It was a cold, wet and windy opener on Gull this past weekend. We started out early Saturday morning lindy rigging shiners. We spent most of our time in Booming Out Bay in 12′-16′ of water. There was a nice transition from weed to rock to mud that was holding a decent number of walleyes, though most ran on the small side. We also caught a few perch in the same area, as well as a bluegill while dragging a leech. Chartruse hooks were the best color, and tail hooking the shiners was better than lip hooking on about a 3′-4′ snell.
In the afternoon we ventured out to the main lake and managed a few better fish. We rigged the same baits in 10′-16′ on the north end of the Hayfield. There were some nice walleyes holding in the new weed growth, with most fish around 17". We also managed a few pike as well while dealing with rain/sleet squawls rolling through. A few fish were caught as well in the channel in Upper Gull, but they were very sporadic.
Sunday morning we started back on the Hayfield, and fishing had improved. Good numbers of fish were getting caught by us as well as surrounding boats. I would have liked to spend the afternoon there as well as Monday, but duty called. It was my first time on Gull for the opener, and I enjoyed it. It was busy, and as more boats joined the floatilla, the fishing would diminish. I do want to thank those that helped out with info prior to heading up there.
On a side note, we did manage to get in some crappie fishing on Friday. Small minnows on a white and pink Flu Flu worked best for me. The fish were holding in the north bays tight to the weed edges. There were lots of small bass cruising the shallows as well.
Thanks for the report Mike,
I fished on Round lake, conected to gull, all weekend. It was nice to be on a smaller lake given the conditions. Caught 22 walleyes on the weekend. Many fish in the 20-22 inch category. If your up again, it might be worth the short trip to round. We fished the sand / mud transitions along the north east side of the lake. 16-20 ft of water with 5 ft snells. shiner minnows turned most of the fish for us as well. One thing with round, the landing is shallow and can be tricky with the wind blowing in.
We heard Sat night that some people had a little better luck on Round for better fish. Thanks for the info. I was a guest at Lost Lake Lodge, just north of Zorbaz, so we tried to stick to the north end of Gull. Between the great food they served, spending time with friends and enjoying the night life, the fishing was just a bonus!
Hey Mike,
Which boat did you guys have at Lost Lake? I was up over the weekend at my cabin on Upper Gull. The 17ft. Lund with 90 Horse Johnson was sitting at the cabin everytime I drove by.
You caught a few fish in the Lost Lake Resort channel? I havn’t caught an eye out of that one for years…. It sounds like you guys did pretty well from the other reports I heard.
I have a red Ranger Bass boat. Did you see mine?
You can PM me. I’ve got some more details I could share with you about my success.
Steve
Steve,
I had the black 219 Stratos. If it was there, it was on the end of the main dock. The guy with the Lund fished with me all weekend. We had more boats than we really needed. I know the recent owner real well. The channel fish we caught were between Zorbaz and the first point north. I can’t saw I saw you, but I did see A LOT of boats.
Mike,
. We spent most of our time on northwest Gull we caught 1 (one) walleye saturday but it was a nice 21 incher. Sunday was much better, we boated 10 more but the largest was only 20 inches averaged about 16″. We also rigged spot tail shiners on weed edges in 13 to 18 foot of water. Sounds like I’ll have to try Round Lake next time!
I too spent the opener on Gull Lake. Saturday seemed like we got ten days of weather in 8 hours
p.s. boated a 5 pound dogfish that got my heart going
Great Report Mike, thanks for stopping in when you were here glad the shiners worked out for you. Most reports were pretty dismal the first few days of the season. I think the weather didn’t help things too much. The last day or two we’ve seen a turn for the better on Gull. The walleyes are hitting pretty well now. Yesterday evening we hit them good in 16-20 feet on some points and humps. If we ever would get some stable weather our bite should continue. Stop in again when you are up to put the hammer on the bass this summer.
Jason Erlandson
[email protected]
Dave’s Sportland Bait and Tackle
http://www.sportlandbait.com
Nisswa MN
218-963-2401