Musky Angler Can Fly Jets And Carry A Tune
By Tim Eisele

Weiss is a member of the Spooner musky Club which has monthly outings on some of the best musky waters in the area from June through November. He has won the club’s yearly largest musky trophy three times and has caught five muskies over 45 inches in length.

“There is no guarantee with muskies; they are a real moody fish,” he told me as we started fishing opening morning with jigs and minnows. “They are the top of the food chain. I like the challenge of fishing muskies, and the allure of legendary record fish talked about by the old-timers.”

Spooner Lake is a shallow 1,000-acre lake averaging 7-feet deep with very good largemouth bass, northern pike and bluegill populations. The Trego Flowage is a 450-acre impoundment on the Namekagon River that offers 17 miles of scenic northwoods shoreline. It holds a very good walleye population, along with jumbo perch, smallmouth bass and muskies.

We worked the shorelines looking for water warmer than the lake’s average 50-degree water temperature opening day in search of active northerns. We caught and realeased many small largemouth bass but didn’t find northerns until we moved into deeper weed-filled water.

Weiss navigated to an area that he correctly thought would hold northerns. On our first drift through the area he had a solid hit and boated a dandy 29-inch northern.

It was not quite the size of fish that Weiss sang about through his songs “Fencepost” or “Big Hawg,” which he performed for Gov. Tommy Thompson and dignitaries attending the weekend opening dinner, but it was the largest caught opening weekend by more than 100 participants in the opener. On Sunday, he received a plaque for catching the largest northern.

Weiss wrote the song “Fencepost” after growing up and visiting Moccasin Bar in Hayward, where several record muskies are displayed. He wrote “Big Hawg” after catching and having his boat towed by a 26-pound musky on Yellow Lake.

This talented fisherman makes his living as a pilot for American Airlines, flying out of O’Hare Airport. He is the captain of an American Fokker 100 airliner, after years of flying as first officer on 727 and DC-10 aircraft.

He started flying when he served in the Air Force, flying a KC 135, and then worked as a pilot for the Department of Natural Resources. As a DNR pilot, he helped to rescue lost hunters, flew fire control and illegal hunting patrols, monitored wolf packs and flew injured eagles to raptor rehabilitation centers.

When he isn’t flying, Weiss is fishing for muskies. Weiss focuses on fishing for muskies until the fall, when he hunts deer with bow and arrow and muzzleloader rifle. In the winter he enjoys ice fishing.

H also works to protect resources by serving as the elected chairman of the Washburn County Conservation Congress delegation, serving on the warm water fish study committee.

“I really believe that if enough people get involved, they can make changes,” he said. “They can have a voice and they can make a difference.”

This was one Governor’s Opener that wasn’t short on fish caught. Two fisherman caught and released 19-inch smallmouth bass and other fishermen produced good catches of perch, with jumbos measuring 10 to 13 inches.

Nor was it short on talented fishing guides.

On Sunday, I teamed with longtime friend Art Oehmcke of Spooner and fished the morning on the Trego Flowage.

Walleyes were biting early in the morning. By casting a jig and minnow close to shore and bringing it down the breakline, I hooked a 21.5-inch walleye. That was only one inch short of being the largest walleye caught at the opener that weekend.

Weiss makes, markets own lures

Joe Weiss didn’t like the commercial bucktail lures that he was buying for musky fishing three years ago, so he started making his own.

“I was having trouble with the back hook fouling up with the front hook on many casts, and I thought that rather than pay $10 for the lures I should just make my own,” he said.

He began making his own lures with his own color schemes, and now markets his “Monster Muskie Baits.”

His baits have more space between the front hook and the rear hook to eliminate any problems with fouling during casts. In addition, he uses a thicker wire on the stainless steel shaft to prevent breakage, and adds a rubber coating and Kevlar thread for strength to prevent the lure from coming apart.

“I use split rings to attach the hooks to the lure so the fish can’t get as much leverage and split the hook. I also solder the split rings so that the hooks can’t come off,” he said.

Weiss’ Monster Muskie Baits sell for $6.50, and his recordings of fishing and Packer songs sell for $8.50 (tape) or $10.50 (CD), from Northwoods Outdoor Services, W5390 Bobcat Road, Spooner WI 54801.