On Sunday I recieved a lesson in patience, persistence, and openmindedness relating to walleye fishing the big river. My day started out with a broken transducer on my Eagle Fishstrike 2000C. I was able to cobble it to make it work, but feared I could not run with any speed. Heading out to fish wingdams in the vicinity of the launch, I soon found that my trolling motor batteries where shot. I pandered them and got a couple hours of slipping wings in before they died, but had only one fish to show for my efforts, that a short walleye.
I then opted to putt downriver to do some trolling in a slough that has produced for me in the past. The transducer problem caused me to run very slow, less than 10mph, and so I watched the fishfinder carefully. I began to notice many bait fish in some shallow areas that I never considered fishing. With frustration on my doorstep, I decided to drop a crankbait over the side and troll these shallow areas while working my way to my target area. What a fantastic decision that turned out to be. Within minutes, I began my best walleye day ever on the river!
Pulling cranks up and down stream in this area for the next 2 hours brought 31 walleyes to the boat, all the while trying to contact someone to share the revelry with me. Finally, I contacted my brother and brother in law, and they came to join in the fun. The first photo was my first fish of the troll, a 23" fat beauty! The next is one of the many cookie cutter 18-20" fish we pulled the rest of the day.
My trolling began around 1 p.m. in the midst of dozens of jet skis and pleasure boaters, and continued until around 6 p.m. when we ran out of energy, with the bite still going strong! Early on, I was having my best success with a Gander exclusive #7 Firetiger shad rap, and a perch pattern jointed #4. As the day progressed, color changes where frequently required with red/black wally divers bringing the last 8 fish to the boat.
Speed changes where critical to our success. Average boat speed was 1.6 – 2.0 mph, but changing up speed regularly triggered many more strikes than one constant speed. All fish where in 4-6′ of water, with only smallish fish coming from the deeper water nearby. Another of the many beautiful keeper sized fish is pictured here. This fish is half of several doubles we had during the day, with the other being a 25", five plus pound fish which was quickly released!
For the day, 51 walleyes and one saugeye made it to my boat. Only 11 where short, with 7 slot fish ranging from 20.5 to the 25"er previously mentioned. Many of these fished missed the initial hit, and with speed change where triggered into striking again. My brother also brought 15 fish to his boat, with one in the 6 pound range.
This was my first day on the water in some time, and it was definetly a huge learning experience for me! I try to fish one new spot or area each time out, but have never been forced by conditions beyond my control to fish an area I would never have noticed otherwise! I learned last July on pool 4 that you cannot fish too shallow for summertime eyes, and that boat traffic and heat do not deter these wonderful fish from frequenting very "uneyelike" water, but would never have guessed that the same was true of my pool! I will long remember this day, and will make every effort to pay more attention to what the water and conditions are telling me. Preconcieved plans are good, but when they don’t pan out, don’t be afraid to try something new!
The last photo is of some visitors who came to the waters edge to watch us catch our last double and head for home! They seemed to be having almost as much fun as we where!
Way to get them and thanks for that shallow water info.
Awesome!! Way to make a great day out of some bad troubles!! Isn’t it funny how that happens sometimes??
Thanks for the report John.
Man, those are some healthy lookin eyes.
Moe, these fish where almost all very thick and heavy for their length. We kept 6 for a fish fry, and almost all had a belly full of bait fish and still hit our cranks. These fish are definetly on a feeding binge!
Luke, it was especially great to have a good day after all the early trouble. If it had not been so long since I had been out, I am afraid I may have gotten frustrated when my plan for the day fell through and packed it in. I can honestly say I was very thankful for all the early trouble. It allowed me to learn a great deal and have a TON of fun!
John. that was an excellent report! One of the best I’ve ever read because it was not only about having a great trip, it was also about overcoming obstacles, both equipment and mental.
Keep up the good work!
Way to go John!
I have definetly become a believer in fishing shallow in the last year.
dd
John, I have also noticed how well the fish have filled out in just the past few weeks. Right after the spawn they were long and skinny. I know I caught a few 16 inchers a month ago that probably didn’t weight much more than a pound. I too have been finding the fish in shallow waters but I have been casting crankbaits rather than trolling them. I’ve also been working my DBQ rigs on wingdams and finding fish there as well but catching a mess casting crankbaits is hard to beat for fast action fun. I’ve been doing well up here in pool 12 with several fish in excess of 20″ making it to the boat in the past week alone. I netted a 25-1/2″ fish for my youngest daughter this past Saturday which is the biggest fish to make it into my boat so far this year. I did make it out Monday night for a short time but the water had dropped so much that the fish that had been shallow seemed to have moved out. We did pop 2 legal fish, one short walleye and a 21″ walleye in the same area but the numbers were just not there. I’ve got a tournament this weekend up here on good old pool 12. I’m certain that lots of walleyes will be caught.
Eyehunter
I think my favorite presentation is casting cranks as well. You can’t beat fast and furious action while casting! I marked two small areas in my troll Sunday where most of the fish came from, and after a few passes I anchored up and cast cranks in these areas, as well as jigs and bait rigs, and only got a couple fish. I could not understand why they would not hit while casting, but in retrospect, with the speed, and speed change, being so critical to my trolling success that I probably was not adequately matching the speed and speed changes while casting. It had me baffled at the time, but that is my best guess for limited success casting. I also thought that the boat traveling overhead so shallow was fanning the bait fish and triggering strikes as my baits came by shortly thereafter. Whatever the case, it was a great day on the water! I am heading out this evening for a few hours to see if I can find some more hungry fish!
John,
Great report!!! (I hate you, but great report!!!) I was out on pool 14 Sunday morning. All we came up with were 1 cat fish, (smooth skined carp), that managed to stick me…a buffalo, and my 13 year old daughter pulled in a 19 inch walleye at about 3 plus pounds! Looked like a football with teeth!!! (Her greatest joy in life is out fishing dad!!! And I kinda enjoy it too!!!)
Anyway, we’ve been jigging around the wing dams and the mouth of the Wapsi river, down by Princeton Iowa and Cordova Illinois. (Which worked really good for us last week.) I’m just assuming you are fishing further north…Camanche…Clinton???? But, either way I figure someone has to catch them!!!
Anyway, just wanted to say good report, great information, and good luck!
Maybe see you on the river!
Mike
Fantastic report John way to
em.Whats with the transducer,is that what happened when you hit that ice chunk on the river awhile ago?
Mike, I fish from Rapid City to Clinton, but was between Albany and Cordova Sunday. Lots of great water to fish on this pool!
Rick, I think I broke the transducer the previous time out, rushing to get the boat on the trailer in front of a thunderstorm.
I made it out Wedensday night for a couple hours, ended up with 11 fish in the boat, with 4 more lost near or at the boat. Largest of the night was about 4 pound, 22″er. Not near as many active fish in the same area as Sunday, but they could still be caught. I also got a few off wingdams. The flow has slowed substantially, and the fish I found active where on the outside 1/3 of lower wings in a series. They where in pretty strong current, but I could work them with my electric without any problems. Best for me on the wings was Chart/Orange spinner on a 3′ lead, with about 10″ dropper to a 3/4 oz weight. Could not get much going on floaters or plain leaders, but the fish where hitting pretty consistantly on the crawler/spinner harness. Most of the fish that bit for me where out in the trough in front of the wingdam, not up on the face or top. That will change regularly from day to day and time to time though.
Good luck to all who get out this weekend, and thanks for the kind replies all!
John
You’re right! Lot’s of good water on this pool. Sounds like you’ve covered most of it. Unfortunatly, due to lack of time, most of my fishings been on the southern end of the pool. Mainly because it’s close and quick access. (Still manage to find plenty of good fishing)
On the rare occasion that I’ve been able to find a little extra time, I have ventured up to the Clinton area. That still leaves about half of the pool I haven’t been to.
Thought about launching out of Camanche on Saturday. Looks like alot of interesting water in that area but, the weather doesn’t look like it’s going to cooperate. Just my luck.
Mike
I made it on the water Friday afternoon, and the trolling bite I had been on was gone. Not a singe walleye in the area! The good news is, the wing dams where on fire! Just about anything I threw at them worked. Good evening on the river.
I had to give the clam beds a troll before I called it a day, and almost immediately had a double of 14 pounders! They are pictured here. The sheepy was 14 and 7 oz, the “golden bass” was 14-1. Did not find any walleyes on the clams yet, but I’m sure they will be there soon if the water continues to slow and drop.
Get out and hit the river, no better time to fish eyes on this pool than now!
Golden Bass!
And here is a fellow angler who was doing well on wing dams!