Here is a report to cure any Monday blues out there…
Summer time fishing appears to be upon us as white bass are on the chew and preying heavy on minnows. Walleye fishing has been up and down, with some days being tougher than others. The bite improved later in the week. From what I am seeing it has been the norm on most days this year to be able to catch at most about three good eyes from one spot and then that spot appears burned out, this should change as summertime locations will start to produce fish. As mentioned above white bass are getting active and smallmouth bass as well are being caught inadvertently on walleye presentations. Walleyes have been caught in depths from 6 to 27 feet. I focus on a shallow fish or deep fish, and then the depths ranges are from 6 to 14 and then about 17 to 27. Livebait has been the key for my guide trips, and last week fatheads were the dominant bait, and then last weekend nightcrawlers and leeches were again being gobbled up by walleye. I know other anglers are getting walleye gold on Rapalas trolled in 16 to 22 feet of water. The new Rapala DT minnow works wonders in this depth range.
Last Friday and Saturday were big fish count days. On Friday, I took out long time client Mark Cavaleri and his son Aaron and daughter Liz. We found some serious action with white bass and walleye these fish were very aggressive and caught on the cast. The fish were up gorging on minnows. The key here was to find the eddies, because they held light blue fish eggs that appear this time of year. I suspect these eggs are shad eggs based on the sheer volume of them. The fish initially were being caught on jig and minnow then they were so hot, that a jig and plastic tail fooled the fish just the same. Good trip, Liz reeled in the largest walleye and we all had tight lines and good conversation.
Saturday, the Runk Bothers of Stillwater, MN, Terry, Dave, Aaron, and Adam got together for some angling on a half day trip. Fatheads and nightcrawlers did most of the damage on this trip. I think most of the brothers were irritated at Adam as he personally bagged six of the 13 keepers (the walleye keepers ranged from 15 to 20 inches). Hard to know if the bite has turned on, or the fish bit well prior to the storm coming in. I’ve guided these guys before and went to high school with Dave, he was a football star for the Ponies, he got the ball, I got to ride the pines. Actually all these Runks were Pony star athletes, now some serious anglers. They took the white tips home for fish cleaning and cold ones.
River water elevation is 678.0 feet (and dropping) above sea level in Stillwater, MN. Water color is stained the normal tea color. Have fun and Keep Catchin’