January 2012 — John Gillespie's Waters & Woods

January 2012

Episode 1
The Mills Fleet Farm High-Lights Show
Show Date: January 7th & 8th, 2012

It’s that time of year again! We join Brian Sticka of Mills Fleet Farm to take a look back at 2011’s most memorable show moments. We also give away the grand prizes to the winners of of the weekly contest. Be prepared to see the best of our show, and the best of your fish.

Episode 2
Nice Day for a Brown Trout
Show Date: January 14th, 2012
Location: Lake Michigan, Oak Creek, Wisconsin
Guide: Charter Captain Brian Settele [414-559-9238 | fishchaserguideservice.com]

The unseasonably warm weather continues this week as find ourselves back in a Lund for some Brown Trout fishing just outside the harbors of Milwaukee. Charter Captain Brian Settele fishes open water just about all year, and as the temperatures drop the fishing gets better.

We start our trip out casting and vertical jigging Zips and Cleo’s near a warm-water discharge from a power-plant. The water is around 10 degrees warmers, which attracts the baitfish, which in-turn attracts the trout who are looking for a quick meal. The joy of vertical jigging is that the hits usually come on the drop of the bait; so as your working your lure all of a sudden there is a bunch of weight, and the fight ensues!

Episode 3
Ice Bonanza
Show Date: January 21st, & 22nd, 2012
Location: Superior, Wisconsin
Guides: Pete Brzezinski [715-574-1813 | northlandmuskieadventures.com] &
Jim Hudson [715-779-5833 | fishchequamegonbay.com]

It feels like were beating a dead drum talking about the warm weather, but its been much warmer that usual. This week we head way north to Duluth-Superior to fish the St. Louis River, and find a temperature of 48 degrees at sunset, which makes the good fishing even better. We are guided two days, by two different guides, which makes for great trip.

We start out at sunset with our muskie team from Northland Muskie Adventures - Pete and Dustin, they put us on one of our favorite-eating fish, Eelpout! We are set up in the river just out of Lake Superior, and are using fairly heavy jigs to cut down on the current that is ripping through from the lake. We are also tipping our jigs with a half a minnow. We are getting some great use out of our Humminbirds because the fish hang out on the bottom, but won’t hit unless you raise your jig up just a bit, so seeing these ‘pout on the bottom is key to attracting a bite.

Day two, we head out for crappies with Pro Ice Guide Jim Hudson. We are using one of Jim’s favorite jigs - ones made of tungsten - because they are heavier than other jigs of the same size. We are woking the jigs pretty slowly, and also tipping the hooks with wax worms or Gulp Wax Worms. Just as the previous night, luring this fine table-fair off of the bottom is the key to landing a hook in them. We are catching average fish between 10-12 inches, which makes for a fantastic day of ice fishing.

Episode 4
Wacky Fishing Outing
Show Date: January 28 & 29th, 2012
Location: Sand Bay Beach Resort - Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin
Guide: Pro Guide Dale Stroschein [ 920-743-5731 | wackywalleye.com]

This weeks show is the third annual outing with Dale Stroschein, where we have a bunch of guests come out and fish with us while we film a show. It’s been called “Whitefish Weekend” or the “Gillespe-Capade” more recently, either way, it’s a blast to see everyone catching fish.

The day starts out with us set up in an area that looks like a small town, where we are hole-hopping for whitefish, a delicious fish that is also fun to catch. This finicky fish don’t always bite our lures, in fact Dale had found that they were more prone to biting the barrel-swivel, so he help develop a system that adds a treble hook above the swivel. Pounding the bottom, and switching up baits when the bite slows is the key to keeping these hard fighting fish coming back for more.

We also head out in the evenings (and the next morning), for the trophy walleye that viewers of our show have seen before. Walleyes iced during this time are usually the largest walleye of the anglers lifetime, so we know when we have one on, it can be a slob-o.