As we all know the past couple of weeks have brought much cooler weather than normal which in turn has dropped water temps in some cases as much as ten degrees which really does not do the fishing any good. So to say the least we have had to work a lot harder to locate biting fish every day. Then on top of that we get hit by a reinforcing shot of cold weather the other day which dropped the water temps again.
We have been continuing to troll crankbaits behind planer boards in water depths from 20 to 30 feet of water. I have been staggering cranks through out the water column to target fish at different depths. I have been running #12 Rapala Husky Jerks along with #9 Shad Raps and Rapala Tail Dancers.
I have been running my Husky jerks higher in the water column on shorter leads then running my shad raps a little deeper than the husky Jerks then running the Tail Dancers deeper on longer leads down in the 18 to 20 feet of water. We set out the other day with wind howling out of the north at 20 plus MPH with waves exceeding 4 feet at times so this made for a long boat ride to our location and very challenging boat control while we were fishing.
After safely getting to our fishing location I knew that any active fish would have relocated to high percentage areas with the North winds blowing into them. We were able to make three trolling passes that morning hooking fish on each pass but due to huge waves crashing into the boat landing fish proved to be a bit difficult Our biggest fish that morning was a 30 inch beautiful Walleye Which came on a Rapala Tail Dancer. Today brought much nicer conditions but cooler water temps. With winds out of the south around 10 to 15 MPH it was perfect we had three Walleyes today that were from 25 to 28 inches along with a couple of sheephead. Our Walleyes came on purpledescent Tail Dancers along with Blue and Silver Rapala Husky Jerks. The upcoming forecast is looking like warmer weather coming so this should begin to raise the water temps along with increased fish activity.
Paul Delaney
WWW. lateeyessportfishing.com
Way to keep at it despite tough Conditions. Nothing like a hard earned days catch. I am sure things will level out soon for you Paul, continued success. – QB
Great job on the tough conditions Paul,
The last time we talked you were getting a 20 Ranger
How is that working out for you ?
Another question…
In the 4 footers…how do you set up for pulling boards..
Thanks buddy !!
Keep at’m and I look forward to more reports
In those conditions it is very messy and you have to be exact on your trolling passes which is difficult. I will set up well ahead of my targeted area so I can do my best to get the boat where I want it to be and my baits as close to the zone where the fish are and once a fish is on it becomes much more difficult to keep the boat tracking right and to try not to lose the fish due to big waves surging the boat forward and the risk of the bait coming free from the fish which will happen no matter how hard you try. The bottom line is much more difficult to deal with than under other conditions.
Paul Delaney
It’s easy to understand how one could get blanked out there if they were not prepared for the conditions..
Be safe out there my friend
That pic with the Taildancer cross-wise is money! You know the bite is hot when fish chew on baits like that. Congrats on the great bite, some very quality ‘eyes there.
Joel