An Outdoorsmanâs Journal: Big wind/walleye on Green Bay Mark Walters Hello friends, As you may know, I am addicted to the outdoors and enjoy pushing things to the limit from time to time. I have a buddy who recently retired and has been a part of this column since it was started back in â89; his name is Doug Cibulka and he also loves to hunt and fish. This past week Doug and I tent camped at a campground on Green Bay in Oconto County and endured some very high seas in a boat that was tossed around like a leaf in a tornado. Long story short, we had an epic experience, life jackets required, in that we put a hurting on the walleye and lived to eat âem! Monday, May 19 â High 58, low 42 Doug and I knew well in advance that we either had to bail on this trip or live with a solid northeast wind, and the only thing I bail is hay or my boat. So poor Dougie had no choice but to pray, wear his vest, and perform an excellent job as captain of his 16.7 Alumacraft Classic, powered by a 70 hp Yamaha. Plan number one was to just fish the Oconto River, as that would be safe. Good but ominous news hit us like a sinking shipwhenwepulledintoourcampgroundandthereweretwo groups of fishermen filletingâlimits of 20- to 25-inch walleye.â I started jabbering with these guys and Doug started getting that same feeling as he has about a thousand times when he knows,âWalters thinks we can do this.âIn other words, despite very high seas and our new friends in 22-foot watercraft, I figured as long as the bilge pump was operational, that we could Cibulka at the helm. I started running lines, which in this case would be two poles straight back of the boat, one close, one far, and a left and right planer board all rigged with crawler harnesses. Heading into the waves, the first 40 minutes we had zero action. When we turned around and had the wind at our back, our first hit was a small perch. A minute later we had another hit and caught a 13.5-inch perch. Five minutes later there was another hit and this time there was some solid heft to the fish and insanity in the fight. One person had to hold onto the steering wheel at all times; the other had to fight fish and keep it out of other lines; in most cases, net it; and, somewhat importantly, not fall out of the boat. That first âeyeâ was 23 inches and within five minutes another fight was being fought and âeyeânumber two was a 26-incher. Suddenly Dougie C., who got me in a lot of trouble as a kid,âcause I was always innocent, was losing his doubt of ourâmutual decisionâto fish the bay and we kept a southerly direction with the wind at our back. Another side story: Our net was too short, the boat driver could not let go of the wheel, and the fish catcher had to get up front so the boat driver could net and drive. Super long story short, the first fish we lost was our 10th and that is because our net dropped overboard and the fish catcher ripped the harness, did a quick cast, caught the net, and it was a fair trade. âEyeânumber 10 was landed, not a one was under 20 inches and I started pulling lines for the victory ride back to camp. While pulling the last three lines, a 23- and 26-inch âeyeâ was landed and released. Wemadeitbacktocamp, changed our underwear, cleaned our catch, and had a big old âwe caught an awesome limit and lived to tell about itâ celebration. Live till ya canât! Sunset Venison Processing Catering ⢠Weddings ⢠Funerals Family Reunions ⢠Company Meals Black River Country Insurance Group, LLC We are looking into the future to better serve your needs today. ⢠Auto ⢠Commercial ⢠Farm ⢠Home fish the bay, especially since what today was a sustained 17 mph wind was going to be 22 the next day. We built camp, rigged lines, Doug did a lot of mumbling about things I did not listen to, and we launched the SS Minnow for some fun on the pond.We were either looking up at the clouds or down at bottom of the bay as we edged our way out to 8 to 10 feet of water with Mr. ⢠Farm Bureau Life Annuities 93304 Tim Voigt, Career Agent 450 Hewett St., Neillsville 715-743-2800 tvoigt@ruralins.com 84607 Ryan Dillenbeck, Career Agent 715-223-2777 102 E. Main St., Thorp www.smithbrosmeats.com Hwy. 13 South ⢠Colby, WI 54421 715-669-5400 rdillenbeck@ruralins.com An Outdoorsmanâs Journal: Big wind/walleye on Green Bay Mark Walters Hello friends, As you may know, I am addicted to the outdoors and enjoy pushing things to the limit from time to time. I have a buddy who recently retired and has been a part of this column since it was started back in â89; his name is Doug Cibulka and he also loves to hunt and fish. This past week Doug and I tent camped at a campground on Green Bay in Oconto County and endured some very high seas in a boat that was tossed around like a leaf in a tornado. Long story short, we had an epic experience, life jackets required, in that we put a hurting on the walleye and lived to eat âem! Monday, May 19 â High 58, low 42 Doug and I knew well in advance that we either had to bail on this trip or live with a solid northeast wind, and the only thing I bail is hay or my boat. So poor Dougie had no choice but to pray, wear his vest, and perform an excellent job as captain of his 16.7 Alumacraft Classic, powered by a 70 hp Yamaha. Plan number one was to just fish the Oconto River, as that would be safe. Good but ominous news hit us like a sinking shipwhenwepulledintoourcampgroundandthereweretwo groups of fishermen filletingâlimits of 20- to 25-inch walleye.â I started jabbering with these guys and Doug started getting that same feeling as he has about a thousand times when he knows,âWalters thinks we can do this.âIn other words, despite very high seas and our new friends in 22-foot watercraft, I figured as long as the bilge pump was operational, that we could Cibulka at the helm. I started running lines, which in this case would be two poles straight back of the boat, one close, one far, and a left and right planer board all rigged with crawler harnesses. Heading into the waves, the first 40 minutes we had zero action. When we turned around and had the wind at our back, our first hit was a small perch. A minute later we had another hit and caught a 13.5-inch perch. Five minutes later there was another hit and this time there was some solid heft to the fish and insanity in the fight. One person had to hold onto the steering wheel at all times; the other had to fight fish and keep it out of other lines; in most cases, net it; and, somewhat importantly, not fall out of the boat. That first âeyeâ was 23 inches and within five minutes another fight was being fought and âeyeânumber two was a 26-incher. Suddenly Dougie C., who got me in a lot of trouble as a kid,âcause I was always innocent, was losing his doubt of ourâmutual decisionâto fish the bay and we kept a southerly direction with the wind at our back. Another side story: Our net was too short, the boat driver could not let go of the wheel, and the fish catcher had to get up front so the boat driver could net and drive. Super long story short, the first fish we lost was our 10th and that is because our net dropped overboard and the fish catcher ripped the harness, did a quick cast, caught the net, and it was a fair trade. âEyeânumber 10 was landed, not a one was under 20 inches and I started pulling lines for the victory ride back to camp. While pulling the last three lines, a 23- and 26-inch âeyeâ was landed and released. Wemadeitbacktocamp, changed our underwear, cleaned our catch, and had a big old âwe caught an awesome limit and lived to tell about itâ celebration. Live till ya canât! Sunset Venison Processing Catering ⢠Weddings ⢠Funerals Family Reunions ⢠Company Meals Black River Country Insurance Group, LLC We are looking into the future to better serve your needs today. ⢠Auto ⢠Commercial ⢠Farm ⢠Home fish the bay, especially since what today was a sustained 17 mph wind was going to be 22 the next day. We built camp, rigged lines, Doug did a lot of mumbling about things I did not listen to, and we launched the SS Minnow for some fun on the pond.We were either looking up at the clouds or down at bottom of the bay as we edged our way out to 8 to 10 feet of water with Mr. ⢠Farm Bureau Life Annuities 93304 Tim Voigt, Career Agent 450 Hewett St., Neillsville 715-743-2800 tvoigt@ruralins.com 84607 Ryan Dillenbeck, Career Agent 715-223-2777 102 E. Main St., Thorp www.smithbrosmeats.com Hwy. 13 South ⢠Colby, WI 54421 715-669-5400 rdillenbeck@ruralins.com
Medfordâs Rylee Hraby goes into her pitching motion during the fourth inning of her perfect game Monday against Rhinelander. She retired all 15 batters she faced, including 13 by strikeout. MATT FREY/THE STAR NEWS
Rib Lakeâs Maddie Rademacher takes the baton from Esther Miranda during the girls 400-meter relay at Fridayâs Otto Bacher Invitational in Merrill. The Redmen were ninth in this race. MATT FREY/THE STAR NEWS
Rib Lakeâs Maddie Rademacher takes the baton from Esther Miranda during the girls 400-meter relay at Fridayâs Otto Bacher Invitational in Merrill. The Redmen were ninth in this race. MATT FREY/THE STAR NEWS
Medford pitcher Conor Anderson runs down a little blooper hit by Merrillâs Connor Josiger to record the first out of the second inning Friday afternoon. MATT FREY/THE STAR NEWS
Medford pitcher Conor Anderson runs down a little blooper hit by Merrillâs Connor Josiger to record the first out of the second inning Friday afternoon. MATT FREY/THE STAR NEWS
Medford archers Wyllow Freudenthal, Ezra Hillebrand and Jax Gosse all did well in the 3-D portion of the NASP Eastern Nationals in Louisville, Ky. Freudenthal shot a 281 to place 32nd among middle school girls, Hillebrand shot a 291 to place 29th among high school boys and Gosse shot a 277 to place 87th among middle school boys. VANESSA HILLEBRAND PHOTO
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