Mid Summer Issue

Editor's Note: We have now approached the midway point of our summer, and for some species, it's the prime time for hooking on to that lunker. I've got to add that this past weekend has been one of my personal best trips of the season! (You'll find out why later in the issue.) In other news, the Fox River Times may be gaining national fame!!! More on that in issues to come... So, enjoy the rest of the summer, and remember to keep reading the Fox River Times.

Thanks for reading,

Sam Goulet

Black Otter Lake Fishing Report: Well, as you probably read at the end of last issue, I was headed to Black Otter Lake for the day. Unfortunately I didn't get the scoop that they hadn't stocked the lake yet this year, so I showed up to schools of 1" minnows!!!!! I did see 1 small bluegill in the shallows, but it probably wasn't even big enough to bite my jig. On the bright side, my sister did manage to catch a minnow with her hands. (Sorry, no picture taken)

From Dave's Dock: Last week, Capt. Dave Resop was having troubles with gar stealing all of his bait. They would run with the bait, and when he'd set the hook, they took the minnow with them. Being a problem solver, Dave took three circle hooks, and threaded a minnow through the 3 hooks. All of the sudden he felt a tug on the line and set the hook. Well, when Dave landed his monster catch, there was no gar at the end of the line...there was a 12 lb. rubberback turtle!!!!! Once again, no picture was taken, but I've offered to get Dave a disposable camera! Good work Captn.!!

Oh Give me a Home, Where the Buffalo Roam: As I mentioned earlier in the Editor's Note, this past weekend was very successful, especially for the lesser known species. Read on to find out what I mean...

On Sunday morning, my dad, Lauren, Uncle Steve (Visiting from Seattle), and I drove our boat up a little ways from our cabin to a fishing hole known to produce walleye in the summer. Well while everybody else was just getting their poles out, I had already baited up and hooked on to a giant fish!!! It was running all over the place, refusing to come near the net. Once I pulled it up to the surface, we realized that it was a bigmouth buffalo!!! (I also caught one last summer, it's posted in an earlier edition.) After measuring it, it wasn't as long as some of the fish we catch (22 inches), but it was just pure bulk and fat, and weighed a lot for a 22 incher. Later on, my dad hooked on to a nice white bass, a rare catch in the Fox River. I unhooked all of the fish that we caught today, and one lesson learned is to never squeeze a white bass while unhooking it...they will pee on you without warning!! So, after wiping off after that incident, Lauren got a nice fish on, and it turned out to be a 22" carp, real nice fighter!

Towards the end of the trip, even Uncle Steve managed to catch 2 nice sheepshead, one of which was 16''! All of these fish were caught while either drifting or jigging a minnow or crawler on the bottom. Below are pictures of the catches.

Me with a 22'' bigmouth buffalo caught on a pink jig and a crawler.

Dad with a 14'' white bass caught on a minnow.

Lauren with a 22' carp caught on a jig and a crawler.

My Uncle Steve with a 16'' sheepshead also caught on a crawler.

City Fishing: Behind the small town of Princeton WI, lays a quiet stretch of the Fox River, practically unfished by other anglers. I've always wanted to fish there, so on Sunday, I find myself behind an old antique shop, casting to large carp that were breaking the surface on the other side of the river. The fishing turned out to be better than I expected, except for the limited casting space. In the end, I didn't hook into a monster carp as I had planned, but caught a pretty nice sheepshead and a small channel cat. Below are pictures of my catches.

Since there really wasn't a good pic. of the catfish, here's me fighting it. You can tell that this is a pretty cool fishing spot by all the rocks, trees, and that other people don't fish it. (Except me)

Here's the sheepshead I caught with a jig/crawler.

Plop and Drop for More Panfish: My first few years of fishing were mainly done in the pursuit of panfish (bluegills, pumpkinseed), like most other young anglers. But while I fished for them, I developed a very successful method that I still use to this day. I call it the "plop and drop". Basically it's when you don't cast your bait out to the fish, you use the end of your rod tip and drop the bait where you want it. This is very handy when fishing lily pads, and other shorelines infested with the weeds that bass, bluegills, and other panfish call home. The best spots to "plop" your bait in, are pockets (holes) in the weeds and lily pads, and near or along side trees and cover.

This system gave me a lot of success on the Tittabawassee River, where there were many weed beds and bays filled with lily pads. I forgot to mention that the use of a bobber is necessary, but the depth depends on how deep the body of water is that you are fishing in. When using the plop and drop, make sure not to let the bait sit in one spot too long, panfish like occasional movement, and will be convinced not to bite a "still" bait. Of course, when fishing a river, the movement is already there for you. So remember, next time that your out on the water, give the plop and drop a try. You can thank me by e-mailing me pictures of your catches! Speaking of pictures, here is one of me with a pumpkinseed I caught using the plop and drop method on the Tittabawassee.

Hey! I've officially had a cheesy smile for 4 weeks running!!!! In this picture, I'm holding up a plump pumpkinseed caught by using the plop and drop.

Longnose Gar Update: Lately, longnose gar can be seen surfacing all over the river, and chasing the newly hatched shiner minnows. This is the prime time to fish for longnose gar, because when the minnows leave, the gar leave. Neighbor Capt. Dave Resop has had some close encounters with the gar, many of them just stealing his minnows. My dad and I have had many gar strikes on our home made rope lures, which are designed to get stuck in the gar 100's of needle sharp teeth. We get them to the boat, right as they make that heartbreaking, tackle busting, run towards deeper water. Hannah did manage to get a picture of one of the gar that we had on, right as it was about to do another one of its head shakes, and get off. Enjoy!

Can it be...the Lochness monster?! No, it's a gar. You can see the skinny brown outline of one, with the white rope lure at the right.



Our Readers Say: Sadly, I haven't received any e-mails regarding the Our Readers Say column, so there won't be any this week. If you've got a fishing story you'd like to share, e-mail me at sgoulet@new.rr.com

Later today if the rain holds up, my dad and I will be trolling Lake Winnebago for walleye. Last night we both bought the "secret" color pattern that walleyes are biting on after my dad got an insider's tip from a man he works with.

Catch next issue for an exclusive Bait Shop Tour '09 stop, Winnebago fishing report, and hopefully an Our Readers Say So until then, tight lines and good fishing!!!