Fishing behind the Cheese curtain...

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Tim Borski
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Fishing behind the Cheese curtain...

Post by Tim Borski »

As I typically do, I spent most of the month of June and the first week or so of July in Wisconsin. I arrived solo on the 10th because my family could not get free until later in the month. WI was experiencing a late spring and my fingers were crossed in hopes of there still being some fish up shallow. When I arrived late in the aft, I had a couple of hours to chase snakes, but that was all.
The next morning I went and checked out a series of large bays on the Lake Michigan side of Door County (visualize WI as the palm of your right hand…Door County is the “thumb.”) I was mostly happy to see there were no signs of previous spawning and even though it was cold (high 40’s) at night, it was getting into the low to mid 70’s on most afternoons. I was patient and chased snakes, but still checked out each of my fishing areas in the afternoons. By my third outing, I had still yet to see a fish until my last stop of a long, long day…carp. Jillions of carp. There were literally thousands of them in the back quarter mile of a huge bay facing the big open stuff. I'd looked at this water the evening before and it was empty; stuff happens quickly here when conditions are right.


Here's what the bay looked like the evening before...


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...and the difference a single day makes.


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I caught a few and then left.



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The next few days were more of the same and I eventually stopped fishing and took some crappy cell pics of them in the water.


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I had company I’d invited…one was a longtime childhood friend and the other two were acquaintances from this forum. The plan was to meet up with them on a Saturday morning, fish Smallmouth bass and chase snakes. Simple, right? Um, nope, there was big problem; I checked my areas (and several others the very afternoon before.) The carp were finished and gone; the bass were not there yet.
The morning they arrived, I told them what I knew WASN’T happening and suggested we should go see if the fish had shown up overnight…if they hadn’t, we’d simple chase critters. There was nothing I could do; you just can’t make bass show up.
It’s a long walk into the area I chose and I was hoping the morning would warm a bit while we were traipsing in. Once there, we spread out in a line over a long, crystal clear, sandy flat and covered an area from shore on out to a couple hundred yards. I was a little behind the group, moving nice and slow with low hopes when a strange and wondrous thing happened…I saw a fish. It wasn’t just any fish; it was a freaking bass! So I caught it.



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It was cloudy, cold, spitting rain and our visibility was poor, but a couple of the guys managed a few more bass. Life was good. After a couple hours I pulled the plug…the plan was to chase Milk and Fox snakes, have a burger and beer at a local tavern and then return to the fish. With all four of those accomplished, we returned. The skies were even darker but (I think) 2 of the guys caught a few more. I zeroed but the forecast for the next two days was “sunny and 75/80.” I said goodbye to Ben and Kyle. (Great seeing you again Ben and nice to finally meet you, Kyle.) Tommy spent the night; we drank some Scorned beaver ale and talked bass…tomorrow would be the day.
Tommy and I smooshed’em pretty good the next morning but had to pull the plug early because he had to be at a Father’s day dinner in northern WI. I went and chased snakes.
So, the next morning was sunny and warmer still…not a cloud in the sky. I went to another bay to see what was going on and was treated to an amazing spectacle. All the bass were coming in from the deep water several hundred yards off shore. There were singles, doubles and small groups racing into the shallows. From a distance, over the light, shallow sandy areas they looked like the shadows of birds flying over the water. Pretty damn impressive…they would all race to anything on the bottom, whether it was wood, a rock or just a dark patch of dead grass, do a quick circle around it and then shoot off in another direction. I stayed close to the entrance of a small marshy creek and took it all in. I caught almost 60 of them (with 19 being between 4 to just under 6lbs) and then left. I’d gotten really cold in the water and went to the interior of the county to warm up and chase snakes. I got the snakes, eventually warmed up and called it the single best day of fishing/critter chasing I’ve ever had.


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This is the biggest I encountered...sorry for the completely crappy "turn your phone around thing." I was by myself.


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The next day I had to pick up my family at the airport in the afternoon. I went back in the morning without a rod and took some photos. I spooked a few before I finally snuck close enough to this one; a solid 3 3/4 lber.


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The family and I went to the central portion of the state, visited Grandpa and chased snakes for a few days then headed back. I didn’t expect the bass to still be on the beds but they were. I took my boys out a couple mornings and they did well.


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We again went back to Grandpa’s and I switched gears. Last summer, on my final 3 days I got into an early morning Musky bite. It only happened for an hour tops and was good. This year the water was really high but I had more time to figure it out. The 2nd morning I had a tremendous “follow” by a 46-48” fish as I was standing in waist deep water, at 4:45AM. I brought my Buzz bait in, did a long exaggerated “C” and noticed the water “humping” up just up current of me. I thought “geez, I didn’t cause that, did I?” bringing the lure in front of me again and looking behind it, there she was! Big and “red” in the low light, 6 inches behind the bait! She made one pass then curved away. I cast again. Nothing. Switched baits. Nothing. Left and returned and hour later. Nothing. Went back the same time the next morning. Nothing. So I went off to find better conditions. So I go back to Dad’s and his wife (A great lady) thinks I’m nuts when I tell her I’ll try again tomorrow. Dad knows me and thinks nothing of it…he’s realistic and thinks “what else have you got to do at 4:00AM?” So I leave early for another area that’s got a ton of current but a couple of big, “Musky looking” eddies…Josef and I scoped it out the night before. A good friend of mine named Joe lives up here and he’s constantly telling me “In this dark water of the Wisconsin river you have to throw orange and gold or fire tiger Rapalas.” I hate the look of both those colors but throw them regardless. Nothing. It’s 5:00A and I haven’t moved a fish so I look around to make sure no one’s looking and tie on a white buzz bait that I’ve rigged with a stinger treble and a fat rubber trailer (more for weight than appearance.) In exactly one cast to a back eddy up against a concrete wing dam, it gets plucked off the surface. I set up, not knowing if it’s an 11” Smallie or the fish I’m after. A couple of strong, slow headshakes later, I know it’s the one. I look down around me and see a perfect fissure in the rocks to slide her into. A few minutes later, she’s there. Not big, but the one I wanted…


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The next morning I get another slightly smaller one on a white buzzer but tell Joe it was caught on an orange and gold Rap. He looks me square in the eye and says: “See? I told ya.”


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Here's a few out takes...


This is where it happened.


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I found an odd looking form on the bottom of the bay...


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...it was a 12 gauge shotgun; In my mind, I picture it sliding off the side of some duck hunters boat as they crossed some rough water on a cold, windy pre-dawn morning in November...


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I looked for these many times as a kid growing up in central WI but never found them...this is the first I've ever seen and was part of a "string" of 40 or 50 that were growing along a short section of trail into one of the fishing areas.


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Invasive Gobys can be seen scooting around virtually any piece of bottom structure if you take the time to look close enough. I didn't have to work hard to see this one.


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'Hope everyone's have a great summer.


Tim
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Dell Despain
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Re: Fishing behind the Cheese curtain...

Post by Dell Despain »

Pretty neat post here Tim. What were you using for a fly on the carp?

Here on the Bighorn our water is extremely cold this year and the carp have stuffed themselves in every slough on the river that has warmer water. Our carp fishing has been very good because of this. I'll pull a leech for them or slow twitch a san juan worm back to myself.

I'll throw in a few photos when I get them down loaded into photo bucket if your interested.

-Dell
VICtort
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Re: Fishing behind the Cheese curtain...

Post by VICtort »

That small mouth action is amazing, I had no idea the near shore migration was so defined. Carp on a fly in that shallow zone would be a gas, like Dell , I am curious what patterns you use. I am guessing crayfish?

I would love to hear more about targeting carp with fly rods. As the local water level drops and the Sacramento river warms, trout are getting harder to catch, so carp might be a fun alternative. I have found spawning aggregations of carp difficult to catch, seemingly preoccupied rather than aggressively feeding. How do you get them interested in taking a fly?

I sometimes wondered why you would leave the Keyes for Wisconsin, but this post clearly shows you have it wired and that Muskie is no doubt a thrill for even one of your experience. That is great your son is enjoying the pursuit too.

Congratulations and thanks for posting. I just returned from SE Alaska, and it was everything and more that I had dreamed of, we hit the silver run well and humpies and chums too. Oh but I do love Summer!

Vic
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Tim Borski
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Re: Fishing behind the Cheese curtain...

Post by Tim Borski »

Dell, Victort, my fly selection for the carp and bass up there couldn’t be more convenient…I take my box named “Redfish” with me. They’ll all work but my favorite is a large, buggy “Chernobyl crab.” It’s tied on a #1 Gamakatsu B-10, has fairly long tails and large bead chain eyes. I like the idea of not having to make the time to sit down beforehand and spin a bunch of bugs before I go. (It’s tarpon season down here then in the Keys and my days/nights are pretty full as it is.)

I also use a spinning rod and almost always use a large tube grub. Again, from a box of soft plastics in my “Redfish” bag. Light colors work well, but I prefer dark ones because I can see them while they are in the water and know for sure where they are in relation to an individual fish. This is really important, especially with the carp because their strike zone on most days is very small.

Victort, I think I saw such a determined approach from the bass on that afternoon because the Spring had been really “late,” weather/water temps were marginal at best, and they were probably more than a little antsy to get the spawn underway. The clear, shallow water combined with a clean sand bottom extending hundreds of yards from shore on a cloudless day allowed me to "feel" their anxiety to get in tight to shore and stake out a spawning site. Even when it began, it took awhile to grasp what was happening...I kept looking up for the “birds” casting the shadows coursing back and forth across the water in front of me. I’d look up and see nothing but empty blue sky. When I finally saw the first fish it dawned on me, what was going on. I’ve been fortunate to see some pretty great stuff on the water over the years and can safely say, this event makes the top 10.

I’ll take a couple pics of the fly later today and put it up. I’m going fishing.


Here it is. I catch the bulk of the Carp and Bass on a Chernobyl crab just like this. (For what it's worth, this statement is prob a bit misleading because I throw this far more than other patterns.)


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Tim
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BillMcGighan
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Re: Fishing behind the Cheese curtain...

Post by BillMcGighan »

That's a killer post, Tim.

When Ben alluded to the fishing in his herp thread, I've been waiting for this.



If one was to make a trip to that neck of the woods for smallmouth, what would be your first choice for timing?

Was the shotgun retrievable/functional?
gretzkyrh4
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Re: Fishing behind the Cheese curtain...

Post by gretzkyrh4 »

Awesome post as always, Tim. I always loved fishing the smallmouth pre-spawn/spawn as a kid in upstate NY. It was a blast sight fishing as they came into shallow bays and streams each May/June, but they were always solitary individuals and never over 4 lbs. Definitely nothing that comes close to comparing to a few of your beasts.

Thanks for sharing.

Chris
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roosters977
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Re: Fishing behind the Cheese curtain...

Post by roosters977 »

Nice to see a fly fishing post. Great looking smallies,man!

What did you do with the shotgun?
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Tim Borski
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Re: Fishing behind the Cheese curtain...

Post by Tim Borski »

Thanks Bill. I always arrive the 2nd week of June and have a 50/50 shot at seeing the bass and carp do their thing. If I had a choice of when to go, I'd pick the first week of June. If you ever decide to go there then, I'll be more than happy to give you some really special numbers as well as thoughts on what I know about the area.


I left the shotgun on shore where I took the pic...I think it was nonfunctional. I drug it out to Ben (Muskiemagnet) and tried to give it to him as a Father's day present but since he's not a Father, he respectfully declined.


Thanks Chris and Rooster977, Smallies are a great fish!


Tim
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muskiemagnet
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Re: Fishing behind the Cheese curtain...

Post by muskiemagnet »

yea, that shotgun was locked up tight. there is no one in the world that could restore that. if they could, their name would be God.

as usual. tim cleaned up here in wisconsin. i still feel slightly ill every time i think about not returning that next day. those overnight rains brought them in and i felt it was going to happen. i chose wood turtles and i got one. it was still a good day, but, for those of you who know smallmouth, it's hard to rationalize not going after big great lakes smallmouth on the spawning grounds.

nice seeing you again tim. eventually the tarpon/indigo combo will jab at me enough.

-ben
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Tim Borski
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Re: Fishing behind the Cheese curtain...

Post by Tim Borski »

nice seeing you again tim. eventually the tarpon/indigo combo will jab at me enough.


You know how to get 'hold of me.


Tim
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muskiemagnet
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Re: Fishing behind the Cheese curtain...

Post by muskiemagnet »

Tim Borski wrote:
nice seeing you again tim. eventually the tarpon/indigo combo will jab at me enough.


You know how to get 'hold of me.


Tim
i do.

-ben
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Tim Borski
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Re: Fishing behind the Cheese curtain...

Post by Tim Borski »

Dell, carp pics please! :mrgreen: (I see both Common and Mirror carp in WI. Do you have both out there?)

Victort, Happy to hear you had a great trip to AK! Can we look forward to a post? :thumb:

Tim
VICtort
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Re: Fishing behind the Cheese curtain...

Post by VICtort »

Tim, I regret taking very few photos and none of quality.
I am lusting to go again...and maybe I can calm down and shoot some photos. The days are about 20 hours of daylight where I was on Prince of Wales Island in S E. Alaska. We caught 4 species of salmon, ( no sockeyes and primary silvers), and halibut, true cod and rockfish after catching generous limits of 6 silvers each. We could also get Humpies and chums (they are bull dogs, really sporting inspite of many "spoiled" anglers contempt for them). This was a catch and consume trip, and weight limitations on the float planes were the limiting factor.

We fished salt water, trolling with light gear and vertical jigging , drift fishing with herring baits, all were effective.

If you have an interest in going there, PM me and I will give your lurid details. Yes, there is fly fishing in the area in rivers and tidal streams. We stay at bunkhouse and dine there, we fish from rented skiffs. No guides needed by us, but some very skilled and friendly guides were on the water with us. They have fathometers and do well on halibut. I was impressed and pleased how friendly and helpful the Alaskan folks were.

All I did was fish, eat, sleep, for me it does not get much better. Curiously, Alaska kings are in short supply with very restrictive take, but I returned to California north coast to Wide Open fishing for 24-32 lb.'ers.

Tight lines, Vic
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