Fishing During Covid19

 

Good news! You can go fishing!

Bad news! You can’t go with me, yet. Charter/guide fishing is not considered essential.

Good news! Gas is cheap so it won’t cost you a lot to drive around and fish.

I had planned on a big April guiding. I was really looking forward to it. Although it’s cold and miserable today, I’ve had some great days on the water beginning in March. Unfortunately not able to fish with clients. I’ve taken a few friends out and my wife really enjoys fishing with me. And now with extra time off, my wife can join me more often.

My fishing adventures on open water this year began on Sunday, March 15th on the Fox River in De Pere, WI. It was a scouting day. Checking things out. What’s the water temperature? Are fish deep? Are they shallow? Are they up near the damn. Are they farther down stream? What do they want to eat? Do they want to eat? All these questions and more need to be answered in order to put the most fish in the boat on any given day in De Pere.

On April 6th I was fishing alone in De Pere on the Fox River. It was an extremely slow day as I fished for 4 hours and only caught 3 fish. It was sunny and completely calm. However it didn’t matter that it was slow because the first walleye I caught was my personal best.

I felt the fish hit but when I set the hook I immediately thought I snagged a fish as it just didn’t move. It’s hard to pull a fish by the belly through the water.

Fishermen in a boat nearby asked if I hooked a big one. I said it could be unless I ass hooked it. The fish made numerous runs with big head shakes but I still wasn’t convinced I hooked a fish in the mouth until she came into view for the first time.

Wow! I yelled to the other boaters, “Yes, it’s a big fish!”. It made three more runs before I was able to get her in the net. Fortunately I had a musky net along with me. (I like to have that available when fishing in De Pere as there is always the chance you actually hook a musky or a really big walleye.) It would have been a really tight fit to get her into the walleye net I had along. Plus I was fishing alone which makes netting even more challenging.

When I got the fish into the boat I shouted to the other boaters, “She’s huge! Definitely my biggest walleye!”

She was just over 32 inches long and weighed in at 13.6 pounds. I did not keep her. I can’t afford a mount right now with no income and I’m not going to eat an ancient fish. That would be like cooking up Grandma. So I gave her a kiss and set her free.

The other boaters came over and took some pictures for me. I was grateful for their help. They had never seen a walleye that big either.

Go fishing! But don’t gather with friends. Take necessary precautions. Bring you own pen along so you can fill out the launch pass without touching the same pen others are using. Wear gloves. Wear a mask when near others. Keep at least 6 feet apart. Please help do your part to keep the virus at bay.  Then you’ll be able to come fishing with me in the future.

Thanks for checking out Fishing With Captain Kirk LLC on FishingGuideWisconsin.com.

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