With that said deer hunting has been very good for muzzle-loader hunters and it should continue to be good for the remaining archery season which continues into January.

With muzzle-loader season coming to an end archery hunters can expect to find the woods pretty much to themselves and the deer finally getting back to their normal patterns and routine. To take advantage of targeting late season whitetails you should look for any areas that contain some sort of food. From my experience at this time of the year my prime locations have been by hunting near remaining crop fields like corn or alfalfa. If you have the capability food plots are also a great source that will draw numbers of deer in at this time of the year. Another great location to try is any freshly cut trees by loggers or clear cuts as deer will move into these areas at this time of the year as their regular food sources begin to diminish. New clear cut areas or freshly cut poplar trees are a magnet when it comes to late season hunting, find these locations and you will have yourself a deer hunting hotspot for the remainder of the season especially if we start seeing some snow on the ground.

We do have one great tip for the hunters out there. This past season we were successful in tagging a couple of deer, but with the lack of nearby water we were left with bloody hands after field dressing them. What we found in the woods that worked absolutely great was swamp moss. The moss when pulled from the ground had thick roots that were soaked with water and virtually spotless of dirt. The coarse roots and clean moss made for a great scrubbing agent and the moistness took care of all the blood on our hands leaving them spotless. Next time your in the woods and need a cleaning resource give the swamp moss a try it worked out fantastic.

Good luck and have a great week,

Phil Schweik
Licensed Wisconsin Hunting & Fishing Guide
Hooksetters Guide Service www.hooksetters.biz
Ruttnut Guide Service www.ruttnut.com
Reed & Hoppe Wildlife Food Plots www.foodplotting.com

With abnormally warm temperatures for this time of the year, hunters are reporting seeing fewer deer in the woods but they continue to be optimistic about the 2012 season. With cooler temperatures forecasted for the last weekend of the season activity levels should increase. Even with hunter reports coming in with lower than normal sightings the DNR preliminary reports have the opening weekend success numbers higher than last year. I would like to extend a big congratulations to all the hunters who were successful so far this season. Although tagging a deer is what most of us would like to do, it is the whole experience of getting out there with friends and family and the camaraderie that keeps us coming back year after year.

With the close of the 9 day gun deer season we start the opener for the 10 day muzzleloader season. The muzzleloader season runs from November 26th through December 5th. The nice thing about muzzleloader season is that the woods are less crowded and we return to a more traditional style of hunting. Deer hunters will also find that the deer have started to return to their normal patterns and can be more easily tracked and located.

Anglers hoping for some early ice have not seen it yet but…..With that said we are finding that by targeting some of our traditional early ice locations by boat or off shore is that the fish are already there and readily taking our presentations. Just this past week some of our local bluegill hotspots produced nice catches of bull nosed gills in the 8 and 9 inch range. Small jigs tipped with a piece of crawler or small plastic like a Wedge tail have been working very good for us.

In addition to the good bluegill catches we are catching a few nice walleyes by targeting some of the deeper water in the system as well as some of our traditional shallow water ice fishing locations. For the most part the fish are deeper during the day in 10 to 14 feet of water but as evening approaches we move up and target the walleyes in as shallow as 1 to 3 feet of water. During the daytime we target the walleyes with leads head jigs tipped with extra-large fathead minnows but in the evening we are tossing crankbaits right up tight to shoreline structure.

With a week of musky fishing remaining guys looking for that last fish of the season or maybe that trophy of a life time now is a great time to go after it. Target deep water and areas with little or no current on the main river system. Run 12 to16 inch suckers on quick set rigs anywhere from 5 to 10 feet down over 10 to 20 feet of water. I would also suggest throwing plastics like Bulldawgs and Big Joes as well as deep diving cranks like the Depth Raiders and Cisco Kids in natural or firetiger colors.

Good luck and have a great week,

Phil Schweik
Licensed Wisconsin Hunting & Fishing Guide
Hooksetters Guide Service www.hooksetters.biz
Ruttnut Guide Service www.ruttnut.com
Reed & Hoppe Wildlife Food Plots www.foodplotting.com

Walleye action has been very good this past week. Most of our fish are coming in 10 to 14 feet of water during the mid day hours on jigs tipped with fathead minnows but towards the evening these fish are moving up to shallow rocky shorelines in 1 to 3 feet of water and can be taken by tossing shallow diving crank baits like Rapalas and Thundersticks. A slow retrieval is necessary as these fish are lethargic with the cold water and they will not chase a fast moving bait.

In addition to the walleyes this past week we actually had pretty good action from crappies. Most of these crappies were 10 to 12 inches long but we did get a couple up to 14 inches. We found the crappies suspended over 14 to 18 feet of water holding approximately 4 to 7 feet down. We caught the crappies by tossing light 1/16th and 1/8 ounce jigs tipped with fathead minnows and slowly letting them sink through the water column. We also set up slip bobbers and caught a few fish on our baits that we suspended 3 to 5 feet down. Even though the slip bobbers worked well we caught more fish by simply casting and slowly retrieving the light jigs through the upper water column.

Musky activity remained consistent this past week. We caught several nice fish using suckers on our quickset rigs. When running the quickset rigs I usually like suspend one sucker about 4 to 8 feet down from a slip bobber and I let it drag about 20 feet behind the boat. The other quickset rig is set up with no bobber at all and I run this one approximately 40 to 50 feet behind the boat. With no bobber attached the sucker can roam freely and go wherever it wants. More times than not the sucker that is allowed to roam freely without bobber is the one that gets hit.

The 2012 rifle deer season is here. This is one of the most anticipated times of the entire year. Every year more than 600,000 people take to the woods in search of the elusive buck. Many are successful and some just come home with stories. To help you come home with more than just a story this year here are a few tips to help you be successful this season. With many hunters taking to the woods one of the best ways to be successful is to get away from the crowds. Look for areas that are as impenetrable as you can possibly imagine and set up in a good overlook location as these are areas that big-bucks are going to head to as people start to pressure them in the woods. Funnel type or necked down areas between fields, woodlots and creek bottoms are also great places to target as these areas force big bucks through a certain “pinch-point” and make them an easier target. For many years the tradition has been to hunt early morning and late afternoon hours to be successful. Granted this can be a great opportunity for taking a good buck but don’t overlook the mid day hours. This mid-day period can be priceless especially when other hunters are heading in for lunch or to warm up. Their movement in the woods will pressure the deer and force unnatural movement during the mid day hours which can in turn give you an opportunity at the buck of a lifetime.

Good luck and have a safe season,

Phil Schweik
Licensed Wisconsin Hunting & Fishing Guide
Hooksetters Guide Service www.hooksetters.biz
Ruttnut Guide Service www.ruttnut.com
Reed & Hoppe Wildlife Food Plots www.foodplotting.com

For you guys that are still on the water the walleyes have been very active in 10 to 14 feet of water. Most of the action is coming on lead-head jigs in 1/8th and 1/4 ounce tipped with fathead minnows. For the best action we are slowly dragging or slightly hopping our jigs right on the bottom as we drift through these deeper areas.

Even though the water temperatures have dropped into the mid 30 degree range the musky action has been very consistent. Most of our action is now coming on live suckers set up on quick set rigs. When I utilize quick set rigs I usually run them suspended below a slip-bobber run anywhere from 4 to 8 feet down. I may also run one line with a quick set rig to free flow with no bobber at all. This one is set out 40 to 50 feet behind the boat and the sucker is free to go wherever it wants. More times than not this is the one that gets hit. In addition to the live suckers we are still catching a few nice fish on Suicks and Bulldawgs worked very slowly keeping close contact with the bottom.

For you archery hunters this is the last week of the season before than 2012 gun deer season starts. The rut is going strong and we have been seeing a lot of very nice deer. We are still seeing some does with fawns but we are also seeing quite a few locked up with bucks. What this means is that the breading season has just started and should go on right into the upcoming gun deer season. One thing that hunters can do to be successful during the remaining archery season is to target funnel or neck down areas between bedding and feeding grounds. These are prime locations for bucks to lay in wait as does move back and forth from one place to another. Set up a stand in a good concealed position always remembering to play the wind and you may get lucky and bag the largest buck of your life.

Good Luck and have a safe week,

Phil Schweik
Licensed Wisconsin Hunting & Fishing Guide
Hooksetters Guide Service www.hooksetters.biz
Ruttnut Guide Service www.ruttnut.com
Reed & Hoppe Wildlife Food Plots www.foodplotting.com

The walleye bite has been outstanding this past week and we have seen some of the best action of the year. Most of the fish are holding in 12 t o16 feet of water and can be caught on Jigs tipped with fathead minnows. But if you want the larger walleyes in the system try running larger bait like small walleye suckers or try tipping your jigs with plastics like twister tails.

With all the focus being place don musky and walleye this past week we haven’t really targeted any panfish or bass but we still seem to pick up a few crappies while targeting the walleyes as well as a few really nice smallmouth bass that attack our musky baits.

For you hunters out there the rut is in full swing. The does have broken away from the fawns of the year and are now being chased hard by the areas bucks. Forget most of what you know about targeting a buck because at his time of the year as he will have only one thing on his mind and that is the does. If you know where the does are you can find your buck. Try setting up in known doe staging areas between bedding and feeding locations and get ready to sit all day. This is the time of the year when nocturnal bucks make their presence know during daylight hours, and it will give you the best chance at tagging that wall mounter buck as he searches for a hot doe.

Good luck and have a great week,

Phil Schweik
Licensed Wisconsin Hunting & Fishing Guide
Hooksetters Guide Service www.hooksetters.biz
Ruttnut Guide Service www.ruttnut.com
Reed & Hoppe Wildlife Food Plots www.foodplotting.com

Musky action has been very good with some really nice fish being caught this past week. With all the recent rain we have had the water is high and fast but we are still catching a lot fish. A lot of our muskies have now transitioned to the slower inside turns on the main river system and to the deep weed edges in the main lake basin. Most of the fish are coming on slow moving glider style baits and jerk baits with a few this coming on live suckers set up on quickset rigs.

Walleye activity has been really good but with the high and cooler water a lot of the fish in the river system have traveled into the main lake and are staging in deeper water 12 to 16 feet deep. You can however catch these walleyes up shallow during low light periods and after dark as they move into the shallows to feed.

Crappie action has been pretty good in the main lake with schools of nice fish suspending down about 4 to 7 feet over 12 to 16 feet of water. To target these roaming schools of crappies look for areas in the main lake with an average depths of at least 12 feet and then run spider style rigs set at various depths to catch these suspended fish.

For you deer hunters the rut is starting. We are starting to see bucks paired up with does along with a lot of activity during daylight hours. To take advantage of this time of the year when the bucks have let their guard down you need to target doe feeding and bedding areas and the transition areas between the two locations. Look for rub lines and scrapes on the ground to pattern the bucks movements and set up a stand downwind of these spots to catch him as he moves through the area looking for an active doe.

Good luck and have a safe week,

Phil Schweik
Licensed Wisconsin Hunting & Fishing Guide
Hooksetters Guide Service www.hooksetters.biz
Ruttnut Guide Service www.ruttnut.com
Reed & Hoppe Wildlife Food Plots www.foodplotting.com

There is a very good fall walleye bite taking place right now and for anglers looking at getting some nice eating fish this is one of the best times of the year. Walleyes are staged right now in water depths of 10 to16 feet deep and can be targeted by simply using 1/8th or 1/4 ounce lead head jigs that have been tipped with fathead minnow. For the best results try vertically jigging as you drift through the deeper holes in the main river system or by working the sharp breaking contours in the main lake basin.

With all the focus being on muskies and walleyes the past few weeks, panfish have kind of taken a back seat. But for anglers looking getting in some great crappie fishing this is a good time to do it. Right now crappies are staged over deeper water 12 to 15 feet deep and are holding about 4 to 7 feet down. They can be targeted by simply drifting through the area running tiny crappie sized jigs that are set under slip bobbers at the appropriate depths.

With about weeks until the rut really kicks in hunters are starting to see signs of big buck activity. Ground scrapes and robs are showing up in primary areas of the big-bucks territory and we are starting to see some daytime activity from some of these larger deer. These are prime areas to target right now as the rut begins to materialize. Just this past week Casey Woldvogel tagged a beautiful 11 point buck that scored nearly 150 points P&Y as the buck came out to check a fresh scrape.

Have a great week,

Phil Schweik
Licensed Wisconsin Hunting & Fishing Guide
Hooksetters Guide Service www.hooksetters.biz
Ruttnut Guide Service www.ruttnut.com
Reed & Hoppe Wildlife Food Plots www.foodplotting.com

The musky bite this last week has been really good and we are now starting to see quite a few fish being caught on suckers suspended below slip bobbers 3 to 5 feet down. We are also catching a fair number of nice fish on crank baits like Depth Raiders, jerk baits like Suicks and rubber baits like Bulldawgs by Musky Innovations. Most of our action has come from fish holding in 6 to 12 feet of water.

The walleye bite just keeps getting better and better, with a lot of nice fish in that 15 to 20 inch range. We are also catching a few nice slot fish and even a couple up to and over that magical 30 inch mark. Most of the walleyes are holding in deeper water right now, and you can find them by working 1/8 and 1/4 ounce lead head jigs tipped with fathead minnows. For consistency target the fish that are staging in the deeper pools in the main river system or lake. The key to being consistent is finding the active feeding fish in these areas. These fish are either at the head of the pool which is where the current is coming into it or they are holding at the bottom end of the pool where the current is leaving. The fish that are staged in the center of the pool are the lethargic fish that won’t be as easily tempted into striking your presentation. If you are fishing a lake use the wind as your current determining factor.

The fall crappie action consists of suspended fish holding over deeper water. To find these active fish target water depths in the 10 to 16 foot range. Use slip bobbers rigged up with tiny jigs set 4 to 8 feet down. Tip the jigs with tiny fathead minnows and slowly drift through these deep water areas. After a few drifts you will see a pattern forming as to which depth most fish are holding and where they are in the area. At that point you can readjust your baits and drift pattern to be more consistent and successful.

Smallmouth bass action has been phenomenal this past week. With the cooler water temperatures which are now in the mid to upper 40° range you will find your active fish relating to rocks and wood in 6 to 10 feet of water. Target these areas with crank baits like Rapala Shad Raps and jigs tipped with plastics like beaver tails.

I know most hunters as well as myself a starting to get that itch. With the dropping of the leaves and the much cooler temperatures especially at night we know let the rut is right around the corner. With that it means BIG BUCKS. Now everyone knows that once the rut gets here the activity levels pick up and the bucks become more vulnerable, they become less nocturnal and start moving around a lot more during the daytime. To be successful at this time of the year you need to know where the does are bedding and feeding in your area. Once you know this simply set up a stand location between these areas. This will give you an opportunity to target any unsuspecting bucks that may be following and chasing the does at this time of year.

Good luck and have a safe week,

Phil Schweik
Licensed Wisconsin Hunting & Fishing Guide
Hooksetters Guide Service www.hooksetters.biz
Ruttnut Guide Service www.ruttnut.com
Reed & Hoppe Wildlife Food Plots www.foodplotting.com

Guys looking for walleyes, now the time to get in on some great action. Schools of walleyes are now holding up in the deeper pools in the main river system. These fish can be caught by simply baiting a 1/4 or 1/8 ounce jig with a lively fathead minnow and slowly dragging it on the bottom. Target depths of 10 to 16 water for best and most consistent action. For great deals on custom jigs check out Rich Jaroch at Baitmaker Tackle. I get a lot of my jigs from him at a very low cost.

Crappie action has been outstanding. A lot of the fish are suspended in the top 4 feet of the water column right now. The fish are in the top portion of the water column because that is the warmest water in the system. Using your locator look for schools of bait fish in the upper portions of the water column if you can find these schools of bait fish be assured the crappies won’t be far behind. A small jig suspended below a slip bobber, and baited up with a crappie sized minnow will take these fish all day long.

Another great biting fish at this time of year is the smallmouth bass. These fish can be targeted by working rocky shoreline structure and rip rap areas in 1 to 5 feet of water. Toss shallow diving crank baits to shore and work them out over deeper water and work plastics right on the rock to catch active fish.

The 2012 archery deer season is well underway, and hunters are seeing quite a few nice animals in the woods. Most of the activity is around crop fields or areas with some sort of water be it a stream, farm pond, creek or river bank. With the warm dry summer and fall that we have had the deer in the woods are finding and taking refuge near waterways. Set up a stand location near either of these areas and you should be in good position to get a shot at a deer.

Good luck and have a safe week,

Phil Schweik
Licensed Wisconsin Hunting & Fishing Guide
Hooksetters Guide Service www.hooksetters.biz
Ruttnut Guide Service www.ruttnut.com
Reed & Hoppe Wildlife Food Plots www.foodplotting.com

The fall musky bite is really coming into its own right now. This past week alone we caught several nice fish in the mid to upper 30 inch range along with some nice 40 to 45 inch fish. A lot of these fish are coming on jerk baits and crank baits along with some rubber style baits. We are also starting to pick up a few fish on suckers as well.

Action for crappies has been very good this past week. We are catching a lot of nice slab crappies in that 10 to13 inch range and every once in a while a bonus 14 incher comes along. A lot of these fish have been suspended 4 to 7 feet down over 12 to 16 feet of water. To target these crappies we are running small jigs tipped with minnows suspended below split bobbers at the appropriate depth. The key to really doing well when it comes the catching crappies like this is to not anchor your boat. Keep your trolling motor in the water or use the wind to your advantage and drift through areas to stay on top of active fish.

Along with the great fishing this past week the hunting has been equally as good. Cooler nights combined with shorter days are making for perfect conditions for early season hunting. The 2012 archery season is underway and hunters taking to the woods should take into consideration how dry this season has been and target any water in your area. Right now potholes, a small stream or a creek can be magnets for not only deer but a multitude of different species in the woods. One thing you want to take into consideration when hunting around waterways is wind direction. Wind currents funnel differently around creeks, streams and waterways. Even though you may have the wind coming from a particular direction, while you’re sitting along a waterway there are different types of swirling currents and eddies that can force your scent in an opposite direction.

Good Luck and have a safe week,

Phil Schweik
Licensed Wisconsin Hunting & Fishing Guide
Hooksetters Guide Service www.hooksetters.biz
Ruttnut Guide Service www.ruttnut.com
Reed & Hoppe Wildlife Food Plots www.foodplotting.com