I'm sure that most of you know this already, but the walleye bite on the lake is really...really good! People continue to catch fish any way they want. Our guide team has done it all over the past several weeks. Power corking, leadcore, basin trolling, spinners, and of course rigging live bait. When all things produce fish, it is hard to decide which way to fish....but for me there is nothing better than feeling the bite on a rig.
We continue to see lots of slots and lots of 20"+ fish each trip. Our focus as of late has been the mud flats. The deep gravel and rock piles have produced fish, but not as consistent. The shallow rock pile or rocky points have kicked out fish, but that too has depended on the day or wind. The sand transitions have also been producing, but again depends on the day or wind.
The biggest thing I can say right now is that leader length is very important. If you have a couple people in the boat...start with different length snells. It won't take long to see which length is the right one. When starting a guide trip, I will place one person on an 8'...the next on 10'...and the other on 12'. Equally as important right now is leech/crawler. Both are producing fish, but certain flats or certain days you will absolutley see a big difference in one or the other. A general rule that we have seen these past couple weeks is that leeches have been better early morning and as the day goes on the crawlers take over. Remember though...each day is different, but a good starting point.
As always, when you arrive to the structure you are going to fish, spend some time graphing. Too many times I see someone drive up to a spot and start to fish. Spending the extra time will pay off huge at the end of the day for numbers of fish. The fish are moving up and down the structure all day. Start out by checking the top edges, but look along the break lines and don't forget the bottom breaks.
If you are thinking about coming up....or haven't been up in a while....now is the time to come fishing!
Good luck to everyone...have a great 4th of July weekend.
Until next week...we hope to see you on the water!
-- Edited by Scott Bickett on Monday 28th of June 2010 05:09:32 PM
The bugs seem to show up at lines from bottom to top...like lightning bolts...you can see some on the left of the screen..one in the middle. Some on top could be bugs as well...or perch higher in the water column. That graph pic was taken this past thursday...out by myself scouting. I had to take a picture so someone would believe how many fish were on this mudflat. It was like that on the screen for a while...all the way down the east side of this small flat. Not a boat in sight...it was such a great morning to be out.
Man I can't thank you enough! I bought a new Combo and have seen some stacking , but that is way sweet! If that don't pump you up - there is a problem!
I was out today...you can see the hatches rising up out of the mud. Should be a good hatch in the next day or two. The bite was good...spent alot of time searching different flats to find fish though. For july...I would say the bite is very good...
I got out yesterday and found alot of males in the northern sand by the hogsback in the afternoon, after I fished the East Flat in the morning, if you want some for the dinner table in 28-24 FOW. They usually hang out up there for a couple weeks in the early summer. (Had enough for a great fish fry last night)
That "flat" has about 20 names for it. (more if you count the Ojibwe names) North Flat, East Flat, Barnacles Flat, Red Door Flat, etc. On the Lakemaster chip it's named East Flat, so that's what I use when I talk about it. But you'll never hear me talk about the little hump right off the west side of it..............
