July Multi-Species in Boulder Junction, WI

I had the opportunity to get out for a week of R&R in the Boulder Junction area this last week. Normally this trip is a marathon fishing week of being on the water for 16 or more hours a day. This year, we did a group family trip that required I broke the day into 2-3 hours at a time and rotating people through my boat. A little challenging to say the least for getting things dialed in for all to enjoy. But given the skill sets and minimal patience of some, I opted to format my day for chasing multiple species as conditions would allow.

Walleyes weren’t the pigs I had gotten accustom to from this spring. However, they did provide consistent action and a few eaters for dinner. Two patterns produced very well. In the shallow basin lake we fished, we keyed in on weeds next to rocks. When we found dense weed patches along a rock shore, walleyes were stacked in the weeds. Our best presentation was a Live Target Gizzard Shad (lipless) ticked along the weeds. During daylight hours, you had to rip it through the weeds to get bit regularly. Being off the weeds by just a foot or so would put you out of the zone.
On the Deeper basin lakes I fished, the walleyes were suspended. I had one night out that was horrible, yet a good learning experience. I fished a series of rock humps isolated in deep water. After blanking, I realized I never fished to all the suspended fish I marked at the height of the humps over deeper water. When returning to the same type of structure and marking fish suspended, I made a small adjustment and it was like flipping the switch. Generally I like to rig ringworms or moxies on a 1/8oz jig. I bumped that up to a ¼ oz and made long drifts from the humps to the open basin. Most of the fish I would mark would be at or just below the height of the humps. The 1/4oz would give me the depth control I needed as I made each drift. I know we’ve had the discussion here on IDO regarding what a ringworm represents. Regardless of your opinion, the eyes like to eat them! River OR Lake. BTW, a few 14” crappies proved that they like to eat them too.

The bass proved to be in the same pattern/mood as I have found here in central WI. The bigger bass have been hanging out in deeper water, and eating young of the year gills,bass,… That proved to be a near effortless bite to get everyone on to enjoy. Our easiest presentation was vertical jigging a 1/2oz Live Target Lipless Gizzard Shad on the outer edges of rock humps. I cannot stress enough how simple this pattern is. Working them just like a blade bait – drop to the bottom, reel up the slack so your rod tip is at the water line, and pump them up and down. With a 7’ Quantum Smoke Rod medium /fast, a short stroke up in the 2 to 3 foot, you feel the lipless bait vibrate as it darts up. Then just follow it with your rod tip as it falls. We would stop it short of the bottom by a foot and hold it still for a couple seconds. The beauty of fishing deep water bass is the bite continues throughout the day. Even in the heat of the sun, the bite was hot!

We spent the least amount of time chasing skies. My daughter Olivia was dead set on stick’n her first and I have to admit, she made quite the effort. She had a couple solid follow-ups in a shallow basin lake casting along the deeper edges of cabbage weeds. Unfortunately, this trip won’t be the one to get her first pic with a musky. But it did provide for a lot of entertainment. Each morning of casting seemed to fall under the same quote of the day “What was he thinking?” as Olivia kept sticking small bass, pike, and a walleye on baits that were as big as the fish. Though I didn’t fish half as many hours this week as I normally would, I do have to admit I walked away with a lot of great memories!