Here's what George Langley of the Eagle River Fishing Guide Association, is reporting about fishing in the Eagle River area:

FISHING WITH THE GUIDES

5-12-08

by George Langley

We're still on the weather roller coaster, with some great warm weather followed always by some cooler stuff. It hasn't affected the walleye spawning process at all as far as we can tell, but it certainly will have some "slowdown" effect on bass and musky. Water temps run from the mid 40's up into the low 50's at this point, which is quite cold for these dates. Well, it was a late Spring - so we should expect those cold temps.

Water levels are pretty good on most lakes, but remain surprisingly low on some basin type lakes. It's hard to imagine at this point what it would take to get a few of these big low lakes up to their "normal" level.

People have been slow this year, with the late ice, to get their piers out. It's seemed almost like mid April out there on some days recently. With the Memorial Day weekend coming, we can expect a great increase in boating traffic. By that weekend we think the bass will be starting and the musky, hopefully, will be finished. Unless we get some really warm weather between now & then you won't see many people swimming on that weekend!

Walleye action has been great. What a good opener with this late ice. We've had reports of both good numbers and good size on most lakes.  As always, jigs with fathead minnows work best in the Spring, fished right along shoreline cover of any type. In most areas now the females have dropped back a little deeper to recover from the spawning process. This means a lot of the smaller males are going to be the fish caught in the next week or so. This is normal for the post spawn period, and usually happens right around opening day up here. As we've said, everything is later than normal this year.

We had a great run on the Wisconsin River this year. People caught fish all along the river between the Rainbow and the Otter Rapids dam. There will still be some action there as the fish drop back down towards the flowage after the spawn.

Bass have really not even started their spawn yet.  Late this year as all the fish are. We've seen some nice females along shorelines, "scouting" the spawning areas. When they do this, they will hit minnow types of baits and you can catch some huge females. Just not in good numbers. In the absence of a cold spell (a dream this year?) we should get these bass up in the next week to two seeks for their spawn. This action resulting from the spawn will run well into June this year. Remember, catch and release only - and treat these fish with care. They are GREAT sport fish.

Pan fish action will turn to the crappie spawn soon. There has already been some action around shoreline trees and the like. This will provide great action for several weeks. The perch are done spawning and are dropping back towards deeper cover like emerging weeds and brushpiles. The bluegills are not ready to spawn yet, but some have been caught in the weeds.

All in all - it will be a good to great week if we get decent weather. We could use some (warm) rain.

Good luck and good fishn'

For more information about fishing the Eagle River area call us or visit our website.:

*George Langley, Eagle River Fishing Guide Association, 715-479-8804.
*Yukon Jack Outfitters,

1857 Scattering Rice Lake Rd.,

Eagle River, WI  54521,

715-479-3219; website: www.yukonjackegv.com

We can honestly say that there is no place on earth with as much variety of fishing opportunities in freshwater fishing. With literally hundreds of lakes of all sizes, and miles and miles of trout streams, plus the fishing in the Wisconsin River, you could fish every day of the open water season and never hit the same water twice. We have great fishing for trout, musky walleye, smallmouth & largemouth bass, northerns and all types of panfish. You can catch most of these species within the city limits of Eagle River.

Musky fishing is spectacular, with people travelling from all over the world to fish these great gamefish. The action starts on the Memorial Day weekend - and there is good fishing for them right from the start. Our variety of musky waters run from the Wisconsin and Eagle Rivers to lakes running from 50 to 4,000 acres. We also have a great variety of dark and clear water lakes for all weather conditions.When you are thinking musky you may want to fish them in the summer while on a family vacation. At this time of the year surface baits provide heart-stopping action - and you can fish early and late in the day while still boating or otherwise enjoying life with the family. One great thing to remember about musky is that they hit at any time - not just at a particular time of day, Fall musky fishing is the best of the trophy time, with numerous huge musky caught (and usually released) every year. This is the time that our many excellent area guides are very busy with musky clients.

Walleye fishing is also good, especially in the spring and fall. Our game fish season startson the first weekend in May and the walleye are active from the start. Most opening weekends find some of the best fishing of the year, with the fish still in the shallows from spawning. May is a great time to fish walleye with light tackle along the shorelines. June finds the fish moving deeper, with good action experienced in deeper weeds and on mid-lake structure.
As the summer vacation period happens our guides will still find these great tasting fish daily, and many a vacation has been enhanced with an evening meal of fresh-caught walleye. They are located deeper in the summer, usually around mid-lake bars and reefs.
Fall walleye fishing is great, with days of 10 - 30 walleye not uncommon. This is the time of the year for fishing with jigs and larger minnows for big fish. You can also experience fine artificial bait luck at this time of year with crankbaits.

Northern pike abound in this area also, with a variety of lakes for these fish. We do have some trophy water for these fish, although most of our lakes contain mid-sized fish in good numbers. This is a great gamefish to introduce to you children to fishing for while on vacation, because of their aggressive nature and abundance.

This area has not been previously known as a hotbed for largemouth bass, but is is a real "sleeper" area for these fish. You will experience a huge variety of conditions and types of fishing for them, from 20 acre ponds to 2,000 acre lakes. More and more our guides have learned to take clients to out-of-the-way small bog lakes for these fish. Fish to 6 pounds are not uncommon, but most fish run in the 2-3 pound range.

Smallmouth bass are a different store - we have some of the best smallmouth fishing in the world right here. Catches of 50 fish a day are not uncommon, and many trophies are takes yearly. The smallies hit right from opening day on - and it again is a wonderful way to introduce your friend or children to gamefish fishing with a certainty of success. Another way of enjoying fishing for smallmouth is to flyfish for them. This is becoming a much more popular sport yearly. Many area guides have become adepot at this type of fishing.

Out trout fishing is also varied, with both streams and lakes available. The experience of wilderness fishing for trout along our hundreds of miles of streams is a great way to spend a summer day or evening. Most area streams are small, but loaded with fish. A number of our rivers or streams can be canoed.There is a good number of lakes and ponds for trout fishing also, and these fish are noted for hitting all season long.

One of the great benefits of coming to this area is the variety - there is ALWAYS some type of fish active and hitting. Bring a variety of rods, or just hire one of the many local guides and they will provide equipment for you.

Good luck and good fishing!