Today’s Top 5
Rainy River pig fest.
Brent Relopez stuffed this Rainy River, MN slush melon on a 3/8-oz BFishN Tackle H2O Precision Jig (orange chartreuse) tipped with a rainbow. Brent said they had the best luck working the ice pack/mud line in 12-14′ outside of Pine Island:
Don’t need a graph to follow that line — here’s what it looks like from the sky thanks to a Jeff Dokken shot (click the pic for a closer look):
Brian “Bro” Brosdahl didn’t wanna scratch his boat 😉 so he used his Humminbird HELIX 12 G2N to find the fish instead. Check this school of basin-roaming sturgeon — you know it’s not a walleye when the mark is 5+ ft long:
Heather “usually-catches-the-biggest-one” Brosdahl (Bro’s betterest half) decided she wanted a closer look at one of ’em:
They did put that HELIX to work for the wallygators too. Here’s Bro’s 29″ razorback that lunchboxed a 3/8-oz Northland RZ Jig in glo watermelon. #SendIt
Word is a) the water temps are now pushin’ 40 degrees, b) the flow is slowing down, and c) the water clarity is finally improving. Time to sneak back up.
Do you own this muddy-water bait?
Some great info from the Lindner clan on their go-to bait when the river muddies up. Full read here, but a few excerpts below:
> James Lindner: “A lot of times in early-spring river conditions, you’re fishing darker water…. You need that vibration for the fish to find the bait…. You sort of reel it down there and you pulse it and go brrrrrtttt! You want to be able to keep the bait vibrating.”
> James likes a 7′ medium-action spinning rod, and 10-lb Sufix 832 braid with a 3-4′ fluorocarbon leader. Using braid helps you feel how the bait is moving in the water and increases your casting distance.
“Because I’m constantly hitting the bottom and there’s also a lot of zebra mussels, I like to beef up my fluoro leader [to 10-lb] from what I’d use when I’m fishing in lakes. You’re going to have to check your knots a lot because you start ripping across that type of bottom and it scars that leader pretty quickly.”
Gravel lizards of the week.
James Holst stuck this Fox River, WI gravel lizard dragging 1/4-oz VMC Neon Moon Eye Jigs with BFishN Tackle Moxis upstream at 0.4 to 0.7mph:
Here’s a couple of #googans you might’ve seen before, sticking Green Bay slobs on Rapala Rippin’ Raps and BFishN Tackle Moxis:
The IA DNR nabbed (and released) this stout 12-lber swimming around Big Creek Lake while “researching the effectiveness of a fish barrier on the spillway.” Appears to be working just fine!
Mr. ‘Squatch was spotted fishing on Green Bay with Nolan’s Top Gun Charters. Not sure why he doesn’t have greasy beef-jerky stains on his Frabill bibs?
SD public lakes now private?!
Nasty situation going down in SoDak…. Game and Fish plans to close the accesses to 25 lakes — and more later — after the Supreme Court’s ruling that “a state agency doesn’t have the legal authority to allow people access to flooded waters or ice over private property without legislative approval:”
> “The dispute has its roots in the late 1800s when SD’s waters were first surveyed. The survey included lines around lakes and other bodies of water…that were considered meandered bodies.
> “By law, the state owned the land under meandered bodies but private landowners owned title to land under non-meandered bodies, the conclusion being that non-meandered bodies of water were temporary and the land might be sui for agriculture.”
Maybe good news for some farmers and landowners, but very bad news for anglers and the local economy. Watch this vid for more info:
We’ll keep you posted as we learn more….
New way to BBQ walleyes.
Recipe calls for 1 cup of crushed corn flakes and an Okuma Low-Pro Line Counter:
For sure looks tastier than this:
News
1. MN: Proposed fishing license fee increases.
No one wants to pay more money to go fishing, but Al thinks this $3 increase is important for the health of MN fisheries. Fish stocking, lake surveys, enforcement and more will face major cuts if we don’t take action:
It’s been 4 years since the last increase…. People will spend $4 on a cup of coffee, but a $3 fee increase (for an entire year of fishing!) is a kick in the shorts??
2. CO: Calling Killing all walleyes.
Parks and Wildlife set up screens and nets to capture/kill invasive species (like walleye) in an effort to protect native species: humpback chub, bonytail, Colorado pikeminnow and razorback suckers. So killing walleyes to protect bait? Okaaaay.
Congrats guys!
4. WI: Fox River tagging study…
…tracks where walleyes go after the spawn. DNR said these walleyes will travel 100s of miles in just a few weeks, and they’ve seen fish around 33″ and 12 to 14 lbs…”they’re very big.”
And you thought your buddy had solid waypoints.
5. WI: Buncha new reg changes proposed.
6. West Virginia a new walleye destination?
The population is climbing thanks to natural reproduction and 15 years’ worth of stocking. Move over trout….
A special tagged ‘gill caught during the annual Hot Springs Fishing Challenge. Measured 9.1″ and weighed 0.62 lbs.
May wanna check your email if your addy starts with kimkim_1980…. You’ve got one week to respond or else the Okuma prize pack goes to a someone else!
Tip of the Day
> High water in spring is often accompanied by fast flow and muddy conditions, pushing walleyes tight to shore and even up into shallow cover. This happens each spring on the Rainy River along the MN-ON border when the Big and Little Fork rivers (tributaries to the Rainy) pour muddy water into the main river.
> When the water turns to chocolate milk…walleyes can’t respond to lures moving that quickly. Anchor in known productive spots, generate a lot of noise with your lures, and attract walleyes to the commotion. Once they’re able to locate your baits in the murk, they just might eat them.
> Holes at river bends are obvious staging areas for schools of fish moving upstream. Eddies formed at tributary intersections are also great. Lesser-known but potentially just as good are rolling sand dunes, with pockets of calmer water between them, as the current flows over their tops and past their tips.
Today’s ‘Eye Candy
Fish looks genuinely upset it had to give up that BFishn Tackle Ringworm! lol
Random
More than 1 mil gallons of sewage released into Lake Champlain.
Always wondered where they filmed this Simpson’s episode:
