My annual late March pilgrimage to P-4 started with a nice “thump” on my jig/Moxie combo drifting just inside the current seam. I was with five regular buddies from home and although it was cold, we were happy to be FISHING!
Steve at Everts clued us in to the action…lots of smaller male sauger along the channel and some Eyes moving in the shallows and current breaks. My first nice 24″ walleye (picture) was CPRed to spawn.
The boat traffic was surprisingly heavy for a weekday so we moved away from the crowd, slipping slowly down the shoreline with my MinKota Terrova, spot locking here and there to cover likely spots more thoroughly.
I can honestly say its the best fishing equipment purchase I have ever made…I don’t ever bring an anchor anymore.
My friends Mark and Mel are experienced walleye fanatics from
Florence WI. They really dialed in the Walleye those four days…Mark caught these bookend 21″ walleye with his (new)favorite Limit Creek LC66MF rod, on consecutive casts…
The windy gusts forced us to have multiple rods rigged with various jig weights…from calm conditions of an 1/8 to 25mph wind and 3/8s oz. It is imperative to minimize the “bow” in your line when casting/rolling jigs in the current. The jig weight must also allow the plastic the drift naturally downstream. I want to shout to the boats that crowd around you after you net a couple fish…”ITS NOT THE LOCATION…ITS THE PRESENTATION!!!”
I brought my friend Dave Anderson with me as my partner. Dave is a great guy and Pastor of my church…He is currently going through chemotherapy but never one complained of the brutal weather/winds/sleet… Here is one of a dozen nice walleye Dave caught throughout the week. You
are the man Dave!
I love pitching small blades but during our stay the declining water temps favored a slow plastic presentation…this 10.12 lber was an exception…Steve (Everts) took Chef Mitch out at sundown for a short excursion and Mitch’s purple 1/4oz blade was hammered in 2 fow…. a PB for Mitch! Ever think of Guiding Steve?
Our trips were interrupted by Easter weekend and family/church commitments. Certainly the week after Easter showed a profound decline in the bite…The reduced flow, muddy run off and extreme cold front added to that issue.
We did find an unusually prolific Pike bite…we caught dozens of fat aggressive northerns…not to mention the bite offs of blades and jigs.
In the pics below this post there are more fish, including a 41″ 23.4Lb Northern and my PB Carp…
tackle we used…
pitching blades LC69MLF, LX69MLXF…6# 832 Ghost
casting jig/plastics LC66MF, LX70MF…6# Siege Mono Org
vertical jigging LC66MF, LE63MXF…6# Elite Mono Yel
reels…Pflueger 25s/30s…Quantum PIi 25s…Stradic 2500s
4″ Moxies in oystershell, pro blue and Chart/Pepper
Here you go…
great fish Tom.
Agree 100% that it was all about presentation on the 8th and 9th for us. its fun when you get things figured out and others leave frustrated even after drifting past you a dozen times using a presentation that isn’t working. 
That carp looks like a pillow!
Tom, I think my pupils would have burnt out with those blue skies – wow, haven’t seen that in awhile. We had a lot of work down on P/7. found fish, but really had to work this time.
That was one of the few sun appearances…
I’m thinking 30+lbs Brian…I’m 6’2″ and 315lbs…minus the 5 layers of clothing…
Nice report and pics Tom.
Nice job Tom!
Very nice Tom
Congrats on your success.
Jack