Many of us have read the classic, "Lunkers Love Nightcrawlers." The title of this report should be, "Lake Wissota Walleyes Love Cranks on Leadcore." Boy do they ever!
With word that the Wissota trolling bite is in full swing, Tim and I set out to ply the 6000 acre backyard gem in search of midweek green and gold. Even with storms brewing to the south and a stiff breeze from the east, Tim and I put the smack down on a bunch of dandy Wissota eyes like the one shown in this first picture.
Our core presentation was to pull a variety of cranks, including shad raps (5s, 7s, and 8s), jointed shad raps (5s and 7s), minnow raps (7s and 9s), and salmo hornets (5s) on a combination of long lines and leadcore. We scored fish in depths ranging from 16 fow to nearly 30 fow, and varied our speeds from 2 to 3 mph. Our first two fish were both Wissota "overs", meaning over the 14-18" protected slot. Tim is shown here with the second of these two initial fish. A guy starts getting pretty confident when a trip is 20 minutes old and the first two fish are both quality fish in the 19-20" class.
Thankfully, the backyard gem continued to produce, both in terms of quanity and in terms of quality. Tim and I enjoyed a SOLID 4 hours of pulling cranks today without even tossing around the idea of doing something else. I stopped counting fish at 20, and instead started keeping track only of the "overs"….today we tallied 5, all between 18 and 20" long. NUMEROUS fish in the slot, and only a handful of little shakers. Today was one of those maddening days when one particular size and pattern accounted for over 80% of our catch. Close simply didn’t cut the mustard today. Of course, I only had two copies of the key bait in the boat, and a crib claimed one of them. So, it’s off to Scheels tomorrow morning to restock for next week’s guide trips. Here’s Tim with yet another leadcore over that fell for that very popular pattern.
Don’t have any leadcore in your arsenal? Don’t worry! After putting the trolling gear to bed, we switched over to pitching bait for the last hour of the trip. Tim put on clinic, scoring both walleyes and smallies by casting 1/16 and 1/8 oz jigs tipped with fatheads to mid-river rock bars. The smallie spawn must be just about complete, as these bronze bombers are beginning to show themselves with some consistency.
My guide trips over the coming weeks will be a blend of leadcore and long line trolling, combined with a healthy dose of finesse jig fishing in current areas. Then, it’s off to spinner/bottom bouncer land! If you’re hankering for an introduction to one of these productive multi-species techniques, drop me a line. Wissota will not disappoint!
More of Tim and some of today’s catch
I am developing a STRONG appreciation for the work area in my Ranger Angler 1860. There is a TON of space behind the screen and it is PERFECT for a troller. The 1860 doesn’t have the U-shaped bench/compartment configuration that the 600 series boats have, which means that there is a bunch of floorspace between the gunwales. The 98″ beam really helps to keep lines well separated from each other. We ran 6 lines today (4 lead, 2 long) with only one tangle. This is truly a great design for the troller.
Thanks for the report Jason! I grew up on Wissota and I still enjoy getting out on this lake when time allows.
Great report Jason
Nice looking fish! Any coffee spilled in that new boat yet?
Coffee, soda, Hamms (Sully!), Gulp Alive juice, carp slime, pike slime, musky slime, various types of blood…pretty much have all the bases covered.
Nice Report Jason! The Carp slime I added was good for the new boat!
cookie crumbs
Yep, and a bunch of white bass “residue” from the same trip, right Mark?
Thanks for the report!
I put the advice to work this morning and put 5 slotters in the boat on my first pass of 200 yards.
Don’t ask me to do it again, I’m not sure I could unless I morphed into an octopus.
Sully
I would like to spill some hamms in that there boat. Hamms that there is good Beer!!
Nicely done jason….some great looking Wissota eyes!
Not spilling the beans as to what size and color was Magic?
The on-fire pattern today can be as cold as ice tomorrow. Solving the presentation puzzle is half of the fun and most of the battle!
Sounds like similar issues that my boat has.
Nice fish guys!
Nice report
Sounds like a great day of fishing.