Early Wednesday Morning

Frost on the pumpkin, no wait, that is snow on the pumpkin! Our first snowfall of the year and it wasn’t a light dusting.  I woke up this morning to a deck covered in the white stuff and for the first of many times to come, I had to break out the shovel. To see it snow in the first part of November is not unusual, but to get six or seven inches is a bit much. It wouldn’t have bothered me at all to not see any of the white stuff until the start of deer hunting when it could have made a brief appearance for the hunters sake and then melted away for another three weeks. It could then start again the week before Christmas giving Santa plenty of snow for his sleigh and giving the rest of us a  very white Christmas, as it should be.

Sara Park

As the boys of summer have now been officially put to rest, soon the sights of ice fishing shanties and snowmobiles racing across the frozen lakes will be a common sight. Thus signals the end of Tomahawk’s time as a summer/fall getaway destination.  The good thing about the end of a season is the beginning of another and so with this first blanket of snow begins an amazing transformation into the holiday season and out the out the other end into a winter wonderland where snowballs will fly, snowmobilers will hit the trails and skiers will take to the hills.

First Snow Fall Hwy D

Winter is about to begin and a whole new world will be yours to enjoy, so as the slogan for Nike says; just get out and do it!

You’ve gotten to the end of another long week and you just don’t feel like cooking supper. But hey, it’s Friday night and you live in Tomahawk Wisconsin or maybe you are just up vacationing! Friday is fish fry night here in Wisconsin and you can go to any one of Tomahawk’s restaurants or taverns and find a delicious, reasonably priced fish dinner.

You’ll find baked, broiled and fried fish. The restaurants range from upscale establishments to basic diners. Most taverns and even churches also partake of this Friday night ritual. The dinners commonly include potatoes done a variety of ways including baked, French fried, or potato pancakes, coleslaw with a mayonnaise or vinegar-based dressing, fresh bread, and of course plenty of beer.

Serving styles range from buffet, family style, by the plate and if you are truly dog-tired you can get yours to go. The fish itself comes in many varieties: perch, walleye, bluegills, Atlantic cod, haddock and during certain months of the year smelt.

Deep Fried Fish Dinner

Not only is a fish fry a reasonably priced meal, but it is a Wisconsin event where strangers break into conversations with locals at the bar and  friends, family and neighbors mingle while talking about the week that was. The Friday night fish fry is an escape from the long week.

Tomahawk and Harrison have many places to enjoy the tradition; like the Happy Snapper, Pine Tree, Silver Birch, Bootleggers, Billy Bob’s, Rivers Edge, Nut Zee’s and many more.

Whether you live here or vacation here, get out and enjoy the tradition. As the evening comes to a close you’ll hit the dusty trail with doggy bag in hand satisfied and content knowing that the weekend is officially begun.

Walking Trail Bridge

Bradley Park is roughly 105 acres of what the Tomahawk Area was like when it was first settled. The Bradley Company bought the land in 1910 for less than one hundred dollars an acre. Can you imagine what that land would go for now? With an abundance of Wisconsin River Frontage, towering White Pines and  walking trails it is a wonderful place to spend an afternoon.

The park opened in the early 1920′s. Over the years Bradley Park has been used for Fourth of July celebrations, band concerts, family reunions and camping. An enclosed  28′ x 49′  field stone picnic shelter was constructed in the middle of the park about a half mile south of the entrance during the 1930′s.

Stone Picnic Building

The shelter  has 8 large picnic tables for seating and serving, two fireplaces with firewood stored inside the building and has been updated throughout the years to include electricity.

Just a short walk to the south of the main shelter you will find a bathroom building, two nice sized parking lots and another open air shelter with picnic tables. These buildings are always open to all park users  whether the main shelter is rented or not.

Bradley Park is just one of many such areas in and around Tomahawk where you can stand on the shore and wet a line, take a quiet walk down one of the nature trails or grab the picnic basket and enjoy lunch in the great outdoors.

If you would like information about renting out the main shelter,  you can call the Tomahawk City Hall at 715-453-4040.

Wisconsin River below Whirlpool Rapids

One of my favorite places to fish for Small Mouth Bass is the Wisconsin River where miles of tree lined shores and eagles soaring through the skies remind me just how lucky I am to live in the Tomahawk area. This is a day trip that combines both great fishing and fun on the water.

You’ll start your adventure near the Camp Ten Ski Hill just off of county trunk A between Rhinelander and Tomahawk and you will finish off the day when you get to the bridge over county trunk A that signals the beginning of Lake Alice. This float down the Wisconsin River is a little over 12 miles and will take you about 4 to 5 hours if you paddle steady.

The first hour and a half will go by relatively quickly as the current moves along at a faster pace as you near a rapids called Whirlpool. How do you know when you are coming up on the Whirlpool? Don’t worry, you will hear  it before you see it! Whirlpool in the spring time is not for the light hearted or inexperienced  as it drops about four feet between a couple of big boulders, but in the last part of July and mid August after the spring run off is over the water level naturally drops making it quite a bit easier to handle. Leading up to Whirlpool you will find a class II boulder garden rapids which rounds a corner and sets you up for Whirlpool’s drop, make a note here to stay to the right or west side of the river as this will be the best line through.  After you are through Whirlpool the Wisconsin River goes around two islands with the larger Menard’s on your left and a smaller one to the right with a channel going both around and between the islands. Here you will encounter another class II rock garden type rapids which is quite a bit easier than the previous stretch. This is a great place to pull up on one of the islands or rock formations and take a breather, or grab bite to eat and a swim.

Wisconsin River near Menard Island

Now after all that excitement this is where the great fishing part takes over. Below Menard Island the Wisconsin River becomes wider and much slower with large boulders both above and below the surface making the last 7 miles of river a Small Mouth Bass Heaven. Bring your Ultra light gear along with a variety of Rapals, surface plugs and smaller spinner baits as there is nothing like a good fight on Ultra light gear with a feisty Bass.  As you start floating by the big boulders simply cast out just past them and pull your baits through the deep quiet pools that form behind the rocks, this is where the fish are hiding and resting, waiting for their next meal.  What kind of action can you expect?  Last summer I caught 27 Small Mouth Bass ranging anywhere from 12 to 19 inches with the biggest weighing in at just over four pounds. I also landed several nice Walleye which made for a great supper.

So if you’re up for a bit of exercise, excitement and great fishing, a float down the Wisconsin River is a summer Must Do! Remember to practice catch and release and keep only what you are going to have for supper..

Looking for Lunkers

Fishing Report for August, 2011

When fishing in the Tomahawk area the anglers will find lakes, rivers and streams of all shapes and sizes, so whether you are looking for a stringer full of pan fish for that Friday night fish fry or your searching for that trophy mount to put on your wall, you’re sure to find enough great fishing to satisfy any type of angler’s desire.

The weather this week has been running a bit cooler than usual which seems to have slowed fishing down a bit, but not too worry there is plenty of summer left and plenty of fish to catch.

Lets start with the pan fish. The bigger Bluegills have moved into about 10ft of water making use of a slip bobber set up with night crawlers very productive. Please take note the smaller Bluegills still seem to be hanging near the shoreline weed beds making great targets for the bigger game fish.

Crappies are hovering just below the big Bluegills in about 12-14ft of water. Slip bobber sets are working well with crappie minnows or fatheads; we’ve seen some real nice slabs being hauled in. It wouldn’t take many of them for a nice fish dinner.

Remember what I just told you about the small Bluegills? We have been seeing Northern Pike cruising the edges of the weed beds hunting in about 5ft of water. Try using a floating Rapala twitching it like a wounded minnow; they also have been hitting on small suckers on a bobber set.

 Walleyes also seem to be in close to the weed beds hunting around dusk and early evening. We’ve been catching them in about 4-5ft of water off the edge of the weed beds using leeches and crawlers on a jig setup.

The Mighty Musky fishing has been slow lately, but seems to be picking up ever so slightly with the fish hitting on big bladed spinner baits and the ever reliable bucktails running at a depth of about 4-5ft in about 8-9ft of water.

Always practice catch and release when you don’t intend on a good meal or mounting a trophy to the wall. That 38 incher will be 40 plus next year! So good luck and safe boating. Check in again next week for a fresh update.