Wisconsin State Record Lake Sturgeon

 

Lake Sturgeon can get huge.  Monsters over 7 feet in length have been caught.  They are strong fighters often leaping out of the water in an attempt to toss a hook.  Sturgeon are bottom feeders normally found in deep holes.  Fishermen often rig a gob of night crawlers onto a strong hook and let it sit on the bottom waiting for the Sturgeon to suck it into its massive mouth.  

Yellow Lake is located in Burnett County, Wisconsin.  During the month of September, anglers can purchase a tag to harvest a legal sturgeon.  I grew up on Yellow Lake but concentrated on its amazing walleye fishing.  On September 16, 2026, Jake Huntington hooked into a giant.  After numerous leaps and arm tiring drag runs, a sturgeon measuring over 7 feet in length was landed which is potentially the largest caught on hook and line.

On October 16, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources Staff members landed a sturgeon measuring 7ft 4 in out of the Chippewa River.

So, Wisconsin offers great fishing for popular species such as panfish, bass, walleye, pike, and musky.  However, places like Yellow Lake offer some of the best hook and line fishing for Lake sturgeon in the world.  Give it a try for this overlooked species but get your arms and shoulders in shape first!

INTERNATIONAL FISHING TACKLE STORES

 

On your next fishing trip overseas, make sure to make plans to visit local tackle shops.  Here lures, rods, reels, and terminal tackle are normally less costly than the USA. 

On my trip to Indonesia I was able to buy Giant Trevally wooden poppers for about $15 each.  Top stores include Istana Pancing, Bali Fishing Tackle Shop, and a few others.  Quality Daiwa rods are available at much lower prices than in the USA. 

At Istana I bought 2 Bone Travel Rods at a fraction of the USA price.  In Santa Cruz Bolivia, El Sabalito is one of the better stores.  In Manaus numerous good shops are available and I was able to buy DUO Fangbaits.  In Argentina visit Zona Pesca and Devito Fishing and Camping where Cucu lures can be purchased. 

So have fun fishing Internationally and visit local shops to get great deals and tackle.

WEST PAPUA--THE TRIP FROM HELL

 

Having over 40+ years experience in traveling to remote corners in the world, nothing surprises me in terms of travel delays or cancelations.  The preparation and excitement of these outstanding fishing trips is worth experiencing. On my current trip to West Papua, Indonesia, I flew on EVA airlines on a 19 hour flight from Chicago to Taiwan. After a 5 hour layover, I flew again on EVA to Bali only to find my bags did not leave Chicago.  After numerous trips back and forth to the DPS airport my bags arrived the following day. After a few days getting adjusted to the +13 hour time change, I flew on Lion Air to Unjung Pandang.  This a stopover on my flight to Sorong and a flight a few days later to Kaimana.  Once flying into Ujung Pandang the visibility outside the plane windows was terrible.  I thought humidity had fogged the windows.  Upon entering the airport hundreds of people were lying on the floor.  Hundreds of flights were canceled the past few days due to poor visibility from palm oil fires the past 4 months.  My flight to Sorong was delayed for a few hours.  We finally boarded the plane only to sit for 30 minutes before the pilot announced the flight was canceled.  Lion Air did not offer to reschedule due to canceling this flight for 5 days. They said they might try to fly in 4 days if the visibility allows.  (Hopefully I get a refund) Knowing this and the fact that the flight to Kaimana would be canceled I did not want to get trapped in Sorong without a way out.  So, I bought a ticket back Bali and got a hotel for 17 days before my EVA flight returns to Chicago.  Some advice on these extremely remote trips.  Make sure your outfitter is understanding that travel issues arise and will credit a future trip.  Possibly hire a booking agent who knows the small airlines.  Most travel insurance is worthless as only covers your primary flight which in my case was EVA. So, things out of your control can happen.  I have been extremely fortunate that this is the first time in hundreds of trips I had to forego the fishing portion.  But things can always be worse like being stuck in no mans land!! I will be returning to West Papua in January and hopefully the skies clear by then!!

ARAPAIMA LODGE BOLIVIA SEPT 6 TO 12, 2026

 Had the opportunity to fish for Giant arapaimas out of Arapaima Lodge for the second straight year with Javi Koller Fishing Travel.  Arapaima lodge is located in Northeastern Bolivia about a 2 1/2 hrs flight out of Santa Cruz. 

The lodge has 4 double room cabins housing 8 anglers and a main building for meals. An outpost camp 2 hrs away is under construction which will be ready for the 2027 season.   It will house 4 additional anglers.  They have spacious flat bottomed platform boats which are ideal for 2 anglers. 

The arapaima can be caught using cutbait, lures, or flies. My friend landed our largest arapaima about 30 minutes into the trip on Day 1.  It measured 225 cm. We averaged about 4 arapaima each per day on cutbait and lures.  We missed numerous hookups with lures as the mouths are pure bone.  The guides, meals, everything was excellent. 

Will be heading back in Sept 2027.  The lodge also has rental rods and reels so you do not need to haul equipment.  For this outstanding trip targeting one of the largest freshwater fish on earth, contact Javi Koller on Facebook or Whatsapp.

THE PANANGLER

 

While sorting through boxes of fishing magazines, I came across a folder full of The PanAngler newsletters. These were the first newsletters on international fishing. It was established in the 1970s and was published monthly.  Inside were great destination reviews by Pat Galyan, Jim Chapralis, and many others including a wide variety of international correspondents.  While reading, I could dream of fishing for exotic species such as peacock bass, payara, Arctic Char, and others.  As they say "Dreams do come true".

THE FISHERMAN MAGAZINE

 

Upon sorting out my giant stack of fishing magazines, I discovered 4 issues of "THE FISHERMAN" THE MAGAZINE FOR SPORT FISHERMAN.  The issues were printed in 1955 and 1956.  They cost 35 cents per issue and were published monthly.  Inside contains various articles on techniques, boating, destinations, and "new for the fisherman".  Each issue is loaded with ads from companies such as Evinrude outboard motors,  Johnson outboard motors, the Helin Tackle CO. (Flatfish), Mepps, Gudebrod spinning lines, B. F. Cladding & CO., South Bend Tackle Company, and many more.  Going back in time looking at the equipment they used, it a wonder the fishing was probably better than today without GPS or sonar!

Columbia, Bahia Solano May 23 to 28

 

I traveled to Columbia, Bahia Solano with numerous friends from Argentina.  The trip was arranged by friend, Javi Koller of Travel Fishing out of Buenos Aires.  We fished for 5 1/2 days targeting giant Yellowfin Tuna.  On May 20th, I flew on COPA Airlines out of Chicago to Panama City then onward to Medellin.  Here, I would meet up with 14 friends from Argentina including Javi. I spent a few nights at a nice hotel enjoying the Medellin nightlife.  On May 23, we flew on Moon Air to Bahia Solano.  We immediately started fishing.  Javi organized 4 boats for the group. The majority of guys had fished here before.  Javi supplies everything. The accomadations and meals were 5 star.  The tuna fishing was on fire the entire trip with a few exceeding 150lbs for each boat. 

A few sailfish were also landed.
Tuna are extremely strong and we battled a 170lbs for     1 hour and 23 minutes before putting it in the boat.  One day the seas were rough so we fished inshore.

We caught a few roosterfish, Jack's, Mahi Mahi, and mackerel.  On our last day on the last cast we landed the largest tuna for the stay, a giant estimated at 200 lbs. 

The majority of the tuna were landed on live bait and Sebile Stick Shadds and a few on poppers. 

My arms and shoulders are still sore and cannot wait to return next May.  Join us for a fantastic experience.  Contact Javi Koller or contact me for more information.