“Catching Muskies, Walleyes and Panfish at Wisconsin’s Eagle River Chain of Lakes with Jim ‘Hi Pines’ Rechlitz and Mepps and Mister Twister”

Part 1: The Land of Muskies

Editor’s Note: Jim ‘Hi Pines’ Rechlitz is the owner of Hi Pines Guide Service in Eagle River, Wisconsin, and an officer in the Headwater Chapter 12 of Muskies, Inc. He guides primarily for muskies and walleyes as well as panfish and smallmouth bass on the Eagle River chain of lakes in northern Wisconsin.

Question: Jim, what’s the secret to consistently catching muskies?

Rechlitz: Location, location, location. Ninety percent of the fish in any body of water are holding in 10% of the lake or river you’re fishing, and that 10% is changing on a regular basis. My job as a fishing guide is find that 10% where most of the fish are and take my clients to those areas where the chances are the best for them to catch muskies. I don’t take people on boat trips or boat rides, I take people to catch fish. One of the things that makes me successful as a guide is the fine lures Mepps makes for muskies.

Question: What are the components that make up the best 10% of the areas you fish for muskies?

Rechlitz: I have learned that your best chances of catching muskies are in areas where you find structure, weedlines and rock piles. If you know where that structure and cover occur on the lake, you’re 90% more likely to catch a muskie that if you try to fish the entire lake. I’m fortunate enough to live on the Eagle River chain of lakes, because I believe this area is where the most muskies are concentrated in the State of Wisconsin. The Eagle River chain consists of 10 lakes, and some of these lakes may only be only 4,000 or 5,000 acres. But each lake connects to the next lake.

When you throw in the other lakes in this region, we have 28 lakes that produce ideal habitat for muskies. There are five or six national muskie tournaments held here at Eagle Lake, mainly because the participants in these tournaments are usually highly successful. For instance, when the Spring Classic Tournament, sponsored by Muskies, Inc., was held here, we had 150 boats and 300 fishermen, 2 per boat, and 20-30% of those fishermen caught muskies in this 1-1/2-day tournament, which is a phenomenal amount.

The Professional Muskie Tournament Trail holds a tournament here, too. They’ll catch roughly the same number of muskies. All of the muskies caught in these tournaments are released alive, which really helps the fishery. The average size of a muskie on the Eagle River chain is 35-40 inches, but a 48 incher was caught in October, 2008, in the Eagle River chain, which proves there are still some really-big muskies in this section of the state.

Question: What’s your favorite Mepps lure to fish for muskies?

Rechlitz: I like the Musky Killer with a black bucktail and brass blade, an orange blade, or a silver blade. Now when you’re muskie fishing, there’s 10 feet of water that’s most important to finding and catching muskie – the first 5 feet of water that you fish once your Mepps Musky Killer enters the water and the last 5 feet right next to the boat. These are the two areas where the muskies usually take the Mepps Musky Killer.

When that Musky Killer hits the water, and you start moving the bait, the muskie will usually react to the lure and either attack or follow it. When you get the bait to that last 5 feet of water and begin to do a figure 8 with your rod tip in the water, this place is where and when the muskie will often attack. The majority of fish that I catch with my parties are right next to the boat when my angler is doing that figure 8. I have advised my anglers to always make a figure 8 beside the boat before they take the Musky Killer out of the water.

Many times, the second cast that you make to an area will be the cast on which you catch the muskies. I’ve found that a muskie often will follow the Musky Killer up to the side of the boat. When you start doing that figure 8, the muskie turns around and sits right under the boat, usually where you can’t see the fish. The muskie is setting up an ambush spot there to be ready to take the next bait it sees. Therefore, when you cast the lure out the second time, and you bring it in and start doing a figure 8 right beside the boat, the muskie that’s waiting under the boat will come out and attack the lure.

To fish with Jim ‘Hi Pines’ Rechlitz, call (715) 479-6113, email hipines@hipines.com or hipines@newnorth.net, or visit www.hipines.com.