Stan Nichols

J u l y 2012 Editors: Tom Raschke (tomraschke50@gmail.com) or 608-219-9243 Stan Nichols (sanicho1@facstaff.wisc.edu) Devils Lake Reflections Club Web site: http://www.yaharafishingclub.org Notes By Stan Nichols For me the Devils Lake trip started more than 50 years ago. Three of my buddies; Steve, a retired doctor and rancher from South Dakota; Weeze (Dick) a retired airline pilot from Vancouver, Washington; and David, former owner of Del Wood s Country Store in Madison and a longtime advertiser in the YFC newsletter started fishing together in high school. Over the years we try to get together for an annual fishing trip each summer. We ve fished many places including Sylvannia, the Boundary Waters, lodges in Canada; Kodiak Island in Alaska; Big Bay de Noc, Michigan; Lake Erie; backpacking trips for trout in the Big Horns of Wyoming, the Bear Tooth range in Montana, and Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado. We haven t made it each summer and everyone wasn t always available. The last couple of years we fished for smallmouth on the Menominee River. Although the fishing was quite good I had the feeling we needed a change of scenery. So when Chris Spierings talked about fishing Devils Lake, North Dakota and Tom Klein suggested making it an YFC outing I felt a plan coming together. I asked Tom if it was possible to sign up my budding for the trip. No problem! With the four of us and ten other YFC members we had a fishing crew. The good part of it was that is was about a halfway point for Steve coming from the west and me coming from the east with our boats. A fishing trip like this doesn t start with dropping your line in the water there is a lot of planning and preparation-lodging facilities to book, menus to prepare, food to buy, etc. For that we can give a big thanks to Tom Klein. There is also a lot of personal preparation- what rods to take, what gear to sort out of all your tackle boxes, what clothes and personal items to take. Also boats, motors, and trailers need to be checked. When was the last time you checked the wheel bearings on the boat trailer? How are the tires? Is the motor running well? Are the batteries charged? How is your vehicle running? It is 675 miles to Devils Lake so your equipment needs to be in good shape. Also it is time to collect any information about the fishing you can and may be look at the long-range weather forecast. With that behind us we are ready to go. We met Larry Reed and his crew at the Park and Ride lot off the interstate at 5:00 a.m. on June 16. Three-thirty in the morning comes mighty early to get the boat hooked up, the last of the gear packed, meet David, and get up the road to meet Larry. Twelve and one-half hours later we roll into Devils Lake with out too much trouble except for Tom Klein that had car trouble in Minnesota. After stopping in Ed s Bait and Bar for leeches, crawlers, lake maps and supper in town we head out Kids Fishing Day 2012 - More pics - see page 6. 14 in the Group Underwater Road Many of the pictures by Roger Swensen Continued next page

to Lakeview Lodge just in time to hear Brandon, a local guide give us a clue on areas and how to catch fish on Devils Lake. Devils Lake is an awesome lake. I ve fished on big water but this is BIG WATER. You could drop 25 Lake Mendotas in its 200,000 some acres. Lake Monona might be a small bay. The lake has risen over 37 feet in the last ten years, flooding out many homes, farms, roads, and fields. I am not sure, but it looked like the city of Devils Lake was under lake level. There is a huge dyke built around the city. Roads are constantly being changed and raised to beat the rising water levels. The first view of Devils Lake was this huge expanse of water with big whitecaps. Lake maps don t show the true lake that is much larger than shown on the maps. Navigating on Devils Lake also takes some care. There are sunken roads, sunken railroad tracks, old fences, farm machinery, floating logs, underwater stumps and a variety of other hazards to navigation. One place I went I saw a marker float so I went over to explore. There was the bottom of a big metal power pole that was cut off about six inches underwater. Steve almost lost an anchor that got hooked over a sunken b a r b w i r e f e n c e. Devils Lake is primarily noted for walleyes, northern pike, and white bass in the summer and it also has crappies. From Chris, Brandon, and internet information there are five general techniques for catching walleyes: casting or trolling crankbaits; trolling bottom bouncers with spinner rigs; slip bobbering; casting mimic minnows; and jigging with twister tails or other plastics. The preferred live bait is leeches or crawlers. Minnows don t work well. Catching northerns is not a problem. Keeping small northerns off is more the problem. The have a special strain of northerns in Devils Lake that I call the Edward Scissor Bills (ESB). They can cut your line in a single bite. Tom Klein took a lesson from the Hmongs for catching white bass. They usually fish them from shore, along causeways and bridges. Schools of white bass cruise the shorelines. When school passes just about any white bass lure works-maribou jigs, jigs and twister tails, small minnow like baits, minnows under a slip bobber or on the bottom with a Lindy rig. The trick is it might be a long wait between schools or you have to work up and down the shoreline to keep in contact with a school. When using crankbaits it is wise to use invisileaders so you aren t loosing nine-dollar crankbaits to ESBs. The next step is to decide where to fish and what tackle to use. Location depends on wind, waves, distance from boat landings, and recommendations from Chris and Brandon. We choose Six Mile Bay for the first day. Steve was a little ahead of my boat and he anchored up next to a cattail bed and threw out a slip bobber and leech. Bang! He had a walleye. I thought this is going to be as advertised. Things slowed after that. I don t remember how many fish we got until mid-afternoon but it was few. I rain shower blew through and the wind calmed. I anchored up to retie a rig after an ESB bit North Dakota Boat House me off. Dave was in my boat and he was jigging a spinner rig over the side of the boat while he was waiting for me to re-rig. Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! He put four walleyes in the boat while I was tying on my rig. We had a new technique but it was short lived. Dave is a somewhat inexperienced angler. After that I wasn t going to tell anyone how to catch walleyes. I don t remember much about Monday fishing. I know we caught enough fish for a contribution to one of Dave Dahl s awesome fish fries. I remember a strong west wind so we went back to the Six Mile Creek area. The whole crew was scrambling to find a protected place to fish. Continued next page 2

Tuesday we decided we needed a change of scenery so we went up to Pelican Lake. There was a strong wind from the north. The boat landing was on the south side. We could see monster waves on the main lake but we stayed behind a barrier from an old roadbed. The area looked good. We had periods of strong bites at 10:00, noon, and 2:00. Then we started fishing along a cattail point around 4:00. I think we put 16 walleyes in the boat in short order. We were late for supper that night. We hated to give up a good bite. On Wednesday morning we went back to Pelican Lake and fished along a sunken railroad track; an alleged hot spot. We trolled back and forth with out too much action. Around noon we saw Tom s boat anchored on top of the railroad. They were pulling in fish- five in short order on slip bobbers. We tried it and I had one ESB bite-off. The weather started looking ominous so we headed back to the southern part of the lake-near the boat landing where we fished the day before. We caught a few but nothing remarkable. Talking to Jerry Paffenroth and Tom we decided to go back to Pelican Lake the following day and fish along sunken Highway 281. Jerry had a big northern try to steal a walleye he caught along this stretch and Tom and Roger Swensen caught their biggest walleyes along here by casting white spinnerbaits into the cattails lining the road. I caught my biggest walleye and northern along this stretch but fishing was slow. We went back to our boat landing spot for lunch and tried the cattail point- no fish. By this time the wind was building from the west. Alter lunch we went to the other side along the old roadbed. On four drifts we caught four walleyes and three goodsized northerns. The problem was there was a gap in the roadbed and all the boats going to and from the north end of the lake went through the gap. You had to be careful to not get run over while drifting across the gap. When we got to the landing there were probably 60 rigs parked there when previously there may have been 20. Guys fishing on the north end said there were at least 25 boats on the railroad track when we saw about eight. What was going on? We found out later. There was a walleye tournament starting the next day. The rumor was that the railroad tracks were probably the hot spot. Every one was up there pre-fishing. Friday dawned dead calm. We decided to avoid the traffic on Pelican and fish Six Mile again. By this time of the week I didn t remember how to fish dead calm conditions. My trolling motor battery was dead. We caught a couple of walleyes trolling on the way out. The curious thing is we caught them in 20-plus feet of water. Then things went dead. Dick Brandt and Joe Guastella talked to some guys the day before that caught a limit of perch and some walleyes in 35 feet of water, off the sunken combine in Six Mile so we went out and tried it. I rigged up a Mendota rig and put on a chunk of night crawler and dumped it over the side. Bang- I got a bite but missed the fish. We tried it a while longer and I caught my lone perch of the trip. About a 10 incher but it looked like a football. Tom called me about mid-morning and said they were having good luck near the causeway going to Grahams Island State Park but we didn t run down there. Later in the day Steve unlocked the secret for walleyes for the day. A Lindy rig fished on the bottom in 20 or more feet of water. I think we put 13 walleyes in the boats. By about 3:30 p.m., I had an ESB bite off. That took my last red hook, chartreuse and yellow spinner blade, and quickchange clevis. It was time to call fishing on Devils Lake a wrap. I caught the majority of my fish on a spinner rig. I only remember one fish on a slip bobber, none on the mimic minnow or jig and twister tail, and I didn t try crank baits. There seemed to be no preference Continued next page 3 V.F.W. Post 1318 133 Lakeside St. Madison 53715 608-255-5955

between leeches and crawlers. Each worked better at different times and different places. Weeze has an aversion to real leeches so he was trying Gulp Alive leeches with no luck. He was a convert to the real thing by the end of the week. I know Dick Brandt and Joe were targeting northerns and got at least one 36 incher, I think by casting white spinnerbaits. We had a saying when we went to South Dakota pheasant hunting. The birds are there but you have to work for them. That was my impression of walleye fishing on Devils Lake-read Chris s notes on the forum. I think he came to the same conclusions this year. I rate the trip as 4-F. Not like your army physical but for fish, fun, fellowship, and good food. There are other things to do in the Devils Lake area like the Indian casino and the Fort Totten historic site. I didn t partake in either; you will have to ask Jerry or Dick Brandt about that. Well it is time to clean the dust out of the boat, retighten all the bolts on the trailer, and sort the fishing tackle back into their original boxes. Big thanks go to Tom Klein for organizing the trip, for the chief cooks and bottle-washers- Tom Klein, Garrett Klein, Dave Dahl, and Jerry Paffenroth, and all others that made the trip a success. If I go again it would be helpful to have a bigger, faster boat so you could fish more area and perhaps hire a guide for a day or two. July is almost here, where is the summer going? The heat wave we are having makes me think we are in August not the end of June. The good news is we still have lots of time to catch the big ones. Don t forget about our fishing contest and enter what you catch. Details are on our web page. We have some great volunteer opportunities coming up. July 14-15th - Fishing Has No Boundaries. Club members are needed for several activities, including boats. It takes a lot of volunteers to put this event on. See or call Marv Cutrell (244-5410) for more details. July 19th - 8th annual Jenni and Kyle Fishing Day, from 4:30-6 pm fishing, 7:00 is the cookout. (rain date July 23rd ) More details can be found in our newsletter. It would be great if members could help out with these. It looks like everyone had a good time at our outing last month. Lots of White Bass were caught by all. Thanks Jack for taking them out! Thanks to those who called the city to get the boat landing cleaned up before our event as well. The Devils Lake trip went well and lots of big fish were caught. Thanks to Tom and Chris for all the planning on this one! I saw lots of nice pictures on our Yahoo group page. Our next on the water meeting is July 10th, at Olbrich Park. Meeting is at 6 pm, there will be a quick lunch of hot dogs, chips, etc, bring your own beverage. Charlie Grimm will be leading us to the big gills. August 10th is our first Fish fry of the season. This is held at St. Paul s church on Sherman Ave. We will have tickets for sale at the next meeting. It s an all you can eat buffet with desert. This is one of the best fish fries around. I look forward to it every year I had a chance to spend time on Otter Lake near Stanley Wisconsin with family members last week. Bass fishing was fantastic. The water temps have been cooler there and gills were still spawning last week. I caught a few nice crappies on that lake as well. Have to love those purple Willy worms for pan fishing!!! I hear the perch are biting on Lake Mendota so you might want to get some for dinner. I hope everyone is having a great summer and enjoying the fishing! See you at the next meeting. Karlette Notes From the Prez More pictures will be in the next issue or are already on the forum. 4

June on the Water meeting, Warner Park. Contact Duffy at 608-576-2700 5

Kids Fishing Day More pictures from last month s event. Jim Pankratz Marv Kontney Marv Cutrell Jack Hurst 6

8th Annual Jenni & Kyle Fishing Day!! This is an event for disabled individuals to go fishing. If you would like to help out, contact Chris James at James@countyofdane.com. Membership Application Name Street P.O. Box 3271 Madison, WI 53704 City State Zip Email When: Thursday, July 19th, 2012 (Rain Date: Monday, July 23rd, 2012) Time: 4:30 6:00 pm Fishing 6:00 7:00 pm Cookout Where: Jenni & Kyle Preserve 925 Post Road Madison, WI 53713 Rods, reels, and bait furnished Barbecue included Accessible to individuals in wheel chairs The first 35 people who respond will be accepted No charge to attend Please RSVP to: Colleen Campbell 2129 Commonwealth Avenue Madison, Wisconsin 53726 Colleen.Campbell@verona.k12.wi.us 608-233-4997 *All individuals with disabilities must be supervised by family or other support personnel. Everyone is welcome to attend the cookout! 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 Organization to Educate, Protect and Propagate the Interests of All Fishermen in the Yahara Basin Area Including all of Madison s Lakes 7

The next meeting is on Tuesday, July 10th, On the water July Events Meet at 6:00 at Olbrich Park Calendar of Upcoming Events July 10th - On the Water meeting at Olbrich Park, Lake Monona. July 14 and 15 - Fishing Has No boundaries - Gov. Nelson Park See Notes from the Prez, P. 4 July 19th - 8th Annual Jenni & Kyle Fishing Day!! See P. 7 August Events August 10th is our first fish fry at St. Paul s Lutheran on Sherman Ave. Tickets are available from Karlette Schoen or Jack Hurst. Aug 14 - On-the-water meeting The s doors are open to EVERYONE, so invite a friend to the meeting! President -Karlette Schoen..242-8803 Vice Pres. - Charlie Grimm.249-9694 Secretary - Paul Nichols 309-335-6815 Treasurer - Dennis Puser.....576-0929 Director - Don Gostomski, 249-8250Director - Mike Hutchen...234-1590 Director - Paul Zoch... 241-5443 Director - Don Hammes... 836-1205 Director - Jesse Tougas...831-3151 Director - Randy Winkleman 358-4885 Director - Tom Klein...225-4968 Director - Larry Reed - 221-0362 Check out our web page at: www.yaharafishingclub.org P.O. Box 3271 Madison, WI 53704