June 2014 — John Gillespie's Waters & Woods

June 2014

Episode 22
Hayward Crappie Bonanza
Show Date: May 31st & June 1st, 2014
Location: Hayward, Wisconsin; Sawyer County
Guide: Pete Maina [PeteMaina.com]

This week we are in the beautiful Hayward area with Pete Maina and his dad Tex looking for crappies. What happened next was a day that we will not soon forget. This show ends up being the best day of pure crappie fishing any of our anglers have ever experienced based on average size of the fish we’re boating .

We are fishing bays, which will usually hold the warmest water this time of year. Crappie will look for the warm water in these bays, which is usually in shallower water. New weed growth is also a common attractor, providing cover from larger predator fish.

Episode 23
Door County is Number 1
Show Date: June 7th & 8th, 2014
Location: Sand Bay Beach Resort - Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin
Guide: Pro Guide Dale Stroschein [ 920-743-5731 | wackywalleye.com]

We have long known that Door County is one of our favorite bass fisheries, and Captain Dale Stroschein has always been our go-to guide for the jumbo fish that populate these waters. Bassmaster Magazine just gave the peninsula a huge tip of the hat, proclaiming Sturgeon Bay the best bass fishery in the United States. There is a reason that the word has gotten out - you've always got a chance at the biggest bass of you life here, and this is made very obvious in this show.

The weather seems to be on our side at first. With the wind hitting the shorelines, Dale has spots that he expects the fishing to be on fire. After 4 spots, and no fish, Dale isn't discouraged; gets us moving to yet another spot. Spot number 5 is where they start to bite, and they hit hard. Casting out grubs like the Kalin's Grub or Sizmic Shad, and doing a very slow presentation is the key.

Episode 24
Summer Rain & Hook-Sets
Show Date: June 14th & 15th, 2014
Location: Hayward, Wisconsin; Sawyer County
Guide: Pete Maina [PeteMaina.com]

It’s always a great time to fish with the Maina’s, especially when we can showcase the diversity of the Hayward area by catching multiple species in one day of fishing. We’ve got special guest Tex Maina along with Pete Maina, and we are targeting everything. We are using every thing from Kalin’s Plastics, and Pork to crank-baits to live bait (which is Tex’s favorite).

We start out the day in a rain storm getting soaked all the way to the spot, and for the first few hours of angling. Looking for new weed growth is where you will find fish first, otherwise gravel and rock me yield you better results. Pete tells us that all species of fish will gravitate towards recent weed growth. This is nice, because you can target whatever you’d like to catch.

Episode 25
Sunny Day on Lake Winnebago
Show Date: June 21st & 22nd, 2014
Location: Lake Winnebago; Oshkosh, Wisconsin
Guide: Pro Guide Larry Smith [920-361-4996 | walleyeguide.com]

It’s a beautiful day, and we are finally able to get out with pro guide Larry Smith, and not have SnoSuit’s on. We are joined by Art from Badger Sportsman. Larry has us set up to fish walleye, and our main bait is the Pork nightcrawler by Uncle Josh. We are using either a jig or a spinner rig. Anybody that has fishes Lake Winnebago will attest the eating quality of these walleyes. We caught a good mess of fish that will make for a great fish-fry.