Walleye Express

I never did get on the Pa's bandwagon. Of course running meat never was my favorite technique anyway, until I started adding a piece to the front of my rattle Tots. I've also ran both large and small plastic cranks behind Keels and Snap Weights to target walleyes in different water depth zones with great success. Thinking outside the box kept both the plastics and me in the game long after crawlers took over the scene. Some guys get stuck in a rut with one technique and are lost when and if that technique fails them. Last season was the first time I was forced to come over to the Dark Side more with harnesses and spoons. But even then, most days I ran every rod with keels and every other harness rod with Gulp Crawlers with pretty good success. I also added 2 lead core rods (to make it 10) off the corners and out the back last year, with a twist. A 2 1/2 to 3 ounce bottom bouncer was ran on the core so it ran almost literally straight down and out of the way. Didin't hit a lot of fish on this. But the ones I did slammed it.

Took this post off another board. It comes from the owner of Salmar Resort in Gladstone on November 14th. Seems them boys are having a great fall season like ours on Saginaw Bay. Guest Nick Dood and his buddies had a great evening yesterday on the bay. They landed 24 total having to release 4 fish that were over the slot limit. Best crank by far was the blue/silver Rattling Rogue. All the fish were caught between Gladstone and the head of the bay. Great job guys!!! Don't forget to sign the guest book on our new website ( www.sallmarresort.net ) to be eligible to win one of five free 3 night lodging give-aways. I moved the drawing date to December 16th though for folks who need to put in for next years vacation time at the end of this year...

Ya, I recognized Walleye Guy, that's why we stoped by your boat to see how you were doing. You guys sure worked that corner to death. You were there when we went out and there when we came back.

Just threw together this little article I'm going to have posted in the article section of the board. Thee New Huron Ohio. A few years back, I took a trip to Huron Ohio with the Walleye Central group of guys for their annual get together/meeting/fun tournament all wrapped into one. The whole thing was an enjoyable and quite the memorable experience, with the quality of fishing off the charts. This was (back then) thee place to be and go for late fall walleyes of the caliber, quantity and size one only dreams of. Not really much has changed in that regard for this area of Lake Erie. What has changed for me and a lot of others in my neck of the woods here on Saginaw Bay is our own un-tapped late fall walleye fishery. Funny part is, it has probably been here all along, just simply ignored for lack of interest or the many other things that make one winterize his fishing boat in September and gear up for the multitude of other sportsman’s opportunities in our state. Just about every hunting season we have opens in the fall, and add to it the continual fall wind storms we usually get and setting out in the Bay trolling, falls quickly off the “things to look forward to” list. This year I vowed early to spend more time exploring and looking for more places (near my own house) both on the river and on the bay to catch more walleyes. So far this goal and my efforts put forth, has rewarded me quite well. The river fishing started off great in early October, using a technique I learned basically from the best walleye teacher you could ask for, Gray Parsons. Gary gave my little fishing board group a seminar lesson one night on Lead Core fishing the Saginaw River. Almost the next day I started out with one rod using the core for trolling the river and now have 4. This (one rod) (hands on) trolling technique has quickly become the second best way I like to fish for walleyes now. Learning all of its little secrets has cost me a few #5 Shad Raps to the river bottom this past year, but has allowed me zero in on and make some real nice river fish strike that I believe would not have otherwise. Then I wanted to explore night fishing nearer and within the first few miles of the mouth of the Saginaw. This technique and opportunity I usually waited for into late November to early December, as the walleyes would migrate their way upstream into the city of Saginaw, where 3 of the major feeder rivers merge with the Saginaw. Knowing the walleyes were in the river in good numbers by early October, I started exploring places at night in and around that first few miles of river and was again rewarded with some great fishing. And found out that both casting in specific areas as well as trolling near them both paid off. But the one thing I really wanted to explore was the trolling opportunities on the bay. And I must admit, Mother Nature has had as much to do about this as anything. This being because I (like others) have put my bigger boat away for the season. And the windows of safe fishing opportunities get reduced when a smaller boat is involved. But this exploratory venture also has paid some BIG dividends this fall and has got a lot of other people pulling their winterized boats back out of storage. I’ve caught walleyes this fall in 9FOW all the way into 19FOW, using the same lures and techniques one would use fishing for the first (ice out) walleyes. And the fish we’re all catching now are some of the biggest most of us had seen all year. I surmise these are the ones that quickly migrate North out into the outer bay and well away from the most trolling traffic during the summer months. But are now back in close to both feed heavily on the fall shad migrations, and stage for the winter the spring spawn. This fishery on Saginaw Bay IMV has become as exciting and as productive as the Lake Erie fall Huron fishery. And this may be the beginning of something big for our area as it was for Huron Ohio. That would be nice in this economy.

Great Job on the night eyes Ken. And sorry for such a late response. I didn't notice this post was about walleyes. I probably should do more interacting and congratulating for all successful posts about other species. But it's like wishing the wife good luck on her next sewing project. I can say it, but my passions, interest and heart felt sincerities about it are really not there. And that comes across to me as being a bit phony. It's just who I am I guess.

The 4 3/8" Crystal Minnow (suspending) Tennessee Shad was on fire. Punch in Item #26782528 at BP shop site. Fallowed closely by the 3 5/8 Crystal Minnow (suspending) Hot Tiger. Item # 26782414 BUT, we lost all the ones that we did on the smaller Zuri. We probably should have slowed down but the fish were coming to fast. We also caught some giant white bass. All those were all unhooked outside the boat after last weeks fiasco.

Got my spot all picked out for deer season tomorrow. Trolled 3 hours this afternoon (10:00AM till 1:00PM) with Reel Fishing and his/our buddy Shorty who lives down near Dertroit. Put the 9 new Yo-Zuris I (rush ordered) from Bass Pro Shops to work with some great success. We ended up going 11 for 15, with 3 dandys being washed off at the back of the boat. You'll see what I mean by washed off in a second. The program we used today was more then slightly different then the other day when we fished in 16 FOW. Today we fished in 9 FOW and trolled the Zuris at 2.5 to 2.7 MPH, 12 feet behind the boards. I'd like to take credit for being the master mind behind such a rediculous trolling program, but circumstances gave us almost every clue we got in that short time. The wind pushed us along today quite fast, and a wrong turn put us in 9 FOW. But all of a sudden we were in fish, and BIG ones at that. I will take credit for shortening the leads and Yo-Zuris color choice, because then things really got going. Pictures below.

Not so good. First cast I got a 28 inch Pike. Then I got a 24 inch pike. Then I Caught one walleye about 19 inches and it was over. I give it another week or two and they'll be in there. Going back on the Bay Saturday. Got 9 new Yo-Zuris from BP that are aching to get bit.:D

Adam. Here's a link to the pickling recipe off my charter photo gallery. It will be easier to both view and print coming directly from that source. http://www.walleye-express.com/appiesnet/gallery/Miscellaneouos/scan0001_002

Gare. I wish you would have posted this a few days ago. I might have really tried that.

Adam. I'll see about scaning the copy and posting it later this afternoon. Me and Reel Fisin are hitting the Tittabawassee this morning. Keep checking back.

Yuppers. He dropped it off the next day. Gave him a jar of canned walleye for the trouble. Got to go get all the ingredients and a couple of gallon jars at Grains and Greens store on Euclid Ave in Bay City. Going to try white fish first, then do some suckers this coming spring. I like salmon to much canned or grilled to pickle it, but hoping the recipe covers all fish species.

Oh, and it was Home Depot not Best Buy.

Here's the finished repair work to the floor. Changed the whole color scheme of the boat for the better it seems, but still holding a grudge agains't that white bass. :angry2:

Frank. I didn't take your post as anything but understanding. I was just in a foul mood from the time and money spent, and body soar after all that work for one slipery white bass. And this will be a wood on wood patch job. I thought about simply replacing the cut out section flush with the floor, but that would involve cutting and fitting struts of sorts to brace this new center section. This half inch on top of the exsiting floor won't be to dramatic. Plus, I've become very handy over the years at making a sows ear look like a silk purse. Maybe I'll post a picture when I'm done. At least this way if any other fish decides to take up residency in the gunnel, I'll simply have to remove a few screws and evict his azz.

Worse then this. I took my boat to Lindys today to see if they could recover the White Bass under my floorboards. We filled the whole gunnel up with water and used their fork truck to both tip and slosh the water back and forth to dislodge the fish. We did this twice, no luck. Bill (mechanic) then suggested I dump bleach in the gunnel to keep the stench down when the things starts to rot. It will eventually get to the stage after a while decaying, that it will float and then might be easier to flush out. Maybe not. I'm not going to smell up my boat and garage with the smell of rotting fish. Got out the jig saw and started cutting 12 inches wide and up the walled center gunnel area where all the hoses and wires run between the struts, braces and aluminum stringer of my boat. Cut 2 feet out, reached as far as I could, nothing. Two more feet, reached, nothing. Got to my bench seat, skiped too the other side and cut 2 more feet between the seat and the center counsol, and there he was. Went to Best buy for a 4 X 8, 1/2 inch sheet of treated plywood, carpeting, carpeting glue, trawl to apply glue, stainless screws and washers, 2 new jig saw blades to replace trashed ones, and two 6 foot long, 2 inch wide pieces of (real nice) gold carpet edging to run up each side of the patch, so nobody stubs their toes on the new 1/2 inch riser patch running down the middle of my boat. Only cost me my entire day working on this project and a little over $100.00. Yep, we've all had these kind of days because of a freaking white bass, NOT.

Just got in the house from todays trip. Jigged fished at the mouth of the Saginaw until 11:30am with not luck, waiting for the thickest fog I've ever seen to finally lift. I was with clients and will not risk their safety. We went 6 for 9 on walleyes. 2 huge white bass and a 15 pound carp hooked in the dorsal. And I have my own Gar Pike story, because the S.O.B. cut my Power Pro right at the Norman Speed Clip tie in, and took my favorite Yo-zuri. Then my camera falls on the floor and suddenly would not function. Then one of the white bass we caught comes off the hook, falls in my gunnel under the floor board and flops his way out of my reach up towards the center of the boat. I just spent 1 hour trying to flush him down so I could reach and remove him. Couldn't do it. Wonder what Lindys charges to remove a dead white bass before it starts to rot? Here's the picture of our first fish this morning just west of the island. Oh, and the camera is fine. The battery was dislodged.

Thumb's up on the good samaritan and your willingness and offers to thank him in all the ways you should have. I cut into a charter I was running last year and towed a guy about 3 miles right into the launch in the marina. I never even got a thank you. Not even a wave or gesture of thanks. I'm amazed at the variety of personalities one runs into on the water. You would think that a sport like fishing would bring together people with a common bond of sorts. But often not the case.

Adam. There were more ducks both flying and being shot at yesterday on the Bay, then at any other time I've been out this year. Now I got to get those 4 walleyes I took home from yesterdays trip in the smoker for tomorrow charter clients. Probably going to start out same place with the Zuris and fall back on the river if need be.

Hit the Bay this afternoon with the brother Dave in his G3. Fished from 11:00am to 2:00pm. He had to be back home buy 3:00pm. We went 8 for 13. But that don't tell the whole story. Brother Dave who just got back into fiishing this year, didn't want to use any stickbaits. Dave got spoiled this summer with our continous luck when together and pulling Rattlt Tot's with meat. So when we hit 16 FOW, he made it clear he wasn't going to change now. So he ran his side of the boat and I ran mine. Long story short. Capt. Dan using Yo-Zuris 7 for 9. Dave using Rattle tot's 1 for 4. I gave the poor schmuck his share of the fish. And want to warn anybody thinking of going to Frank's this weekend and buying some Zuri's. Brother Dave said he's buying every one on the shelf tomorrow. :D

If any of you hear that I died unexpectantly, get over here quick for some great deals. The wife still thinks I paid $5,000 for my jet Boat and a lot less for all the gear. A man with 10 grand to spend could walk away a very happy and legal thief if he timed it right.:no:

God BLESS our REAL MISS AMERICAS! This 19 year old ex-cheerleader (now an Air Force Security Forces Sniper) was watching a road that led to a NATO military base when she observed a man digging by the road. She engaged the target (i.e., she shot him). It turned out he was a bomb maker for the Taliban, and he was burying an IED that was to be detonated when a US patrol walked by 30 minutes later. It would have certainly killed and wounded several soldiers. The interesting fact of this story is the shot was measured at 725 yards. She shot him as he was bent over burying the bomb. The shot went through his butt and into the bomb which detonated; he was blown to pieces. The Air Force made a motivational poster of her: (Folks, that's a shot 25 yards longer than seven football fields!) And the last thing that came out of his mouth was... … his ass! If You Can Not Stand Behind Our Troops, Please, Feel Free To Stand In Front Of Them!

Ya know whats funny? About 8 years ago I had a little scary episode at one of the Saginaw River launching areas, around 3:30am in the morning. So I went and got my CCL and started carrying whenever I fished at night. Well, I happened to mention this incident and what I did on one of the other fishing boards back then and all hell broke loose. That thread had over 3,000 hits and about 125 replies. Most of them giving me grief for carrying a gun while fishing. Seems both the attitude and the reasons for the attitudes have changed some in that short 8 years since then. But it's a damn shame socially that things are like they are now. IMV these are the good old days when it comes to fishing. I know for a fact overall we have better fishing, along with the boats and the tools to catch them. Yet the total experience when participating in our sport seems to be frought with new un-friendly attitudes both at the ramp and on the water. Not by all of course, but it tends to makes one less approchable and less willing to help or approach others. Like I said, damn shame.

By the way, I just read that they caught the two (white) Lake Erie Samalies on Thursday. They were perch fishing right where they committed the robbery when apprehended. Probably just needed a few extra bucks for outboard gas to stay on that hot perch spot. Couple of real Bright Bulbs in those dark Crania's. Jeez.......... :no:

EUCLID -- The Coast Guard investigative unit is looking for two suspects who robbed a Euclid fisherman on Lake Erie Monday night around 7 p.m. In Euclid, fishermen are watching the other boats on Lake Erie much more closely. The innocent act of fishing has suddenly become a target for predators with a weapon. The boating community has been buzzing about the perch fisherman who was robbed at gunpoint on the lake by two men. George Degener, Coast Guard Public Affairs Specialist, said that the suspects were in a 19-foot boat and pulled a gun on the fisherman. The pair demanded the victim's wallet, cell phone and his boat keys. The suspects then dumped the cell phone and the boat keys in the lake and escaped with cash and the man's fish. Degener added, "Luckily, the victim had a spare set of ignition keys and was able to start his engine and return to the marina where he called for help." As the fishermen returned from the lake today, many were shaking their heads in disbelief. Don Howell had been perch fishing with his buddies, Dan Szanyi and Eric Boyd. Howell said, "You'd never think that a robber on the water was possible. But the world has come down to that." Eric Boyd added, "I've heard of carjacking before, but never heard of a boatjacking. This is ridiculous." Fisherman George Crosier said, "Oh, yeah it's scary out there for somebody to do that." Crosier added, "I've heard of them doing that deer hunting. They pull guns on people. But not on the water. I've never heard of it on the water." At Wildwood Marina in Euclid, some fishermen are now talking about taking guns onboard for protection. Larry Bolton said, "To think I can come out here and get robbed is sickening. Makes me think about carrying a gun with me or something." Earl Noonan nodded in agreement and said, "Yeah it's scary. It's not safe anywhere anymore." Debbie Zeledonis said, "In all the years I've been coming here you never heard of anything like that. Down here, everybody knows everybody. Robbery on the water is disgusting." Zeledonis added, "We fishermen trust each other. It's always been that way and suddenly that trust is getting ripped away." Anyone with information about the robbery is asked to call the Coast Guard 9th District Command Center. © 2009 WKYC-TV