The year 2007 has ended with a " slower than normal " bite. The bite had been good on the mud flats up untill a week ago or so....but has slowed up big time. We are having a difficult time finding fish that are willing to bite when they have this surplus of small perch to eat right now. The lake is full of a small perch population that is keeping our walleye well fed.
When the fishing gets more difficult its easy to get frustrated....believe me!! You still have to try and make your day on the lake an enjoyable one. The fish will bite again, you just have to keep changing you methods and targeted areas.
The past couple of days we have done just that. We made changes to where we fished and it has shown some improvement in our success rate! When the bite gets tough, you might have to spend some more time waiting for the few biter's that might swim by. I have drilled many holes the last week or so with my new Strikemaster Lazer and can say that I have caught more fish staying put in my prime spot rather than hole hopping. This will change again soon, but for now thats whats working for me. The depths that we have been fishing has depended on the time of our day. Either just on top of the flat or a short distance from the bottom lip of the break. Either location still has an abundance of perch that will clutter your screen!! While watching a camera people are just amazed of how many of the perch we have in the lake right now.
Jigging go-devils tipped with a minnow head has been the ticket for us. The green caught fish for the Dman while out with me yesterday. He also had a big walleye get off at the bottom of the hole earlier in the day. The story goes..."that it was the biggest walleye" he has ever had on!!! The tail on this fish was soooo big!!! oh well maybe another day Doug!!!
The lake conditons are slowly improving. The snow has settled some in the areas I have been fishing. There still are areas that are flooded and will cause some trouble while running atv's. The staked trail out of Hunters Point Resort that takes you out to the Boot Flat areas is now snow packed! Its like a four lane highway!!! no trouble driving on it now. Once you get out on the main lake area and want to travel across county it can get more difficult. The slush spots, snow depth, and drifts all can give you trouble. I am using a snowmoblie and having no trouble anywhere on the lake.
I am looking forward to this new 2008 year for continued fishing success! I hope you plan on making a trip out soon and enjoy this nice weather that we have in the forecast!!
good luck and as always please check with your resort prior to heading out on the lake for the most current ice conditons.
Your report on slow conditions makes me feel a little better. My son and I were up last weekend to put our house on the Ice. Once set up, we saw tons of small perch and a couple of walleyes drift through our bait. Hard jigging would bring them in....but they wouldn't bite. The night bite was slow, I got a couple of fish on the flasher but no luck. The good news is I'm trying to talk the Mrs. into a four-wheeler so we can be Mobile. Just like fishing, I need to be patient and keep jigging !
Don't feel bad Rick, in about 9 hours saturday, I seen maybe 30 Walleyes on the camera, but they would not bite No jigging, jigging a little, fathead head on a spoon, live fatty on a hook, nothing would entice them. There were alot of small perch around, and I suspect they were full
Is there any driving out yet out of hunters? Joe and I want to head up this Sunday at 1:00am for a full day of fishing. I was hoping to get to the mud. I know it's probobly pretty iffy....
Driving to the mud won't happen other than snowmobile or atv. The road goes to 2 mile than its a staked trail. The ice is pretty inconsistant (had a few spots of less than 8" on the mud flats) this past weekend. Lots of people have made the trip out so the trail is packed very well so ATV going out is no problem. The off roading on the mud is better done on snowmobile. ATV is pretty tricky with the snow and slush. But that was getting easier by the day with the traffic out there.
No jigging, jigging a little, fathead head on a spoon, live fatty on a hook, nothing would entice them. There were alot of small perch around, and I suspect they were full
I was hoping to get to the mud.
I know it's probobly pretty iffy....
