Women On Winnebago Media Event, Day 1

I am very excited to be in Fond Du Lac WI to attend the Women on Winnebago media event.  Check out their web site http://womenonwinnebago.com/. I was invited by Carrie Stollenwerk / Director of Sales for the Fond du Lac Area Convention & Visitors Bureau. I was one 10 people invited to experience all that Fond Du Lac and Lake Winnebago has to offer. This happens to be the opening weekend of Sturgeon Spearing and the entire city becomes a buzz. 

When I was first getting to town, I saw what appeared to be small silver space ships being towed by cars trucks and yes mini vans. The exterior was all silver which is a tin materiel that is often chosen for spearing shacks. Everyone is prepping for the opening day of the spearing season which as as much if not more anticipation as deer season. Lake Winnebago is the largest lake in Wisconsin and goes from Fond Du Lac all the way North of Oshkosh.  It is huge. In the summer and winter, storms can blow in quickly and having your bearings is very important. I could feel the excitement in the air and the snow storm just made thing better.

As is usually the case, my day to explore the lake was also the day of a huge snow storm. I was fishing with my friend Art, who lives on the lake year and it very familiar with it. Art said just last week, the entire area in front of his house was open water. High winds a few weeks ago caused a pressure crack to open up and open water was visible in several areas. This was really bad news for all the people who Sturgeon Spear, which is a time honored tradition in this area.  Some wondered if the season would be a total bust. Cold temps prevailed and although caution is advised, ready or not here we come.  Since

We headed out onto Lake Winnebago via snowmobile . I was sitting behind Art and the first thing he said was “ hold on”. The next thing I knew we were jumping a crack with open water with. the sled splashed through and away we went. The  snow storm was suppose to end by noon, but apparently it had a mind of its own. I was very thankful I was wearing my Arctic Armor suit, knowing at least I would float if I fell in one of the cracks we were jumping.  The snow was blowing  side ways and it made visibility terrible. As we zipped across the lake,  ice shacks would come into view, many of them just getting set up for the big Sturgeon Spearing Season which opens Saturday.  The space ships I had seen being pulled behind the cars now all had  hitches sticking straight up in the air. The build them so they lay on their sides and when they get flipped of the trailer, the hitch is up in the air like some antenna. It looked like you were on the moon with the uneven surface of jagged ice and snow, winds whipping and blowing snow in circles like mini tornadoes. It was awesome. I wanted to take a few pictures but I was hanging on for dear life and didn’t want to remove my Frabill gloves even for a second.

We got to the first spot we were going to fish. When I had arrived at Arts, I had my rod bag, tackle box, sonar unit and a bucket. Art quickly said all I needed was one rod and two baits, a swedish pimple and a Jigging Rapala. Good thing I had both. He took one look at my rod and was impressed with the St Croix Legend I had, but tied a long fluorocarbon leader onto my braided line using a blood knot. The lure was tied direct. I had never traveled so light, one rod, two lures and my sonar.

Art quickly punched a few holes and within 5 minutes he decided time to move. Away we went about 150 yards from the last place in the main lake basin. Art explained that the fish will roam the maim lake looking for bait fish. On this lake, feeding walleyes will suspend about 8 feet down in the 13 - 14 feet of water. I was surprised as I always found walleyes closer to the bottom.

When we would stop to check an area Art would ask if I was marking any walleyes on the graph. I had marked fish on the bottom, but Art said those were crappies, again opposite from what I had seen in the past. One the fourth spot we tried, bingo, the sonar was light up like a Christmas tree. I began to play cat and mouse with the red marks on my sonar and low and behold Art was right. The marks I jigged up from the bottom were crappies and white bass.  Large red marks would come in high, like 8 feet down and I would quickly try to get above them and sure enough, a walleye whacked the bait and soon was on top of the water. It got to the point where I would only jig between 6 to 8 feet below the ice and the Crappies would come up to get it and the walleyes would cruise by and whack it.

The whole time we were fishing there was a blizzard going on all around us. I felt the ice pelting me in the back as I sat on the sled with the wind at my back. You could not see anything as there was little to no visibility. It was like you were sitting in a snow globe in a world of your own, kind of like a fish heaven. By the end of afternoon, I had a big pile of fish at my feet, all covered in snow as it was really coming down. I have never traveled so light on any fishing trip, we didn’t even bother with an ice scoop. Art says he does better if there is some slush in the hole when he isn’t using a shack. We didn’t even tip the lures with live bait.

As it approached darkness, we headed in. I was thankful Art was so familiar with the Lake  as he was able to weave around pressure cracks, avoid some thin ice area’s and got me back to my truck dry and in one piece. The bag of fish was another nice bonus.

My friend was telling me how much he loves to fish Lake Winnebago both summer and winter. He said it was a fish factory and it is just loaded with fish. I really enjoyed the experience and will be back again I am sure. The next part of my weekend adventure is Sturgeon Spearing. Wish me luck on that. This is a great body of water to explore. I am really looking forward to the weekend. Stay tuned.