Cranky days on big water.

Oh no….not another Mille Lacs walleye report! Well, yes and no. Yes, these fish were caught on Mille Lacs today, but the techniques used to catch these fish can be put to good use an many bodies of water this time of year. We hear of all the walleye being taken by pulling spinners, and the many photos are a great testament to their viability. Long lined leeches and crawlers take their fair share of fish as well. But this time of year for me means crank baits!

Many large bodies of water right now are experiencing large bug hatches. Mayflies, midges, and many other varieties that have names I cannot pronounce. These bug hatches throw more food into the ecosystem of a lake or river this time of year more so than any other time. We have to compete with a system that is virtually teeming with food! How do we compete? By being different. Young of the hear fish are now getting to a size where they become food for larger fish. Bugs are now feeding fish of all ages as well. These bugs will hatch in large "Rafts" often seen on your electronics. The areas where these hatches are taking place will draw baitfish. Along with the baitfish will come the walleye and other gamefish.

Setting up your electronics is critical to success. If you set the sensitivity too high, you will see nothing but backscatter and interference from everything in the water like themoclines, to bugs and baitfish. This time I like to set my sensitivity to 80% so that I can pick up the more dense areas of bugs and baitfish, and separate the walleye from perch and other smaller fish that may be in the cone of the transducer. Color units are even better! They utilize different color patterns for different densities and sizes of fish. A bright red mark in a mass of blues and greens will indicate walleye feeding amongst a school or cloud of bait. Your crankbait traveling outside the protected school is usually attacked in short order!

Proper use of your GPS is critical for presentation as well! Why? Because putting different pressures on your cranks by turning to the inside or outside while pulling boards, or even long lines is crucial. It makes one line move faster, and the other slower, and vica versa. These subtle changes often provoke strikes, and can also let you know if you should speed up or slow down. Set a beginning and end point on your GPS. (Sorry about my reflection in the photo!) Set it as far apart as you feel necessary. Use your "Go To" or "Nav" option to go from one point to the other. Use that navigation line to criss-cross over it. This will impart the action to each lure that I was speaking of. This technique works on Pepin as well as Winnie and Leech! Any lake where bug hatches and large populations of perch, tulibee, shad or any other baitfish or bug population is present. Deep diving crakbaits such as the Shad Rap, Reef Runner, Tail Dancers and others are great for this approach. Also look into purchasing any of the books on the market showing the dive curves of different lures out there. Using your "Depth Line" option on your graph, you can target a depth where the fish are, and a crankbait that will put it into their wheelhouse!

Good luck! Let us know how you do!

Tuck