Much of the land that was covered by the damming of the West Fork of the Chippewa River in 1923 was wetlands – peat bogs. Eventually enough gasses form to lift up an area of peat. Often these can still be hinged to the bottom so they are especially difficult to
It’s pretty exciting when a new bog shows up. Nothing is growing here yet (photo on the right) but within days it will begin to turn green with grasses. Then bigger plants will grow and eventually trees! Floating Bogs are a popular place to fish on the Chippewa Flowage. The reason
2023 Fall Musky Stocking 2023 MUSKY STOCKING on the BIG CHIP! 799 extended growth muskies were stocked today out of Deerfoot Lodge & Resort thanks to a generous donation from Muskies Inc Hayward Chapter. The team was joined by Mike Persson and Larry Ramsell with Muskies Inc. 3,000 Muskies were stocked
The dog was integral to moving this small bog by holding down the front of the boat. Even a small bog like this might do huge damage to docks. They moved it to a little protected inlet where it lived happily ever after. Story by Barb Czarnecki Share this Story Facebook
EAU CLAIRE, Wis.- (October 2, 2022) –A management program aimed at controlling aquatic invasive plants and improving fish habitat is about to get underway on the Chippewa Flowage. As a result, local residents and property owners will begin to notice a slow, but significant change in water levels. Based on the
Do you like to catch Pike but don’t like to eat them? If this is you consider giving your pike to an organization like the Winged Freedom Raptor Hospital in Spooner Wisconsin. Please do not donate fish guts or freezer burned meat. Only feed high quality fish. If you are saving
The Good News – Per Max, more Pike are being harvested regularly than before the Pike Improvement Project started. Last summer’s DNR Creel Survey 2022 confirms more people are harvesting pike than those who are filling out tickets. But, as Max says “PIP is really nice not only for incentivizing, but
Pike Improvment Project Information
Chippewa Flowage Walleye 2022 – by Max Wolter I’m pleased to report that after our big spring walleye survey we know a whole lot more aboutChippewa Flowage walleye than we did a few months ago. I referenced this survey in past editions of this newsletter, but this was our once-a-decade estimate
The Lake Chippewa Flowage Resort Association Pike Improvement Project 2021 began January 1st and drew to a close on October 1st. Anglers who harvested small Northern Pike, generally less than 24”, received a raffle ticket for each pike kept. The goal of the project is to reduce the number of voracious
The 2019 Chippewa Flowage Pike Improvement Project Which Member Recorded The Most Northerns In The 2019 P.I.P. Pats Landing Resort- Dedicated TEAM 1475 Treeland Resort 808 Musky Tale Resort 699 Tiger Musky Resort 613 Deerfoot Lodge 491 Indian Trail Resort 341 The Landing Resort 285 Chippewa Pines Resort 274 Johnson’s Resort
Anglers at the Treeland Resorts Walleye Challenge took the bait to put some Northern Pike on the board too. Over 600 northern were registered. Teams organized by the WDNR cleaned donated northern. Here are the stats available for the Walleye Challenge:About 615 pike harvested during the tournamentAverage length 18.7 inches11,520 total
The open water season of the Pike Improvement Project is underway.May is a vital month for keeping Northern Pike and our goal is to register at least 3000 pike to have a meaningful effect. We have been working on setting up this project for over a year. We first hoped to
It’s March, which means the pike get a 2 month break from being targeted by anglers. The Pike Improvement Project kicked off in early January, and almost all the tickets submitted by anglers so far have been collected. Meaning it’s a good time to look back on the winter and provide
How you can make fishing better on the Chip… by eating fish! Max Wolter-WDNR Welcome to the beautiful Chippewa Flowage, I hope you have a great ttme here and get out on the water to fish. If you plan to keep some fish, that’s great! Eating fish from our clean lakes
Why Harvest Pike? Everything you need to know about the “Pike Improvement Project” Goal: Bigger pike, more muskies, and a healthier fishery The Chippewa Flowage and Pike Many people are not aware that pike are not native to the Chippewa Flowage. But pike are now present, and very abundant. The result
Lake Chippewa Flowage Pike Improvment Project Our ambitious goal is to remove 10,000 northern pike from Lake Chippewa this season especially those under 24” Anticipated benefit to the fishery include larger northern, larger walleyes and a better environment for stocking extended growth muskies in the fall We hope to accomplish this
Learn how to fillet a Northern Pike by watching this video How to Fillet a Northern Pike. Includes Y-Bone Removal DNR Fish Biologist: Max Wolter Check out these Northern Pike recipies https://youtube.com/watch?v=kMXp3GboFrA%3Fecver%3D1%26%23038%3Brel%3D0
We encourage you to keep your Northern Pike! Beside the worlds best Musky fishing the chippewa Flowage offer some great Northern Pike fishing Northern fry grow quicker than muskie fry and eat the young muskie. They also compete with the Muskies for food so KEEP your Northerns! View Recipes for Northern
The Wolter Report (Max Wolter, DNR fisheries biologist, Hayward): Catch and release angling for many Wisconsin species has become common and anglers practicing catch and release have plenty of reasons to pat themselves on the back. Still, some might wonder what the fish do after their release. Do they go right
The Wolter Report (Max Wolter, DNR fisheries biologist, Hayward): As a part of the new experimental panfish regulations now in place on approximately 100 lakes across Wisconsin, DNR fisheries researchers and biologists undertook a relatively simple study to understand more about how much filet weight anglers take home. Researchers collected hundreds
We encountered something alarming on the Chippewa Flowage today during our fish survey. We captured a musky on the west side with a red zip tie attached to one of its pectoral fins. Obviously something like that would not get attached to the fish on accident and that is not a
You can adopt your own personal baby musky! Then follow it’s progress through out the years. Last fall the WDNR stocked extended growth Muskies with PIT tags, passive integrated transponders, into the Chippewa Flowage. The WDNR surveys the Big Chip in the spring and fall, and every time a musky with
The Wolter Report (Max Wolter DNR fisheries biologist, Hayward): Why ice is good: The incredibly warm February could have area anglers thinking open water is just around the corner. While it might be nice to think about spring crappie fishing from a boat rather than an ice shack, there are some
Winterkill: The Wolter Report (Max Wolter, DNR fisheries biologist, Hayward): At this point in the winter, both anglers and fish biologists start to think about the risks of winterkill of fish. Winter-kill is most commonly a result of low oxygen in lakes that ice has covered for several months. Ice cover
The Wolter Report: Max Wolter, DNR fisheries biologist, Hayward: Once again, in early 2017, we find ourselves in the midst of strange weather patterns. The little snow we had covering the ice on frozen lakes in northern Wisconsin essentially disappeared due to wind and warm weather. So – what does it
A look at Northern Pike: Wisconsin DNR researcher Dan Oele and his colleagues recently published a paper examining how northern pike populations respond to length limits. The researchers looked at lakes with 26-inch minimum and two-bag daily limits and 32-inch minimum and one-bag daily limits, and compared them with pike populations
Fall SurveyThe DNR and Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission completed their joint annual fall electrofishing survey of the Chippewa Flowage on September 14 and 15. Sections of shoreline on both the east and west sides were surveyed with the focus being on juvenile walleye and muskellunge. The DNR crew
Upper Chippewa Basin fisheries report – Cooler and more seasonal fall weather has prevailed across the Northwoods for the last week or so and this seems to have spurred on the fall fishing action. Musky fishing has continued to be very good on many waters across the north and fish have
WDNR ON THE FLOWAGE: 2016 Is The Year of the Musky Spring – Collect eggs Summer – add super food Fall – Stock bigger fingerlings This spring the fisheries emphasis on the Chippewa Flowage will be on musky. Crews from Hatchery in Spooner will join the local fisheries management team out
The Wolter Report (Max Wolter, DNR fisheries biologist, Hayward): Anglers fishing the Hayward area may occasionally catch a warmouth, a small brown or almost purple sunfish with black stripes around the eyes.
Min Pond Level Data from Rob Olson Max Depth of Drawdown Data from Rob Olson Max Depth of Drawdown Data from Rob Olson Water Level from 1313′ (in feet) HIGH AND Amount Drawdown Below 1313 Data from John & Brenda Dettloff – Indian Trail Resort Download data WaterLevelHistory.csv WaterLevelHistory.xls
by SAWYER COUNTY FISHERIES BIOLOGIST MAX WOLTER Over the winter of 2013-2014 the Chippewa Flowage Partner Group (made up of the WDNR, Property Owners Association, Resort Owners Association, the LCO Tribe, Xcel Energy, the Forest Service, and the Conservation Congress) made the decision to execute an 8 foot overwinter drawdown. As
Weekly News article published: June 5, 2012 by the Central Office http://dnr.wi.gov/news/DNRNews_article_Lookup.asp?id=2177 MADISON – Work to help understand and respond to why bass are booming and walleye waning in many northwestern Wisconsin lakes just got a big boost. A consortium of researchers and fisheries biologists from the University of Wisconsin’s Madison
By Dave Neuswanger Wisconsin DNR Fisheries Management Supervisor Hayward Field Unit (Guest Commentary for the Sawyer County Record) As Thanksgiving approaches, I am reminded of all the good deeds done by folks who have helped me this year to make Sawyer County one of the best fishing destinations in the country.
One of the most unique features of the Chippewa Flowage is the floating bogs. The “Island” you see in the bay outside your cabin, may totally move to a new location the next day. Bogs can range in size from the size of a parking space to several acres. The “Forty
Visitors will enjoy camping on an island on the Chippewa Flowage. Make sure you are on these islands only. There is no charge to camp, and it is first come, first served. Please note leaving personal property, unattended, can’t reserve islands. The D.N.R. may confiscate unattended property or property located on
Did you know… ? Watch your wake: The wake from your boat can destroy spawning beds?Boating near the Chippewa Flowage shore can erode precious shoreline & harm aquatic plants? Your prop can stir up sediments resulting in rapid algae blooms?Loons and other nesting birds will often abandon their nests when stressed
By John Dettloff Sucker Study: Sucker fishing has long been a tradition in the north country, especially on the Chippewa Flowage. After all, Louie Spray caught his 69 pound 11 oz musky out of these waters on that famed late fall day on October 20th, 1949. Generally, the recommended sucker fishing
Fish Cribs: The Chippewa Flowage was created over 75 years ago. In those 75 years many trees and stumps that harbored food and shelter for fish have disappeared through natural decay. Realizing that structure must be replaced for a healthy fishery, the Lake Chippewa Resort Association, along with the Chippewa Flowage
The Lac Courte Oreilles Tribal Conservation Department (LCO Conservation Dept) and its dedicated staff protect the resources within the Lac Courte Oreilles reservation and this includes the Chippewa Flowage, as well as many other bodies of water. LCO Conservation Dept and the LCO Fish Hatchery has involved itself in numerous conservation
Practice CPR (Catch, Photo & Release) for the fish of your life Fish Clones: Take a good photo of yourself with the fish, then a clear close-up photo of just the trophy fish. The photo is for color and particular markings that you may want reproduced on your trophy replica. Measure
By Lowell Tesky The bald eagle population on the Flowage continued its growth in 1998, reaching 19 nesting pairs Ð one of the densest populations in the state. This is up from 10 nesting pairs only five years ago and speaks well of the habitat quality on the Flowage. Nesting eagles
By Drake R. Williams The mighty Chippewa Flowage holds more than just muskies and walleyes. Ever since the world record musky was caught, bass fishing became less important to many anglers. I find, as a guide, that bass fishing is your best bet after a weather front moves through. Just imagine,
Big Chip’s Secrets by Drake Williams Big Chip’s secrets: Life abounds on the Chippewa Flowage.ith baitfish like gold shiners, minnows, and crayfish found throughout the flowage, anglers have the difficult task of deciding what they should be throwing in the face of the game fish. The answer ultimately lies in understanding
Record Musky Season by John Dettloff – IndianTrailResort.com Record Musky Season: The Chippewa Flowage enjoyed its greatest trophy musky year ever on record in 1998, with nine verified 50-inch plus muskies caught! And what’s more: most of these fish were released so maybe youÉ will catch one of them this coming
Best Kept Musky Secret byJohn Dettloff – IndianTrailResort.com The North Country’s Best Kept Musky Secret: While the Chippewa Flowage has long possessed a mysterious allure that no other musky lake seems to have, legions of devoted musky fishermen throughout the years have become captivated by both the lore and romance of
By Ron Bergman – Bergman’s Guide Service Spring walleye When fishing walleyes in May, you will want to have a 6- to 7-foot rod, good reel and 6-8-pound line. Add two kinds of baits: 1/16- to 1/8-ounce jigs in black, yellow, green, pink and orange, and No. 13 or 4- to
By Brett McConnell This spring of 1998 marked the beginning of the most comprehensive Big Chip Musky Study study ever conducted on any body of water in North America. The three year Big Chip Musky Study will focus on the musky fishery of the Chippewa Flowage. The Chippewa Flowage is widely
Habitat for the Future: Fall 1996 marked the start of the largest cooperative preservation and environmental project ever undertaken on the Chippewa Flowage. It continued in the summer and fall of 1998, and will be an ongoing program every year. The Chippewa Flowage Resort Association and the Chippewa Flowage area Property
Hiring a Fishing guide does not mean you don’t know how to fish, but like many other fishermen, you are interested in learning techniques and the how-to of the local fishermen and the specific particulars of the body of water you’re on. Eager anticipation and the thought of catching a couple
