02/24/08 Geneva Lake afternoon clear 30 degrees. Winds light and variable. Ice 12-14". I had the chance to fish with my taxidermist friend Don Rich of Natures Touch Taxidermy from Janesville, Wisconsin and a group of friends and colleagues fishing the narrows for lakers with a group of seven covering a lot of water. We marked 4 fish right off the bat, but the fish were not interested. Reports of many people out fishing have hooked fish losing them half way up in the past few weeks. I believe the fish are getting a strong case of lock-jaw in result of the foul hook-ups. We down sized a bit to turn the sniffers into biters with no avail. With the slow action, it was a great day to be out on the water.

02/24/08 Geneva Lake clear 12 degrees, warming to 25 later in the day. Winds light and variable. Ice 12-18". We fished Geneva Bay in the morning with the bite starting slow and picking up around 10 a.m. a few nice pumpkinseeds were caught. Best colors were gold or chartreuse marmooskas. One 26" northern caught on medium roaches. Four other flags with the line run out 20 feet or so. Saw many fish on the Aqua-Vu along with some largemouth and pike, but dead still. The water column is very cold, marking 32 degrees at 22 feet.

02/23/08 Geneva Lake clear 15 degrees. Winds NNW 5-10 mph. Ice 14-18" in Geneva Bay. Fishing was extremely slow due to the high pressure hovering over us. No Flags.

Reddy Guide Service will be in the Sunday Journal Sentinel!

02/21/08 Geneva Lake partly cloudy/overcast later 15 degrees. Winds light and variable. Ice 10-12". I had the golden opportunity to fish with Paul Smith of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Judy Nugent of Outdoors Radio and Outdoor Wisconsin and one of my clients Donna Lotzer fro Madison, WI.

We targeted lake trout today being rewarded with a beautiful male laker 36" and 15.1 pounds. Judy hooked the fish around 11 a.m. or so. Judy being an awesome person let my client Donna fight the fish for 45 minutes landing the fish. I truly do not know who was more excited in the group. The adrenalin was pumping in all of us. Donna did a great job fighting the fish on 6 pound test using a jigging Rapala. We marked a few more fish with no avail.

This was a day I think all of us will mark down as a memorable one!

Photos by Paul Smith of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

Fishing with Paul Smith from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel!

02/14/08 Delavan Lake overcast 32 degrees. Winds SW 5-10 mph. Ice 15-18" in southwest bay. I had the opportunity to fish with two clients from Janesville and Paul Smith of Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. We fished mainly for panfish ending up with 32 nice bluegills in the 7 1/2-8 1/2" range. We set a few tip-ups with no takers, but saw many northern swimming through looking with the Aqua-Vu. Between the four of us we caught 60-70 gills ranging from 4-8 1/2".

Best presentation was black Rat Finkies tipped with spikes.

Reddy Guide Service On Outdoor Wisconsin Again!

02/13/08 Geneva Lake clear 15 degrees, the first bluebird day in a long time. Winds NE 5-10 mph. Ice 10-12". I had the opportunity to fish with Judy Nugent of Outdoor Wisconsin once again for a show on ice for lake trout. It certainly was an eventful day.

We fished in the narrows covering 70-85 feet of water. The first fish was on around 10 a.m. or so which Judy hooked while I was demonstrating how to use a Vexilar FL-18. She fought the fish for a good 40 minutes finally getting the fish to the hole. We had the fish up the hole when he fish lunged popping the hook out and slipping back to the depths. I estimate the fish was between 28-30".

While Judy was fighting that fish for 20 minutes one of my clients hooked another fish, so we rushed over to my client to film his fight with the same result, the hook flying out of the fish at the hole.

After some time I hooked into a fish at noon, playing the fish out for around 40 minutes landing a nice 24" laker.

All in all a great day on the water, ending with a delicious bratwurst fry.

02/11/08 Geneva Lake overcast 20 degrees. Winds NNE 5-1 mph. Ice 6-7". Fished for lakers in 65-75 feet of water with many sniffers, no takers. I fished for maybe an hour or so. Doing a little scouting for an Outdoor Wisconsin television segment on Wednesday.

02/05/08 Geneva Lake rain 38 degrees. Winds NNE 10-15 mph. Ice 4-5". I fished the narrows today hunting down lakers. I ended up hooking one fish losing it on the second run. Marked maybe 10 fish in around two hours. Jigging in 85 feet of water with jigging raps and spoons.

02/09/08 Delavan Boat Show at Community Park 9-6 p.m.

02/01/08 Delavan Lake overcast/snow 29 degrees. Winds NE 10-15 mph. 10-11" ice in the northwest bay. We had a good morning catching gills and few nice crappie fihing jigs tipped with plastics in 5-8 feet of water. The pike bite "again" was not happening. No flags. Talking with a few other fishermen over the course of the ice fishing season, the pike catch rate is down. Many of the pike being caught are between 24-28", lots of young fish swimming.

01/31/08 Delavan Lake clear 19 degrees. Winds NNE 5-10 mph. Ice 8-10". I had the chance to go fishing with local reporter Mike Heine from The Week. We did a story on ice fishing and why we do it. After our outing I think Mike had a new perspective on the "insane" sport of looking down an ice hole. We caught a few decent gills, but the northern pike were not actively biting today. Photos by Dan Plutchak of The Week.

01/27/08 Delavan Lake clear 32 degrees. Winds West 10-15 mph. Ice 8-10". We fished a little shallower today in the 5-6 foot range catching 20 nice gills between 7-9" out of 40 fish or so caught on gold and glow pattern jigs with plastics and spikes. Two flags with the line run out about 10-20 feet. Tip-ups were baited with smelt and golden roaches.

01/26/08 Delavan Lake snowing 17 degrees. Winds SSW 5-10 mph. Ice 8-10" in the bay. No flags using a mix of offerings. We ended up with 40 nice gills catching most of the fish with any jigs in the glow pattern. We fished 5-8 feet of water.

01/07/08 Delavan Lake rain/foggy 60 degrees! Winds light and variable, picking up to 10-20 later. Ice 5-6" deteriorating quickly. Tornado warnings out after we left the ice. The bite was awesome today. We limited out in gills within 45 minutes using glow teardrops and spikes. One 24" northern on smelt.

01/06/08 Turtle Lake foggy/overcast 48 degrees. Winds light and variable. Ice 6-7". 2-3" of water on the ice. We fished the 15-17 weedline ending up with 10 nice perch between 7-10". No flags set with fatheads for walleyes. Best bait for the perch was using rockers with spikes. Quite the sunset!

01/06/08 Delavan Lake foggy 40 degrees. Winds calm. 5-6" ice. Fished 12-15 feet of water with tip-ups and jigging for gills. We ended up with 3 flags but no fish using medium suckers. Caught 35 gills with 11 being 7-8 1/2" using Rat Finkies and spikes.

01/05/08 Delavan Lake overcast/heavy fog 35 degrees. Winds light and variable. Ice 5". Fished the Northeast end of the lake for walleyes. Two "flags", but no fish. Fished 5-8 feet of water with fatheads on tip-ups.

01/01/08 Turtle Lake clear and cold! 12 degrees. Winds 5-10 mph. Ice 6-8”. Fishing was quite slow due to the cold temps and high pressure. We ended up with 10 gills and no flags. Most of the fish were caught fishing 25-28 feet of water on the bottom dead sticking small jigs and spikes.

12/31/07 Turtle Lake overcast 34 degrees. Winds light and variable. Ice 6”. No flags today, but we ended up with 20 nice bluegills ranging 7-8”. Best depth was 17-20 FOW, fishing brown and black jigs tipped with wax-worms and spikes.

Fishing With My Son Very Memorable!

12/30/07 Turtle Lake overcast/snow 32 degrees. Winds light and variable. Ice thickness 5-6”. I had the opportunity to take my son out fishing today. I am quite proud of my boy reeling in a 20 ½” walleye. After catching the fish my son asked if we could let it go. A true young sportsman and steward, practicing catch and release. We also managed to catch 25 nice gills and a few perch fishing small jigs tipped with spike in 12-17 FOW. My son caught the walleye on a dead-stick tip-up using large fatheads fishing 17-19 FOW.

12/29/07 Delavan Lake snow 28 degrees. High winds 25-30 mph. Ice thickness 5” in the bay, wide open out on the main lake. Fished the west side of the lake on the north side of the Island. Pretty good day out on the ice ending up with 20 nice gills fishing gold tungsten jigs tipped with plastic or spikes. We fished 3-5 FOW. On the tip-ups we landed a nice 23” northern pike, and lost one larger fish at the hole. We also had 5 other “flags”, but no fish. The line was run out 10-30 feet. Many of the minnows were crushed with out tooth marks leaving me to believe that largemouth may have been the culprits.

12/22/07 Delavan Lake heavy fog/raining 48 degrees. 3-4”ice thickness, lots of water on the surface. We fished mainly for pan-fish, setting tip-ups for pike also. The fishing action was pretty slow to start. We ended up with 15 bluegills ranging from 7-8 ½”, and a 20” northern pike. We fished 4-8 FOW fishing medium suckers and smelt for the pike, while fishing Rat Finkies tipped with plastics and spikes.

12/20/07 Delavan Lake clear 30 degrees. First ice fishing outing of the year. Ice thickness 4-5”, 4-5” of snow cover. We fished the morning bite ending up with 3 northern pike 24-27” and 11 nice bluegills ranging 8-9”. We fished the west end of the lake north of the Island. Best depths 5-8 FOW. For the pike we used small to medium suckers on tip-ups. The gills we used small marmooska jigs tipped with spikes.

12/17/07 Delavan Lake snowing 18 degrees. Winds SW 5-10 mph. H20 33.1 degrees. After a long hiatus from fishing, I took some time to acquire my captain’s license, taking a class up in Green Bay, and taking care of un finished business. We casted stick baits in between the ice floes on the windward side of the lake. We ended up catching three walleyes 17-17 ¾”, fishing 17-22 FOW. Most of the lake was iced up, excluding a huge open area between the Yacht club going south east.

11/29/07 Delavan Lake clear/partly cloudy 41 degrees. Winds NNW 10-15 mph. H20 temps 40.8 degrees. I fished the windward points casting stickbaits, switching to long-line trolling producing 6 walleye ranging from 17-21”. Best depths 12-20 FOW.

11/23/07 Delavan Lake clear 33 degrees. Winds light and variable. H20 temps at surface 41.6 degrees. Casted the shoreline for eyes, producing two shorts. Not many fish marked tonight. Fished 15-25 FOW.

11/21/07 Delavan Lake fished the evening bite, snowing 32 dropping to 18 degrees. Winds NNE 20-25 mph. H20 temps at surface 42 degrees. Worked the lake long-line trolling switching to casting the shore line with stick baits. Quite a productive night ending up with 12 walleyes total. Out of that twelve, three keepers 18-19” fish. Best depths 17-22 FOW.

11/18/07 Delavan Lake rain 40 degrees. Winds NNW 5-10 mph. H20 temps 42 degrees. Long line trolled walleyes along south shore. Caught 11 walleyes ranging 17-25 3/4". All fish caught in 15-20 FOW. Trolling stick-baits between .5 and 1 mph. Great fishing in nasty weather!

11/04/07 Delavan Lake afternoon, clear 45 degrees. Winds NW 5-10 mph. We fished targeting crappies then walleyes at dusk. The crappies were biting fair to good giving us 12 good eater size fish. The walleye bite started slow, but when the sun hit the trees we ended up catching two short eyes. The best depth was 24-33 FOW. We fished using fathead minnows and crawlers Lindy rigged drifting. The crappies were caught under slip-bobbers and casting Mini-Mites.

11/04/07 Delavan Lake morning, clear 50 degrees. Winds NNW 5-10 mph. H20 temps at surface 54.5 degrees. We fished artificial baits today for bass concentrating on the main lake points and deep weed-lines. Swim-baits and rattle-traps were the productive presentations today. We fished 20-45 feet of water ending up with 3 undersized walleyes, 2 largemouth 17 ¾-18”, and one northern pike 31”.

11/03/07 Delavan Lake morning, clear and cold 33 degrees. Winds calm increasing 5-10 mph. H20 temps 53.1 degrees. Very slow morning early, around 10 a.m. the bite started to heat up. We ended up with around 10 crappies, 2 short walleyes and 3 northern pike 27-31 ½”. Nice and calm with no pleasure boat traffic.

11/03/07 Delavan Lake afternoon, clear 49 degrees. Winds light and variable. H20 temps at surface 54 degrees. Targeting northerns today we ended up with a nice 33” along with a few undersized fish. We also fished for walleyes ending up with one legal and three undersized fish. Best depth was 33 feet of water today. In between we caught a few crappies fishing small fatheads under slip-bobbers. Notice the great fish-fighting stance! My clients did a great job reeling them in today!

11/01/07 Delavan Lake clear 37 degrees. Winds NNW 10-15 mph. H20 Temps 55 degrees at surface. Pretty quiet today on the lake. Most of the fish I marked were on or close to the bottom. We ended up catching a few crappies dragging small jigs and minnows on the bottom in 30-35 feet of water. We switched gears to fish for walleyes ending up with two shorts and one smallmouth 17 ½” fishing 25-30 feet of water.

10/28/07 Geneva Lake afternoon, clear 55 degrees. Winds light and variable. H20 temp at surface 57 degrees. Fished for crappies near Trinkes and Geneva Bay. Ended up catching some nice smallies ranging from 17-18 ½” in 20-25 feet of water. Did not mark many schools of fish at all.

10/28/07 Delavan Lake morning, clear 39 degrees. Winds light and variable. H20 temp at surface 56.8 degrees. Low clarity today, the lake may be starting to turn. Barometric pressure 30.06 rising. We fished the main points this morning with swim-baits and plastic grubs on darter heads. The action was unbelievable for around an hour or so. We caught 4 largemouth, 17-20”, 1 smallmouth 18 ½”, 3 northern pike 24-28”, around 15 crappies ranging 8-12”. Best depths were 26-36 feet of water. Best time was 9-10:30 a.m.

10/28/07 Delavan Lake clear 38 degrees. Winds light increasing to 10-15 mph. H20 temps 58.7 degrees. Caught 3 largemouth 17-20", 4 walleyes 16-17", one smallmouth 18 1/2", 3 northern pike 24-28" and 15 crappies 8-10" using fathead minnows fishing the main breakline adjacent to the weedline. Best depth 20-30 feet. Fished minnows drifting Lindy rigs and drop-shot rigs. For the game-fish we casted lipless cranks and swim-baits. Many of the fish were on or near the bottom with such a cold morning.

The Fall Bite Can Be Excellent!

10/26/07 Delavan Lake clear 48 degrees. Winds calm. H20 temp at surface 59.2 degrees. Fished for walleyes and crappies off of the north shore. Ended up with a few walleyes the largest being 23”. We also caught a few smallmouth the largest being 20 1/2 “. Fish were caught on drop-shotting crawlers and fatheads due to calm winds. Crappies were suspended over 22-24 feet of water. Caught crappies on fatheads and plastics. We fished a combination of casting and using slip-bobbers.

10/25/07 Delavan Lake afternoon, clear 45 degrees. Winds picked up to 20-25 mph. H20 temp at surface 59.9 degrees. Had a difficult time with boat control. We fished the leeward side of the lake. Caught a few under sized pike. We also ended up catching a few under sized large mouth and smallmouth bass. Ended up calling it a day early due to winds.

Cool Crisp Fall Air!

10/25/07 Delavan Lake morning, clear 40 degrees. Wind SSW 10-15 mph. Water temp at surface 60 degrees. Had a great trip fishing for walleyes and crappies. We ended up with a few nice northern pike in between. The biggest walleye was 23” with a few 17-17 3/4” Lindy rigging crawlers and fatheads. Crappies were suspended in 30-35 FOW 10 feet down. Used plastics and minnows for the crappies vertically jigging.