Walleye Express

Thank's for the posts guys. It was weird and I was gratefull that the break in and the police formalities before my charter yesterday, didn't take my head out of the game. I really thought it would for a while. I actually forgot about the whole thing for a while when I found the fish and they finally started biting. But I'll get all day today to simmer, as that storm that was supposed to have been over by early this morning is now slated to stay around till 2:00pm. Luckily my clients re-scheduled.

Started out this morning finding that my truck had been broken into last night. It was parked a mere 2 feet from our open bedroom window, but the fan we use at night is as lowd as a jumbo jet. Even our 3 labs slept through it. Give a police report and head to the marina. Then get out on the bay and find 2 to 3 footers out of the SE a few miles out, with a 4 footer thrown in once in a while. So I head to the center spark plug and troll with the waves almost paralell to the channel. Almost 2 hours and 3 miles later only one fish in the box. Two other boats, close and in plane view of us, that are trolling right next to us are also fishless. That makes about 30 rods and only 1 fish in 3 miles. Not so good. I can see a big group of boats west of the 1 and 2 buoy, but get a gut feeling about shallower waters. Usually, in rough conditions the shallow bite is better if the weeds are not a problem. Pull lines and bust azz [literally] to the south side of the Dumping grounds with just a little over an hour to fish. Get 3 lines set and one goes off and it a nice one around 4 pounds. Long story short we put 6 more nice fish in the box and it's time to go. Here's the bigger one that yet another young man aboard caught today. Going to start shallow tomorrow and see what happens. Oh and I forgot to mention the same keel and blade combo caught the big one again today. 3 times a charm it seems to me.

He sure did. I think he used the word AWSOME to describe the trip about 100 times. And he talked smack to the others like Mohomid Ali before a prize fight after we boated his monster. And Here's the photo of the "Kicker Killers" I make up myself.

Remember the 10 pounder I lost behind the boat on Sunday. Well, I punched in that spot on my GPS that day and quess what happened today when I got to that same spot again? Nope, not quite, but his smaller 8 pounder brother this time. Caught it on the same Tommy Harris Keel/crawler harness combo as the other big one. I'm going to take a picture of this harness and post it in a little while, as I brought home all my rods after todays trip to be re-riged and re-tied. The morning started out weird. Had 3 foot rollers still coming NW off Huron from last night and had 1 to 2 footers coming from the west shore, and the usual swells coming from the channels east side from all the boats heading out this morning. A man could hardly stand with the boat alternating tipping in three different directions at once. It was like the boat was trying to throw you out. The trolling was a nightmare as well, till around 9:45. But when she straightened out, so did the fishing. We only boxed 10, threw 6 or 8 back and lost another 4 or 5 keepers behind the boat. Again many, many short hitters as well.

I've was told recently by some out of state clients that walleyes taken from Green Bay do not taste good. I've personally never fished or have eaten walleyes from Green Bay so do not know if this is true or not. I do know that I've eaten walleyes from different areas including small inland lakes and indeed their flavor can be better or worse. I'm positive every element they live, breath and forage in determines what their taste is like. With that said, I wonder how many people know or care that you can spoil their taste by not taking proper care of them just as soon as they come in the boat. At the cleaning station the other day I saw a guy bring a 6 gallon pail of walleyes up to be cleaned. They were not on ice and looked about as white and washed out as any I've seen floating dead on the surface of the water. My guess is they died on an old style stringer or in a unregulated live well and in essence have been deteriorating for hours before the cleaning process. I'm thinking these will not taste as good as the ones I threw immediately on ice fresh off the hook. But the processing care should not stop there. The fillets should also be washed of all blood and slime and go immediately on or in ice. I even wash mine again at home and they sit for 4 hours or more in the frig in a light iodized salt solution. This firms the fillets up, removes all remaining blood in the flesh and breaks down and floats to the top any remaining fatty tissue. One final wash and in the zip loc they go, with just enough water to cover the fillet. Of course you can still spoil the flavor by not cooking them properly. One of the biggest complaints from people who don't like fish is that they "Taste to Fishy". If you fry your fish try cutting them in smaller pieces. Let the batter you use become more of the flavor. If you fry a huge chunk of fish, it's going to taste fishier. Disguise the fishy taste as much as you can for those family members not wild about the taste in general. And finally one of my favorite grilled walleye recipes that I call Cheesey Walleye. Take one whole fillet and lay it in tin foil. Season to liking with Garlic Pepper, Lemon Pepper and Parsley flakes. Place 3 small tabs of butter on fillet and sprinkle fillet lightly with Zesty Italian salad dressing. Put grill on high and let cook for 15 minutes. Open foil and sprinkle Cheddar Cheese on fillet first and then crushed Nacho chips or Green onion potato chips. Close grill for another 2 minutes and allow cheddar cheese and chips to mold a crust. Remove and serve fillet on the foil. I guarantee you will be licking the foil of all it's juices after the fillet is gone. :grin:

Good Job Adam. Gold and Copper backed Tommy Harris blades have been kicking azz for us these last few days as well. Also seems like the fish are finally moving further into the inner Bay now. Wonder what August is going to bring?

Lost what I guestimated to be an 8 to 10 pounder only 6 inches short of the landing net today. Had three guys with two from out of state and the one who lost the monster never caught a walleye until today. They lost a few other really nice ones as well on the rigs I tied last night with smaller trebles versus the bigger red VMCs. Going to rectify that problem tonight. I used almost every one of my 60 release clips today. Beautiful day out there.

3 miles NW of the 1 and 2 bouy.

Even though i could not get to the deeper waters yesterday because of both rough waters and a sick/cold client, the bad weather didn't seem to stifle the bite. We only boated 18 walleyes yesterday and kept 11 very nice fish in waters 18 to 22 feet deep, but others who got out deeper continued to fill the box. Only bad part for running this far out is TIME. Taking an hour or more for travel (both ways) off a 5 hour trip, on top of set up time, is both tough work and makes you be right about the location, or your success suffers. Heres a few pictures from recent trips.

Our day started out decent enough when we got to my spot. The first 8 fish were keepers and about a 5 pounder was lost at the back of the boat. Then the wind/breeze went dead and the little guys took over. We boated 38 walleyes but only ended up keeping 13 for the half day. Had maybe 50 short hits, where the rubber band would get slammed and stretch way out then go slack again. Later observations revealed many missing tales on my Gulp nightcrawlers.

Nope. The pictures above were taken with my HP digital, which is also starting to give me a hard time. Heres a couple more from todays trip. I'm still willing to pay you to come over and run me through with the Cannon Adam.

I teamed some Tommy Harris Keels with my Scorpion stinger spoon harnesses today for this 3 hour catch out near the Spark Plug.

Adam. Good job on the feesh. But how much you charge me to come over and show me how to download video off my Cannon HD 20 Vixia camcorder onto my PC, then onto U-Tube for viewing? The instruction book is the worse and hardest to understand that I've ever seen.

Never tried them Adam. But I'd sure like to be able to buy a couple dozen for river smallies and walleyes.

What you see is about 6 years of both experimentation and trail and error built into those spoon harnesses. Having Beaded chain swivels at both ends is very much the key to my spoon harness. They allow them to work at very slow speeds and very fast speeds in conjunction with crankbaits if you so desire. Giving you the chance to run both meat and plastic. And Gobies are less a problem on them at faster speeds, as is running them off bottom a ways. Remember Bobies do not have swim blatters and are hinged pretty much to, or near bottom. They can swim up, but cannot catch things swimming along at moderate speeds or anything swimming higher in the water column. That's probably why most gobie trouble occure when slow trolling harnesses near bottom.

A couple days ago I was Walleye fishing on the Green Bay. I spent about 2 hours just motoring around looking for fish with my electronics on or near (out from) likely looking structure. In the past I've always been able to locate fish or at least bait fish with my electronics but not on this day, in all that time I think I marked two fish and no Bait. The conditions were flat calm and a Blue Bird sky. Now, we all know how clear the great lakes have gotten recently and I was just wondering with the clear water and those conditions, were the walleyes spooking away from the boat even though I spent most of my time in 20-30FOW? Do I need cloudy or windy conditions to be able to locate fish on my electronics? How do the Pros figure out where to fish on these Blue Bird days when they can't locate the fish on their electronics, or can they? PS. One other thing I tried that didn't work was increasing the “ping speed†on my fish finder and driving faster. __________________ Timothy. Timothy. Let's consider a few things I've taken note of during my life time of fishing for walleyes. And these theories and conclusions are simply my own. On calm days most often (especially in clear, current neutral waters) any feeding activity seems to take place (not always) but mostly very near or "DEAD" on bottom, even in deeper/darker waters. Baitfish (IMV) feel less secure as well during these calm periods, don't move around as much and try to keep as low a profile as they can from being spotted in these conditions. They, like the predators around them, feel more secure in waters a little more murky or with the line of site broken up by clouds or light deflection from wave action above. Everything then during these calm periods gravitates towards the bottom with the larger fish (again IMV) using this time mostly to rest up for the forage rampage to come. This is not to say they cannot be enticed into biting by something close by, easy to catch and near the bottom with them. And stealthier techniques when searching and/or fishing for them during these times can only help. Also consider the new baitfish changes and parameters we face here on the Saginaw Bay (where I fish) and some others you may see in your area when it comes to forage, and how the weather effects where and when walleyes there will feed. Gobies for instance are now heavily preyed apon by our walleyes. Many get spit up in live wells and coolers after being caught. But Gobies have no Swim Blater, so they are hinged to the bottom all their lives. That keeps many of the walleyes foraging on them hinged there as well. Very much unlike the days when Alewives were the main forage and were preyed apon by walleyes suspended and higher in the water columns. Luckily for us Emerald shiners have filled the niche that Alewife left open. Some or all of these smaller things should also be considered when speed scouting for any active fish in rough or calm open water conditions. The final thing I would add is this. I used to be quit the Pool Player. I won a lot of money in tournaments and seldom bought my own drinks during my Bar Perusing Days. And even though I haven't played in years, I can pretty much still tell you how to make any shot on the table. Fishing is so very much like that it's not funny. You first learn and then know what to do and how to do it. But that ball seems to have a mind of it's own on certain nights. And you can only do your best. :grin:Capt. Dan.

Jay. The key is keeping your line and offerings at a 45 degree angle away from the boat, ticking along or very near bottom. So achieving this depends simply on the right weight used as compared with the wind and waves pushing you along. Bottom bouncers (I think) were made specifically for, and are best for this technique application. Sometimes on really windy days you need a drift soc to slow your drift down for harnesses. And I've even had some success drifting crankbaits when I'm moving along fast enough. It is a technique that can really produce when trolling will not.

I run spoons both ways, but not a harness that most think of. I only run the scorpion size, both as sliders ahead/above Rattle Tot's and also build and run my own spoon harnesses individually on other rigs. The way their built you can run them on one side and cranks on the other at dead slow speeds or speeds 3.5 mph or better if you like and use real of Gulp crawlers as the bait. I prefer Gulp at higher speeds for obvious reasons. Both work great on the Bay in many varied applications (Jet's/Dipseys/Lead Core/Sliders/keels) and also catch many fish on Lake Erie in the same manner. Here's a good picture of the spoon harnesses. Not hard to find the components at a well stocked sporting goods store to build your own. In fact since my invention, 1 individual and 1 spoon manufacturer barrowed the idea and now sell them in this same form (minus the beads) retail at www.franksgreatoutdoors.com

Good job. Big change from last years easy pickings. Lots more fish staying shallow or in that warmer layer of water near the top. They've been killing them on the east side better it seems. My one bud is catching them on T-Stick juniors yet. Hope it straightens out soon.

Nothing this side of a salmon puts up a better fight.

Fishing the river this morning with friends Chamook and Baydog was about as fun a trip as I've had in a long time. We boated 5 nice walleyes, smallies big and small, catfish, white bass, 2 decent Northern Pike and maybe upwards of 35 sheepsheads. Some the true size of barndoors. Chamook, who found a girls tiara at the ramp when we launched this morning, thought it fitting that Baydog/Lonnie be crowned the keeper of the Holy Grail drum award. He's a good sport to let me post it. :D

Wulp, trolling the mouth of the river this morning in that 25+ NW wind was a nightmare. Especially when by yourself like I was. Got a sheepshead on lead core on the first pass. Tough trying to play him in and not run over the one In-Line I put out on the same side. But then a walleye hits this In-Line and things really got messed up. The fierce wind blew the boat over the In-Line board. And the line and the fish got tangled in the coupler tube of my Jet Drive. The walleye hung there for almost 15 minutes while I drifted and tried to get the mess un-done. But he finally got off. So I headed up-river and across from the Independence bridge launch. Caught a nice 23 incher on the first pass and hit 2 more in the next 30 minutes. Biggest mistake was catching one right in front of the south side ramp. The next 5 boats to launch started trolling right there. Moved up river as far as the Z-Bridge but caught nothing from several of the better places. Moved back down to the Vets launch and hit one before the bridge. Then caught a monster White bass, then lost my very last #5 firetiger Shad Rap. Decided to call her a day. Met the brother pulling out and gave him all my fish, as he only had one that he to caught by the Poop Plant as well. Felt good to get out by myself for a while and listen to the quiet for a few hours.

With the NNE winds just HOWLING this morning and building to an almost stage 2 Tornado by early this afternoon, my buddy Bob (Chamook) and I braved the elements and tried to troll some lead core and vertical jig some good holding water we are both familiar with on the Saginaw River. But when using Bob's trolling motor, (even on high) we were either going way to slow against the wind or to fast with it to keep the lead core doing it's thing properly. So we decided to spot shoot the best spots by fan casting them with diving series Bandits and Rapala DT's. Caught many fish including huge smallies, blues and flathead catfish, northern pike, sheepsheads and some real nice walleyes.

Thank's Adam. I am totally shocked at how many really nice fish are still in the entire river system. And not just at the mouth but all the way to the Z-bridge. Going back today with a friend for some Rip-Rap fan casting and serious jigging. Seems he caught some dandy walleyes yesterday as well casting the shore lines WAY upriver. Gotta get as many (Rod In Hand) trips in as I can before the charter Trolling trips kick into high gear.

Got a call late last night from 2 guys who came from Grand Rapids to fish the Bay yesterday. They fished out of Finn Road on the Bay, but only caught sheepeheads. Then they caught the AIM Tourney weigh-in and wondered if I could charter them on the river for today and show them the ropes so to speak. I agreed but told them not to expect any mosters like Gary Parsons weighed in yesterday. Wulp, seems I may have mis-spoke. We started out with 2 decent fish downriver near the mouth, but the Bay was so rough today, virtually every pro and everybody else who thought they were going out on the Bay, was stacked near the mouth by 9:00am. And some had their Big Boards out 50 feet on each side of them running 12 lines. That was enough to send me looking for better places to fish. I was going to go up-river near the Vets ramp, where Gary caught his 2 monsters yesterday, but found a couple of very un-likely spots well before that where we boated some VERY nice fish indeed on lead core and #5 Shad Raps again. You might recognize that building behind my client in the middle picture. We caught that one and the 6 pounder in the bottom picture in 2 passes. Then hit 2 more beauties on the other side of the river. I'll give you a hint. They process Poop there.