Yahara Fishing Club. Trolling for Walleyes on the Madison Chain by Austin Ragotzkie

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Yahara Fishing Club October 2018 Editor: Tom Raschke tomraschke50@gmail.com Club Web Site: http://www.yaharafishingclub.

He covered many topics and answered questions from the audience the entire evening. He made himself available after the meeting to teach knot tying and answer more questions.

1 Yahara Fishing Club October 2018 Editor: Tom Raschke Club Web Site: Trolling for Walleyes on the Madison Chain by Austin Ragotzkie Austin, a member of the Blue Ribbon Outdoors Guide service, was an enthusiastic and knowledgeable presenter at our September meeting. He covered many topics and answered questions from the audience the entire evening. He made himself available after the meeting to teach knot tying and answer more questions. Notes by Rich Connor Some of Austin s points on catching walleye: He uses planer boards for trolling and works the outer edge of weed lines. He recommends the Church TX22 special boards. He pulls spinners, crankbaits and crawler harnesses. He varies the speed of the boat until the fish start biting and then goes at that speed. Each day can have a different trolling speed. Troll at 10 to 25 start deep and go shallower to find the fish. Austin prefers 27# lead-core line with 10 of 10# monofilament leader. He believes mono is better than fluorocarbon for trolling walleye. Lakes Mendota and Monona are similar in that the walleye like to be on or near structure. Lakes Waubesa and Kegonsa are similar because they are shallower and have little structure. The fish are usually near the muddy/sandy bottom feeding. In the spring, the fish are usually at the top of the water column in warmer water. In the summer they are deeper on structure. In the fall, the fish come into the shallower water, especially when the water temperature get into the low 60 s. Austin s lures of choice are: Reef Runner, Flicker Minnow, Rapala dive series (DC10), Husky Jerk, Salmo Hornet and #5 Flicker Shad He stressed the importance of calibrating the line counter on the reels so they are all running the same. Austin felt that fishing Lake Mendota at night from the shore line can be very successful for catching walleye. Any place with a light shining on water is best because when the walleye come in to feed at night, the light attracts baitfish. The best nighttime fishing colors for Lakes Mendota and Monona are green, blue black and silver. For Lakes Waubesa and Kegonsa, use silver, white and firetiger. Overall, black and silver work best everywhere. In this issue: Notes from the Prez. Page 2. Louisiana Adventure Page 3. Club Calendar Page 4. Facebook Pictures Pages 5,6 Note from the editor: In the 10+ years I have been assembling the newsletter, I have published pretty much every single story, picture, or news article sent to me by members. To me, our own stories make the newsletter relevant. I only get fishing-related information from places like the WDNR after publishing all member-supplied information. Check out the excellent article turned in by Tom Klein page 3. Please keep submitting things to share. I am always glad to help format or edit. Just send the stuff in to me. I want to point out that I pull more and more of the material in the newsletter from our private Facebook account. I encourage everyone to join Facebook. You can see from the many selections in this edition that it is a great communication tool. There is a tentative plan to show members our Facebook page at the Christmas meeting. Gary Schutte is glad to help people join and can answer questions. He is at gary943@gmail.com 1

Notes from the Prez Yahara Fishing Club We members of the Yahara Fishing Club share a common bond, namely a passion for the sport of fishing, in virtually every form.

That said, we share several purposes: a purpose to support and advance interest in fishing in our community; a purpose to share our interest and knowledge with others; a purpose to protect and

Our Club works in various ways to further these purposes, both through the individual efforts of our Club s members, and through collective efforts coordinated by our Club s Board of Directors.

Because it is at our Club s regular membership meeting in November that we hold our annual meeting during which we will choose three club members to serve three-year terms on our Club s Board of

2 Notes from the Prez Yahara Fishing Club We members of the Yahara Fishing Club share a common bond, namely a passion for the sport of fishing, in virtually every form. Of course here in the state of Wisconsin, this means fishing in our state s lakes and rivers, both in the open waters, and on the frozen waters in winter. That said, we share several purposes: a purpose to support and advance interest in fishing in our community; a purpose to share our interest and knowledge with others; a purpose to protect and improve the resources needed to enjoy the sport. Our Club works in various ways to further these purposes, both through the individual efforts of our Club s members, and through collective efforts coordinated by our Club s Board of Directors. Why do I write to you about this? Because it is at our Club s regular membership meeting in November that we hold our annual meeting during which we will choose three club members to serve three-year terms on our Club s Board of Directors. This meeting will take place on the second Wednesday in November, at 7:00 p.m., at the VFW Hall on Cottage Grove Road. Any Club member is eligible to serve on the Board of Directors; all Club members attending the annual meeting are eligible to vote at the election of Directors. The terms of three of the current Directors are expiring at the end of the year, and one or more of those Directors may be stepping aside to open Board positions for new candidates. Be sure to attend the meeting, to put your name in nomination for a position on the Board if you are interested in serving in that capacity, and to vote in the election of the Board members who will serve the Club for the coming three years. Please don t miss this upcoming opportunity to help make sure our Club continues to have energetic leadership during 2019 and beyond. Gard Matthew James September 10, 2018 I have learned today, with great sadness, that Matthew James, the son of our Club s Vice-President Phil James, died suddenly over the weekend. The death was unexpected, and the cause is thus far unknown. Matthew died in his sleep; he was 26. We extend our deepest and most heartfelt condolences to Phil, his wife Catherine, and the other members of Phil s family, for this tragic loss. Gard Mini Sessions for the October Meeting Greetings everyone: I have arranged for following two mini sessions for October 10 to run from 6:00 pm to 6:30 pm Kyle Kramer will be talking about how to go fishing in a kayak. Ken Terrill will conduct a session on how to read lake maps focusing on topography of the four Madison Lakes. Ken asks that for those members that attend this session if they already have the Hot Spots maps for these lakes please bring them to the session. You do not have to go out and buy them for this mini session. Let me know if you have any questions. Ken Terrill November 14th YFC meeting. John Reimer will be presenting on what's being done to clean water coming into the Mendota inlets. He works for Dane county, and was recommended by Jack Hurst. 2

Louisiana Adventure Yahara Fishing Club I spent 8 days in early Sept. on a 2 part trip with my son Garrett and later two of his buddies.

We spent most of the time in the Rockefeller refuge, an area of 70,000 acres on the gulf with fresh, brackish, and salt water.

We would land at a levee to fish from shore. The levies keep the salt water from entering the fresh water.

3 Louisiana Adventure Yahara Fishing Club I spent 8 days in early Sept. on a 2 part trip with my son Garrett and later two of his buddies.. The first leg was out of Lake Charles staying with my step daughters uncle Bill, a bit of a red neck, lived there all his adult life working as a chemical engineer for the oil industry. We spent most of the time in the Rockefeller refuge, an area of 70,000 acres on the gulf with fresh, brackish, and salt water. We were in a 20ft, wide beam, flat bottom boat with a 200 hp motor zooming down the channels about mph, this courtesy of Bill s buddy, Brandon who lived in Louisiana his whole life. We would land at a levee to fish from shore. The levies keep the salt water from entering the fresh water. I learned how to use a cast net for shrimp which caught various small fish and an occasional Alligator Gar, plus a bunch of Shrimp. The limit on Shrimp is 25 lbs. per boat, we limited out every day and followed up with several shrimp boils Also fun was catching Blue Crabs much like crayfishing when you were a kid tie a hunk of chicken to a string, throw it out several feet, wait until the string moves and slowly pull it in with the crab trying to eat the chicken meat then net both of them being careful to stay away from the nasty pinchers (the Blue Crabs are aggressive if you try to grab them and very fast with those wicked pinchers). Several times we crossed paths with some locals really nice folks sharing crab/shrimp recipes, showed us how they clean crabs, gave us a bunch of small fish for bait, except I had an awful time trying to understand their southern Louisiana accent. There were a lot of gators around so Bill gave me a stiff rod with a 6 ft steel leader, huge hook stuck into a piece of chicken. It took about 5 minutes before I had a 5 ft Gator hooked up, it was a bull dog fight for a while until the Gator had enough and took of snapping the 80 lb test line. We counted 16 gators in that channel. The gator season is highly regulated and we were not licensed to keep any, but I tried some gator Bill had frozen, it was quite good. We also went out into the gulf, tried a close oil rig and caught a bunch of Gafftop catfish, quite stunning looking with a huge dorsal fin, great fight, but no other fish as the catfish had taken over that rig. The next day we went more inshore in about 6 ft. of water, caught smaller (3 4 ft) black tip sharks (great fight and jumpers) and some big bull reds (around 3 ft., also a great fight). We kept some of the sharks to eat, so how do you land an ill tempered shark? You certainly don t want them thrashing around in the bottom of a crowded boat. Bill s solution was to shoot them with a long barreled 22 pistol, same method he used for landing those big bull Redfish. So Garrett learned how to clean a shark the skin is like sandpaper and called for frequent re-sharpening of the knife, but Garrett did good. For the second leg of our trip we left Bill s place after 3 days and headed to New Orleans (3 hour drive) to pick up 2 of Garrett s friends, Eric and Trevor, then headed south to Venice where the Mississippi enters the Gulf of Mexico. We were booked for 2 days of off shore fishing with Captain Bernie, unfortunately on Bernie s off shore boat one of two 225 hp Yamaha outboards blew up so Bernie borrowed a smaller boat which was slower and it took longer to get miles off shore out to 400 of water. Before targeting Amber Jack or other off shore fish, it s customary to catch bait which were inch Blue Runners and Poggies (a bait fish about 6 long). We moved from rig to rig but couldn t raise any AJs, but had a great time catching Mangrove Snappers plus some other species which were not edible. The Mangrove snappers we caught where shaped like smallies, were running 12-20, but fought 2 times as hard as any smallie. We also tried for Cobia not to be found. Sharks were a real menace at most of the rigs they either ate your bait or ate the fish you were fighting causing us to frequently move to a different rig. They were fun to fight but you always got bit off or they snapped the line. Bernie says he spends a lot of money on tackle lost to sharks. On day 2 we did some rig fishing again but then Bernie pulled along the rear side of some big Shrimp boats ( long) who were dragging nets in 300 of water. We started chumming hoping for some black fin Tuna but hooked up with Bonita s (an inedible Tuna) instead. Bernie only allowed one rod out at a time because of the wild fight. You had to wear a fighting harness and still were almost pulled overboard even though these fish were only 3 4 long. Bernie gaffed a couple to keep for cut bait. It started getting real rough early afternoon w/ 5-6 rollers so we pounded our way back to land in rain gear (wind blown wave splash) and called it a trip. Next day we drove back to New Orleans airport but pigged out at an oyster bar before flying back. It was a fine trip. Tom Klein Tom with a Bonita Eric with Mangrove Snappers Garret with Red Bull 3

2018 YFC Outings Yahara Fishing Club Current conditions: Boy has this weather been challenging! As of this moment there still a no wake rule on the entire Madison Chain and we keep getting more rain!

They have been catching king salmon still on Lake MI and walleyes are being caught at times on the Madison Chain.

13, 20: Unfortunately, this group didn t make it out last month but there is still time and the fish are coming in shallow so let s try again.

4 2018 YFC Outings Yahara Fishing Club Current conditions: Boy has this weather been challenging! As of this moment there still a no wake rule on the entire Madison Chain and we keep getting more rain! Too make things even worse Warner Park boat launch is closed for repair until late November. They have been catching king salmon still on Lake MI and walleyes are being caught at times on the Madison Chain. Blue gills have been off and on now on Monona but the theme mostly has been little fishing pressure on all lakes with the weather and no wake. Lake MI salmon outing Oct. 13, 20: Unfortunately, this group didn t make it out last month but there is still time and the fish are coming in shallow so let s try again. This trip will heavily depend on the weather forecast with winds about 10 mph or less needed for safe small boat fishing. Let s plan for the 13 th in the morning and if weather allows great otherwise it will get rescheduled for the following weekend. Milwaukee Harbor is our starting point but this could change to Bender Park in Oak Creek. Sunrise is at 7:04 so it will be an early trip likely lasting until 10 or noon depending on captain. Lake Mendota northern pike Oct. 20: We will meet at Marshall Park at 8:00 AM and hopefully the no wake rule will have ended by then. Let s try to make Duffy proud by pulling in some inch pike! Lake Mendota walleye trolling Oct. 25, 27: Let s go out again hopefully with better luck late day/evening or even crazier and fish during the week! Start time 4:00-5:00 PM with a likely trolling outing going past dark (sunset at 6:00) to 8:00 or so. Lake Wisconsin: Still bad conditions and bite right now. This will be a walleye and sauger outing. Look for more information to come on specifics as the weather changes. November: Tenney Park breakwall walleyes, Clements Fishing Barge 11/10- Veteran s fish free. Take a vet or yourself to the barge to close out the season. December: local outing All outings above are open to club members, our Rock Valley Angler friends, your family and friends! We need members with boats but you can participate even if you don t have one. Sign-ups will be at club meetings but also on Facebook or through club s. As always you can contact me at any time to sign-up or if you have questions or just want advice. Jim Pankratz or jimannepan@aol.com YFC Kid s fishing day raffle 2019 We ve already started getting some great prizes for our raffle at the WI Fishing Expo 2/24/19. We need YOUR HELP selling raffle tickets and getting prizes too! Soon we will be handing out tickets to sell at our club meetings but you can start asking for prize donations now. If you would like to donate a prize or know of a business that may donate something to our club please let me know. Top prize $1000, second prize $500 plus many other great prizes. Let s make this our best raffle ever! Jim Pankratz or jimannepan@aol.com 4

5 From the club s Facebook Page Yahara Fishing Club 5

6 Yahara Fishing Club 2nd Annual Member Appreciation Picnic Sunday, September 23, 2018 More From Facebook 6

7 Yahara Fishing Club PLACE STAMP HERE Yahara Fishing Club Membership Form P.O. Box 3271 Madison, WI Annual Dues are from January 1 to December 31. Please print. *** ESSENTIAL Name *** If Family or Youth, Additional Names Street Address State Zip Phone Number and Area Code *** - - Individual $35.00 Family.. $45.00 Student.$10.00 Youth Members are free with other paid membership. 7

Yahara Fishing Club Mary Regel Helps Us Again Once more Mary has donated $500.00 towards the Kids Fishing Days from the Rod Regel Memorial Fund. Thank You Mary!

at the VFW Hall, 301 Cottage Grove Road, Madison, WI Speaker: Kevin Yeska, president of the Mad City Bass Club, will discuss Bass basics for the Madison chain.

8 Yahara Fishing Club Mary Regel Helps Us Again Once more Mary has donated $ towards the Kids Fishing Days from the Rod Regel Memorial Fund. Thank You Mary! The next YFC meeting is Wednesday, October 10th 7:00 pm. at the VFW Hall, 301 Cottage Grove Road, Madison, WI Speaker: Kevin Yeska, president of the Mad City Bass Club, will discuss Bass basics for the Madison chain. Calendar of Upcoming Events October Events October 10th, Meeting back at the VFW hall at 7:00 pm November Events November 14, 2018, Meeting at the VFW Hall at 7:00 pm. John Reimer will be presenting on what's being done to clean water coming into the Mendota inlets. Board of Directors and Officers Gard Strother, President Tom Wilke, Speakers Tex Torgeson, Auctioneer Phil James, Vice President Karlette Schoen, Treasurer Mark Riederer Gerald King Ken Terrill Larry Reed Jim Krause 8

June Trolling for Panfish by Pat Westberg. Next Club Meeting

June Trolling for Panfish by Pat Westberg. Next Club Meeting June 2018 Editor: Tom Raschke tomraschke50@gmail.com Club Web Site: http://www.yaharafishingclub.org Trolling for Panfish by Pat Westberg Pat uses bullet bobbers for trolling. They are a directional bobber