October 2019 newsletter
Meetings at 7 pm the third Tuesday of every month at the Loves Park VFW
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Mike Anderson - Guide
Speaker for the October Meeting
I started out the last newsletter stating “Summer is
behind us and the fall bite is starting!” Well this week’s
weather predictions are going to reinforce that
statement. Put those plaid shorts, white belts, tie dyed
shirts and flip flops away – we are officially calling
summer fishing done. That is a bad visual for a
Flatlander – EH!
First off we are bringing in a speaker for the October
meeting – here is a repeat of the first notice.
Our speaker for the October 15th meeting will be Mike
Anderson of Mike’s Guide Services. Mike guides
primarily on Petenwell and Castle Rock Lakes and fishes
for Musky, walleye, and pan fish. He does guided ice
fishing trips as well. He has over 45 years of experience
and has been fishing for muskies for 40 years. He has
been guiding on and off for 25 years, going full time 5
years ago.
He has boated over 42 muskies this year himself and
has put clients onto another 44 fish! His talk on the 15th
will focus on fishing muskies on Petenwell and Castle
Rock. These are two large bodies of water relatively
close to home and not as pressured as the Madison
chain. The picture is of a nice 47 inch fish that he
caught out of Castle Rock.
If you have maps Mike will point out areas to focus on
when fishing these lakes. There will be an overhead
slide presentation, so come prepared to take notes!
We’ll have a Q & A session at the conclusion of the talk.
Please support your chapter and plan to attend! Spread
the word and bring a friend. See you there!
We have sent invitations to Rock Valley Anglers and
Wormsoakers for the meeting. I personally am excited
about learning more about Castle Rock and Petenwell
Lakes. I think it is a good option to the heavy pressured
waters of the Madison Chain. I have been on Castle
Rock twice this summer, and I could use some insight to
these large bodies of water. It is a reasonable drive for a
day and more relaxing than fishing the noise on Lake
Monona.
Next up is our trip to Lake Alice on October 18, 19, 20.
This should be a good outing to wrap up our schedule.
In years past the Rodeway Inn and Suites has been a
reasonable place to stay. For those of you that have not
fished Lake Alice before, the launch is northeast of
Tomahawk on county highway “A”. If you need any
information contact Lee Bach at the meeting. This is a
lake he knows well. It might be a good idea to see if
everyone is going out for fish fry Friday night.
Outing report – Green Bay
Friday Stu and Frank Sondgeroth had a good day out
with Doug Wegner. They will fill us in more at the
meeting. Saturday we had five boats out with eleven
anglers rocking and rolling on the bay. The waves were
in the four foot range and did not let up all day. Brandon
Simonson got a low 30” pike and Dick Cholke picked up
a 38” pike near dusk. Sunday we had two boats out,
with winds from the east. At least we could fish the lee
side on University Bay. Monday just the three of us
made it out. As a group, we did not put any muskie in
the net for the outing. We realize that it is a balance of
facing tough weather conditions to get a potentially big
fish. I have polled the group on the outing and they are
positive on going back next year. The two winners at the
Rockford All City Muskie Night of the half day guide trip
with Doug Wegner were out Tuesday. They had a
phenomenal day with Doug netting a double at 48” each
and two at 44”. I am happy to see such a positive result
for the raffle winners. On Thursday Mike Kruger, Scott
Grabow, and Jason Petticrew also fished with Doug
Wegner. Scott landed a very memorable 45” muskie to
make for a great day on the water.
Looking forward, the Executive Committee set the dates
and schedule for some of our major events and outings
in 2020. We will submit these to Muskie Inc. national to
appear in the calendar. Here is the list:
Flatlander List of Events 2020
March 7 – Flatlanders Annual Award Banquet
April 4, 5 - Lake Kinkaid Regional Chapter Challenge –
not a Flatlander outing
April 8 – 2
nd
Annual “Rockford All City Muskie Night” in
conjunction with Rock Valley Anglers. This will include a
raffle for a half day guide trip with the featured presenter
Chas Martin.
April 25 – Lake Storey near Galesburg, IL
May 16 – Prairie Lake
July 18-25 – Lake of the Woods
August TBD Muskie Inc. Chapter Challunge
September 18, 19, 20 Bay of Green Bay
October 2, 3, 4 – Hayward Lakes Chapter Muskie
Tournament
As you can see we stayed with a few old lakes and
added a few new ones. In addition, the October outing
to Hayward will offer more festivities if we care to enter
the tournament.
Remember November is the election of officers.
Consider running for a position and help the club grow.
We hope to see you Tuesday night for Mike Anderson’s
presentation on fishing Castle Rock and Petenwell lakes.
Get on the water and get on the board
Dick Cholke
Fishing Report: Thursday October 10 Twin Valley
Four Suckers were dragged around prime 62° clear water – Zip
Kate’s baits does have suckers – nice size small $5 and 9-12” $8.50
Note: Highway 151 / 18 is still under construction east of Dodgeville for a good poke
We witnessed a classic technique on Twin Valley – set your suckers out – hit spot lock - take a nap (Zip also!)
Some photos of a few Flatlanders
Jack Pertz 48” Lake St. Clair Jeff Gayhart 47” Lake St. Clair
Russ Hoernecke 50” Lake St Clair Frank Bunch
We welcome the following anglers to our crazy world of
Muskie Fishing
They caught their first Muskie and they are on the board!
Kayla Wedler Diane Scruggs
42” Twin Valley with guide Kyle Scruggs First Muskie on the Eagle River Chain with guide Tim Scruggs
Wes Mathews Wes Mathews
First Muskie Next Day 2
nd
Muskie with guide Ty Sennett
