| lakewapogasset.com |
"WELCOME FRIENDS OF FINS ... The Phantom Fishermen web page is officially open ... and as far as we're concerned, it's open
season on YOU. Yep, we'll be watching your every cast, waiting to see if you've been paying attention to us for the past 18 years ...
or if you're still accidentally dumping your tackle in the drink"!
season on YOU. Yep, we'll be watching your every cast, waiting to see if you've been paying attention to us for the past 18 years ...
or if you're still accidentally dumping your tackle in the drink"!
"LOOK ... I FOUND THE
PHANTOM FISHERMEN !!!!
PHANTOM FISHERMEN !!!!
| WHO ARE THE PHANTOM FISHERMEN??? |
| we'll be watching ... but you won't see us because we're the PHANTOM FISHERMEN |
 | |  | |  | |  | |  |
SPLASH #4 ... JULY 12, 2008
BIG BLUES BEG FOR BAIT….
We’ve been taking big hand sized Blue Gills in 12 feet of water using worms or waxies. Fish ‘em near the bottom. If they’re not there,
move your bobber down a couple of feet. If they’re not there, move your boat a couple of miles. If they’re not there, move to Brainerd.
Check MapQuest for directions.
OUR READERS ASK…
Wapo’s Marilyn Buckingham reports hearing waves lapping along her shoreline regularly at 5 AM. “These lapping sounds were so
loud they woke me up. So I went down to the shore and they weren’t waves at all. THEY WERE FISH JUMPING AND SPLASHING!
So what kind of fish jump?” Well, Marilyn, it can’t be our well documented Bottle Nosed Dolphin population because they’re
mammals, not fish. Our guess it that they noise makers are not Crappies either…BUT they could be Carpies. Our well documented
Carp population tends to roll in the early hours, but they usually go back to sleep after they’ve rolled over. Another thing to think about
is making sure you take ALL your pills before going to bed.
THE PHANTOMS ASK ...
OK... who is the Ringo Starr who showed up at the Wapo July 4th Runs and joined Milt Sunde's Magical Musicians on drums for a
couple of numbers. Call Milt or the Marina with your name. They need you next year!
BIG BLUES BEG FOR BAIT….
We’ve been taking big hand sized Blue Gills in 12 feet of water using worms or waxies. Fish ‘em near the bottom. If they’re not there,
move your bobber down a couple of feet. If they’re not there, move your boat a couple of miles. If they’re not there, move to Brainerd.
Check MapQuest for directions.
OUR READERS ASK…
Wapo’s Marilyn Buckingham reports hearing waves lapping along her shoreline regularly at 5 AM. “These lapping sounds were so
loud they woke me up. So I went down to the shore and they weren’t waves at all. THEY WERE FISH JUMPING AND SPLASHING!
So what kind of fish jump?” Well, Marilyn, it can’t be our well documented Bottle Nosed Dolphin population because they’re
mammals, not fish. Our guess it that they noise makers are not Crappies either…BUT they could be Carpies. Our well documented
Carp population tends to roll in the early hours, but they usually go back to sleep after they’ve rolled over. Another thing to think about
is making sure you take ALL your pills before going to bed.
THE PHANTOMS ASK ...
OK... who is the Ringo Starr who showed up at the Wapo July 4th Runs and joined Milt Sunde's Magical Musicians on drums for a
couple of numbers. Call Milt or the Marina with your name. They need you next year!
CELEBRATING MORT’S MARINA’S 30 YEARS ON OUR LAKES,THE PHANTOMS REMEMBER…
…a lot more than cute little kids at the candy counter. We remember when the grassy lawns outside the Marina were a big huge dusty
boat launch area, and the building where the candy counter now resides was a cabin that could be rented by the week. And that’s
exactly what two retired chums from Northern Illinois would do kind ofon a migratory basis three times a year. Matt and Joe were like
Mutt and Jeff…one was tall and thin and the other was about five four and 190. Anyway these two fixtures would drive up in a mini-van,
have a “little Red Eye” for breakfast and spend all day on the lakes, probably “a little more Red Eye” as the day wore on. Anyway, we
were hanging around the Marina one Saturday morning drinking coffee when this maroon mini-van rolls into the lot churning up a
gigantic dust cloud. Mort jumps of the coffee bench and asks if the “boys” were dragging something. Joe reported, “well we felt a
bump back around Tomah, and the car’s been acting a little funny for the last couple of hours.” Low and below (and behold), Mort
looks under the van, and it turns out they’d been dragging a deer! Now faithful readers, we’ve made up a lot of stories over the
years…BUT THIS ONE IS THE ABSOLUTE TRUTH. More of our…well…unusual…memories to follow.
SHORT CASTS…
Congratulations to Wapo’s Larry Barenbaum on receiving Wisconsin Boat Docking Teaching Certificate! Wow! For being the terror of
your friends and friend’s docks on our lakes since you arrived, you’ve made big progress. For those of you who need some docking
instruction, give Larry a call. He’ll be happy to quote you prices on individual or grou lessons.
MEMO to Wapo’s Jerry Mr. Doubtful” Huston: No we weren’t kidding about the Walleye bag limits (two on Wapo, five on Bear Trap). If
you catch five legal fish on BearTrap, you’ll have to stop and drop three of them off at our dock (preferably in filets) before heading back
to your Wapo castle.
COMING NEXT ISSUE…
The true story of how one man’s Ice Cream Social becomes a lake-wide gala. The rags to rocky-road saga of the Castaway’s Hap
Tangen.
…a lot more than cute little kids at the candy counter. We remember when the grassy lawns outside the Marina were a big huge dusty
boat launch area, and the building where the candy counter now resides was a cabin that could be rented by the week. And that’s
exactly what two retired chums from Northern Illinois would do kind ofon a migratory basis three times a year. Matt and Joe were like
Mutt and Jeff…one was tall and thin and the other was about five four and 190. Anyway these two fixtures would drive up in a mini-van,
have a “little Red Eye” for breakfast and spend all day on the lakes, probably “a little more Red Eye” as the day wore on. Anyway, we
were hanging around the Marina one Saturday morning drinking coffee when this maroon mini-van rolls into the lot churning up a
gigantic dust cloud. Mort jumps of the coffee bench and asks if the “boys” were dragging something. Joe reported, “well we felt a
bump back around Tomah, and the car’s been acting a little funny for the last couple of hours.” Low and below (and behold), Mort
looks under the van, and it turns out they’d been dragging a deer! Now faithful readers, we’ve made up a lot of stories over the
years…BUT THIS ONE IS THE ABSOLUTE TRUTH. More of our…well…unusual…memories to follow.
SHORT CASTS…
Congratulations to Wapo’s Larry Barenbaum on receiving Wisconsin Boat Docking Teaching Certificate! Wow! For being the terror of
your friends and friend’s docks on our lakes since you arrived, you’ve made big progress. For those of you who need some docking
instruction, give Larry a call. He’ll be happy to quote you prices on individual or grou lessons.
MEMO to Wapo’s Jerry Mr. Doubtful” Huston: No we weren’t kidding about the Walleye bag limits (two on Wapo, five on Bear Trap). If
you catch five legal fish on BearTrap, you’ll have to stop and drop three of them off at our dock (preferably in filets) before heading back
to your Wapo castle.
COMING NEXT ISSUE…
The true story of how one man’s Ice Cream Social becomes a lake-wide gala. The rags to rocky-road saga of the Castaway’s Hap
Tangen.
SPLASH #6 ... Aug. 16, 2008
BEING STALKED BY A MUSKIE? GO FIGURE ...
We hear it nearly every year about this time ... someone reports seeing a big fish following a lure
and then disappearing under the boat. Even a seasoned angler like Bear Trap's Mike Kohlrusch
had Mister Toothy follow his Lazy Ike back to the boat. "I always forget what to do," says Mike. no
biggie, Mike. Even the Muskie magicians like Erik Mortensen forget sometimes (but not very
often). So write this on your arm with a Sharpie: If you see a Muskie following your bait back to
your boat, bring your lure right up tight to your rod tip, stick your rod about three feet into the water
AND MAKE A SERIES OF BIG FIGURE EIGHTS. Every once in a while, Mister Muskie will say to
himself "Hmmmmm ... maybe I should have chomped that thing," and BOOM! If you don't fall out
of the boat or have your arms dislocated, you'll have your trophy.
DOG DAYS WITHOUT THE BARK ...
... or the bite. In fact, instead of steamy, humid days, we've had fairly pleasant weather. So, while
we'd normally recommend napping in front of a fan, we might even suggest fishing. If you look
through this article, or checked www.lakewapogasset.com, you'll notice lots of words and pixels
about Muskies. They are on the prowl this time of year. So, if you're like Jean Roback and don't
like big huge slimy fish with sharp teeth, you can fish for smaller slimy fish ... like Bass. They're
still hitting red shad Texas-rigged Powerbaits and Purple fire-tipped worms like crazy in 8-12 feet
of water off the weed edges. The Panfish are biting (fish em a little deeper) and you can catch
Walleyes at dusk in 15-20 feet of water with a minnow-tipped jig. or ... if you'd rather ... you can
take a nap in front of a fan..
BEING STALKED BY A MUSKIE? GO FIGURE ...
We hear it nearly every year about this time ... someone reports seeing a big fish following a lure
and then disappearing under the boat. Even a seasoned angler like Bear Trap's Mike Kohlrusch
had Mister Toothy follow his Lazy Ike back to the boat. "I always forget what to do," says Mike. no
biggie, Mike. Even the Muskie magicians like Erik Mortensen forget sometimes (but not very
often). So write this on your arm with a Sharpie: If you see a Muskie following your bait back to
your boat, bring your lure right up tight to your rod tip, stick your rod about three feet into the water
AND MAKE A SERIES OF BIG FIGURE EIGHTS. Every once in a while, Mister Muskie will say to
himself "Hmmmmm ... maybe I should have chomped that thing," and BOOM! If you don't fall out
of the boat or have your arms dislocated, you'll have your trophy.
DOG DAYS WITHOUT THE BARK ...
... or the bite. In fact, instead of steamy, humid days, we've had fairly pleasant weather. So, while
we'd normally recommend napping in front of a fan, we might even suggest fishing. If you look
through this article, or checked www.lakewapogasset.com, you'll notice lots of words and pixels
about Muskies. They are on the prowl this time of year. So, if you're like Jean Roback and don't
like big huge slimy fish with sharp teeth, you can fish for smaller slimy fish ... like Bass. They're
still hitting red shad Texas-rigged Powerbaits and Purple fire-tipped worms like crazy in 8-12 feet
of water off the weed edges. The Panfish are biting (fish em a little deeper) and you can catch
Walleyes at dusk in 15-20 feet of water with a minnow-tipped jig. or ... if you'd rather ... you can
take a nap in front of a fan..
OUR READERS ASK ...
Wapo's Frank Savino reports ... "I was sitting on my dock dangling my feet in the water while my kid was fixing his reel and dangling a
lure in the water. All of a sudden ... WHAM .. a Northern or Muskie or somethin' nailed the lure! Do you think a fish like that would have
gone after my toes?" This would be pretty rare, Frank, given your usual choice of soft reds and pinks in nail polishes. If you want to
attract the big ones, we recommend switching to a silver sparkling polish. ... works every time!
THE PHANTOMS REMEMBER ...
...yeah, believe it or not, we DO remember hanging around the Marina on fishing opener eve (many of them) helping Mort get the Marina
organized for the summer. He used to give us important jobs like attaching the covers to styrofoam minnow buckets with little red nylon
ropes. For some reason we got this job every year. That was strange because every fishing opener morning, Mort would discover two
thirds of the buckets had the tops on upside down. Maybe it was the adult beverages. His third was usually done right, but it meant that
he'd have to restring our two thirds. Anyway, we maintained this practice for years, and at midnight, Mort would send us on our way out
onto the lake to do battle with the wiley Walleye. This ritual eventually ended, however, since we didn't catch much ... except for two guys
fishing in waders on shore. Since the limit on guys with waders was one, we had to toss the other one back. Another time, we boated
lawn chair. Finally, the pressure of perfect minnow bucket stringing became too intense and we had to hang it up. Well, except for the
adult beverages, at least for a couple of us.
COMING NEXT ISSUE ...
Not much ... it's the last one.
Wapo's Frank Savino reports ... "I was sitting on my dock dangling my feet in the water while my kid was fixing his reel and dangling a
lure in the water. All of a sudden ... WHAM .. a Northern or Muskie or somethin' nailed the lure! Do you think a fish like that would have
gone after my toes?" This would be pretty rare, Frank, given your usual choice of soft reds and pinks in nail polishes. If you want to
attract the big ones, we recommend switching to a silver sparkling polish. ... works every time!
THE PHANTOMS REMEMBER ...
...yeah, believe it or not, we DO remember hanging around the Marina on fishing opener eve (many of them) helping Mort get the Marina
organized for the summer. He used to give us important jobs like attaching the covers to styrofoam minnow buckets with little red nylon
ropes. For some reason we got this job every year. That was strange because every fishing opener morning, Mort would discover two
thirds of the buckets had the tops on upside down. Maybe it was the adult beverages. His third was usually done right, but it meant that
he'd have to restring our two thirds. Anyway, we maintained this practice for years, and at midnight, Mort would send us on our way out
onto the lake to do battle with the wiley Walleye. This ritual eventually ended, however, since we didn't catch much ... except for two guys
fishing in waders on shore. Since the limit on guys with waders was one, we had to toss the other one back. Another time, we boated
lawn chair. Finally, the pressure of perfect minnow bucket stringing became too intense and we had to hang it up. Well, except for the
adult beverages, at least for a couple of us.
COMING NEXT ISSUE ...
Not much ... it's the last one.