My musky tournament partner and good buddy Steve Peterson and I recently had the pleasure of traveling to Green Bay, Wisconsin and fish it for muskies for the first time. It was a quick 2 day marathon trip for us. Having built a good network of friends and guides in the area thanks to my regular day job, I was able to schedule this quick 2 day trip way back in January and reserve our fishing dates. This visit to fish with guide buddy, Brett Jolly, and Stephen Wesoloski of Toothy’s Tackle was long overdue. We were excited to fish world class waters with friends, and learn a new fishery so that we may be comfortable returning with our own boats next time.
On Thursday August 27th, Steve and I left Chicago at 4am, high on coffee, and drove 3 hours straight to the boat landing. Brett, who will be retiring from being a fishing guide in November, was kind enough to take us out on Day-1 for a combination of casting and trolling.
Steve and I brought along our supply of health degradation, as musky fishing will do this to you.
We fished from 8am till 7pm. We began the day casting Spanky Baits and bright bucktails on shallow offshore sand flats and weedlines amid thick fog. Steve had all the action, raising a 46 incher and seeing two others in the low 50 inch class. None were eaters. By noon the lake turned to glass, the fog burned and gave way to bright sun, and fish activity slowed. We then switched to trolling.
We got word from Brett Alexander and other reliable sources that the trolling bite had begun so we quickly helped outfit Jolly’s Lund with the necessary trolling accessories and rigged the rods and our perch patterned crankbaits of choice. We then motored over to our trolling grounds. Trolling the vast waters of Green Bay for a full six hours among mega schools of baitfish species, our efforts resulted in two big accidental freshwater drum and zero muskies. Unfortunately our timing was off, as the morning bite has been strongest and was offering best feeding windows. Green Bay muskies migrate frequently and are often on the move because there aren’t many isolated areas where they can congregate for long periods of time. We simply weren’t fishing in an area where many fish were present.
Despite striking out with Brett, it was a tremendous experience to be able to fish with a friend and client of mine, and one of the finest fishing guides in Wisconsin before he sails off into the sunset. Thank you, Brett!
Following day-1, Steve and I checked into the hotel for the night and then met with Stephen Wesoloski, who hosted us for day-2. We discussed our strategy for the next day, which was going to be comprised of trolling throughout the morning, and fishing a different region of the bay. We were forewarned that our fiberglass trolling rods would explode when struck by a fish.
Bring it on.
On day-2, we trolled from 7am until 3pm when incoming storm was threatening to push us off from the water. We meticulously trolled a large expansive sand flat, following its contour along 9 to 13 feet at a clip of 3.2 to 3.4 miles per hour. Other boats joined our fleet of zigzagging trollers which consisted of Jolly, Alexander, Avery Smith and their clients, along with Mike Keyes of Keyes Outdoors Television. Everybody was seeing some action on this morning.
Wesoloski’s strategy was executed perfectly. Our 6 line spread rigged with perch crankbaits with dropper weights and Offshore Tackle planer boards spooled with 50lb monofilament found the jaws of my 45 inch muskie within the first hour. The trolling rod did indeed explode when it was struck. It was awesome! The fight was spectacular.
Trolling is a waiting game but a lot of rigging, preparation, and strategy is involved. When a fish struck, each of us had roles in the boat whether it was netting, and then clearing the lines so that fish can be safely netted and handled for successful release.
It may require a lot of waiting, but precision boat control, trolling speed, and accurate drifting is necessary. Less than 2 hours later, right at the start of moon overhead at 11am, the next rod shot off and this time it was Steve’s turn to handle the beast. The fight with his Green Bay donkey was even better!
The moment the planer board was unclipped from the line, the fight was underway. Lots of boatside bulldogging was experienced and upon the sight of a big headed fish with a thick back, we knew it was a dandy and darn close to 50 inches. Wesoloski netted and removed hooks.
Measurements confirmed 49 inches and an estimate of 30 lbs. This is the second largest musky Steve has ever handled.
Throughout the productive morning, word quickly spread about the secret trolling baits that were taking Green Bay muskies by storm. Nobody could believe it, as it was pure annihilation and comedy.
Baby dinosaurs?
Hell no, but this outrageous bait, the most outrageous looking thing I’ve ever seen for bass fishing, made for several good laughs.
Following Peterson’s 49 incher, we continued to troll for 4 more hours with hopes that a few more could be caught. But the bite shut off, muskies had moved on elsewhere, and that was all she wrote. Rainfall began at 3pm and by then we made a tourist stop at Lambeau Field and the atrium. At 5pm we were on the road, on our way back to Chicago.
Our successful inaugural Green Bay Muskie Marathon had come to a conclusion. Thank you Stephen for one of the most fun musky outings I’ve ever had.
Sold on excellent fishing and its potential, and together with our friends again, we already look forward to the future return trips at the bay of Green Bay.
