Opening day on the Menominee …and a Bigun!

Opening day for Wis walleye (Sat) found Frank Pearson and I on the Menominee River near the mouth at Marinette. Though we caught some under sized walleye,…This 53" Sturgeon thought my BFT plastic ringworm was real, and took top honors. We were anchored and I was using a 6’6" St. Croix Legend Elite rod and 6 lb Trilene Sensation line. She came completely out of the water twice during the 40 min battle. Experiences that this really instill confidence in your fishing equipment….right down to the hook on the 1/8th oz Nuckleball jig.

We got on the water at 4:00 AM and were amazed to see not a soul present until 6:00. Even though it was fine weather the fishing pressure was almost non existent. This was really out of character for this body of water and belies the fact that the bite has been poor.

We worked 3 ways from the mouth up to the draw bridge for two hours without a hit. Then coverered a LOT of river with Frank’s X 15…finding only scattered fish. We finally had success slipping down river along the channel edge with jig/minnow combos…but none of our biters were much over 15". We did get some nice Smallies and a pike but this was to be a "learning" day. Fisherman have to expect that sometimes.

Contrary to rumors that I have seen/heard the bite has be very spotty for this time of year. Good fish were caught 3-4 weeks ago during the "extended" season. In fact, several huge females are caught every year during March as they are staged up waiting ro spawn. There is a one fish possession limit during this time.

I did have one really big girl up to the boat near the end of the day…but she managed to do the patented "roll and twist" on me and we parted ways.

I’m going back after her tomorrow….with warming temps and rain in the forecast the Mich opener on Sunday looks promising on this great boundary system.

Get out and get fishing!