Fishing Wisconsin's Best Muskie Water

Author: Ted Peck
August 2010

"Kurt Schultz was one of those rare kids who learned how to cast before he could walk," veteran guide Bill Melanson said of his 30 year old protégé. "He was born to be a fishing guide and the Creator planted this young buck right in the middle of Wisconsin's best muskie water."

Melanson believes the 13 mile run of Wisconsin River from Merrill down to Brokaw is the most productive muskie water in this muskie-crazy state. Melanson said his clients have boated "somewhere between 2,500 -3,000 muskies on the Merrill to Brokaw run since he started guiding these waters in 1979.

Schultz started working with Melanson 11 years ago. "I can't tell you how wonderful it is to be in the boat with Bill," Schultz grinned "we're on the river together almost every day, but we're leapfrogging through the pools with clients out of two different boats."

A second heart attack last March forced Melanson to cancel guiding activities for the year. He was just a week out of surgery to implant a pacemaker and fix a broken neck which was injured years ago when we crawled into Schultz's river boat Wednesday morning.

"If my doctor asks, I'm just going for a boat ride," the tough old bird winked"I'm not supposed to lift over 15 pounds. "Guess that means I'll have to throw bucktails instead of heavier baits. One of you guys will have to reel in my fish and net them. "

Baseball legend Yogi Berra once said "if you can do it, you ain't bragging." Melanson may be an old dog. But he can still hunt. Chasing muskies on the Merrill to Brokaw run is like pheasant hunting at Ray Gehrig's Hunt Club-- You had better be ready to set the hook.

Schultz said he averages two hook-ups with muskies on a typical eight hour float trip of the Upper Wisconsin River, with most of these lean fish averaging 34-40 inches. "I see a number of 45-50 inch fish every year," he notes "it's amazing how critters that big can thrive in such skinny water."

According to this self-professed 'river rat' the deepest water on the Merrill to Brokaw run is only 13 feet when the Wisconsin is running at normal pool levels. Schultz and Melanson throw primarily bucktails and topwater lures because the water is so shallow.

They also forego two standards of the Esox chasing set: a steel leader and figure-8 maneuver at the end of every cast.

"I'll do a figure 'J' to see if a fish is following before going from a 'J' into the figure 8" Schultz said. "There isn't the time or need to get fancy with these fish. In a river, muskies learn you either bite down right away or dinner will get away."

Midstream boulders, trailing edges of sandbars and little inlets just off the main current are favorite muskie ambush points. It isn't uncommon for a half-dozen muskies to congregate on a very small niche on this river.

Schultz saw two fish move when he cast a bucktail along the trailing edge of a sandbar. One fish followed his bait to boatside. I looked over when Schultz tried to entice this fish with a figure eight maneuver. An almost 40 inch muskie thought this would be the opportune time to crush my Eagletail bucktail.

Both of these fish ghosted away before we needed to grab the landing net.

We were still jazzed from this encounter a hundred yards farther down the river when a small muskie boiled just as I was lifting the Eagletail out of the water.

"Did you see that?" I squeaked. "Gonna need a hand here," Melanson growled. The 38 inch muskie which garwoofled his Suick Nightwalker was heavier than doctor's orders would allow. The old guide handed his wildly thrashing rod to Schultz and I dove for the landing net. "Net her head first!" Schultz barked. After a few quick photos the muskie was released to fight again. The Upper Wisconsin is tough to navigate. Boulders and rocky riffles wreak havoc on outboard motors and vee bottom boats.

Kurt Schultz's jet powered jon boat is the perfect fishing platform. To experience almost sure thing muskie action you can reach him at (715) 571-7132 or email ksguiding@gmail.com. For a great place to stay in the area try Rib Mountain Inn. They have a fisher friendly place and offer free shuttle service. Call 877-960-8900 or visit www.ribmtninn.com.

 - Ted Peck

Cap'n Ted Peck has over 30 yrs. guiding experience, specializing in multi-species fishing on Pool 9-10 of the Mississippi from Genoa, Wi. to Prairie du Chien. Cap'n Ted is a pro staffer for Lund, Northland Tackle, MinnKota, Bill Lewis Lures and Cottonmouth Lures. When not guiding Cap'n Ted communicates the outdoors experience via newspapers, magazines, TV, radio and through seminars. This work has taken him all over the midwest, Canada and beyond... but he always returns to the upper Mississippi which he considers the most diverse fishery in North America.

Young Guide Acquires Proper Guidance

He learns clients find more fish, fun if his work is done

By Jim Lee

Gannett Wisonsin Newspapers

BROKAW - With water dripping in tiny rivulets from the trailer carriage, Kurt Schultz hauls his sleek 17-foot boat out of the water.

His 1998 Ford pickup barely comes to rest and the 22-year old is busy at the boatside, straightening rods, stowing gear, checking tie-downs, examining electrical connections and searching for loose lures.

That’s just the start of his post-game ritual.

“When I get home, I’ll vacuum the carpeting, scrub down the boat hull, clean up the insides and get everything ready for the next trip,” Schultz said.

“I can’t help it. It’s the way I was trained.”

Some boys surge toward adult-hood hoping to follow in the foot-steps of football’s Brett Favre, basketball’s Michael Jordan or golf’s Tiger Woods. As they mature and realize the odds of fulfilling that dream are miniscule, they drift off in search of more compatible pursuits.

Not Schultz.

Hid idol was – and still is – Bill Melanson, a fishing guide and tackle- maker from Rib Mountain whose many friends and clients would likely refer to him today as “the best damn fishing guide on the Wisconsin River in Marathon and Lincoln counties, period.”

“I owe everything I am today as a fishing guide to Bill Melanson,” Schultz is quick to say.

“He’s taught me everything I know about fishing the river. He taught me how to treat my boat and how to handle clients.

He told me, you’re dealing with the public and appearances are important. When people hire you, they don’t want to step into a messy boat spotted with pieces of night crawlers and smelling of fish.”

Clients also expect to catch fish. It doesn’t matter the time of year, they type of weather conditions or the hour of day. Feeling a tug on the line is the anticipation of everyone who hires a guide.

“That’s where it helps knowing the river,” Schultz said. “Bill has taken me under his wing, showed me places to fish and taught me how to take fish out of them.

The river is big enough and varied enough that walleyes or small-mouth bass are usually active somewhere … and muskies are always a possibility.”

“I really enjoy helping someone catch their first really big walleye or bass or their first musky. It’s as much a thrill for me as it is for them.”

Schultz, a 1998 graduate of Wausau East High School, is a part-time guide. He works full-time in the receiving and shipping department at Window Accessory Co. in Weston, knowing full well that a beginning guide can’t pay 12 months of expenses in a four-month fishing window.

“Guiding, at this point, is more like a fun hobby,” he said. “There’s not a lot of pressure.”

He is, however, driven to improve. “Bill told me to keep trying new things, to keep scouting for new waters, to try new lures and to keep my eyes and ears open to what other anglers are doing,” Schultz said.

“You can never really know enough about walleye and musky fishing. Conditions can change from week to week and you have to be ready to adapt.”

Schultz, (phone 1-715-571-7132) owns a wide-bodied, 17-foot-long, semi-V hulled aluminum boat for fishing flowages and lakes. A flat-bottomed 16-footer is his river transporter. Both, having been previously owned by Melanson, are ideal for their purpose.

Walleyes and bass are the staples of Schultz’s emerging guide business. He makes his own jigs, mostly of weedless design, and expects to go through 400 to 500 a year while casting into woody snags and rocky debris.

“You have to put your lure on the bottom if you want to catch fish on the river and that means you’re going to lose lures,” he said.

Schultz is as comfortable casting jerk baits or bucktails for free-ranging musky as he is dabbling lightweight jigs into a cradle of branches for shade-seeking, shallow-water walleye.

As with any angler, he’s had lean days when fish came hard to the boat. But the river fishery is often more tolerant of weather variations than a lake and Schultz figures that if he searches long enough he will find a pattern that produces.

“On my best day of musky guiding this year, we caught four fish from 36 to 41 inches and raised four or five others,” he said.

When he recounts his fishing day to friends, they often turn and say, “Boy, I wish I was in your shoes. That’s so easy … just taking people out to catch fish all day.”

When he hears these comments, Schultz smiles.

On some days, he knows, catching fish is the easy part.

The effort that goes into making it look so easy is the attribute that makes a good guide so special.

“I’m not there yet,” Schultz admits, “but my goal is to get better every year.”