Two For One,
Turtle Flambeau Flowage
Walleyes & Smallmouth
With over 17,000 acreas of water inhabited
by the best variety of fish holding structures,
the Turtle Flambeau Flowage of Northern
Wisconsin boasts both excellent walleye and
small mouth bass fishing. Laid out with open
mud flat areas, miles and miles of river
channels, log jammed, rock, and sand shore-
lines as far as one can see, submerged as well
as visible stump fields, hundreds of center lake humps, back bays,
islands, bogs, and numerous weed beds, the vast waters of Turtle Flambeau Flowage
raises three main questions of most anglers, "When is the best time of theyear to fish
the T.F.F., which areas and structures are best, and how do I fish these areas?
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- As vast and full of structure as the Turtle Flambeau may be, it does give up two good advantages to the angler
looking for both walleyes and smallys . One, the walleyes and smallys frequent and feed in the same areas. Two,
from the beginning of May to the end of October, (with the exception of no weeds to fish early year) the walleyes
and smallmouth can be caught on and or around all the types of structures mentioned above with only slight
advantages to some of the areas being seasonal.
Now, which is the best structures to fish and how? Given my choice of areas and structure, I would head straight
to the center lake humps . The humps hold the best numbers of active feeding walleyes and smallmouths at most
times of the day and season because of the extensive cover. Now explaining the humps a little better, most of the
open water areas of the flowage average around 14-16 feet of water. The humps that I look for rise up from 14-16
feet of water to anywhere from around 4 to 8 feet of water and can be as big as 50-75 yards across t o as little as
the size of a 16 foot boat. Best humps to look for do have submerged stumps on the sides of them which can be
seen if you watch closely on your graph.
Once finding the hump I want to fish. I throw a maker buoy on the up wind edge of the hump before it breaks down
into the deeper water. If no wind I estimate as close to center as I can and the shallowest to place my marker.
Once the marker is places I back off about 20 yards and start working the hump from the shallowest point on down
into the deeper water.
I cast up on top of the hump letting the jig settle to the bottom dragging the bottom and jigging off the bottom 6
inches to a foot in and over the root systems of the submerged stumps and down the edges and breaks of the
hump.
I cover all sides of the hump and as far out as 30 yards off the hump. The walleyes and smallies sometimes will
scatter of the edges if the food is not on top or on the edges.
I prefer using a six and a half foot medium-light action Lamiglas, IM700 rod, Shimano reel spooled with 6lb. test
line. Jigging is my presentation of choice and use strictly I SG Slowfall Jigs in the 1/8th oz. size tipped with either a
minnow early spring and fall and a half of night crawler late spring thru out the summer. This presentation works
very well for both the walleyes and smallmouth.
Although there are numerous areas and structures on the Turtle Flambeau Flowage that can produce excellent
fishing, next time out give the humps and the presentations explained a try to put more walleyes and smallmouth
in your boat.
Mike "Doc" Sabec is a Wisconsin Licensed Guide that specializes in walleye and small mouth fishing on the Turtle
Flambeau Flowage. Doc is a lifetime resident of Mercer, WI., and has been fishing the Turtle Flambeau Flowage
for 31 years.