June Try Drifting for Suspended Summer Pan sh. Joe Puccio

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1 June 2009 Editor: Tom Raschke or Try Drifting for Suspended Summer Pan sh Club Web site: shingclub.org/ By Gary Engberg Recently, I ran into Joe Puccio, one of the owners of Bait Rigs Tackle and the designer of the Cobra Pan sh jig. This jig with the kahle hook design has been a winner in the pan sh world for many years. Joe is an expert on pan shing the Madison lakes with 40 plus years experience. I talked to Joe at length about the Madison shery and got the info from him on the pattern and technique he uses for catching suspended fish after spawning and during the summer months. Soon after the weather warms in the Chain lakes and all panfish are done spawning, many bluegills, crappies, and perch suspend over the lake s main basins and feed on the zooplankton and other small insects, worms, and bugs that hatch from the lake s bottom. Lakes with a soft and mud bottom have a better bug and worm hatch and thus more fish will suspend on these lakes. Puccio likes to have a buddy sh with him, so that he can take advantage of the Wisconsin law that allows each angler to sh with 3 rods. So, ideally Joe likes to sh with 6 rods to cover the water column from top to bottom. The rst two rods are shed deep with bottom bouncers and a 24 lead to a small Pan sh Willowspoon (a light utter spoon) baited with a leaf worm. These rods work the deeper water for perch which usually relate to the bottom of the lake. The next 4 rods are going to be high rods shing and covering the water column from above the bottom bouncer rods to the water s surface. On 2 of the rods, Joe likes to use pan sh spinner rigs with a small blade (# 0) and a piece of crawler. He uses larger split shot to get the rigs down deeper on these two rods. Adding and taking off split shot either makes the spinners sink or ride higher in the water. The last two rods are rigged with 1/32 ounce Bait Rigs Slo-Poke jigs baited with minnows, crawlers, or leeches. The Slo- Poke is a swimming jig that trolls or drifts well with a horizontal presentation. The bottom bouncer rods are close to the bottom, the Slo-Poke rods are next in the water column, and the spinner rigs are the highest up rods in this drifting pattern. Long rods work best and Puccio suggests rods at least 7 feet long with a light or medium-light action. Don t use ultra-light rods Joe Puccio because you have to make a sweeping hook set and ultra-light rods don t have the strength. The line to use is Berkley Trilene XL in green color for the stained water and 4 or 6 pound test monofilament. Try to use your electronics (Lowrance) to locate both fish and forage as you drift. This is not an exact science, according to Puccio, and he experiments with adding and subtracting split shots to get the rigs to the proper depth. Sometimes, Joe will use as many as 5 or 6 shots Continued next page

2 Drifting for Pan sh, Continued Yahara Fishing Club to reach different depths. Using a different number of split shots on each rod with the exception of the bottom bouncer rods, allows your bait (either worms or panfish leeches) to reach different depths where the pan sh may suspend. When you catch a few fish on the same rod, try to repeat the process for more success. This is similar to trolling for walleyes on a lake s main basin. Another important factor to remember is that the sh are scattered and the wind can blow the zooplankton around the lake. If the weather is windy, use a drift sock to slow down your boat and control your drift. If the day is calm, use your bow-mount trolling motor to work you across the water. You are raking the lake for sh according to Puccio. Start your drift shallow and work to the deep water in the lake s middle. On Lake Monona, try working from the mouth of the Yahara River to Turville Bay on the south end of the lake. On Lake Waubesa, work from from north of Hog Island to the south end of the lake. Here, you ll be drifting over 20 feet of water. On Lake Kegonsa, the drift pattern is the same, but shallower. The water is darker, so the sh will be in shallow water. Work the weed edges and the rock bar in the lake s middle area. Try to nd the deepest weed edge adjacent to deep water. Try drifting for suspended panfish on any lake you fish. By covering the entire water column, you will find the panfish that suspend during the warmer, summer months. Gary Engberg Outdoors Hwy. Y Mazomanie, WI Phone & Fax gengberg@chorus.net Web site: Copyright Gary Engberg Outdoors 2009 Fishing Has No Boundaries Fishing Has No Boundaries needs volunteers to help with the annual event held at Governor Nelson State Park on Lake Mendota. This year it will be held June 11 th and 12 th. Boats, especially Pontoon boats that can accommodate wheel chairs, shing guides, and shing assistance are needed. To pitch in call Dan Hartwig, for more information. Full Color Copies (608) RUSSELL Clay Russell, RFC, CEP FINANCIAL SERVICES 4885 Larson Beach Road P.O. Box 319 McFarland, WI Telephone: (608) Toll Free: (800) Fax: (608) P r i n t i n g & Copying, LLC One- and Two-Color Printing Copying up to 36 x 48 Large Format Posters 131 West Wilson Street, #P300 Madison, WI Posters, Banners, Wide Format for Trade Shows, displays, parties, advertisements, etc. Fishing for Good Investments? Call me Securities and Advisory Services offered through Harbour Investments, Inc. V.F.W. Post Lakeside St. Madison

3 Yahara Fishing Club Notes from the Prez Plants, animals and organizations all are constantly evolving. A six foot tall man in the 1600 s would have been a giant. Evolution is stimulated by a need. If there was a competitive advantage for a fish to move onto dry land and breathe through a primitive lung evolution! The Yahara Fishing Club has also been constantly evolving. I received an old briefcase from Charlie Grimm. In this briefcase was YFC information from the early to mid 80 s. It was interesting for me to read. It included goals and the accumulative accomplishments of the club up until that time. At one point our club was much more conservation focused. The conservation movement is something that a lot of other organizations have taken up. As a result of that niche being lled, we are moving in a different direction. We are still interested in conservation as it affects the Madison area fishery, but our focus right now is on fishing opportunities for our members, fishing education and encouraging kids to fish. After looking through this old information, I was amazed at all the money donated to various projects. I m thinking where did all of this money come from? The YFC donated money to improve lake access, parking lots, launch lighting, signage, boat ramps, and handicapped piers. We also donated to DNR projects, anti-pollution/littering projects, youth camps and a variety of others. When I rst joined YFC we built and sunk a bunch of sh cribs at various locations on the Madison Chain. Ah! The good old days. Don t get the idea that the YFC did a variety of good stuff in the old days and now we do nothing. Currently we conduct two of the best shing events for youth in the state. We should all be very proud of our Kids Fishing Day and Kids Ice Fishing Day. We have developed a top notch newsletter (thanks Tom and Jayne) and our website is transitioning in that direction. We continue to give a scholarship to a UW-Stevens Point student every year. We have recently donated to a variety of kids fishing events (donations are at zero this year as a result of our budget situation). The YFC is also one of the big reasons why Fishing Has No Boundaries and the Madison Fishing Expo are such quality events. We have consistently met the YFC goals over the last three years. Reminders: Our Kids Fishing Day is June 7 th starting at 11:00am. We need you there by 8:30am. We have a lot a work to do and we need everyone to make a contribution to this event. Also, July 11 and 12 is Fishing Has No Boundaries. They need your help and YFC needs your help with the fish fry. Work on the fish fry starts at about 4:00pm. Now it is time to think about fishing. I look forward to our summer On The Water meetings. Our rst one is June 9 th at 6:00pm at Warner Park. Jesse Swing (our youngest Board member) is organizing this. We will eat (throw some money into the hat), have a short meeting and get out there to sh. I hope to be on the water by about 4:00pm so if anyone wants to get a couple of hours in before the meeting, please let me know. Make sure if you want to order any of the new club shirts etc. to bring your form and money to this meeting. Jesse is also organizing the first YFC Bass Tournament on May 30 th starting at 7:00am at the Warner Park boat launch. This should be a great time. Unfortunately, we will be losing Jesse as he will be moving out of state at the end of the summer. Wish him well and thank him for all the contributions he has made to YFC. The July On The Water meeting is the responsibility of Charlie Grimm. Look for details and when and where in this newsletter and on the website. Lets see I have a walleye tournament tomorrow, a muskie tournament the following Saturday and the YFC Bass Tournament on May 30 th. Great way to use up your Saturdays. June 12 th I leave for Winneconne for ve days with my brothers. Any YFC members who will be in that area those days, please stop in at Langs Landing by the Winneconne Bridge. We always have plenty of food and drink for our friends. Winneconne and the Winnebago Chain is a wonderful place to sh. I can help to mark your maps, or I can show you around. Later in June is a Muskie tournament in Winter, WI. This is always a great event and I Continued next page 3

4 Prez, Continued have the added bonus of fishing the following week on the Big Chip and some surrounding lakes. I will be at Fishing Has No Boundaries in July along with the Take An Adult Fishing Tournament up in Sauk City put on by Wilderness Fish and Game. August 15 th I will try to help lead people into an active Muskie period by making a presentation on Muskie Basics at Gander Mountain at 11:00am. Please come and learn if you are interested. Just thinking about all of these activities tires me out. Good thing I will be unemployed again this summer so that I can get them all done. If you don t have a boat and want to get out on the lakes this summer, let me know and hopefully we can work something out. It is always one of my goals to get people out on the water that normally don t get a chance. See you on the water. Yahara Fishing Club May 30th Bass Tournament The Yahara Fishing Club held a club only Bass Tournament on Saturday May 30th from 7:30 to 1:00 pm. The weather was windy and rainy from about 7:30 to 9:30, then the sun came out and turned into a really nice day (and the sh quit bitting at least for me). Four boats participated in the outing. The results are as follows. Team 1 - Larry Mothershead and Jeff Western Team 2 - Jesse Swing and Catherine Pearce Team 3 - Duffy Kopf Team 4 - Tom Raschke and Mark Riederer 1st place Team #1 with a total of 5 Bass the bass were 18, 18, 17, 16 1/2, and 15 for a total of 84.5 inches. 2nd place Team #2 with a total of 4 Bass 18 1/2, 17 1/2, 15 1/2, and 12. for a total of 63.5 inches. 3rd place Team #4 with a total of 1 Bass at 12 inches. Other Fish caught/missed, Team #2 reported a 30 inch plus Cat sh striking a spinner bait right at the boat, but was not landed. Team #4 reported 3 to 4 northerns caught with the largest in the mid 30 s, and a large bluegill. All the sh were caught on a Rat-L-Trap or a jig with a leach. Team #3 reported 1 or 2 northerns and some white bass. Team #1 failed to report any other sh. Jessie Swing. Fishing Season Never Ends, Duffy Kopf - Prez Mark Riederer with a northern caught on a Rat-L-Trap More pictures page 7 Jessie 4

5 Yahara Fishing Club Rick Seeger wins big at Muskie Tournament Jim Kloth gets a 19 Smallie 19 Smallie caught in Lake Mendota - Fire Tiger Crank Bait. Almost as big as a prize- winning Muskie. This is a picture of Rick Seeger getting the first place trophy at the Capital City Muskie Club s May Tournament. Big sh /4. How about sharing your boat? The 2009 Opener with Kevin Hit 4am today on the Opener. Mike Trautman was on the electric powered stealth hand control guided switch { to the trolling motor } We were casting crank baits to inlets & bays for EYES. Started trolling 7:45am. Bill Hartman picked up this nice Bucket Mouth. noon. Only one eye, but picked up a few really nice Smallies trolling anywhere from 5-15 fow {one Pike too}. Water temp on surface was like early April, high 40 s! It s just starting, Kevin Tvedten Many of the members of YFC do not have boats and, therefore, often do not sign up to go on outings. Clay Russell has suggested that we get a master list of members who do have boats and would be willing to take a non-boater sherman on one of our outings. If you have a boat and are willing to take a non-boater member out, please let me know. We don t have this process worked out, but the idea is to accomodate anyone who wants to get out and sh with the club. So far Duffy Kopf, Clay Russell, and Tom Kline have indicated that they want to share their boats. Tom Raschke traschke@globaldialog.com 5

6 Yahara Fishing Club Tuesday July 14 at Olbrich Park. There will be a short business meeting at 6pm, followed by pizza and drinks. We will pass the hat to pay for the pizza, please bring your own beer or pop. What I d like to do this summer is drift for mid-lake bluegills. This is a very easy and fun way to sh. I hope we have a nice breeze..that s best. A couple light spinning rods with 4-6 lb. line will do ne I like a bit longer rod. Don t set them to high on the gunwale..these fish hit hard and pull hard for panfish..don t lose a pole! Generally I like the section of Lake Monona from the Olbrich launch to Schluter beach to the rockpile to the river inlet near Hudson Park. Usually in of water, the gills will suspend from 5-10 ft, down. Drifting through the loose schools over and over usually lls the box. Rig up with anything as simple as a peanut size splitshot and ice jig to a rubbercore sinker, plain hook, and piece of nitecrawler. Weight depends on the wind you have to keep the bait at the level they are showing up on your electronics. My favorite rig for this is the tiny pan sh spinner rigs that Bait Rigs (Joe Puccio) makes. These come in gold, chartreuse/orange, lime green, etc with tiny beads. Adding the right size egg sinker above the snap swivel is the best. I like 4 or 5 spikes on the small but super sharp hook. If they nip off a couple I m still pulling bait. Sometimes there are also some crappie a bit below the bluegills and even some perch below that. It s fun to have one real active rod going and experiment with weight and color on another rod to see if you can catch some of those deeper sh. If it s real calm, try slowly moving with your trolling motor or just sitting near fish with a few small bobbers out. A breeze works best, even a pretty good one on a hot evening, as the fish seem to ride higher and bite better in a decent chop. We can talk more in between the pizza and beer or if you want to talk right now I m always at see you there bring some kids..perfect way to fish for them and you!.no weeds to take off the hook! Charlie Grimm July On The Water Meeting Yahara Fishing Club Clothing We now have price sheets for hats, shirts and sweatshirts. Unfortunately, there was no good way to reproduce the information sheets and order sheets in this newsletter. Instead I put them on the website in its own tab on the lower left. In general, there are high quality shirts and sweatshirts and hats. Clay Russell can supply additional information at Orders should be placed with the shing club by the time of the next meeting on June 9th. Link: shingclub.org/yfcclothes.htm July Spoonplugging (We caught a lot of sh last year.) Date: Saturday, July 18 (Sunday, July 19 if weather on Saturday is bad very windy or heavy rain) Time: 7:30 am to 1:00 pm or so Location: Warner Park boat launch. (If wind is an issue, we may change this. Equipment: Medium heavy or heavy casting/trolling rods are preferred Casting/trolling reels (not spinning) with either non-stretch mono, one of the super lines (i.e. Power Pro) or single strand wire line. I do have some extra rod and reels that several people can BORROW for the outing. If you have marker buoys bring them. I don t use normal leaders -- I use a snap (not snap swivel) tied directly to the line or about 18 inches of uorocarbon leader material. Lures: I can LOAN some of my spoonplugs to whoever wants them. However, if you have deep-running lures that can bump bottom (like the old Hellbenders, etc.), they are suitable. Boats: Tiller steering is much preferred over steering wheel boats. Only two fisherman to a boat. We don t use planer boards or rod holders. Basic Strategy: We will probably troll from the edge of the weed line out to approximately 30 feet. Because of the irregular weed line and breaklines in Mendota, we may want to throw out some markers to aid us in our trolling passes. And, since the weed line in Mendota is usually around 16 feet, using two to three passes on the same stretch of water, but at three different depths would make sense. Depending on the water level in mid-july, there is a breakline in Mendota that averages about 28 feet. In some areas it is closer to and in some areas it may be slightly deeper than 28. Species Sought: Our best bet is northern pike. However, it would not be surprising to catch a smallmouth or walleye. Last summer, the Northerns were on the smallish size. But, if they run what they have in the past, (and the weather cooperates), we should catch Northerns from 32 to 39 but, with the possibility of catching a 40 plus fish. Clay Russel 6

7 Yahara Fishing Club More pictures from the Bass Tournament Jessie Catherine Yahara Fishing Club Membership Application Name Street P.O. Box 3271 Madison, WI City State Zip Annual Dues: Individual...$25 Family...$35 Youth Member...Free (with paid membership) Except for special Summer On the water dates, meetings are held at 7:00 p.m. on the second Tuesday of each month at the Lakeside VFW Hall, John Nolan Dr, & Lakeside St. in Madison. An Orgainization to Educate, Protect and Propagate the Interests of All Fishermen in the Yahara Basin Area Including all of Madison s Lakes 7

8 The next meeting is on Tuesday, June 9th, On The Water There will be a General Membership meeting at 6:00 pm. Calendar of Upcoming Events June Events June 7 th - Annual Kids Fishing Day starting at 11:00am at Warner Park June 9 th - On The Water meeting. See Notes from the Prez, page 3. July Events June 14 th - On The Water meeting. See article by Charlie Grimm page 6. July 11 th- 12 th - Fishing Has No Boundaries See article page 2. July 18 th - Spoonplugging on Mendota. See article page 6. The Yahara Fishing Club s doors are open to EVERYONE, so invite a friend to the meeting! President - Larry Duffy Kopf Vice President - Paul Marunich Secretary - Rick Seeger Treasurer - Brad Czebotar Director - Tom Wilke Director - Jeff Wydeven Director - Jim Pankratz Director - Clay Russell Director - Jesse Swing Director - Roger Swenson Director - Jim Kloth Check out our web page at: Yahara Fishing Club P.O. Box 3271 Madison, WI 53704