> …with 16′, 14′ and 10′ cane poles…leeches and ‘crawlers on Viper Slither Rigs, slow death hooks, and Northland Butterfly Rigs on bottom-bouncers…both up and down current at 0.8-0.9 mph. It’s a setup often used on the Wolf River above Winneconne and the entire Winnebago system. Half their hits were on crawlers, and the other half on leeches.

> Wiskow: “We knew some [big females] were finally filtering back down from their spawn. With water temps staying as cold as they have it was hard to get the bigger fish to go. Usually they’re snapping pretty good…but everything was so lethargic. With the bigger fish you have to give it slow or you won’t be getting those bites.

> “There’s a lot of fish in the lake, and I had to find those still migrating back down. Had my partner go down and check the south end of the lake…he found a pile of fish, but nothing that’s going to win the tournament.

> “I figured I’d go up and bump around the [cane] beds. We must have fished 40 different beds in 2 days and caught 2 fish. So I said ‘Josh, you know what, I’ll go back and check a spot where there if there are big fish filtering through they’ll stop to bulk up.

> That meant the Wolf, and a spot upriver from Winneconne he had filed away in his memory banks…a small trough between 2 flats with lots of stones, weed patches and branches…perfect walleye ambush feeding spots.

> Wiskow: “It’s a spot that’s very out in the open, one where you’re watching tournament boats just drive by. We made 2 passes [prefishing] and pulled 3 over 20” and lost 2 others. So I said, let’s get outta here. Saturday we left it alone, and continued to fish more cane beds.

> Wiskow: “I don’t think we went 20′ and we popped a 13.25-incher, and I said ‘I hope these fish didn’t get that little here.’ But we went another 50′ and popped a 24.5″ and I said we’ll just have to grind ’em out here all day. We started back up again and popped a double 23.5”. We lost 8 fish up there that were all good fish.

> “…kept upgrading slowly throughout the day, and lost another couple of good fish, and got to the point where our 19.75” fish was the smallest. Then, one cane pole popped. When she rolled on the surface and dove back down, Josh scooped it in the net, and put our last 24-incher in the boat. It was 1:25 pm and we headed back to the dock.

> “I looked at Josh and said, ‘I’ve been fishing this system over 20 years and you just don’t tumble into fish of this quality every day. If this doesn’t seal the deal, I’m still going to hang my hat high and feel good.

> “I added the card up and looked back at Josh and said, ‘there’s a little more here than I thought. At that point, I said if it’s gonna be, it’s gonna be.’ And, it was.”

> Ted: “Wingdams [man-made] are placed perpendicular to the current to funnel water, helping the Corps of Engineers fulfill their Congress-mandated mission (1878) of maintaining a channel for navigation. …initially built from willow mats and ‘one man rocks’. They’re typically placed in runs of 3, 5 or 7.

> “…fishing USUALLY picks up first on the wingdam furthest downstream. …not all wingdams are created equal…[some have] a significant low spot or a [larger] pile of rocks….

> “With a typical wingdam bite, holding your boat at the 8′ contour upstream from the rocks will put your bait in front of fish and generally keep you safe. Time on the water is the best way to read a wingdam’s fish potential on any given day.

> “If flow has it looking ‘fishy’ I usually confirm this with a quick trolling pass above the wingdam with a search bait like the Bill Lewis MR-6, then Spot-Lock and cast above the sweet spot….

> “When river levels first start dropping to the point where they attract active fish, probe the water just downstream from the rocks. The structure breaks current flow, attracts bait and fish when it just takes too much effort to stage upstream.

> “By far the best way to catch ’em is fishing a little bullhead critter called the willocat on a modified Lindy Rig — with an egg sinker and long-shank #4 Aberdeen hook 18″ below a barrel swivel.

> “Walleyes HATE willocats! The relationship is like a crow/owl thing. Walleyes will flat-out attack ’em even if they aren’t hungry. Willocats are also very durable bait…can usually catch at least 2 eyes per bait (thanks to the Aberdeen hook).

> “The downside is willocats are expensive — about $24/dozen. Most guides can’t afford to furnish this bait — especially in a truly brutal [flooded] 2019. Willocats are also incredibly toxic. Get horned and the pain is excruciating and will last for hours.

> “Most folks use leather gloves when hooking willocats through the lips to fish. Captain Hook’s Bait in Genoa, WI is the only place on the river which sells a plastic scoop called the “minnow cinch.” The willocat slides down the scoop and gets held in place long enough to hook it up.

> “Why would any walleye chaser use $2-per-minnow bait which is profoundly toxic? Because it works! We would use baby rattlesnakes which had to be hooked near the tail and baited up in total darkness if they worked.”

> “We didn’t have a large enough scale on board to weigh [it]. A fish like this can weigh between 55- to 75-lb, but we’ll never know for sure. We can say that it was huge fish and hope that someone catches it again so we know.”

> The world record for a hooked muskie is 60-1/4″ caught in Hayward, WI in 1949. The [MN] state record is 56-7/8″ caught on Pelican Lake in 2016. The state record using a fly rod measured 57″, caught on Mille Lacs Lake in 2015.

> My dad has always been an avid fisherman, so we gave him his favorite Rapala lure [a “firetiger” color #11 Jointed Rapala] with the “day he got snagged” AKA my folk’s anniversary date!