2022 Outing Reports

First Ice - Nielsen’s Channels

Six club members and one guest fished first ice at Nielsen’s Channels. It was a much slower outing than we had there last year. Only 10 points were scored on 9 bluegills and 1 crappie caught by Al which won big fish. It was so windy and cold that everyone left before the official outing end time.

January 22, 2022 - Secret Pike Lake

Nine club members and one guest fished in cold and windy conditions. In total, 11 largemouth bass and five northern pike were caught for 95 points. And many of them were quality fish! Six of the bass were 17” or larger, with the biggest being Michael Olszewski’s 18-incher. Four of the five northern pike were 30” or better. Jeff Haug caught two of them with a 31-3/4” and a 33.5”. Northern pike was the species for this outing’s big fish contest, which host Jason Cashmore won with a 34-incher.

February 5, 2022 - Silver Lake

Five club members fished Silver Lake. We had a nice sunny morning with no wind to start the day, but as the outing wore on the sun disappeared and the winds picked up...it was chilly by the time we got off the ice. A couple of guys tried jigging without any luck. The rest of the fishing was on tip-ups. In total we had about 20 flags, but only 3 fish for points...all caught by Dave Busscher! Dave caught a 10" Rock Bass, a 15.5" Largemouth Bass, and a 28.5" Northern Pike that won the big fish contest. We caught another 5-10 Northern Pike, but they were all under the minimum 24” for points.

February 26, 2022 - Lake Elizabeth

Eight club members and three guests fished a disappointing Lake Elizabeth outing. It was a cold and windy morning and the fish weren’t biting. Isaac Biggerstaff and a friend each caught a small perch. Only two fish were caught that scored points—a 14” bass by Al Silcroft and a 15” bass by Dave Busscher that won the big fish contest.

March 26, 2022 - Private Walleye Lake

Originally scheduled to be an outing on the Fox River in DePere, WI, we changed the location at our March meeting. Twelve club members and two guests fished the outing in rough weather—temperatures in the upper 20s and 20 mph wind. About a dozen small walleye and two small bass were caught, but only one fish was caught for points—a 15-3/4” walleye by Al Silcroft.

April 9, 2022 - Rock River (Fort Atkinson, WI)

Nine club members fished the Rock River in Fort Atkinson, WI. The outing was originally scheduled to be at the Fox River, but we had been doing better at the Rock recently and decided to switch. Everyone fished from shore using three-way rigs and jigs. The river is up and the current is strong, so heavy weights were key. We caught 20 walleye that scored club points (14” or up) along with a handful of shorter fish and a sheepshead. Michael Olszewski won the big fish contest with a 17” walleye. The minimum legal size is 18” for walleye in the Rock River, so all fish were released.

April 23, 2022 - Fox Chain

Our Fox Chain o’ Lakes outing was fished by 11 club members in pleasant weather for a change. We caught 9 walleyes, 1 largemouth bass, 3 channel catfish, and a 15” white bass for a total of 85 points. Al Silcroft and Jeff Haug split the big fish prize with twin 20" walleyes. Jig and minnow was the most productive presentation. A highlight of the outing was when we heard Mike Olszewski Jr. and Mike Olszewski Sr. in a rental boat yelling from out in the middle of the lake. They landed three 25-27” catfish in a short time.

May 7, 2022 - Lake Michigan

Canceled due to unsafe weather conditions.

May 21, 2022 - Private Walleye Lake

Sixteen club members and one guest fished our private walleye lake on a cloudy but pleasant day. We caught the following fish that were large enough to score club points: 39 walleye up to 18”, 27 largemouth bass up to 18”, 4 bluegill, 5 crappie and 18 yellow bass for a total of 370 points. Mike Kett won the big fish contest with an 18-incher. Jigs or plain hooks baited with a minnow or worm worked best, but a lot of fish were also caught on nail worms and other artificial lures.

June 4-5, 2022 - Green Lake, Jay Hall Memorial Outing

Thirteen club members fished our annual Green Lake outing in less-than-ideal conditions. Friday was very windy, Saturday was only slightly less windy, and Sunday it rained. There was a bass tournament at Green Lake on Saturday, and many of the tournament anglers also pre-fished on Friday. It was crowded out there! The fishing was tough this year. During the official outing times on Saturday and Sunday we caught the following fish that scored club points: 15 smallmouth bass, 9 largemouth bass, 1 walleye, 3 northern pike, 78 rock bass, 2 perch, and a giant 16” white bass. We caught a total of 240 points. A jig tipped with a minnow was the most effective bait under the tough fishing conditions. Some fish were taken on plastics as well. One of our boats found a rock pile holding lots of big rock bass (10-11”) and spent all of Friday and Saturday fishing there. The rest of us covered a lot of water looking for smallmouth, but it was a real grind. Only one boat went out in the rain on Sunday—new members Terry and Justin Ocheltree toughed it out and were rewarded with Justin catching a 17.5" smallmouth to win the big fish contest.

June 18, 2022 - Private Bass Lake

We had an outing on our private bass lake on June 18th. As usual, it produced fish, and there was an excellent turnout of club members and guests in perfect weather. We had guys fishing from boats, canoes, and kayaks.

“Kayak Ken” Haney caught a 21" largemouth on his 3rd cast to take the big fish prize. Frank's son-in-law and guest, David, caught a 19" largemouth and Al Silcroft caught an 18-incher. 33 bass were caught by the members for points, with many 15-16 inchers in the mix.

The action was hottest early and plastics fished very slowly worked best. Jeff Haug and Al each had their 5 fish limit by 6:30 am! The action slowed down and became scattered later in the morning.

July 9, 2022 - Brown’s Lake

Thirteen club members fished a beautiful morning in weather that couldn’t have been better, and the fish even played along! 34 largemouth bass, 2 northern pike, 1 smallmouth bass, 1 rockbass, and 6 bluegill were caught for a total of 232 points. That comes out to 2.97 points per fisherman per hour, which is the second-highest of any outing so far this year! Highlights were an 18” largemouth caught by “Kayak” Ken Haney and an 18.5” largemouth that won the big fish contest for Al Silcroft. Soft plastics worked best for the bass although a few were caught on other baits as well.

July 23, 2022 - Round Lake

Eleven club members and one guest fished our outing at Round Lake. Our start was delayed by a thunderstorm, but we hung out together at the launch and waited for it to pass. When the lightning and thunder were finished we headed out and got about an hour of windy fishing in before we had to take shelter from another passing cell. After that it was windy but otherwise very pleasant fishing weather.

The fish were a little tough to find after a recent weed treatment that seems to have affected the entire lake. Spots that were productive for us in the past were completely devoid of both vegetation and bass. But we searched new areas and eventually found some remnant weeds and a few biting fish. We ended up catching 29 largemouth bass along with a few shorts and some other species. The outing produced a total of 152 points by our club scoring system. That calculates to 3.45 points per person per hour, which is the second highest for an outing so far this year!

Soft plastics produced the most fish, but the biggest fish were caught by kayakers trolling hard baits. Matt Biggerstaff landed an 18.25” largemouth. “Kayak” Ken Haney won the outing big fish contest with a beautiful 20.75” bass. Ken also caught a 33.75” musky that jumped out of his net and off the hook, but luckily landed in his lap in the kayak. We have heard of nice northern pike caught from Round Lake, especially through the ice, but this was the first we had heard of musky in the lake!

August 6, 2022 - Silver Lake

Our Silver Lake outing was well-attended with 17 club members fishing. Unfortunately, it seemed like more club members than fish participated in the outing!

We caught 18 largemouth bass that scored points (they must be 13” or bigger), however they were all pretty small. The biggest was a 15.75-incher caught by Mike Tarnow. Either the heat of summer has the big fish inactive or the lake has been heavily overfished. We also caught 3 northern pike (the biggest, caught by Matt Biggerstaff from his kayak, was 27 1/2"), 25 bluegills, and 3 rock bass. That is a total of 133 points, which only comes out to 1.42 points per person per hour. That ranks this as one of the lowest open-water outings we have had this year.

August 20, 2022 - Powers Lake

Outing canceled due to thunderstorms

September 10, 2022 - Lake Michigan

Nine members and one guest fished Lake Michigan on a beautiful September morning with clear skies and calm seas following a full moon the night before. Fishermen were spread from Port Washington, WI to Waukegan, IL. Fishing was hot during sunrise, but quickly leveled off. Six fish were caught for a total of 55 points (five king salmon and one northern pike). Isacc Biggerstaff's two fish each topped 20lbs and the longest was 38.5" which now takes the lead for big fish of the year.

October 8-9, 2022 - Lake Koshkonong

Approximately twelve club members fished Lake Koshkonong the weekend of October 8th. It was very windy so most of us stayed in the river. On top of that a walleye tournament and a closed boat ramp meant it was crowded. Despite all that we managed to catch a few fish. Light jigs with a minnow did best, but we also had some success with crawlers, drop shots, and blade baits.

November 5-6, 2022 - Lake Wisconsin

Eight club members and three guests fished the Lake Wisconsin outing. The weather was bad on Friday and didn’t allow pre-fishing. There was a narrow window in the weather on Saturday that allowed us to fish starting late morning and a handful of walleye and sauger were caught. The fishing lasted until about 2 pm when a squall with 30+ mph winds chased us off the lake. Jeff Sannes braved the wind a little longer than the rest of us and his 17 year old grandson, Dermot Larson, was rewarded with the big fish of the outing—an 18.25” sauger. Sunday's weather was more fishable, but it was a very slow bite and the few fish caught were small. Only one pointer fish was caught Sunday. In total 9 sauger, 2 walleye, and 2 white bass were caught that scored club points.

December 3, 2022 - Lake Michigan

Our last outing of the year was uneventful. Ten club members and one guest fished a Lake Michigan harbor on a very cold and windy morning with very little action. Two small northern pike were caught and a couple more were briefly on before spitting the hook. We mostly used live golden roaches a foot or so off bottom, but other techniques were also tried.