Joined a friend at his annual Walleyes Unlimited Club outing to the Sturgeon Bay area. Got hooked on this area several years ago for its mixed bag/size potential, and although the action this weekend was a bit slower than in the past, it was no dissappointment on quality. We worked pretty hard battling the high winds to put some fish in the boat, but there was enough action to keep us going, knowing we could get fish like this 20 inch smallie. Two of the 20 or so we boated were right at 20 inches, with the rest between 17 and 19 inches. All came on lindy-rigging golden roaches in 18 to 25 FOW, in the canal, except for a couple on the flats. Water temps ranged significantly, with parts of the flats at 53 degrees, and others at 47. With some steadier weather patterns and warming temps, the smallie action should be heating up soon.
As for pike, could have caught them all day long, and on a couple of the days, we did. Several we boated were at 35 inches, with the bulk of the rest between 25 and 30 inches. Lost count, but I’d guess that we got about 50 over the weekend, not to mention the numerous bite-offs of our lindy rig live bait set-ups. Circle hooks with a gentle sweeping hookset worked very well in minimizing the bite-offs. Also had an afternoon in a sheltered bay where they were pounding a chartreuse ringworm/jig pitched into 15 FOW and slowly retrieved.
If you’re looking for some good smallie or pike action , I’d recommend heading up there over the next few weeks; I don’t think you’ll be dissappointed.
May 7, 2007 at 1:59 pm
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