Long time away from the blog. Sorry about that!

I spent Saturday at the Skeeter Boat Center open house, delivering an instructional seminar on Humminbird Side Imaging and Down Imaging, as well as the MinnKota i-Pilot. Here are some scenes from the talk.

For those of you who couldn't make it, the seminar will be available as a streaming web video right here on www.jasonhalfenoutdoors.com.

Wissota Aug 11

Warm day on the backyard gem today!

One of the things I've promised myself that I'd do this year is think outside of the box on Wissota. I've settled into a comfortable routine that I can count on to produce, but the only way to become a more complete angler is to step outside of that box, even if that means catching fewer fish than you might otherwise.

Here are some results from today's trip "outside of the box".

First, a Wissota bass double....a smallie and an uncommon (for me, at least) Wissota largie. These were my first two fish of the day, and came on consecutive casts. I boxed up the largie for a photo op before sticking the smallie. Once I had them both in the boat, it was time for a quick snap before getting back to work.

The next two casts....two more cookie cutter smallies, just like the one in the photo.

Hayward Lakes update

More cool water in the northland has kept good numbers of gamefish in the shallows, rather than pushing them deep.

I arrived in the Hayward Area on Friday night and found water temps of 67 degrees. August 7, and 67 degrees. Unbelievable.

Over two days and two nights, we found walleyes and smallies during low light periods, and abundant largemouth during the day, prowling the inside edge of well-developed cabbage beds. A sample of our catch is shown below. Casting SSR7s by night and soaking leeches under corks by day kept fish coming to the net.

Boating is getting tricky in the area. All sorts of interesting gravel beds, which are now shallow enough to be in play, will be giving the area prop shops their own version of a stimulus package. Trim up and go slow!

Wissota Aug. 5

August is smallmouth time on the backyard gem!

I was joined by dyed-in-the-wool bass angler Dan Meyer, manager of Skeeter Boat Center, for an afternoon multispecies adventure today. We caught our fair share of walleyes today but probably caught twice as many smallies. This "pie plate with fins" was our largest for the trip.

Water temperatures are surprisingly low for early August, and I'm sure those cool temps contributed to a less-than-torrid smallmouth bite today. I think that will change soon with predicted highs in the 90s this weekend. So, get out and enjoy some terrific late summer fishing on the backyard gem! If you're looking for a care-free multispecies trip this August, please shoot me an e-mail. I do have some availability for Wissota smallmouth (and walleye!) adventures.

Wissota update

Back-to-back guide trips today made for 4 happy clients of Jason Halfen Outdoors, and one sleepy fishing guide!

My morning trip was two brothers, Tom and George, from Menomonie. Tom's wife and George's wife bought them a fully guided walleye trip on Wissota for Father's Day. In the afternoon, I was joined by Fred and Fr. Brian from Eau Claire. Fred was the winner of the Chippewa Rod and Gun club raffle for a trip out on Wissota with me for some great multi-species action. I was happy to donate a trip to the Rod and Gun Club in support of their activities last year, and am doing so again this year.

Kooky weather made for an interesting bite, but we ground it out and enjoyed steady success all day. Shown here are some pics including Tom with an over walleye and a 12" crappie, followed by Fr. Brian with an over walleye, followed by Fr. Brian and Fred with a 31", 13 lb 6 oz channel cat.

Our totals for the day were 21 walleye, 11 cats, 4 smallies, and one nice crappie. Thanks George, Tom, Fred and Fr. Brian for a great day on the water with Jason Halfen Outdoors. For now, off to sleep before more guiding tomorrow.

Giant Wissota pre-spawn flathead!

I was joined today by three guests on a Lake Wissota walleye hunt. We had a so-so walleye day...a molasses slow morning followed by a reasonable afternoon. Decent afternoon numbers of slot fish and shorts, although the "overs" eluded us today.

Some of the trip highlights included the two 40"-class fish we had boatside. Mike Whittlinger hooked a small walleye about 5 minutes into the trip, which was promptly torpedoed by a 40"-class Wissota musky. Everyone had a chance to see it wallow and roll a few times before spitting out the tattered, quivering walleye and swimming away.

A few hours later, Ryan hooked a big rock that started to move. Well, 10-15 minutes later, we slid the Beckman under this Wissota supertanker flathead. 40" long and just shy of 35 pounds, this is the biggest cat that this walleye guy has been around in a long time. A few quick snaps with Ryan and the gang, and back she went.

Ryan didn't muscle this fish in with a crankbait and trolling gear. Rather, this Wissota flathead took a 1/8 oz Draggin Jig and a half-crawler, dragged over shallow rock in moderate current. Our ability to land this fish is a testament to the quality of the B-Fish-N tackle Draggin Jig (check out the cat slime still on the line!), the strength of the Cortland 8 lb hi-vis mono we're spooled up with (thanks Dean!), the quality of our St. Croix Legend Tournament 68MXF rods, and the smooth drags on our Shimano Symetre reels. Everything must work PERFECTLY to have a chance to land such an oversized, under-tackled fish, and all of this equipment performed flawlessly for us this afternoon.

And Ryan did a good job fighting her, too!

Congrats on your Wissota PB flathead Ryan....we'll shoot for a PB walleye next time out.

Pepin leadcore bite

There is a GREAT leadcore bite in progress out on Pepin!

I had a chance to take two of my graduating students out for the afternoon today. Our rain-shortened 4-hour trip ended with 9 nice 16-20" fish for the box, a thick 22" sauger released, and a bunch of shorts, goats, and stripers. Katie and Jon are shown here with a couple of 19-20" walleyes that they harvested for an upcoming graduation celebration.

There is fantastic water clarity in the middle-lower end of the lake.....I'd say in the neighborhood of 4 feet. That pushed our most active bite into 20-22', even with solid overcast, rain, and steady wind and rollers. Bright colors, 2.5-3 mph, in areas with good wind/wave action rolling in.

With temps just reaching 70, this bite should keep on gaining steam for a several weeks yet. Get out and enjoy!