Great addition to SBC indeed

Mono for this guy . There’s only two applications I will use braid over mono when jig fishing.

#1. When fishing in deep water where I am going to get a big bow in my line. The no stretch comes in handy for hook sets.

#2. When I want to move the bait quickly in a very short distance. An example of this would be snap jigging with plastics or hair jigs. The no stretch allows you to move the jig quickly in a very short distance.

A lot of guys are saying they like hard line because they can feel more with it. Mono does transmit fell better with a bow in your line. You should not have to feel anything except the bite when fishing a jig. If you can actually feel the jig on bottom, chances are you are fishing under a large majority of the walleye you are targeting. Very seldom will I get a walleye to pick my bait up off the bottom in cleaner water when casting jigs. When walleye are aggressive they feed up, keeping your bait above them keeps your offering in the strike zone longer.

Once you learn to become a line watcher it will not matter what line you have rigged up but it’s hard to top mono in my opinion for shallow water jigging.

Walleye bite has been good. Trolling cranks, 3-way rigging bait, dragging jigs/bait, pitching plastics or hair jigs in low flow areas has been good for numbers of fish and numbers of big fish.

The post spawn walleye bite this past month has been a typical high water post spawn bite…….fish are hungry and eat good when you put something in front of them. It is hard for them to locate food in the extremely high water we have had the past 2 months.

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Dustin did a test with a “full boat” to simulate a guide trip. He had 4 in the boat and I think he kept the livewell full but he can clarify that for us if he responds. I didn’t catch his speeds or thoughts on the hole shot when running this type of load but if he reads this hopefully he’ll share those stats with us and his thoughts on the boat overall.

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Sure did! All I can say is WOW . Those that had the opportunity to drive this boat know it tracks like a roller coaster, it just won’t do as well upside down , turning the corners on the other hand? Well, you’ll just have to experience it for yourselves.

My 18’2″ Deep V Crestliner has a better ride than any other tin boat I have ever been in and also tracks unbelievably well when 3-waying and trolling because of the deep v hull. The MX Hull will perform much better in both of these categories.

The ride is unbelievable in this glass boat compared to tin. I ventured down in to Lake Pepin in water that would have had me and my clients soaking wet at 20mph. I did this in the MX at 52mph gps and did not get wet. As we all know, no matter what kind of boat we drive, at some point and time you will get wet when the conditions are right. Just so happens on sunday the conditions were very favorable for me and a couple of guys to get soaking wet in my boat venturing down in to lake Pepin. However they were not favorable enough for me and 3 other to get wet in the MX hull at 52mph.

I am trying to ask my self why would I ever want to buy tin again when I can get twice the performance and ride out of a glass boat that will be very comparable to tin boat pricing. Pretty easy decision for me any way

As stated i did load this boat with 3 others just to see how it would perform from a guide perspective. Thumbs up from me with the 150 Yamaha four stroke. Hole shot was still very good, we hit 52.4mph down river and 50.1 mph going back up river. I was not aware of the live well being full of water. Never had time to stop and wet a line, would have been nice though just to see what an 8lb walleye looked like in a shiny new boat’s livewell .

Any body wants to make me an offer on Crestliner 182 tournamnet series boat with a 175 HPDI? I would list the color as well but heck, everyone knows what color it is anyway . My numbers listed below

Thanks to you guys for the kind words .

I will have a report posted sometime this week with pics of the other big eyes we boated on our trip

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And lastly, nobody holds a rope like Dustin.

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I did show some good form in my rope holding didn’t I

I grew up 7 miles from the dam in Nashua. Used to ride my bike in to town to fish before i was old enough to drive. Lots of fond memories of that section of the Cedar River. Never caught a walleye on this river growing up but many smallmouth and slimers.

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I heard they are biting on bright colored Ike’s 3/8oz hair jigs tipped with a fat head minnow in 12 to 14 feet of water up by the dam.

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. Now thats funny .

I do have a couple of openings to fish the Spring high water on pool 4 if interested

You got my number

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Brave words from the guy that went into great detail not a week ago on the phone about how he didn’t want another high water spring like last year.

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Right on . I love high water but once it gets to the point of flooding like it did the last two Springs it’s a little to much……..oh never mind that’s not the point.

The point is, I know of several anglers that ran from the river with their tail between their legs last two Springs cause the conditions they were faced with were not the norm, and the fishing was good ……welcome to the mighty Miss !

Whether I like the water high as it was the Last two Springs or not, I’m still very confident walleye/sauger will be caught no matter the levels as long as the coast guard will allow us to float a boat

If you are going to target walleye this Spring some proven plastics to start with are ringworms and paddle tails. Moxies are a good choice as well but I would look for them to excel in more of a stained water environment or warmer water environment. Once the water temps climb in the low 40’s some of those bigger baits can make a lethargic walleye second guess themselves

B.K.

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Almost all of my favorite ice bites happen late ice so I don’t mind. I’m actually hoping to be ice fishing somewhere that first week in April since the river down here is looking like it will be a bust.

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What happened to the river rat in you ? To much ice fishing, brain freeze will do that to a guy !

I know that as long as an angler can put a boat in the river legally that there will be walleye/sauger to be caught on the river regardless of water levels. Might be in a different zip code but the fish have no choice but to stay in the river and can be caught .

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James

When you mention these fish were up off the bottom about 3 feet, in 6 feet do you think this happens on the river more then we expect? On the river we are always relating tight or within inches of the bottom. Did you happen to notice if any of these fish would move down for the bait?

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Good question Tom!

As James stated, we have seen great success on the river fishing suspended fish in the right conditions. When the conditions are right,a lot of big walleye have made it to the net on the mighty river for my boat

Erick,

I use a mostly 1/0 and a 2/0 in this style of hook for both crawlers and leeches. These two sizes have a bigger hook gap and seems to give me a better hook up ratio.

Should be a great time . Looking forward to seeing old faces and meeting some new !

Should be a great time . Looking forward to seeing old faces and meeting some new !

Thanks Guys! Wish it was a bit warmer out so us old folks could get on the river

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I really don’t think you can go wrong with the AVID (AVS68MXF) then.

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This rod gets my vote as well for fishing jigs and mono. Have not used some of the other models mentioned but have been happy enough with this rod I have not had to

Congrats Eric

Fished by myself from 10:00am until 3:45pm. First time I have hit the river since November 17th .

No wall hangers for me today. Had 14 walleye in the 16″-21″ class. I fished 15′ of water and less casting jigs tipped with a minnow and assorted plastics. All walleyes for me today, never boated a sauger. Good to see some familiar faces out there

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And no I am not Dustin Stewarts dad
that was a first

Jeff H

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Got to admit……that was pretty funny though

Rock has been better than sand for me lately. Any place you can find shallow rock with slow moving water on it should have fish right away in the morning. If you know the river well enough, look for areas with deep water close by that have access to the slow moving water in the shallows.

It was my pleasure Jeff! .

Glad you learned something! It was a fun day on the water

Nice fish guys . Really enjoyed the video

The smaller ones can be used on jigs. Larger chubs work best on a 3 way rig or egg sinker rig. If using the larger chubs just make sure to adjust your hook size to match the bait.

Plastics took my bigger walleyes today as well .

Caught more walleye on a patriot colored hair jig but they were only low 20″fish

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Thank you Dustin, I’ll get out my Hot map and see if I can find some areas you speak of. I’ve only fished the pool twice so still learning lots

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No problem, glad to help! Only twice you say? I know a guide who could help you out

Good luck on your trip and let us know how it goes

Mike, good to see your trolling pattern is holding on! I did not see you on the water on my last outing like I thought we would but had a decent day as well with our best fish going 28″. #7 flicker shads did the trick for us on the bigger fish. Eaters came on the jointed shads for us.

In the time frame of your trip I would look at rip rap areas with deeper water close by. Casting plastics, hair jigs, and crank baits will all put fish in the boat. Use the cranks as a search bait until walleye are found then slow down with jigs once they quit biting on the cranks.

Lot of water out there and cranks will help you elminate a lot of it quickly