Windy walleyes

Hit another small, shallow lake in Southern Minnesota with my kids and nephew. Kept it as simple as possible with that wind blowing a strong 25, maybe 30mph. It was a bugger for boat control.

The only real option was to fish the southerly shore weed edge. Not the greatest place to be on this lake, but it worked out fine. Put 1/8oz jigs on the kids lines and used crawler chunks pitching to the weed edge in 4fow. We got 11 walleyes from 13″ to 21.5″, kept 6 for a family “fish stix” gathering this Saturday evening and let the rest go.

Kids also caught a few sheepies, lost a nice bass on the jump and a nice pike boatside. Lost a few other walleyes as well. Ran out of crawlers, so I put on white crappie sized twister tails (hooked thru like a minnow) and that worked pretty well too.

Pretty fun day for the kids despite the difficulty fishing in the big wind. Water surface temps have hit 70 and the bite is still strong. Weeds are reaching their prime and will be pretty good for another 2-4 weeks before they start dying off depending on which lake you hit.

Tight lines all!

Pretty impressive that the kids could fish small jigs in that wind! Most of us (especially Dutchboy) would have a 20’ bow in the line and never feel a bite.

I hate the wind with a vengance but at least you can hide on the smaller lakes. I tried pitching in the weeds on windblown shorelines a few days ago and skunked on walleye but the trophy crappie bite is on as well!

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My brother’s daughter got her biggest crappie ever too a few days ago. In fact, I think it’s the biggest anybody in his household had ever caught (13″)

Fishing the south side of the lake in 4-5fow, you’re pretty close to shore & trees. So the wind wasn’t as much of a factor. We started out in the wind with 1/4oz and 3/8oz jigs, but it just wasn’t working out well, especially after the clouds cleared out and whitecaps covered the lake. So that move in close to shore with the trees blocking the wind really helped. Easier for the kids… easier for the guy running the boat.

Seems like a lot of guys left really good walleye bites to get on those 12″-14″ crappies last week.

tornadochaser wrote:

Seems like a lot of guys left really good <strong class=”ido-tag-strong”>walleye bites to get on those 12″-14″ crappies last week.

what lake? I spent 5 hours pitching for em 5 days ago and gave up since the 15″ crappie bite was on.

eyeguy507 wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>tornadochaser wrote:</div>
Seems like a lot of guys left really good <strong class=”ido-tag-strong”>walleye bites to get on those 12″-14″ crappies last week.

what lake? I spent 5 hours pitching for em 5 days ago and gave up since the 15″ crappie bite was on.

I’m not much for naming lakes with really current bites going. I’ll just say numerous lakes west of 71 and south of 14 have some really good patterns going. Bullet sinkers infront of crawler harnesses during the day and BIG rattling stickbaits (HJ12/14) after dark.

tornadochaser wrote:

I’ll just say numerous lakes west of 71 and south of 14 have some really good patterns going.

Ol’ SW MN

I’m from Avoca/Fulda/Slayton area.
Love reading the reports, especially these days. Thank you! Keep it up.

Your SW lakes are safe from me! I won’t drive that far for eyes. Do those little SW lakes really get that much pressure? I guess when I think southern lakes, I think Fairbault, Mankato and Albert Lea.

I hope to hit Cannon or Sakatah this weekend for eyes and crappies. If I make it I’ll post a thorough report to see if there is any backlash.

FishBlood&RiverMud wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>tornadochaser wrote:</div>
I’ll just say numerous lakes west of 71 and south of 14 have some really good patterns going.

Ol’ SW MN

I’m from Avoca/Fulda/Slayton area.
Love reading the reports, especially these days. Thank you! Keep it up.

I would bet you and I know exactly some of the lakes he has been on!

SW MN can be about as good as anywhere this time of year. My uncle lives on Benton and has been doing really well with shallow cranks in 4fow.

Almost all of my relatives live (or are from) in SW MN. Slayton, Tyler, Lake Benton, Pipestone, Luverne and a few in SoDak.

Got my dad out today to get him in on some action for a few hours. He was able to get a few to tug on his line. My son helped reel in a few as well, including a pike that launched 2ft in the air boatside and threw the hook. I was able to connect on this 24.5″er which of course is still swimming. All in all a warm, but fun day.

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Weekender wrote:

SW MN can be about as good as anywhere this time of year. My uncle lives on Benton and has been doing really well with shallow cranks in 4fow.

Almost all of my relatives live (or are from) in SW MN. Slayton, Tyler, Lake Benton, Pipestone, Luverne and a few in SoDak.

My family is from slayton, avoca, and lake Wilson. Chances are high that you, me and FBRM are cousins.

My dad’s side lived in Lake Wilson for years and years. My grandpa ran a gas station there (Paully’s 76) and he drove school bus for many years among doing a number of other things. My dad, his older brother and his younger sister all graduated from there. As a very young kid we fished bullheads out of the lake. My grandpa introduced me to gathering worms with the old electric rods! We played in the park a lot, and it’s one of only a couple towns where you park diagonal in the middle of the street!

My other grandparents lived on a farm half way between Pipestone and Luverne just off Hwy. 75. That’s where we hunted deer all the time as my grandpa knew just about everyone within a 5mi radius it seemed. Loved going to church in Pipestone, then we’d always go out to eat at the Villager afterwards. Get up at 5:00am to go “help” milk cows, then chow down on grandma’s pancakes (Karo syrup!) and farm fresh eggs.

Absolutely loved going to SW MN!!! Great memories!

Lake Wilson is a pretty small town….chances are our family crossed paths back then. That was my dad’s side. Last name is Moen.

My moms side is from Avoca and I still have family in Slayton on her side.

Small world.

Im an Isder, fulda high school, 03 grad.

00-03′ in the summers I poured concrete for buffalo ridge outta lake Wilson mostly hog barns but I did help pour the new fire station after that blew up.

Did most my partying with slayton and edgerton.

Parents now live on fulda lake.
If your ever in trouble you’ve probably ran into my brother in uniform.

Take care all.

Matt….

My dad grew up and played with a Robert Moen. He also remembers his mother Helen who had a restaurant across the street from my grandpa’s gas station. My dad would go there to play pool and listen to the juke box.

Does the names Robert or Helen ring a bell? My dad’s last name is Parrott.

Weekender wrote:

Matt….

My dad grew up and played with a Robert Moen. He also remembers his mother Helen who had a restaurant across the street from my grandpa’s gas station. My dad would go there to play pool and listen to the juke box.

Does the names Robert or Helen ring a bell? My dad’s last name is Parrott.
[/quot

Check this out….this is from my dad.

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That’s awesome. Bruce is my uncle…my dad’s older brother. I think he’s about 4yrs older than my dad…so that would make Bruce about 76 or 77yrs old. My dad’s name is Doug and he would’ve hung around the station too, depending how old he was back then and what year it was. Bruce and his wife Judy are still in Slayton, although retired now. Bruce is/was the “wildest” of the 3 kids I’d say. Lol

I think my grandpa owned the station after returning from WWII and he had it for a fairly long time I believe. He could sometimes be a little salty, but those remarks of him helping & mentoring various people is a compliment I’ve heard mentioned of him before.

That’s really neat. I’m sure if Robert is still alive and was asked about my dad Doug, he would know/remember him.

Smaller, shallow lakes in the area are getting pretty warm and the weeds on these lakes are quickly dying off. Fish are pretty scattered, but i did manage to get this one in the boat after a good fight. Time for me to focus on the larger area lakes.

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