Thursday, April 21, 2011

The Wolf River Adventure

I decided that 2011 would be the year I really learn more about fishing. That is one great thing about this sport no matter how much you know there is always more to learn. I can’t believe all the fishing opportunities there are in Wisconsin right out my back door. I have always had a “thing” for walleye fishing. Maybe because its always been so hard for me to figure out and I am prone to take on challenges. Seems I don’t have any trouble catching Northerns or Bass, but that subtle tick tick of a hint of a walleye bite, if you can find them, always proves evasive. But this year is going to be different. ( didn’t I say that last year?)

One thing avid anglers do, is read the fishing reports and follow the information on the “walleye run”.  We monitor water temperatures, current and water levels and try to figure out the best time to go to get on fish. One great  place to fish the Walleye run  is the Wolf River. I had only been there once prior, and this time I was invited by my friends Chris and Betsy. Now Chris, a member of our fishing club, is one of the club matriarchs who always catches fish and if we give out trophies at an event she always takes one home. She has fished the Wolf River before, and so has Betsy.

The plan was to meet and launch in Shiocton WI. I  had my 2011 Lund Impact that turns heads where ever I go. There were three walleye tournaments on the Wolf this weekend and I looked the part. Also in my truck were my trusty side kicks and fishing pals Keeper and Roxy. Those that know me, know that we are always together, and they are usually partaking in all of my wild adventures.

A section of the Wolf at flood stage
When we met at the landing we were shocked at the high water level. We knew the water was high from the spring run off but we had no idea that it was that high. Right next to the launch there was a bridge that crossed the river and after you launch the boat you had to go under the bridge. Well to me, it didn’t look like enough clearance to even make it under the bridge without getting the boat wedged. We decided to look for another landing and spoke to some local guys that were just launching a smaller boat. They sent us to another landing up the road so off we went.


We got to the second landing and the entire parking lot was under water. Some guys were launching small boats between the no parking sign and the picnic table. We couldn’t tell where the original launch was even suppose to be, so we decided to keep looking. All the trees in that area were under water. I could tell the water was still rising because one truck that was parked in the lot had water all around it. I’m sure it was all dry when the person parked it there.

So off we go to find yet another launch. We were headed to Fremont WI when we saw a sign for a boat launch and turned off to follow the road. We found Barker Park, just south of Shiocton and third time was the charm. During the spring there are no docks or piers in the water so its waders or wet feet to launch in these high water conditions.        
          
Before long, the five of us were on the river floating in the current. Without the motor running the current was taking us over 3 MPH. That is fast. The water covered trees, deer stands and wooded area on both sides of the river. The Hummingbird electronics worked great in determining where the main river channel was. A wrong turn and you would have been drifting into a farmers field or worse yet through a swamp. This section of the river is pretty wild. Lots of trees and wilderness. Its always a little nerve racking floating so fast in a river that you are not familiar with and I had no idea what was around the next bend. The river  really winds around in this section. The main channel was about 12 feet deep. Big sticks, logs and debris were floating down stream because of the high water. You definitely had to pay attention.

We came to a corner and decided to try to fish the bend. Anchoring in the fast current is always a challenge. Having the right anchor, the right rope and putting it in the right spot are all really important. I have yet to perfect that. Boat control and boat placement makes a difference on if you catch fish or don’t. We tried to anchor right out of the path of the fallen trees and the debris field coming fast in the current. When anchoring in these conditions always have a good knife in your pocket in case you have to cut the anchor line in case of an emergency.

We fished that area for awhile. There was the bend in the river with some current breaks and areas that looked like they would be holding fish. Finding the right weight jig to hold in the current was difficult. I talk to other anglers and they speak of fishing with a 1/4 oz jig in that current. I don’t know how they do it. We tried a variety of tactics but no bites. As we were fishing we saw an animal across the river. It looked unfamiliar to all of us at first and then Chris said it was a Pine Martin. It was sure cute. Roxy spotted and and gave it the biggest stay away from my boat growl she could muster. A couple of large sturgeon’s rolled near by but we never got a hit.

We continued down the river a bit and began to see some rafts. I have heard of people fishing from rafts on the Wolf and I had envisioned a pontoon boat with a deck on it with a couple rod holders. I was dead wrong. These rafts are like house boats. Small structures are erected on a platform set on a bunch of plastic barrels. There are decks  all around the structure and rod holders with huge cane poles set in the rod holders. I couldn’t believe it. Betsy works with a gal named Debbie that has a raft. She and her husband Steve have lived in the New London area for years and they invited us out to fish off their raft.  We were suppose to meet them the next day to have them show us to the raft. We decided to pack up for the day and to regroup for tomorrows raft adventure.

The next day we headed out to New London for our next day of adventure. We stopped at the local bait shop called  Cash’s The Little Shoppe of Bait. Its right on Hwy x in New London right next to the boat launch.  We could see how high the water was in the river and some of the houses nearby, looked like islands with water all around them. There was a big tent sent up in the launch lot and apparently it was  the big Whopper weekend, a local walleye event. How fun is that! They sold buffalo burgers and had a drawing and a fish contest. In the bait shop we found two  Women working and they were very helpful. We bought some of the hot parrot jigs based on they’re recommendation along with heavy weights to hold in the current. I was glad to see a nice selection of lead free weights to use. We told them we were going to fish off a raft. They both had their own rafts to fish off of and told us we were going to have a blast and would become addicted to the experience.

We continued out to meet our hosts Debbie and Steve. We met off of a gravel road and they were going to lead us back to a private boat landing. This is a remote camping area of the campground owned by Wolf River Trips. They provide a service to raft owners where they store and launch the rafts on a yearly basis. In a field,there is a parking area for all the rafts, and we worked our way through the maze to the boat landing that was packed with cars. We  packed our gear and launched our boats to head out to the raft. Steve warned us that there was no land near the rafts due to the high water so in order for the dogs to go to the bathroom they would have to be boated back to the landing so they could do their business. All part of the adventure.

The launch here was flooded as well and it seemed odd to be driving a boat by signs that are usually on land. Once we got to the main river channel the water was really ripping. You could tell where the main river was by the edges of the current bubbling at a high rate of speed. Once the boat got to that line it took us like a shot, thankfully in the direction we planned on going. We headed down stream from the launch and saw a variety of rafts. Some were very nice and some looked pretty junky. The one that was ours for the night was great. Really really nice. We landed the boat and parked next to the raft. Now that is not an easy task.  Remember the current is ripping and you have to account for the speed of the current and really be a good judge of where the boat is going to end up. It is not easy especially when you don’t have a lot of experience boating in ripping current. For some reason I did it perfectly and made it look like I knew what I was doing. I even thought, that wasn’t to bad. Little did I know the worse was yet to come.
This was the raft we stayed at


So we unpacked and got the tour from Steve. What a great little cabin on a raft. The outside was surrounded by a deck much of it with rod holders. All along the front, tall cane poles stood upright in rod holders perched on the deck railing. The tallest ones must have stood close to 20 feet in the air. The poles on the left were taller and as they went left to right the poles got shorter.  They had a specific amount of line on them so when the poles were lowered the lines were laid out in a manner to cover more water and not get tangled with each other.

The deck area to the right, or down stream was the area you stood on to jig fish. First we got the tour on how things worked. He showed us how to light the external gas lighting, how to light the furnace, how the bathroom worked, and even said help your self to the frozen pizza in the freezer.  The inside had a car stereo, lights with switches, a stove with an oven, two bunks and a futon, a tall table that looked out a big picture window that faces the river and the cane poles. It reminded me if an ice shack, a camper, and a houseboat all in one. It was really nice. It was equipped with battery power, a solar battery charger, a cb radio, outside speakers for the radio, a minnow live well and just about everything you could ever need.

You could tell it was set up for serious fishing.  Rapala’s on long mono leaders hung from the top cupboards. A rod holder was perched from the ceiling so you could set your rod there and change out the jigs and such. Clippers, jig heads, stinger hooks and leader line were all with in reach. Steve showed us how to to rig up our lines and grabbed a couple of his poles that were all ready set up and handed them to us to show us the technique. I noticed just about all of his rods were Ugly Sticks and were equipped with basic open faced reels. The equipment was well used and I am sure they have caught more fish than any of my rods have. Steve moved fast and I could tell he was dying to get a line in the water...like all of us were. He handed us each a rod and they were all equipped with a 1/2 oz jig with a stinger hook. We used Emerald Shiners and once you were baited up, just a little flip cast was all that was need to drop the bait off the side of the raft about 25 feet out. Steve showed us how to “pump” the rod so the jig was raised up and down and held out in the current. He said you should feel it hit the bottom and if you ever feel anything set the hook. Often debris from the river would hit the line or get hung up on the jig.

Any fish is fun to catch
Before long I had a fish on. I could tell it was a Sturgeon.  The ugly stick was practically bent in half. I immediately wished I was fishing with my own rod. I was unfamiliar with his and it was hard to judge. I know mine so well and have landed big fish on them before. The fish felt big and was really pulling hard. I could tell it wanted to stay deep and I could hear Steve yelling to “keep it up”. The whole time I was thinking dang I wish I had my rod.  Before long the fish took a dart into the current and  the line snapped. I was bummed. I went to get my rod set up before I tried again.  We were getting bites but they were biting very light.  Steve lost one and  Chris had a nice fish on soon there after. It was very exciting and looked like the bite would be good. In short order Chris had a nice 20 inch walleye on the deck. I was able to get my own line in the water and a sort time later had another fish on. I could tell it was big but it didn’t feel like a walleye. Soon after, I landed a big ugly carp. We had not even been there for an hour and the action was hot. We could only imagine what a great night of fishing would lie ahead. It was all very exciting.      

Steve and Debbie had to head out and the three of us along with  Keeper and Roxy were left alone to spend the night. We went inside and began to check out the inside in more detail. It even had nice fish curtains and all sorts of little extras to make it feel real homey. Cell phone chargers, can crushers, card games, pillows and blankets, all sorts of things that made you want to stay for a week. Since the raft was surrounded by water, the dogs were not able to go out to go to the bathroom. I’m sure Roxy could have been easily convinced to pee on the deck but Keeper would rather die than commit such a violation.

Chris and I decided  we better load them up and head to the boat launch to give them a break before night fall. We got to the landing and I took them for a walk to be sure there would be good for the night. We hopped back in the boat to head back out to the raft.

 It had started getting dark and you could see the rafts that were occupied by the lights shining inside. Some had big spot lights on the outside. If it wasn’t for the sub freezing temperatures it would have had the feel like  we were in a mysterious southern bayou. We had big smiles and were totally loving our adventure. As we approached the bend in the river where the raft was, we could see the lights shining. We began to approach the same side ( up river) that Steve had directed us to when we first landed. I remembered a couple big white buoys there to park against. As we got closer to the raft suddenly I was confused. Some man shouted something from the Raft but  I didn’t hear what he said. That confused me even more because the only one on our raft when we left was Betsy. My mind whirled for a moment thinking our raft had been boarded by strangers but then I realized were at the wrong raft. The area to land the boat was completely different than the one we had left and I immediate tried to put it in reverse to back out of the situation. The current grabbed the back or the boat and swung it around and we were headed right for the corner of their raft. The guys all seemed to be on the opposite side and didn’t come over to the boat at all. I tried to reach out and grab the raft to keep the boat from hitting it and that was a huge mistake. The back swung around from the current and caused the boat to swing against the  front of their raft. Their raft was designed so the rod holders and poles went out right in front from the bottom portion of the raft and not the high deck like ours did. That made them just off the level of the water. Next thing I hear is a terrible cracking noise and I thought for sure the boat was ripping apart. Then there was a loud snap and one of the cane poles had busted off from the holder. There were numerous poles all in the line and we just cracked off the first one and the boat was headed down the line towards the rest. The guys on the raft began to holler and I put in in drive and hit the throttle to get us the heck out of there. Soon we were safe back in the center of the raging current and both of us had eyes the size of saucers. Holy Crap. Roxy sat there good as can be with her ears pinned next to her head knowing something was a miss so she wasn’t about to move. I was thankful I was wearing my Arctic Armor Suit that floats if need be.

We looked up and realized that our raft was right next door but no lights were turned on yet. Steve had showed us the deal with the lights, and not Betsy, and it was light when we left so we hadn’t lit them. Now I was afraid to even attempt to pull up to our raft even though I did a great job earlier this last fiasco made be nervous. We decided to land the boat on the back side of the raft and come up from the down stream side which is much easier. Still lots to learn I guess. I was shaken up by the whole ordeal that is for sure. I yelled to our neighbors whom I had just crashed into and said I would pay for the damage to the pole. They were nice about it and told me to talk to the owner tomorrow. I was afraid to look at my boat.

I was in a daze the rest of the evening. It was raining and cold and we stood on the end of the raft pumping our rods to the beat of the soft jazz music that was coming out of the outside speakers. All I could think about was the crash and how lucky we were that it didn’t turn out worse. I felt as if I violated the unspoken word in the land of the indigenize raft people. Maybe they would bring me before the tribal counsel and I would be voted off the island. ( Of course I tend to be a little hard on myself) A few beers later we did start to laugh about it. We continued to fish hard and  decided to wrap it up for a night since no one was getting any bites.

Well by 5 am we were up and fishing the next morning. The weather continued to be terrible. Wind gust were up to 40 mph and it was about 32 degrees.  It seemed even colder than the day before and the only time it quit raining was when the rain turned into ice pellets.  We could have  dealt with the temperatures much better if the wind wasn’t so strong. At one point I set my pole against the railing to fetch another minnow. The wind took the pole and whipped it to the ground and my jig head went flying and landed embedded in my cheek. Chris was able to pull it out as the barb had not gone through the skin.  These conditions were really rough. Good thing we were on the raft.

As we were fishing, we saw a boat come from another raft and find a patch of land about 6 feet long directly across from where we were. Soon there after a big lab jumps out and goes to the bathroom on the little section of land. That soon became Roxy and Keepers little bathroom oasis as well. They were very god through out the whole adventure.

We continued to fish all morning and the action was very slow. I had a big fish on for a short time and soon there after Chris was fighting a monster. I grabbed the camera and began to video tape. I have great footage of her fighting the fish. The fish jumped out of the water, ran down stream, came back and Betsy landed it in the net. It was really fun. Check out the video.

Betsy lands a nice one
We decided we wanted to stay another night and our other fishing buddy Holly was going to join us. We had to go back into town to restock supplies as we had only planned on being out there for a short time. Once on land, Chris had a family emergency and had to leave. That left Betsy and I along with the dogs. Holly was to arrive later. Betsy and I got back out to the raft and a short time later she hooked into a nice 20 plus inch walleye. She was thrilled. I missed one and the bites were very few and far between. It continued to rain and be down right miserable.



Steve and Debbie came back out and we began to talk about rafts and how they work as far as storing them, buying them and about the whole raft culture. It is a pretty amazing experience and if you ever get the chance to go, don’t pass it up. Debbie had brought us a pot of soup.  We told them the story of the night before when we crashed into the neighbors raft and broke his cane pole. Steve said things like that happened and one time he had 3 poles cracked off at the same time. He said  not to worry about it and I felt better. Steve fished for a bit and then they left to go out for a fish fry. A short time later we packed up the dogs and headed back to the landing to pick up Holly. The rain had started to freeze and it felt as if your were getting shot with a BB gun in the face when I was driving the boat. Even with the windshield it still managed to pelt me as I drove.

We picked up Holly and went back out to the raft. It was fun to watch her experience seeing the raft village for the first time and she also said it felt like we were in a bayou. We landed with out incident this time but pointed out the area we had crashed into the night before. The three of us donned all of our rain gear and began to fish hard for the rest of the evening. We never even had a  bite. I couldn’t believe it. It was one of those things that if we would have owned the raft, we would have said the hell with this and went to  our real homes, or out for a fish fry  with the rest of the WI residents. We felt we had to take full advantage of the situation as the opportunity would not come up again soon. It was windy, cold, rain or freezing rain, depending on the minute, and they were not biting. That my friends, is the story of my life. It is always, “you should have been here yesterday” along with some drastic extreme weather condition. It never seems to deter us as we keep coming back for more. One of these days things will change and everything will come together. We hit the sack for the night feeling defeated  and when we woke up the next morning the pouring rain continued.

We again donned the rain gear and fished hard for a few hours. A boat pulled up to the raft next door and I asked the guy if he owned the raft. He said he did and I preceded to tell him I broke one of his poles. His reply was “yeah I heard”. I told him I would be happy to pay for it and just to let me know, or tell Steve and Debbie and I would be happy to make it right. He said don’t worry about it. We fished for a couple more hours and finally we decided to bag it. Betsy tended to the inside clean up while Holly and I packed the boat and continued to fish when ever we walked by our rods.  Just as the last pole was loaded in the boat the rain turned to snow. Betsy shouted last call for the cabin and I got the dogs in the boat and we gathered the last minute items. I looked over to the neighbors raft and he was “pumping” on the side of his raft and sure enough bang, he had a fish. He pulled up a nice walleye, put it on a stringer and started fishing some more. He no more than got his line back in the water and bang, another fish on, which was soon another fish on the stringer. I immediately yelled to my pals, “hey maybe since the rain turned to snow the bite turned on. Lets keep fishing” Betsy said she locked up the raft with the keys inside so there we were, locked out, the bite was on but now we HAD to go. I couldn’t  make Keeper and Roxy sit in the boat getting pelting with snow as it was already covering the seats and the floor and Roxy was shaking in her coat as it was.






 So we left never knowing if we should have been there an hour later. But that’s why they call it fishing, and not catching.  We drove back to the landing, trailered the boat and drove into the Big Whopper Weekend tent and had a buffalo burger. And by the way, once the boat was trailered, I was able to check it for any damage from the dreaded crash incident. I am happy to say that the boat ended up only having a minor ding. Based on the force of the impact I was expecting  some major damage or even a hole but the boat held up to its name....Impact....leaves one and can take one. All in all it was a great experience in spite of the weather.  I would love to own one of the rafts of my own and get more women out there to have that experience. Of course better weather and biting fish would be helpful. Next time we will hammer them. Didn't I say that last time?


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