Yahara Fishing Club

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Editor: Tom Raschke tomraschke50@gmail.com Club Web Site: http://www.yaharafishingclub.org

February

2020

Notes from the President, Page 3.

Outings from Tom Klein, Page 4.

Devil’s Lake outing, Page 5.

Pictures from Kids Fishing Day, Page 6.

Pursuing Pressured Panfish Brian Hansas covered a lot of ice at the January meeting of the Yahara Fishing Club. I couldn’t write fast enough to get it all but here are some highlights. First Brian reminded us of ice safety. Some we heard before. Carry a spud bar to check ice thickness, carry ice picks, have a throw rope, wear a life vest, and wear ice cleats. What you may not have heard before is buying floatation suits. They not only keep you warm but also are buoyant so you float if you break through the ice. I might add that besides ice cleats I carry a walking staff, especially in years like this with water on top of bare ice that is super slippery. A fall on the ice can break bones, strain muscles, cause concussions, and if you land wrong, kill you. Twice Brian mentioned doing your homework (he is a science teacher). First scout before you leave for the ice. There are many electronic aids including Facebook groups, Lake-link, Navionics, the D&S weekly fishing report, website from guides, and Google Maps to name a few. Although Google Maps isn’t in real time, look at aeri-al views from last summer. Map out weed edges, inlets, outlets, etc. and place waypoints on a GPS unit. When looking at a guide’s web page don’t look at the fish and grin picture, look at the background to try to figure out where the fish were caught. Don’t forget to talk to your YFC buddies. There are few secret fishing spots in the Madison lakes-watch for the crowds. The second time Brian mentioned doing homework was at the end of the talk. Get a clear gallon or larger contain-er. Then practice your jigging stroke to see how your lur-es work under different jigging scenarios so you can rep-licate them when you get on the ice. When starting to fish take a half-minute and drop your rig a foot or so be-low the ice and check your jigging stroke. The life and movement of fish under the ice usually oc-curs in three phases. During early ice the fish are gener-ally in shallow water, sometimes only a foot or two deep.

The water is usually warmer, there is plenty of dissolved oxygen and the fish are actively moving. Target shallow bays in two-to-six feet of water. During mid-season the water temperature becomes more uniform, weeds die depleting oxygen, and fish activity declines. Target are-as six-to-twelve feet deep by moving out to the first break, a main basin hump, or a transition area where sand and a hard mud bottom meet. A note for the Madi-son lakes, a lot of the weeds are coontail that can re-main green all winter, especially when there is little snow on top of the ice. During late ice water tempera-tures increase as does fish activity. Look shallow again. Start in one-to-six feet of water in shallow, especially south facing bays, with inlets or feeder creeks. You might find fish right in cattails or pencil reeds. Fishing is hunting. Drill a lot of holes, starting shallow and heading for deep water. Modern ice-drilling technol-ogy lets you drill a lot of holes with little effort. Fish each hole for five minutes, if no fish move on. Fish away from the crowds! If that isn’t working try something different (plan B). Be mobile!

Thanks again to Stan Nichols for an excellent write-up.

Continued on Page 2.

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Brian is a strong proponent of electronics. He likes graphing sonar better than a flasher as it records history. He uses a camera usually on down imaging. In shallow water the transducer cone is not large so you don’t see a lot of the bottom. Swing the transducer from side to side to get a larger view. The key to catching fish is bite detection. While watching a camera, you learn that you miss a lot of bites you don’t detect even with a spring bob-ber. Brian estimates you may not detect as many as 70-80% of the bites. The fish are often there and biting but you don’t know it. If you have fished with a camera or sight fished, one thing you quickly learn is you won’t catch a fish until the jig completely disappears in the fish’s mouth. This was very evident in the camera footage Brian showed. Brian is a proponent of plastics for catching panfish. He hasn’t used live bait for four years. Plastics last longer, color is easily changed, they trigger action, there are many styles, they have a longer shelf life and they seem to catch larger fish. However, they are costly, the need constant reposition-ing, and the angler needs to import the action. Some of his favorite plastics are Icemite Jr., Spruggs, and Pollis in white, purple, and bubblegum col-ors. It is important to place the plastic in a horizontal plane whether the jig sits horizontally or vertically. Live bait often needs replacing on the hook and at the bait shop, they have a limited shelf life and come in limited colors, they need care, they make the jig spin in unnatural ways and they tend to catch smaller fish. However, fish will eat live bait, no action is required, and they are good for dead sticking. If you don’t like live bait, try some Chena bait. It comes in a role and is activated by water. My take-use both-put a plastic tail on a jig and top it off with a spike or waxwork-a double whammy. To determine what the fish want start with big and bold lures and aggres-sive jigging. Often this draws in the largest fish. If this fails start downsizing and use a more subtle presentation. Go down to a 2.5 or 3-mm tungsten jig. If this doesn’t work you might try a tolo or Michigan rig (just double dip-ping, two lures on a single line) and if you still aren’t getting bit try some Pro-Cure or other fish attractant. Although Brian warned about depending on spring bobbers to detect bites he likes them to control lure spin and even when you hold the jigging pole dead still, they bounce enough to give a plastic tail an enticing wiggle. Monofilament line stretches and superlines ices-up in cold weather so Bri-an recommends the copolymer P-line. It doesn’t stretch or ice-up. Brian didn’t mention favorite ice rods but he likes the Frabil in-line reels for ease of use. To store your catch, freeze fillets in a block of ice. Brian is on Facebook and can be contacted at bbHansas@aol.com or 708-404-4367 to fill in areas I missed in my notes.

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Notes from the New President.

As I ponder what I have gotten myself into as the new club president, I

first want to acknowledge the excellent work done by those who have pre-

ceded me. Gary Schutte spent the last year identifying and solving a series

of organizational and legal issues that we as a club didn't even know exist-

ed, as well as re-focusing the efforts of the board on some of the club's

organizational priorities that hadn't received enough attention in recent

years. He leaves us in a stronger position as a club.

Moving forward, I am excited about planning for recognition of the club's

75th anniversary this year. A committee led by Rich Connor is already be-

ginning work on this project. I am also looking forward to continued work on

new conservation projects, continuing recent successful innovations (more

of Ken's mini-sessions!), and trying some new ones (website of the month -

see this issue).

Of course I am also a club member, so I am anxious to hear about the

recent outing to Devils Lake for trout, and am getting ready for next week-

ends trip to Sturgeon Bay for the Charlie Grimm Memorial Whitefish Out-

ing, which is always great fishing and fellowship. And then of course the

Expo. It should be a year of great activities, I hope you can participate n

many of them!

Phil James

Website of the Month

We are trying something new - at each month's meeting we will very briefly

present a website that may be of interest to our members. Websites will

then be listed in the newsletters and in the members section of the club

website. I have a few to present to get us started, but I encourage mem-

bers to present their favorite sites as well. If you have one let Phil know.

January's website of the month is:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ds-yqvoejis

This is a YouTube video testing a variety of fishing lines to see how visible

they are underwater. There are also links to additional videos testing more

line types.

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Outing update for February 2020.

We have 26 people going this weekend to the SturgeonBay

Whitefish outing with a summary to come after the outing.

The "Do our own whitefish outing" is scheduled for Saturday,

February 22nd. We will be fishing shallow water, 6-20 feet, in the

Sturgeon Bay area. We will bring our own fishing gear and you

will need to be able to walk at least 400 yards or more in poten-

tially deep snow. You can bring an ATV if you have one. There is

also the possibility of fishing for walleyes and northerns. Please

contact me if interested.

We may will have a Mississippi trip late March

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YFC January Devil’s Lake Outing

So Tom Klein organizes the trip,

drives me up there, sets up a truck

full of cooking gear and lunch table

stuff while we are fishing. Then he

prepares and lays out the food

while limiting out with three brown

trout before we eat a great chili

lunch.

As for the rest of us slackers, I

know for sure that Lee Bartolini got

two. The weather held up OK, alt-

hough it was difficult to walk

through six inches of slush. Every-

one should check out Devil’s Lake,

maybe the prettiest park in Wiscon-

sin. Jack Hurst

Tom Klein

Gard Strother Stan Nichols

Yahara Fishing Club

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2020 Kids Ice Fishing Day

Many more pictures on Facebook or on our website.

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The next YFC meeting is February 12, 2020 at 7:00 pm. At the VFW Hall, 301 Cottage Grove Road.

Annual Club Auction. Bring items to Auction.

Calendar of Upcoming Events

Board of Directors and Officers

Phil James, President Tex Torgeson Myron Kebus

Jim Krause, Vice President Ken Terrill Karlette Schoen, Membership

Kathy McGee, Treasurer Gerald King Tom Wilke, Speakers

Larry Reed, Secretary Rich Connor

Mary Regel Helps Us Again

Once more Mary has donated

$500.00 towards the Kids Fishing

Days from the Rod Regel Memorial

Fund.

Thank You Mary!

February 2020 Events

March 2020 Events

March 11th, VFW Hall, meeting at 7:00. Tom Wilke is working on a surprise

great speaker.

February 8-9th, Sturgeon Bay outing.

February 12th, VFW Hall, meeting at 7:00. Annual Club Auction. Bring

gear early to donate.

Yahara Fishing Club

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PLACE STAMP HERE

Yahara Fishing Club Membership Form

P.O. Box 3271 Madison, WI 53704

Annual Dues are from January 1 to December 31. Please print. *** ESSENTIAL

Name *** ____________________________________________________________________________

If Family or Youth, Additional Names ______________________________________________________

Email ***_______________________@__________________________________

Street Address ____________________________________________________ State __ Zip _______

Phone Number and Area Code *** ______ - ________- ____________

Individual…………… $35.00

Family …………….. $45.00

Student……………….$10.00

Youth Members are free with other paid membership.