Hayward Lakes Area Outdoor Notebook

BoatUS offers boat winterization quiz

Recreational boat owners are now preparing their boats for a long winter, hoping cold temperatures will not damage their boats. Freshwater, which expands in volume by about 9 percent when it freezes, can push outward with a force of tens of thousands of pounds per square inch. This can crack engine blocks, damage fiberglass, split hoses and waterlines and destroy refrigeration systems – damage often not discovered until spring.

BoatUS has a three-question, true-false quiz for boaters to test their winterizing knowledge. It also offers a free Boater's Guide to Winterizing on its website, including a two-page checklist.

1. True or false? A boat owner should leave an internal gas tank nearly full over the winter.

Answer: True. Before ethanol, the advice was to leave tanks as empty as possible. Today, the idea is to prevent condensation from forming on the inside of the tank walls, a result of daily freeze/thaw cycles. Boat fuel systems draw humid air via the vent (never plug a vent – it can rupture the fuel system). Keeping the tank nearly full, with a little room for expansion, does not give water droplets the chance to form and mix with the fuel, which might contain up to 10% ethanol. This could lead to phase separation that occurs when water and ethanol separate from the fuel and settle on the tank bottom, which can stall out or even damage your engine.

For portable tanks, it is best to remove and empty the fuel into a vehicle, if unmixed gas. If mixed, use it in other two-stroke engines. Once fuel becomes phase separated, no amount of additives or fuel stabilizers can help and a professional must remove the contaminated mixture.

2. True or false? Rather than winterizing a boat, use a plug-in space heater to prevent freeze damage.

Answer: False. According to GEICO marine insurance claims files, an electric heater can lead to claims for not only catastrophic engine damage, but fire as well. The files contain many instances of heaters tipping over, shorting out or igniting nearby combustibles.

3. True or false? Most insurance policies cover ice and freeze damage due to cold winter temperatures.

Answer: False. Marine insurance often excludes ice and freeze damage coverage unless the policyholder requests it as a policy rider or endorsement. This coverage takes care of winterizing mistakes made by professional service providers that leave your engine unprotected when winter temperatures tumble or storms knock out heat to indoor storage facilities. One caveat: Once temperatures drop, most insurers do not offer it, so check with your insurer now.

For more information, visit www.BoatUS.com.

From the DNR

Youth Deer Hunt this weekend

The Wisconsin Youth Deer Hunt is a special season designed to give young hunters the opportunity to hunt deer and gain valuable experience before the rush of the traditional gun deer season.

Resident and non-resident youth hunters 15 years old and younger are eligible to participate in the youth hunt with a mentor. Youth hunters do not need to complete hunter education to participate in the hunt.

"Mentored" means guided by an adult at least 18 years of age who has received permission from the hunter's parent or guardian. For hunters younger than 12 years of age and those who have not completed hunter education, the mentor must also be a hunter education graduate and hold a current hunting license.

Adults accompanying youth hunters may not hunt deer with a firearm during the youth hunt, but may possess a bow, crossbow or gun to hunt game that is legal to hunt at that time.

For more information on the youth hunt, search "youth deer hunt" on the DNR website.

Hunting aids wildlife management

Hunting deer helps manage the herd toward established goals, but other ecological considerations are behind the hunt.

Deer hunting seasons occur in fall because at that time the annual population cycle is high enough to support harvesting deer. Trees are losing leaves, which increases visibility, and bucks are most active during the breeding season. Reducing the deer population before winter also ensures available food resources will go further, allowing surviving deer to stay healthy into the spring.

Perhaps most importantly, managing the herd keeps habitats healthier for all wild plants and animals, and reduces deer-human conflicts so that whitetails remain appreciated as a Wisconsin wildlife icon.

For more information, search "deer management" on the DNR website.

Fishing Reports

Hayward Bait (Jarrett): Musky anglers are raising a few muskies that are lookers rather than takers, but most anglers are landing fish on bucktails, stickbaits and topwaters. Many fish are on weed edges and/or structure in 10 to 15 feet.

Walleye fishing is promising. This is the time fish start looking for bigger profile baits - and that usually means minnows. Walleye suckers on jigs or free swimming under a slip float are working well, with fish as shallow as 10 feet and as deep as 40 feet. With fish loosely schooled, if you pick up one you might have to regroup to find the school again.

Northern pike fishing is steady, with anglers catching many fish while seeking walleye and bass. These fish are in areas adjacent to other gamefish and feeding on the same crappies, bluegills, etc. Swimbaits, spoons, spinnerbaits and stickbaits are all putting fish in the boat. Try deep weed edges. On cool mornings after sunrise, check back bays in clear lakes to take advantage of fish sunning themselves. You can often make a long pitch and pull it right past their faces.

Largemouth and smallmouth bass are still on deep weeds and rocks. Fish that moved shallow will hold to structure as the temperatures cool. For shore fishing, try areas near downed wood, as it retains the sun's heat far longer than metal docks or piers. For deep fish, Ned rigs are working very well and even picking up an occasional walleye.

Crappies are roaming deep basins, waiting for a last push onto weeds before ice-up, and these fish are constantly on the move. Small jigs and crappie minnows, plain or under bobbers, are working well.

Happy Hooker (Pat), Quiet Lakes: It has been a fantastic start to the fall season. Though overnight temperatures continue to drop, daytime temperatures are still very mild. Some lake-home owners may be regretting their early decisions to pull out boats and docks. Another option is fishing from shore, and there are plenty of fun shore spots on many area lakes.

Musky action is picking up and anglers are throwing big crankbaits, swimbaits, bucktails and even tolling medium and large suckers. We recorded several nice legal size fish last week and it will only get better as the water cools.

Most lakes have had a good weed bite in 8 to 13 feet and anglers report a few walleyes. Water levels are still a little low, so be cautious.

Northern pike and largemouth bass are active on shallow bars and weed areas. Frogs are well into migration preparing for winter, and topwater lures will turn some action.

Panfish are less active the last couple of weeks, except for an occasional crappie or perch. Keep trying with worm chunks and crappie minnows suspended under floats.

Jenk's (Mike), Chippewa Flowage: The Flowage water level is down 2 feet and the water temperature is 68 degrees.

Muskies are all over, with some shallow, some deep and some in between with water temperatures uncommonly high for this time of year. Try different approaches, as well as trial and error techniques, such as throwing surface and subsurface baits, trolling over deep water and/or floating suckers.

Walleye anglers are still catching fish on the small side. The weather is warm, walleyes are also all over the place, from shallow to deep, as well as in transition, and it is difficult to pinpoint their exact location. Use electronics to spot baitfish and more accurately pinpoint the walleyes. Minnows and crawlers are the choices for live bait, but with the high temperatures, trolling Flicker Shads and Shad Raps over deeper water could be effective.

Northern pike are in the weeds and hitting spoons and Tinsel Tail spinners. While casting, float a northern sucker or two as well. As always, the west side is better than the east side for pike.

Smallmouth bass reports are still scarce, however; with these water temperatures they are likely on shallow structure such a stumps and rocks. Crawlers and plastics are solid bait choices.

Crappie action is much better, with fish on cribs in 18 feet and deeper. They have not yet schooled in Moore's Bay, as the water is too warm. Minnows and plastics are still the way to go.

Wolter Report

We use fall electrofishing surveys to gauge the strength of walleye natural reproduction during that year and to check survival of walleye stocked in the previous year. In 2021, the DNR Hayward Fish Team completed these fall surveys on many area lakes and found interesting results.

First, a few lakes that had seen close to zero walleye reproduction in recent years actually registered a small amount in 2021. Windfall, Big Sissabagama, Lower Clam and Lac Courte Oreilles (LCO) all surprised us with small natural year classes. While these year classes may not be large enough to provide great opportunities for anglers down the road, we hope they are a sign of a rebound in these lakes, most of which have seen large declines in walleye reproduction.

Lakes that are more consistent walleye producers, such as Round and Windigo, had natural reproduction this year, but at more modest levels than usual.

The Chippewa Flowage turned out a very solid walleye year class, meeting or exceeding other good year classes from recent years, and continuing a positive trend for that population.

Stocked walleye survival looked great in Big Chetac and Barber lakes, which are two of our more consistently successful stocked lakes in the area. Stocking survival was surprisingly strong in Island and Durphee lakes, especially when compared to past stocking success in these lakes.

Walleye will continue to face challenges as climate change alters habitats that used to be better suited for the species. Data from these fall surveys will help inform management and guide strategies on how to maintain or improve natural reproduction, where possible, and how to stock effectively to provide walleye fishing opportunities in waters where reproduction has declined.

Outdoors Calendar

Oct. 2-10: Gun deer hunt for hunters with disabilities.

Oct. 7-9: Treeland Premier Musky Fly Fishing Championship (715-462-3874).

Oct. 9: NW Relic Riders' vintage snowmobile show and swap meet at Flat Creek Lodge (715-634-8377).

Oct. 9-10: Youth deer hunt.

Oct. 12: Bear season closes.

Oct. 15-17: Ladies Musky Fishing School at Deerfoot Lodge (715-462-3328).

Oct. 16: Hunting seasons open: fox (red and gray); bobcat (Period 1); raccoon (resident).

Oct. 16: Hunting seasons open at 9 a.m. statewide: pheasant; bobwhite quail; Hungarian partridge (except Clark, Marathon and Taylor counties).

Oct. 16: Trapping seasons open: bobcat (Period 1); fisher; coyote; fox; raccoon (resident).

Oct. 23: Trapping seasons open: mink; muskrat.

For comments, questions and suggestions, email [email protected].