July-09 — John Gillespie's Waters & Woods

July 2009

Episode 27
Tough Bite
Show Date: July 4th & 5th, 2009
Location: Wisconsin River; Wisconsin Dells
Guide: Pro Guide Big Dave Ehardt [414-803-7160]

We experience a tough bite on the Wisconsin River this week, which goes to show that you can’t always catch fish. We make the most out of our time on the water, splitting between the Wisconsin River and Little Cedar Lake in Washington County. We target bass, and we’re looking everywhere we always catch them. Putting our time in, we hook up with a few fun fighting fish, but it doesn’t pan out the way we planned. But a day on the water is always fun, and we’re looking forward to next week.

Episode 28

Operation Muskie II
Show Date: July 11th & 12th, 2009
Location: Lake of the Woods, Oak Island, MN; Walsh’s Bay Store Camp [1-800-214-2533 | baystorecamp.com]
Guide: John Gillespie

We are honored to be a part of the second annual Operation Muskie, up in Lake of the Woods. Operation Muskie is a trip to honor our United States War Veterans. 20 Veterans are guided by 10 of the leading muskie guides in the world, including Pete Maina, Dick Pearson, Doug Johnson, Chad Cain and many others. We are gathering together to have a great time, exchange stories, and target some monster fish.

Lake of the Woods is a massive 1,000,000-acre lake located on the US/Canadian Border where Minnesota, Manitoba, and Ontario intersect. It is prime Muskie water, and mixed in with all the muskies are huge pike, bass, and walleye. We are working shorelines, looking for weeds. The problem with the shorelines at Lake of the Woods, is that it all looks good.

We had a great time, and want to say Thank You to all the Veterans for their service to our country. Also a big Thanks to all the guides that help out this year, with out you guys, an excellent event like this wouldn’t be possible. Thanks to Mills Fleet Farm for your generous support of Operation Muskie. Last and certainly not least, Thank You to Frank and Laura Walsh for donating your time and resort for a fantastic week of fishing and camaraderie. We are eagerly looking forward to next year’s event.

Episode 29
Lake Erie Slaughter
Show Date July 18th & 19th, 2009
Location: Lake Erie, Toledo, Ohio
Guide: Captain Paul Pacholski [1-800-798-1218 | deacsretreat.com]

Sometimes fishing is just that good. The kind of fishing where someone tells you: “You should have been here yesterday!” Well we were there that day, and filled our boat with walleye in record time.

We are fishing on Lake Erie, out of Port Clinton, Ohio. We are guided by our long-time friend Charter Captain Paul Pacholski, and his first mate Kim. Paul and Kim have been guiding on Erie for many years, and Paul is also the Vice-President of the Lake Erie Charter Boat Association. To say the least, we have some experienced guides in our boat. We are also joined by Bill, Tom, and Todd of Johnsonville Brats, also Todd’s son Jordan.

Our crew is casting a modified crawler harness with a single hook and blade. Drifting slowly over our spots, we are finding the fish hovering about a foot off of the bottom. Captain Paul has boat control down to a science, and we are on fish the entire time. Since the bite is so red hot, it only takes us 2 hours to fill our limit. It’s not a problem, we have lots of Johnsonville’s to eat waiting for us on shore!

Episode 30
Family Show 2009
Air Date: July 25^th Y& 26^th, 2009
Location: Boulder Junction, Wisconsin
Guide: John Gillespie

Fishing is a great sport, and it’s one that is enriched by sharing it with your family. It’s exciting to share the thrill of landing the big one with the next generation, as John does with his grandson Henry. It’s also just as great to spend the time with family members you don’t get to see all that often. Either way, fishing is a wonderful bonding experience that spans generational gaps, and is just down right fun.

This week we join John and his family up north at the cottage, to enjoy a few days of fishing relaxation. Although the weather isn’t ideally cooperative, every fish boated is quality, and there are a few trophies as well. It’s a memorable trip that has the whole family looking forward to next year.