Thunder Bay Near Alpena??

[Paperboy1]

Well? Anyone been out lately? I had heard they were still getting walleye in shallower water than usual for this time of year.

[Twill23]

It's hit and miss right now. There is an astounding amount of smelt in the area and the fish are really patterning on them. The day time bite has realllly been up and down. It was really good about 2 weeks ago, but has since slowed. There are still fish to be found during the night time bite. You'll really wanna keep an eye on the wind and water temps, letting that make the decision on where to go for you. Lastnight my normal partner went out and took his ten fish from 2am-4am. All body baits on the big reef. Hope this helps! Goodluck!

PS: as far as night time fishing goes, It's pretty much ALWAYS 14ft or less.

[Paperboy1]

I thought I would wake this thread up!!

I'd love to get on Thunder Bay. PM me if there's any reports.

[redneckman]

I fished the last few nights on the bay. (I am brand new to walleye) We were running harnesses and only got 1 eye in two nights. I believe we could not get the boat slow enough. I know there are guys that are getting limits at night and a few in the morning. Pink and plain brass blades are doing well.

[redneckman]

Went 3-7 last night. Finally got the boat to slow down (bucket). Lost a large fish that I believe was a catfish. Lost a few fish before we could get the boards off the line. The 3 we landed were walleye between 20-24". We had luck on pink, brass, and green last night.

[redneckman]

Finally got my own boat up here. All set with all legal matters and ready for the water. Took her out for a quick trip to see how she runs and how slow she will troll. With just the trolling plate on the 70hp motor I was able to get her down to 1.0-1.2 no problem. Ran here for an hour and no fish on Saturday.

Fast forward to today. The big flag at the marina looked good and a light chop on the water. Launched the boat and started heading out and it wasn't bad. Got close to my destination and it was a little heavier chop, but not bad. Only set two lines and quickly learned it is harder to do so while controlling the boat on your own. About 30 minutes after getting setup I realized a fog was setting in and the waves were getting larger. Turned to look at the port side board and it was falling back quick. Got on the reel while steering the boat and netted a 22-23" walleye. Put the fish in the box. Looked up and I could not see a thing. Lesson #1....take your GPS (which I did). I decided to head back in since conditions were getting worse.

It was a good learning experience and made me realize to always take the GPS!