We’ve all been there fellas!! Reliant on a pattern that has been producing walleyes in a big way…..AKA Guide talk “MILKRUN”. Often times the accomplished walleye fisherman’s best asset is his/her ability to dial into the right pattern quickly. From the vacationing anglers perspective they’ve often got all week to make an adjustment. Sadly this adjustment is often never made, and many fisherman leave for home cursing the big body of water, or go home telling friends the bite was off that week. 
From a fishing guides perspective we’ve got 8 hours to make something happen for our customers. Typically our trips run 8-4 pm which is standard through all the resorts/Houseboat companies here. I alway try to put my “A” spot up to bat to start out the morning and then as the day progresses try my best to put together the days gameplan for success.
Still when fish move, get finicky, flat out are FULL, or a wicked East winds play with the barometric pressure you can often hear the wheels spinning inside the heads of your fishing guide……OR HOPEFULLY you can 
!!.
Well today was one of those days. We’ve been working what I like to refer to as “Food Funnels”. Deep troughs leading to shallow water that funnels food with a directional wind or current. This pattern has been WHITE HOT for us until…..TODAY. The fish were flat out stacked in every one of these spots we fished precisely where they should be. Unfortunately it is my belief the “Funnel” simply was too effective, and held too much food in which we could not compete with (Trust me…WE TRIED!!). After 4 stops we had 3 walleyes landed with a few short bites. 11:30 am rolls in and frankly the Wheels were turning, and I’m scratching the “Skeeter” off my cap.
I decided to abandon our “Milkrun” despite the fact that it was holding arcs fit for the next Humminbird commercial. We moved into an area I felt wouldn’t hold much for baitfish or mayflies, but could have fish recently arriving. Upon our initial scan I marked a few good arcs. We dropped the I-Pilot and BINGO!! Pull the Magic Blotter out from your ear baby!! We hit a blackout jerking walleyes that AVERAGED a FAT 23 inches!! A gutsy roll of the dice sports “Boxcars”. Our wonderful customers today Brad and Jennifer stuck with it all the way from Nevada and helped put a serious beatdown to the big Rainy Lake walleyes. I particulary liked when Brad said “We’ve caught in ONE DAY as many BIG fish than we typically do all trip on Lac Suel!!” Not overall NUMBERS….BUT BIG HEAVY FISH!! We ended up landing 23 walleyes over 21 inches over the next 3 hours. Biggest fish (11) 23’s (2) 24’s (1) 25.75 (1) 26. Trust me I would have liked to fish until dark to rack-em up!!
Sometimes finding fish simply isn’t enough and your required to take your Walleye 101 course and elevate it to the “Bachelors of Walleye Behaviors”. Often times you simply need to identify fish that are looking to eat!! Todays scenario had a slightly different pattern located only 500 yards away with 2 completely different results!!
Congratulations to both Brad and Jennifer who will be staying on a Rainy Lake Houseboat for the next week putting the Hammer down on the fish!! Truly a pleasure sharing the boat with you today!! 
, and as I stated 
. Nice work 
