One of the most frustrating things about fishing the river is that you often find out what doesn’t work a lot more often than you discover what does work. Fishing for walleyes right now is tough. Techniques that work on some parts of the river simply won’t work on others. So here’s my hopeful thought on fishing it in general. The title for it is “What doesn’t work”.
I fished Sunday. The day was warm and very humid, with some nice breezes at least keeping the bugs away. I started out at Everts and went upstream, first, to the rollers. It’s where I usually start. A few spots are always in the cards, even though the fish may not be there quite yet. The clam beds were the first. There are always people in the area near the rollers, either fishing deep for sauger or shallow for the occasional walleye that might have made it to a wing dam. I rarely see any caught this time of year.
I tried three ways. One pole had a spinner and a worm. The other was a long leader with a leech on a hook. The fish were deep. At 12 to 18 feet, I could see some sitting on the bottom. I trolled. Slowly upstream, faster downstream. No bites. Apparently, neither item worked.
Off came the leech and on went a clown colored number 5 rapala. My thought was that perhaps the fish were not looking for dark and appetizing, but needed to be enticed with something slightly more angry looking. Nothing again.
Time to move on. Instead of stopping at some of the other spots, I went all the way down the Wisconsin cut, into Goose Lake. This time, I trolled briefly with the same two rigs, in the deep areas. A few boats were there, but not much was biting, apparently. Naturally, I was still stuck on catching a walleye. I trolled the area pretty thoroughly, along the breaks and also through the middle. Fish were everywhere on my monitor, at all levels. Obviously, the stripers were in there. And shad were snapping at the water, so I doubted that the fish were hungry. Too much bait. My hope was that a faster troll and a rattling rap might do the trick. Another change. Nothing.
A bass boat came by, casting a big spinner against the edges. I watched him fish slowly down the edge of the lake without success either. Nix that part. So I jigged for a bit. First with a worm, then with a ringworm. No bites. Too deep, apparently, and no hungry or angry fish at the bottom.
On to the area outside Goose Lake, in the main Wisconsin Channel, where I trolled again. Dispensed with the spinner and put on a worm and hook. I still put down a line with a bright rap. At least something should be interested. Nothing. And no fish caught by any of the other boats there.
Okay, I figured. Time to head all the way down to Pepin. A quick look at the Bay City flats convinced me that it would be better to move on. So I did. About halfway down the lake to Long Point. The deep area there seemed to hold promise. There were a couple of boats fishing that area, trolling slowly along the break, where the depth drops from 8 to 20 feet in a hurry. A look at my graph showed me why. The fish were deep, around 18 feet and some looked huge.
More trolling, the same as before. I switched raps. Tried a darker presentation. Put on a spinner again. Watched a guy jigging slowly along the edge in the waves and surf generated by the wind and the passing boats. Once in awhile, he waved his net, put it away and pulled up a small sheephead. Nothing big, though. That place is a total mystery. But the fish are there. They just don’t apparently want to bite at what we have to offer.
I went across to the Wisconsin side and trolled for a bit. Same three ways. Obviously, what didn’t work in one place didn’t work again. Three ways and jigs were definitely not the bait of the day.
Finally, I gave up, headed back to Everts and pulled out about 20 minutes before the storms hit. Saw lightning strike the road and also a couple of fields. What a fright. Kinda made me duck low on the way home.
So, now I know what doesn’t work. And wish that I’d gone back on Sunday to use a beetle spin to catch some stripers in Goose Lake. A few of those would have helped make the day more successful. Time on the water.
The lesson learned here…. Keep changing. Variation is the key. Eventually, something has to work. But then, it’s why it’s called fishing, right? Maybe next weekend, I’ll bring some steak. I can do a barbecue on the boat and the fishing will swarm.
Mike
LOL is this too much fun or what Nah. Hey Mike when are you coming back this way.
