Okay Al Gore isn’t responsible for this but he is for the internet:
Hahaha! Back to the walleye:
> Tullibee, a cold-water loving fish that is a critical prey for walleye, is largely gone from Mille Lacs. In fact, tullibee is in trouble across the state….
> …researchers came up with a prediction: By the mid to late part of this century, two-thirds of [MN] lakes will be inhospi for tullibee. And not just because they are heating up.
> Longer summers result in less mixing of lake water layers, which means less oxygen makes it to the bottom. The tullibee…”get squeezed upward by low oxygen and then they encounter warm temperatures.”
Today’s pig parade.
All fish released.
Nathan T. with the biggest ‘eye of his life, a 32.5″ from the Detroit River:
Bro with a beast caught on a Northland Thumper Jig:
Andy L. with 31″ and 13.8 lbs of Columbia River fattie:
Alexander Sport Fishing, loving life somewhere in WI:
Cool tip from In-Fish:
> Pursuing trophy shore walleyes…you can access areas where fishing from a boat is difficult or impossible. Fishing these less accessible locations can pay huge dividends for shore anglers.
> With current, turbid water, and a deep scour hole below most spillways, walleyes may feed throughout the day. For lure selection, think big and snag-resistant as plenty of debris collects below spillways. Use large-profile lures that emit plenty of vibration….
> With large paddletails, swimbaits can be fished quickly for a more frantic action and slowed in slack current pockets to give chasing fish a chance to strike. Use dark colors that allow the bait’s silhouette to be seen from a distance.
> Rig swimbaits on a 1/2- to 1-ounce Owner Bullet Head Jig or Kalin’s Ultimate Saltwater Bullet Jig tied to 15- to 30-pound-test braided mainline.
> …make long casts to the face of the spillway. The heavy jighead allows for greater feel and control as the lure is drawn out of the turbid water and swept along the current seam.
> On each successive cast, allow the lure to sink slightly deeper before commencing the retrieve. Resist the urge to make constant bottom contact because a swimbait that’s retrieved to mimic a large fleeing baitfish is often what draws walleyes to strike.
[Tailr[ce shot found on Google images]
Jaw-dropper of the day.
A giant megalodon zander — and it’s a MALE. Guess for females you’d need a bigger boat (name that movie):
News
1. OH: AIM Port Clinton winners.
Ali Shakoor and Brian Zarembski won with 54.47 lbs — not bad for a day of fishing! Wish AIM would publish what the guys use to catch their fish, but not so far….
2. OH: Erie Walleye Trail has 3 spots…
…open for the May 16 derby.
With the early spring:
> “Fish should be out of the rivers, so I wouldn’t look there. Inlets and outlets will still hold fish but not like a normal spring.”
> …anglers fishing Lake of the Woods may not find as many walleyes in the Rainy River or Four-Mile Bay and instead will have to look on the lake itself. Ditto for Upper Red….
4. NY: Angler lands 31-incher.
Bottom-bouncing a nightcrawler, fish was released.
5. MI/ON: Best Detroit River spots.
> …the agency said the best areas for good walleye catches are near Great Lakes Steel, the salt mines on the Canadian side, Stoney Island, Trenton Channel, Cobo Hall, the Ambassador Bridge, Fighting Island in Canadian waters, and up near Lake St. Clair.
6 MI: MWT sponsored by Dow Chemical.
7. ON: Walleye World derby had 4K anglers.
8. MN guy won Humminbird Onyx.
Congrats!
Look at the silt coming in from the rivers:
10. ND: Devils Lake bite heating up.
> Jason Feldner reports the walleyes are finishing up with the spawn on Devils Lake. Lead heads and plastics along the shorelines are starting to produce some nice eyes.
Events
Mem Day weekend. LOVE the name.
…if you’re looking for a tournament, head on over to the tournament board at Walleye Central.
GREAT places to fish – check ’em out!
‘Eye Candy
Beautiful tail on this Rainy River walleye caught by the In-Depth Outdoors guys. Check out how they were fishing below the photo:
> We presented our baits in a pitching/dragging combination going up stream keeping speeds under 0.5 mph. Pitched 1/4-oz jigs/plastics perpendicular to the boat and as we moved up stream the current would eventually work the plastic behind the boat. Slightly lifting the jig off the bottom as it swept back resulted in many of our strikes.
> We had best luck on plastics with a paddletail…gave off a great amount of vibration. We found the Trigger X Slop Hopper 3.5″ in pearl or baby bass were the hot colors.
> Overall we had 163 fish for 3.5 days of fishing with a majority of those fish between the 22″-25″ mark with several fish over 30″ for our boat.
The Trigger X Slop Hopper is now on clearance at Rapala.com!
Tip of the Day
> When the waters near shore warm quickly, baitfish invade the shallows and predator fish are sure to follow. Trolling the shoreline with the help of in-line boards is perhaps the most efficient means of fishing the beach.
> Traditionally I’ve spent most of my trolling time with the OR12 Side-Planer board produced by Off Shore Tackle. Off Shore Tackle now produces a smaller in-line board called the OR34 Mini Board. This pint sized board is perfect for fishing close to shore where rough water isn’t an issue.
> Mini boards are also made with the idea of fishing smaller lures, light action rods/reels and lighter fishing lines, which also fits nicely with early spring trolling strategies.
> The Mini Board can be rigged two different ways. Out of the package I like to set my boards up with an OR10 (yellow) line release on the tow arm of the board and an OR16 (red) snap weight clip mounted to the back of the board with a provided split ring.
> I simply set out the desired amount of trolling lead and then place the board on the line by putting the line between the rubber pads on the OR10 release and then place the line behind the plastic pin found in the middle of the rubber pads on the OR16 snap weight clip.
> Another popular rigging method is what I call the “trip and slide” method of rigging. An OR10 light tension line release is mounted to the tow arm of the board and a snap swivel is added to the back of the board via the supplied split ring. The line is placed in the OR10 release as normal and then the line also placed through the snap swivel. When the board is released, it is now free to slide down the line via the snap swivel.
> Most anglers rig a “speed bead” or split shot on the line about three feet in front of the lure. This acts to stop the board from sliding all the way to the lure and potentially knocking off the fish.
Quote of the Day
I can’t find my bottom.
– Guy named “Walleye Bob” deep-jigging on the Detroit River.
We’ve been there ourselves. Sometimes we can’t find it with both hands (lol).
Shot of the Day
MEGA gator northern from It’ly — not sure if a float tube would feel safe!
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