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By Wayne Morgenthaler
The last two weeks in May are a good combination for the outdoorsmen that likes to hunt and fish. At this time of the year, scheduling outdoor activities can be a little tough.
You have to make the most of it when you get a chance. During this particular time my son, Kevin, was home for his late turkey season hunting expedition.
We were up and out of the house by 4:30 am. This day started out with the temperature in the 40’s with very little wind and partly cloudy. Our set up was in the woods, on top of the ridge next to a good roosting area. We heard our first gobble around 5:15 and it didn’t sound that far away. I used a box call and gave out a couple of clucks. The response would be almost immediately but the gobble was not that close. We decided after about an hour to move closer to where we thought the gobbles were coming from. As we went down over the ridge, I proceeded to give a single cluck. Again a response but the tom was on the opposite ridge. We didn’t have permission to hunt that land, but we decided to walk a little further but staying close to the top of the hardwood ridge. We hadn’t taken about three steps, when all of sudden a turkey busts into flight only 60 yards away. After thinking it all over, we would have been better off to hold our original position and waited another half hour. The trip was not all a loss, as we did find some morel mushrooms. We would never find many under any tree but enough to make a tasty addition to what we were going to eat later for supper.
Once we were home, it was a quick change of clothes and load up the canoe. This time we were heading for the back waters of the Wisconsin River down by Lone Rock. By now the temperature was in the upper 60’s with gusty winds. The good part was that the gusts seemed to be about 10 minutes apart.
In mid May always keep your eyes out for fish in the shallows chasing minnows. I generally fish the west side of the lake where the water temperatures are the warmest in the afternoon. Kevin tried for northerns but did not get any strikes. Since this spring has been a little on the cold side, there were not that many lily pads exposed. If you look real hard, you will see an occasional dimple on the still water out in these lily pads. As we were paddling around, I saw a fish barely break the surface. I immediately took my fly rod and made a cast at that spot. Instantly, a male bluegill leaped out of the water and hit the rubber spider. This tells you that there are more males around, and that they are very aggressive. We made sure to keep our distance and make casts into the slight wind. You can see by the video, how we did this technique. The hard part is to find the male bluegills, as they can be anywhere but are grouped up in small schools. If I catch a female, I will not fish that spot again but try a few yards away in any direction. Once spawning season arrives, the males break up and protect the nests. We caught 15 average bluegills and that was enough to make a nice supper.
Then it was back to the house, clean the fish, fry the morels, fry the filets, and enjoy the meal. Then it was a quick change of clothes and out after the turkeys.
This time we set up out in the field with two hen decoys. The winds had picked up and were blowing a brisk 15 mph out of the southwest. It wasn’t long before a hen walked by but nothing else. I used the box call again as it is a little louder call on windy days. Sure enough a tom answered and then he stepped out on to the field. The only problem was he was about 80 yards away. He looked at the hen, the decoys and decided that if they were not going to come to him, he wasn’t going to move either. We watched him for a good 20 minutes remain in the same spot. Of course, it was the biggest tom we had seen all season. Kevin tried sneaking up on the bird but he was too smart for that.
All in all it was a great day to be out, and at the end of the day I was glad to go home and get some sleep. Remember to enjoy the outdoors with a friend, as the weather is getting nicer every day.
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