The Milwaukee Post

May 11, 2018 • Milwaukee County Post • 11 Cutest Pet PHOTO CONTEST Here's the Winner of our 2018 Be Kind to Animals Week Cutest Pet Photo Contest! Thank you, Milwaukee Post readers, for all of your beautiful pictures of your animal companion friends!!! Pet's Name: Angie "Angie is just one of our 2 children, we call her our firecracker!" Owner Karen Sponsored by Casual Canine Pet Grooming MILWAUKEE COUNTY'S WEEKLY NEWSPAPER And The Milwaukee Post •Full Service Grooming •Full Line of Supplies & Gifts •Vet Recommended •Evening & Sat. Appointments •30 Years Experience Making The World a Happier Place, 4 Paws at a Time! Located in Layton Mart Mall 3068 E. Layton Ave. www.casualcaninepetgrooming.com free medi bath or toy (limited selection) with purchase of full grooming service Casual Canine Pet Grooming 3068 E. Layton Ave • St. Francis • 414-744-6930 Located in Layton Mart Mall With this coupon. Not valid with other offers or prior services. Gift Certificates Available at 414-744-6370 Leave a Message Name • Phone # Old Address & New Address & Apt. # or Lot # Please Call if you M O V E D ! We Love Our Readers Thank You Milwaukee Co. Post This warmer weather came at just the right time for the opening weekend of inland open water fish- ing season, but this is Wisconsin and our cooler temperatures are something we deal with. Ron Heidenrech, of Smokey's Muskie Shop on Pewaukee Lake, said, "The weeds are a little behind but when people find weeds, there should be a lot of different species around them. "Docks should hold some fish, too, so long as we don't have a bad cold front blow in." After he said it, a cold front blew in this week. Take the long view. If a person is looking to land a Pewaukee muskie, Heidenrech said to fish in under 6 feet of water. "Smaller baits will work the best," he said. "Smaller bucktails or cranks. Bass baits will work for muskies this time of year, too." Pewaukee Lake has been a great bass lake for the last few years and there's no reason it won't be this year. Live bait will work great, or artificials like plastic worms, lip- less crankbaits and jerkbaits should all be deployed. Walleye will be feeding well, but Heidenrech said he hopes people don't target them — at least on Pewaukee Lake. He was worried because there are so any under- sized walleye on the lake that he didn't want the population getting hurt before the fish have time to grow to a legal size. Even when fish are caught and released, delayed mortality can occur, especially for walleye — which tend to be a bit on the fragile side. Although bluegills and crappies are not even close to spawning, Heidenrech said they will be in shallow water and pretty easy to target, with minnows and small plastics. Mike Smith, of Dick Smith's Bait and Tackle in Delafield, said before the opening weekend that he noticed some surprises. "I was out on Nagawicka Lake (two weeks ago) and caught some gills in shallow," he said. "I actually found 62-degree water, but it has gone down a bit from the cold nights we've had." Smith said bluegills will be mov- ing in, but the crappie action should be on fire. "I'd start out for crappie in about 3 feet of water," he said. "Any brush, willows or weeds should have fish in them. Minnows will work better than leeches or worms right now. Plastics will pick up some fish, too. It should be really good. I would try Okauchee, Keesus, Pewaukee and Lower Nemahbin." Bass should be shallow, too, cruis- ing around dark-bottomed bays that are protected from the wind. "Pewaukee and Okauchee are two that I like fishing early in the year," he said. "Senkos, jerkbaits and swimjigs should work really well. Most of the lakes around here have good bass populations. Just fish shallow and fish any weeds you can find and you'll catch some fish." Walleye are tougher to find around these parts, but Smith said he would try Pewaukee, Lac La Belle, Nagawicka, and Upper Nemahbin. "Jigs and slip bobbers with min- nows will be good," he said. "Upper Nemahbin has been been stocked and it's starting to pay off. We did pretty well there last fall." Walleye should be in less than 10 feet of water around rocks and weeds. While having so many species of fish shallow is nice for targeting purposes, it does not mean they will be easy to catch. It can be quite the opposite, really. Shallow, clear water, means fish will be spooky. A person can anchor and wait for fish to cruise by and grab their minnow, but that's a bit too passive for me. I like to drop my trolling motor and slip around the shallows. A good pair of polarized sunglasses will help show any weeds that are grow- ing. I'm looking for weeds more than fish because fish can be hard to see, but a dark patch of weeds sticks out and often times the fish are right in them. I'll spot a weed bed and then make long casts around it and catch a variety of species. This time of year, you really don't know what you're going to catch because most of the fish are in skin- ny water. The most important thing is to find the warmest water on the lake. And, just enjoy the fact that the ice is gone. (Dan Durbin writes an outdoors column for the Post. Call Durbin at 644-7940, or email him at ddurbin@bastdurbin.com if you have a story idea.) Warm weather was just in time for anglers DAN DURBIN OUTDOORS

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