Lake Zumbro Walleye opener report!!!

It was COLD, RAINY and WINDY…..and I didn’t catch a single walleye…..AGAIN!!! ……..that’s the fifth straight year…..I’m begining to think maybe it’s just me?!

I did catch a PILE of these strange lookin things?…..Must be some kind of rough fish, as they seemed to be everywhere and just kept steeling my minnows!!!

You know, now that I think about it, I did see two bald guys go whizzing by in a big fancy walleye boat today…..almost looked like they could be proffesional anglers…..I bet they found where the “Eyes” were hiding?

Nice fish Jake. Wish you better luck next year.
Thanks, Bill

[don’t anyone tell Jake there aren’t any eyes in there. ]

they seemed to be everywhere and just kept steeling my minnows!!! [end of quote]

Mike you own a Bait Shop AND Bait Business and you didn’t bring any minnows today when we went fishing?

way to go jake sounds fun

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they seemed to be everywhere and just kept steeling my minnows!!! [end of quote]

Mike you own a Bait Shop AND Bait Business and you didn’t bring any minnows today when we went fishing?

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He even had the nerve to say to me he HAD to go fishing today

He even had the nerve to say to me he HAD to go fishing today

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Matt, he did HAVE TO GO fishing today as I was twisting his arm.

Mike [HOF] really lives a rough life. If he isn’t talkin fishin all day at work then hes out fishin all day. What a life.

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He even had the nerve to say to me he HAD to go fishing today

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Matt, he did HAVE TO GO fishing today as I was twisting his arm.

Mike [HOF] really lives a rough life. If he isn’t talkin fishin all day at work then hes out fishin all day. What a life.

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Seems to me that someone was fishing both before and after I was there today. Who could that have been Bill? Seems that someone also has a 4 day weekend coming up so that he can fish, fish ,fish….
Too bad we didn’t see Jake, we could have taken a picture of him catching his crappie! He never catches more than 1, does he? I guess we should have been looking for the orange FF shirt he always wears?

Good Fishing,
Mike

Actually Bill,

I have caught a walleye in the Zumbro right behind my house. She was a nice one too, about 3 lbs. If she is still alive she should be real big by now. Ssshh, but don’t tell anyone. Especially Jake! As much as you guys go, I am surprised you haven’t caught her. Then again the Zumbro is a lake that turns into a very long river along the way.

I know there are a few in there but lets not tell Jake. We wouldn’t want to ruin his 5 year strike out record now would we?
Thanksa, Bill

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He never catches more than 1, does he?

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I wasn’t aware I was supposed to be taking and posting pictures of EVERY fish I catch …….after all, they are still just panfish

But for those who had to go back to work today ( )…….fishin was different this morning…..Crappies went into super secret hiding mode (might be in the same place the walleyes are?)…..so, in grand Bill and Mike bobber fasion, we switched over and targeted the “BULL BLUEGILLS”!!!……which again, were pretty much everywhere (steep wood being the best). Plain plastics took NO fish today (paddle tails and YES, even mini-mites )…….but if you added some meat, and casted it tight into shore, the fish were there and willing. We eventually ran out of waxies and made the switch to “powerbait crappie nibbles”, which worked, but not as well as the waxies……minnows were also a non-productive choice (unless you wanted Smallies!!!).

Fun day again……wind kinda sucked, but it usually does…..we get some of this warm weather back and the fish will be up nice and shallow within a couple days.

Too bad I’m outta Rochester for a while again……oh well, I’ll just have to settle for Mississippi river walleyes (they taste better than Lake Zumbro eyes anyways, or so I’ve heard ).

Excellent report Jake! That’s dandy gill in that picture. Way to go!

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He never catches more than 1, does he?

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I wasn’t aware I was supposed to be taking and posting pictures of EVERY fish I catch …….after all, they are still just panfish

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Oh never, we just take one for every hundred or so. I realize you are somewhat limited Jake, so catching just 1 or 2 is OK. That orange shirt probably scares them away….

Good Fishing,

Mike

Thanks for another update. Did that bluegill moo when you got it into the boat? Cause its a bull.

Well Jake since you plan on sneaking away again we will be looking forward to some reports from the backwaters of the Mississippi River in Winona and also on Lake Winona. [hint hint]

Targeting bluegills, and especially bullgills, is an excellent way to attract people to fishing as they want the excitement of catching fish. The bullgills show the quality of fish that can be caught if you put the time into finding them. Crappies also attract people. Especially the bigger ones. Trying to share the excitement of fishing and trying to help others enjoy their time on the water more is what Mike [HOF], Ron [RHW], Doug [Mr. Musky], and myself are all about. If we can help someone, encourage kids to get high on fishing instead of other things, and grow the sport of fishing that we all love then what we try to do is worth it. We aren’t paid, our time is all donated, and the reward is when someone gets hooked on fishing and that means a life time of great times on the water for them. Thats what its all about.

Thanks, Bill

That particular Gill was an “HONEST” 9 1/2″er…..and my buddy caught his twin brother a while later !!! I’ve heard rumors of 10″ers, but have yet to see one personally…..(oh boy, lets not get on the rumors again ).

The mighty Zumbro continues to amaze me with the average size panfish it will kick out on a routine basis……We did not catch a single sunfish or crappie the last two days that would not have been considered a “Keeper” (at least for the Winona area standards )……lucky for the fish, I’m too lazy to clean fish.

The fishery has greatly improved over the past few years. I personally think the zebra mussels that are now there are a good part of the reason the fishery is in great shape. They clean the water up in any system they get into it seems. The water clarity is much better than it use to be. I only hope they don’t cause any problems down the road. The Mississippi Rivers water clarity has improved alot the past couple years too and so has the fishing there too. We need to remember to put the big females back so Lake Zumbro can continue to have a great panfish fishery.
Thanks, Bill

nice slab, nice gil there Whip!
You can take the boy out of the river rat, but you can’t take the river rat…
Now back to Winona, but for how long?

dave

Well Jake, I still haven’t seen any walleyes in Lake Zumbro and ALSO still haven’t seen any reports from you from Winona or Lake Zumbro. Are you still alive or has she smothered you to death in love?
Thanks, Bill

Not quite Bill

I will apologize, as I have been lacking on the report sector …..So here’s an over view of the last couple of weeks around the area for multiple species (I get around ).

Been out Flathead fishing 3 times in the last two weeks…..it’s been kinda slow for us….with only two fish coming to the boat….biggest going 17#s……the bugs were ridiculous the last time out last week …..We’re getting out wednesday night again, and hopefully get a BIG one for my buddy who’s never caught a fish larger than a sunny

Lake Winona has been kicking out oodles of fish, but once again the larger ones have eluded me thus far on the lake……..I’ve been mainly throwing Yum-Dingers and DEEP diving cranks along the deep weed edges…..biggest of the last couple outings was only 17″s…..nice fish, but not compared to what the lake has potential for .

Got up to Lake Pepin on Saturday……spent some quality time fishing with my Ma and Pa……ended up doing fairly well on smallies using top water plugs along the shallower rocks…..size was agian lacking a bit, but I did get a decent 16.5″er….everyone got in on the top water action……top water smallies are a blast …….Also had 10 pars through 12 holes playing Lake Pepin Golf Club that afternoon before we were driven off the course by lightning…..so it was a good day

Got out on the river Sunday afternoon after the rainstorms rolled through…..Suprisingly we found some VERY active fish!!!

Casting buzz-baits in 2-4′ water along a combonation of backwater rocks and weeds with a little current provide some great action……Not any monsters again, but one that went a finger nail under 18″……and a BUNCH of nice solid chunky fish….all in all, I’d say we caught 16-18 KEEPER bass (LG and SM) in 2 1/2hrs, along with a few smaller ones, and a few missed opportunities. Fish were in very predictable spots, and if the right cast was made, you were pretty much garaunteed a BLOW-UP!!! That’s why I love top water.

We did trie a couple wing dams looking for smallies but only found small fish…..so back to the Backwater’s we went

That was honestly, one of the more consistant day’s I’ve had all year for numbers and quality of fish on the river

So how’s that for a report

Thank you. Very good. Keep them comin. There is a weekly bass tourney on Winona Lake so maybe you should think about checking out where the guys are fishin and catchin and that would help your luck on that lake. I see your fish count is gone, what happened? You need to stop in and say hi alot more often to us Bud.
Thanks, Bill