I had the honor of fishing with Robert Lemon,a good friend of mine for a few days.Bob is a great jig angler who wanted to try a few different techniques for walleyes.We started by trolling lead core and crankbaits on East Okoboji.Our weather was overcast and very windy but we worked hard on getting a few fish to bite.We did put about 15 small eyes in the boat and I think Bob enjoyed this new approach to catching walleyes.We also worked the docks on West for fish and had limited luck on a few smallies and largemouth.Myself with a 17" smallie.
On Sunday morning I decided to fish Spirit Lake.Bob and I started by working a shallow rock reef from 4-8′.I had Bob slip-bobber fishing with leeches and he also casted small jig/plastic combo’s.After 5 minutes it was obvious that we were only going to be able to fish 1 rod apiece as the action was fast and furious.Here is Bob with a nice 17" smallie.It was very fun to watch Bob cast plastics,a skilled angler at this tactic.
We caught around 40 small walleyes and many bass on this rock pile.I thought we should pull a few crankbaits to target some larger fish.It was long and Bob caught a 15" legal eye.Again we worked leadcore and a bouncer spinner rig.The spinner was the hot bait and it kept Bob busy.
I chose a perch colored spinner blade as Spirit has many perch and the walleye favor this color over others.We did not catch alot of the bigger fish that we were after but did catch alot of smaller eyes.It was a fun trip.Bob is one of life’s great people who has done many interesting things in his life.It was fun to listen to all the area’s he had lived in his life.Thanks for the time in the boat this week-end Bob-had a great time.
As we were getting ready to leave Bob hooked into a northern that had a huge bend in his lower back.The pic is not that great but it is hard to believe this fish could have lived through a injury like this.
Take care,
Ryan Hale
Another Spirit Lake smallie.
Ryan Hale