July 2012 — John Gillespie's Waters & Woods

July 2012

Episode 27
Operation Muskie 5
Show Date: July 7th & 8th, 2012
Location: Lake of the Woods, Oak Island, MN; Walsh’s Bay Store Camp [1-800-214-2533 | baystorecamp.com]

We are pleased and honored to once again be invited to Operation Muskie on Lake of the Woods. Operation Muskie is an annual event that is in it's fifth year, which hosts 20 war veterans that have recently been deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan. This year the event is hosting it’s 100th veteran. Eleven great Muskie guides donated their time this to take these guys out for a week of fishing. One of those guides is Pete Maina, who we tag along with to capture this great event. Each guide takes two different vets out each day, so each can learn the most from this trip.

Lake of the woods is a massive 1,000,000+ acre body of water occupying parts of two Canadian provinces and the state of Minnesota. Contained within are over 4,552 islands and 65,000 miles of shoreline. With all of that shoreline, this is an anglers dream.

Bay Store Camp is our home base, and the launch pad for our hunt for the fish of 10,000 casts. Frank & Laura Walsh are our hosts, and have been since the very first Operation Muskie event. In our boat we try a variety of baits to deep diving tubes over rocks to surface baits in shallow weeds.

In addition to the fishing, the weeks schedule allows for the group to get together and discuss the days events. Operation Muskie is about the camaraderie among the group as much as it is about the fishing.

Thank You to all the Men and Women of our armed forces.

For more information on Operation Muskie visit: www.OperationMuskie.com
For more information on Walsh’s Bay Store Camp visit: www.baystorecamp.com

Operation Muskie could not happen without the generous support of individual donations, industry gifts-in-kind, and corporate sponsorship. A special thanks to Walsh's Bay Store Camp and Mills Fleet Farm.

Thank you to all of the people who have helped make the last five years of trips possible. We look forward to working with previous and new supporters to ensure that we can continue to run this amazing event again next year! Please visit Operationmuskie.com for more information on how you can support our Vets and provide them an opportunity to participate in Operation Muskie.

Episode 28
A Hot Day on Winnebago
Show Date: July 14th & 15th, 2012
Location: Lake Winnebago; Oshkosh, Wisconsin
Guide: Pro Ice Guide Larry Smith [920-361-4996 | walleyeguide.com]

Lake Winnebago is an interesting body of water. Its one of the largest inland bodies of water in the United States, yet its average depth is only 15½ feet deep. Its well known for its walleye, which is why we’re targeting them today.

We are joining Larry for a half-day guide trip, which should be just enough time given the high temp was 102! We catch plenty of fish with our new buddies Hugh and Charlie, using a fun technique casting into weeds. We are using light jigs and night-crawlers, and casting into the flat calm with weeds that come up to the surface. Gently jigging along the bottom bouncing around the weeds, coaxes these delicious pan-fair from their hiding spots.

Episode 29
Take the Photographer Fishing
Show Date: July 21st & 22nd, 2012
Location: Northern Wisconsin, near Pembine Wisconsin

For the third year in a row, John is rewarding the cameraman Ryan with a fishing trip! This year we’re starting off in a river, because of the high surface temps in the lakes, the current should make the rivers a bit cooler.

We start out on the Menominee River, near Pembine Wisconsin, to work the shorelines for bass. We find what we’re looking for, in the form of a few nice sized bass that are hiding right next to shore in wood. We are using the wacky-worm style on a bass hook, and casting into shadows from the overhanging trees. Working the worm along the bottom, from the shaded area to where the sun is hitting the water turns out to be the sweet spot.

After looking for walleye in the still pools of the river, and finding nothing but 85 degree surface temps, we journey to a small lake to give it a shot. Using our Humminbird, we look for submerged weeds, which is where the walleye hide while looking for baitfish. We are using a weedless slo-poke jig and a nightcrawler. Working the jig through the weeds, and keeping contact with the bottom is what excites these fish to bite.

Episode 30
Relaxing day with Rob
Show Date: July 28th & 29th, 2012
Location: Vilas County, Wisconsin
Guide: Pro Guide Rob Manthei [715-477-2042 | robmanthei.com]

We love going out with Rob, and when we shot this show, heading north we got a welcome reprieve from the super hot weather thats been dousing our area. We were actually scheduled to shoot a muskie show, but because of the higher than normal water temps, it wouldn’t have been safe pulling the fish from the water.

So it being Vilas County, there are plenty of lakes to catch all sorts of species that won’t be stressed out by the warm water temps. Live bait continues to be the go-to walleyes, so we’re using a full nightcrawler with a 1/16 oz jig. Not content with walleye, and to add some movement to our day, we cruse along the shorelines looking for bass. We are casting under piers and docked boats using the tried-and-true ‘wacky’ worm. To wind down our trip, we find and plant over a school of crappies. We’re using small plastic crappie tails.