because I have never had a musky on Okauchee actually hit a musky bait. They only show up when I am bass fishing. I have basically quit fishing Okauchee though because it makes me feel like the worse fishermen ever.

[Ben Kueng]

IMO-Theres way more fish in OC than Okauchee..I dont know if its because of the clear water or lack of weeds, but I always see more fish cruising in the spring on OC..Okauchee has a good population, but most of the fish run over 40 where as the fish on OC are on average mid-upper 30"..Theres big fish in both lakes,but Okauchee has more over 45s I think..We always joke that the big fish in Okauchee ran the smaller fish into OC, but i highly doubt that is likely..Theres alot more structure in Okauchee and places for fish to hide, so I may be way off..Like you said, I always seem to see way more fish on OC as well..

On Okauchee I manly fish the points from late spring through summer..The flats are good in the spring and the deep weed edge in summer as well as fall is a great place to drag suckers..

[BigMusky]

do Okauchee or OC have a cisco population? There are certain spots I always mark huge schools of baitfish in late fall when musky fishing...I kind of assumed they were Ciscos, but maybe not.

[muskymstr62]

Here is a musky my son caught on 8-06-08. 48"

[Eric Haataja]

Wow awesome! Nice fish thanks for sharing it!

Eric

[Ben Kueng]

Nice fish!!

Some pics from this weekend..Boated a 47 on friday and my buddy lost one around the same size saturday..both casting spinners..Mon my client boated his first four muskies trolling cranks..Low-mid 30s. Fish are scattered everywhere.but the bigger fish we contacted were shallow..Lots of baitfish up shallow and on the breaks now..

[Big_D]

Nice Ski Ben!

[Ben Kueng]

Fished with clients today from 8-6pm. Didnt know what to expect with the cold front last night, but we ended up having an awesome day on the water. 30 minutes into it I had a mid 30s pop my bait 10 feet from the boat and than follow around for about a minute without hitting. After that I had the net in my hand more than my rod and only threw 20 casts the rest of the day.. What sucked was that they lost the first 5 and last 2 fish that they had hooked up, but boated 3 (34,36,38) and raised over 15..Saw 2 low-mid 40s and everything else was low-upper 30s..Cranks and swim baits on the breaks..Ill post some pics when they email them to me..

Thanks D..Ill be seeing you soon on Oconomowoc..Cant wait for the pre-turnover bite out there!!

[Ben Kueng]

pics from the last 2 days on the water..Some more cool nights and its going to get crazy around here!!

[Bigman]

I been out on the Madison chain fishing muskies the past week, 16 muskies hit the net in the MuskyLund, yesterday we had a 7 fish day, and a few days before that we had a 6 fish day. Tons of muskies eating suckers and also lures like spinner baits and cowgirls. The water temps are still kinda high at 61 so they are still hitting lures but the sucker bite has been the most productive thus far, I like to target days when I know a storm front is approaching and yesterday we had a front coming and the influence of the full moon so the fish were just on fire, we lost just as many as we caught and had tons of follows. Anyways enough talking, enjoy the pictures
http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h43/djbizeone/PA110165.jpg
http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h43/djbizeone/PA110167.jpg
http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h43/djbizeone/PA110170.jpg
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http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h43/djbizeone/PA120176.jpg
http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h43/djbizeone/PA120177.jpg
http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h43/djbizeone/PA120180.jpg
http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h43/djbizeone/Nicksfat36.jpg
http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h43/djbizeone/bigmans36.jpg
http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h43/djbizeone/bigmans38.jpg
http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h43/djbizeone/nicks345.jpg
http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h43/djbizeone/nicks35.jpg
http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h43/djbizeone/nicks36-1.jpg
http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h43/djbizeone/nicks36.jpg
http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h43/djbizeone/30GOOD.jpg
http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h43/djbizeone/41GOODPIC.jpg

[Eric Haataja]

Awesome!!!!!

[.Pan Handler]

Haha I wonder what lake that is :rolleyes: We've been putting up some real good #'s of fish there lately as well, and have seen you and your boat on multiple occasions. One word of note though: Hopefully it isn't your net that is tearing those fish' fins up. If it is, maybe try to find a better net or be more careful if possible. I bought a Beckman Fin-Saver this fall; best $150 investment I've made. It makes a world of difference in handling the skies. Anyways, nice fish.

[Bigman]

Dude what do you think I neted the fish with, I own a finsaver, the fins were like that before hand. Do you really think im the first person that caught these fish? think about it, those fish get caught over and over again. All the fish I release swim away strong. Some people that fish there don't have the right equipment but I have everything you would need to release muskies, do you want to come and inspect my boat?

[HotHead617]

Looks like you had some good fishing...... great job!!!!! Your net is your buisness not for others to point out.Lets keep it cool people!!

[.Pan Handler]

But yeah, I see the fin-saver in one of your bottom pics now. That one wasn't showing up earlier for some reason. Only like half of the pics I see now were there earlier. Weird.

[.Pan Handler]

Boated 6 this morning from 9-noon, should have landed 8 but biffed on two of the hooksets. Smallest 36, biggest 41, all nice fish. Even caught one of those infamous Leech Lake Strain spotted musky's (37.5 inches). Fun morning.

[Ben Kueng]

Five from today..Had 1 other fish on that got off..Saw 5 or 6 other nice fish chasing suckers..All of our action on suckers along the weed edge..

Nice fish Bigman!!!

[blitzfish]

Those fish look great! I don't fish for muskies too often, but it is great to see the state fish. It seems that there are more and more muskies in the state. I think they recently stocked more within the past few years.

[Ben Kueng]

Popped 3 more today (39,40,45) The 45 was pretty beat up and a little thin, but had a nice stocky head and was Nicks first musky, so nobody was complaining..Had 2 other fish on and 5 other chasing suckers..

All of our action on the weed edge..

[Eric Haataja]

Nice fish Ben!

Eric

[slob sticker]

Very nice musky Ben. We are going to switch gears this week and target musky instead of bass. On a unnamed lake in SE WI we have been fishing for bass and every time out in October we have seen a few musky in the 45 to low 50 inch range. While we are bassin they will chase our cranks and spinnerbaits but we cant get them to commit. We are going to buy some suckers, rig up a bucktail, and bulldawg and see if we can get one of those giants. Planning on hitting moonrise and moonset atleast 2-3 times this week. I am liking Tuesday for Musky (moonrise and sunrise will be very close together and there will be a new moon in the evening. Will post a pic if we get one of the big dawgs. Some of the biggest musky in the state are swimming in this lake, it is basically because of the low pressure and very high white bass population.

[Bigman]

I seen you out there chasing the almighty musky, we boated one that day and proceeded to miss four in a row, for some reason we could not get the hooks to stay, it was one of those days, I still had a good time soaking sasuage and putting my buddie on his first ski
http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h43/djbizeone/PA240298.jpg

[Eric Haataja]

Very Nice report thanks!!

[Joe Murphy]

http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh43/fishin_joe/104_2918.jpg

No big secret where this was caught, pretty obvious

http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh43/fishin_joe/104_2917.jpg
scrappy lil guy

http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh43/fishin_joe/104_2906.jpg

on a cowgirl

http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh43/fishin_joe/104_2851.jpg
buddys fish

http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh43/fishin_joe/104_2852.jpg

night time cowgirls

http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh43/fishin_joe/104_2855.jpg

buddys night time wingra fish

http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh43/fishin_joe/104_2857.jpg

http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh43/fishin_joe/104_2871.jpg

http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh43/fishin_joe/104_2879.jpg

http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh43/fishin_joe/104_2882.jpg

http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh43/fishin_joe/104_2887-1.jpg
Another night time pewaukee fish on a cowgirl

http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh43/fishin_joe/104_2889.jpg sucker fish

http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh43/fishin_joe/104_2891.jpg

spinnerbaiting the weeds by chester island

http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh43/fishin_joe/104_2892.jpg

another cowgirl fish on the 8

http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh43/fishin_joe/104_2895.jpg

cowgirl on the 8

http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh43/fishin_joe/104_2897.jpg
sucker fish

http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh43/fishin_joe/104_2811.jpg
long skinny 46 from wingra on a cowgirl jr.

[Eric Haataja]

Wow Joe those are some fantastic pics of some nice ski's! Glad to see you got Kurt out fishing! Tell him I said "Hi".

Eric

[Joe Murphy]

http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh43/fishin_joe/101108_090800-1.jpg

little sucker fish from over by cottage island

http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh43/fishin_joe/102408_172800.jpg

also on a sucker, from the rent a boat at smokies. friday evening


http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh43/fishin_joe/102408_172900.jpg

http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh43/fishin_joe/104_2924.jpg

my buddy casey's first fish on a sucker from saturday, nice healthy one. Had to row in those giant waves, took forever. The blisters were worth it

http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh43/fishin_joe/101108_080200.jpg
buddys fish, he got it right as we were passing eachother, he took the inside and I stopped casting and boom

http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh43/fishin_joe/104B2841.jpg

http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh43/fishin_joe/104_2810.jpg

http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh43/fishin_joe/104_2830.jpg

http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh43/fishin_joe/104_2854.jpg

http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh43/fishin_joe/104_2885.jpg
another fish at dark on a cowgirl

http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh43/fishin_joe/104_2919-1.jpg
this is the same fish from friday, im posting it again because this shows how fat it was

[Bigman]

The influence of the moon on muskies still remains a mystery to some, for me its been a sure shot especially if the weather coincides. We hit the lake at 1230pm yesterday and fished till 430pm, we boated 3 muskies and lost 3 others, at one point we had a double on with one musky in the net still, the other sucker rod took a hit, I lost that one but it still was insane, the weather was brutal to say the least. I had one muskie follow a sucker around for over 20 minutes, I got some film of the musky stalking the sucker. Regardless is was a fun day on the water. Good luck everyone and stay safe, that water is cold.
http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h43/djbizeone/40lo.jpg
http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h43/djbizeone/nicks35-1.jpghttp://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h43/djbizeone/365.jpg

[Eric Haataja]

Fantastic fish guys! Nice work!~

[Bigman]

we hit the lake this sunday and managed to get three muskies to eat suckers, we missed three others on the hookset, it was pretty cold out there as you can see from the pictures, if you did not have the gear you would not last out there. It was a fun time regardless, Eric your tearing em up out there, we going to have to hook up one of these days, anyways here is the pics from yesterdayhttp://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h43/djbizeone/fat35today.jpg
http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h43/djbizeone/395lo.jpg
http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h43/djbizeone/Stevesfishlo.jpg

[Joe Murphy]

topwater sundown 9:00 pm. 49 inches. Intense

[Eric Haataja]

Congrats Dude you've earned it!!!!! Awesome release as well!

[Joe Murphy]

thanks eric, i worked real hard for that fish, fished everyday for over 2 weeks just to get this fish First one of the year for me...hopefully this is a sign of good things to come

[muskymstr62]

Late report. Went out tuesday night and herd they were hitting on top waters so we tried them out. We caught 1 38" on a yellow and green jack pot and lost another.We also caught a 34" on a walleye invader. wednesday my son & his friends went out 1 follow on a jack pot and 1 follow on a bucktail. They also had one on a bucktail, must of had a bad spot in the line when they were playing the fish the line broke.

[Joe Murphy]

Decided to go try madison for a change of pace, I boated 4 fish, 2 mid 30s and a 40 and a 43, lost and 40+ boatside on a figure 8 and another mid 30s on the 8. I had about 15 other follows. Seemed like the lure I was using was all they wanted because nobody else caught fish and barely had follows.

http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh43/fishin_joe/100_0813.jpg
40 incher right away
http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh43/fishin_joe/100_0817.jpg
43 incher...almost jumped out of the net

[Needtofishmore]

Wow, nice fish Joe!

Yesterday I talked to a "local" who's out there a lot for Muskies. He said the entire chain seems to be turning on ... He went out for about an hour last night and had 4 follows and "an explosion". Mentioned a 48 and 50 his buddy got last week.

[shipdog]

Late report......thought i was going to be able to get out more the last week and 1/2 and post multiple reports but was not in the cards

Boated this 42 on 9/5 at 0900. Silver/black double bladed bucktail. Surface temps were 68 (at the time) and the fish was in 4 FOW. Haven't been out musky fishing since, so not sure what's happening right now on SE WI lakes.

[Eric Haataja]

Made it out one day last week with clients on Pewaukee, clients had a chance to land 5 ski's but they all either came off boat side or came off during the battle. One of those days.....:confused::confused::(

Clients still had a blast and so did I was fun to see! Top water was the ticket with black Top raiders doing the damage, and 1 fish came off on a figure 8 boat side on a shallow invader all on the east side of the lake.

[Joe Murphy]

Got a video of us getting a musky, my buddy Todd caught it, couple sweet jumps in the vid check it out


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQ2nhe3SRQ4&feature=channel_page

Heres a few pics
http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh43/fishin_joe/8434_161600967136_525797136_2589-1.jpg
Late September Mag Dawg Fish

http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh43/fishin_joe/8434_161601002136_525797136_2589908.jpg
Late September Topwater fish

http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh43/fishin_joe/8434_161601007136_525797136_2589909.jpg
Another Late September Topwater fish

http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh43/fishin_joe/8434_161601037136_525797136_2589912.jpg
Buddy with a decent fish on live bait on Saturday Oct 3rd, muskie clownin'

http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh43/fishin_joe/P1000392.jpg
38ish incher I got yesterday (sunday Oct 4th), rockin the mask to get in the halloween spirt...just clownin, boosts morale on a slow day lol

Haven't been out musky fishing as much as i would like to because i've been checking out other spots in the river for walleyes and muskie with good success for the river muskies at least...This weekend was slow on pewaukee, had a couple follows saturday, one caught on a sucker, My buddy lost one on the figure 8 TWICE right after dark, It hit it then came off right away then He went deeper with his bait and hooked up again, fish came up and rolled on the surface and got loose again, fish was between 42 and 44...Real nice fish.
Sunday was real slow, Boats everywhere, launch was full at 6 in the morning and it seemed like nobody launched a boat before. it was ridiculous. Lake is super pressured right now. I dont even wanna know how many cowgirls these fish see. No follows, one fish on a sucker, a few drops and lost a 40 plus on a sucker after a quick 20 second battle...Hopefully it improves soon. I'll keep you posted. Talked to Mike Koepp on sunday, His client got a Nice 47 on Saturday...Fish are getting real thick.

[Eric Haataja]

Cool vid and nice fish Joe!

Thanks for the report and sharing the info!

[TJPike]

You guys venture over and fish Elkhart Lake?