Gearing Up For Spring 2002

I am looking forward to the 2022 open water fishing season in the Northwoods. Last year was our inaugural year guiding kayaking anglers in our prime waters. I am headed into 2022 with much more extensive knowledge of the area’s fishing hotspots.

I like to search for the hottest new baits hitting the market in the offseason. So, if you fish with me this summer, there is no doubt we will be throwing some of the baits featured in the photo above.

An update on bookings. June is quickly filling up; we still have several openings in May, July, August, and September.

Hope to see you soon in Wisconsin’s Northwoods!

A Monster for Ned!

I have spent the last few summers in Northern Wisconsin scouting out lakes for my kayak fishing business, which I will be launching in May of 2021.  Last July was one of those scouting missions.  I could have never predicted what was about to happen on this particular scouting day!

It was an abnormally warm, early July morning.  As I paddled away from our family’s dock on Crab Lake I noted how the water was dead calm.  I felt humbled by the beauty as I cut through the glass with the foggy mist still rising from the surface of the lake.  I had tied on one of my favorite smallmouth bass search baits.  I thought about topwater but for some reason preferred the silence of the lake.  It was a Ned Rig I opted for; a small 1/8 ounce jig with a short little strait rubber body.  The flavor today was ” Yoga Pants.”  The tried and true Yoga Pants color must resemble a leech creeping along the bottom of the lake.  The key to Ned Rig fishing is to fish slow and on or near the bottom.

Crab is my home water and I was looking for one of those monster smallies she is stingy to give up!  After a short paddle, I started to work the edge of a weed bed just off of a mid-bay island. Sure enough, I caught a few little guys, not the football-sized chunk I was hunting.  I decided to head towards another area that holds a substantial number of smallies.

My plan was to start at the tip of a point and work my way down the to its end.  I kept my distance from shore opting to take advantage of the thin braid that allowed me to cast long distances.  The first cast was headed towards where I hoped a big girl was laying in wait.  The Ned hit the water and I was waiting for it to sink and my line to show signs that old Ned had reached the bottom. I  would then  creep him back to the yak.  Sure thing, Ned stopped but to my surprise started heading down the shore!  I barely had time to load the rod and set the hook!  WHAM!  The rod stopped like I had snagged a submerged tree! Then the fight was on.

I knew this was no smallmouth.  I thought maybe a pike.  The setup I was using was no match for a big pike.  Ten-pound braid with an eight-pound floro leader would surely fail.  A funny thing happens when you hook big fish from a kayak; the kayak acts as a secondary drag!  This fish was actually towing me a bit. After about fifteen minutes a good-sized muskie came up from the depths like a submarine.  There was no way I was going to land this beast… Nor did I want to at this point.  I reached for my Iphone and started snapping photos. I noticed my Ned in the corner of the bruiser’s mouth and with one shake of her head she was free!

I doubled timed it back to the cabin and woke the family to share my fish story!  Lucky for me I not only had the story but the photos to prove it.

This big-toothed muskie hit this pint-sized Ned Rid!