OUTDOORS EDITOR
Click, click, click.” Among anglers and hunters, there are a handful of favorite sounds. The splash of a largemouth bass hitting a surface bait, the thundering flush of a ruffed grouse, the rustle of leaves as a white-tailed deer moves along a trail.
And the soft ticks as a fish pulls line from a baitcasting reel.
Mike Koepp of Pewaukee and I were deep in conversation last Saturday morning on Pewaukee Lake when a third party chimed in.
There could not have been a sweeter interruption. “Click.” Koepp and I looked at the four graphite poles deployed in rod holders around his boat.
“Which one was it? said Koepp, 55.
After five seconds of silence, another single note emanated from the rear rod on the port side.
We quickly reeled in two of the other rigs, then Koepp gently picked up the “live” rod.
“It’s there,” he said before handing it to me.
I reeled in about a foot of slack and lowered the rod tip to the water. Then, with an upward sweep of the rod and a couple of turns of the reel handle, our little corner of the world was transformed.
A heavy, live weight bowed the rod, then pulled the line away from the boat. It was as if a locomotive had come off the tracks along the north side of Pewaukee Lake and grabbed our bait.
After several runs, the fish came near the surface and flashed a silvery, broad flank. “Nice musky,” Koepp said. The muskellunge, Wisconsin’s state fish, goes by lots of names. But all of them translate to “excitement.”
After a couple minutes of to-andfro, the fish was boatside and Koepp scooped it into his landing net.
The robust fish had hit an 8-inch sucker minnow on a quick-strike rig.
The musky stayed underwater in the large bag of the net as it was unhooked and we prepared a camera and measuring board.
Moments later we had the measurement — 40 inches in length — and a couple quick photos.
As Koepp lowered the musky back into the water, it immediately wriggled out of his grasp and swam to freedom.
The experience of landing a legalsized musky in Wisconsin is always something to treasure.
When it happens in the shadow of the state’s largest metropolitan area, and on a lake that receives heavy angling pressure, it’s even more remarkable.
“Pewaukee has come a long way,” said Koepp, 55. “When you consider what it provides anglers these days, it’s definitely a special place.”
As a native of Pewaukee, Koepp is in a unique position to comment on Pewaukee Lake.
In summers, his parents rented a cabin on Oak Street, just feet from the lake’s shoreline. Together with his four siblings, Koepp spent his youth boating and fishing on the lake.
In the 1970s, the 2,493-acre lake was more known for its abundant carp population and poor water qualilty. Over the last couple decades, the lake has improved significantly.
The fishery now features healthy, naturally-reproducing populations of largemouth and smallmouth bass and a large forage base, including yellow perch and bluegill.
The lake is perhaps best known, however, for its muskies, which draw thousands of anglers to the lake each year.
Koepp has parlayed his decades of experience on Pewaukee into a part-time business. He owns and operates Mike’s Extreme Guide Service.
Last Saturday, several dozen boats worked the lake in spite of 34-degree temperatures and a biting wind. The prospect of catching a musky during the late fall feeding spree is worth battling the elements for many anglers.
“This is just about perfect,”
Sunday
Antlerless deer hunt ends.
Dec. 24-Jan. 1
Holiday Hunt for antlerless deer.
Dec. 31
Koepp said, referring to the 42degree water and a cloud of bait fish below our boat.
Some boats anchored and soaked suckers. We used the bow mount trolling motor to pull suckers at 0.1 to 0.2 miles per hour on the deep edge of the weedline.
The strategy not only covered more water than anchoring, but it also allowed other anglers to work prime spots.
When it comes to Pewaukee, there are few secrets.
“Pewaukee is our most popular fishing lake in Waukesha County,” said Ben Heussner, fisheries biologist for the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. “Yes, it gets a lot of pressure, but it’s also extremely productive.”
The Pewaukee musky fishery relies on stocking. In 2016, the lake received 1,200 large fingerling muskies from the Art Oehmke state fish hatchery, according to DNR records.
In addition, the Milwaukee chapter of Muskies Inc., and the Muskellunge Club of Wisconsin combined to stock 300 muskies in Pewaukee this year.
Pewaukee has 0.62 adult muskies per acre, well above the state average as well as rates of other local lakes, Heussner said.
Okauchee and Oconomowoc lakes, for example, have about 0.1 to 0.2 muskies per acre.
A musky is considered adult when it reaches about 30 inches in length, typically at age five or six, Heussner said.
Even though Pewaukee has a relatively high density of top predators, muskies in the lake grow faster than the state average, according to DNR records.
Heussner said Pewaukee is primarily considered an “action” lake for muskies, since it has such a high population of the game fish. But Musky season closes in southern zone. some Pewaukee muskies exceed 50 inches, so it’s one of the few lakes that could also be called “trophy” water, too.
Koepp is a fan of both classifications. He has caught five 50-plus inch muskies on Pewaukee. All were released.
“A musky has never been kept in my boat,” Koepp said. “Never will be. They are much more valuable swimming in the lake.”
Koepp is a strong believer in using proper equipment (large landing net), fish handling techniques (keep the fish in the water as much as possible) and education to ensure muskies live to fight another day.
He also will stop fishing in summer when water temperatures get too high. Last summer, he stopped musky fishing for four weeks even as the fish were hitting well.
“You’ve got to do what’s best for the fish if you want to sustain this fishery,” Koepp said.
Last Saturday, we used lightly weighted quick-strike rigs to pull suckers along breaks or flats in about 20 feet of water.
The best action for late season musky fishing is often from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Koepp said.
At 2:15 we were contacted by another fish. Two tell-tale clicks filled the air, then silence. The line oscillated slightly on the rear rod on the port side.
We repeated the earlier sequence and the hook set was again met with weighty resistance. Two minutes later a 38-inch musky was in the net.
It, too, soon splashed off beneath the waves.
Handling two very lively muskies left Koepp with an abrasion or two on his fingers. He used a boat towel to wipe his hands clean of fish slime and collect his blood.
“If you get a few of these, you know you’ve had a good day,” Koepp said. “Always happy to donate a little blood for a musky.”
With anglers like Koepp working on and for the Pewaukee fishery, it has a bright future, indeed.