The walleye bite on pool 2 seems to be shaping up pretty good. A lot of my trips this spring down there have been on one day and off the next. With water levels coming up almost 2 feet in the last week the bite seems to be picking up right with it. Heavy current seems to be moving the walleyes into predictable current breaks and the muddy water and current water temps has them ready to eat.
Saturday afternoon we gave the hidden falls and confluence area a shot for long lining the shore lines for walleyes and saugers. Trolling shad raps, flicker shads and bombers in the 5′ to 8′ range was the plan. We did connect with a few fish but it didnt take long before al the cotton dropping from the trees made this more work than fun. I would think once the trees stop dropping the cotton this bite should be real good.
Next we decided to try our luck pitching shoreline current breaks and wing dams. It didnt take long to find this was the right switch. Pitching BfishN tackle 1/8 to 1/4 ounce H20 jigs in these areas worked well. Purple white or chartreuse tail paddle tails and ringworms had no problem getting the fish to bite. Hair jigs in the same sizes where good options to get the fish going to. Making sure the jig was heavy enough to make good contact with bottom was key. If it was to light it would either get lifted by the current and blown threw the area or it may be drifting around down where it should be and you wouldn’t know it until it drifted into a snag. A good lift, drift and drop back to the bottom with a light thud was working well.
Sunday morning TBO jumped in the boat with me and we headed back to the wing dams. I had been finding most of my fish down in front of the dams but this morning there where up high and on the shorelines feeding. White paddle tails worked well for me today with a pair of 27"ers telling me this was a good color choice. As Joe was just starting to feel left out the the action he hooked up with the fish in the 1st photo. a nice 28"ers. We where feeling pretty happy about our 1st 3 fish of the day. The size did go down from there but by noon we did managed about a dozen fish.
Here are a couple of more photos from the weekend.
Excellent report, Mike.
Those paddletails have been incredible this spring. I wonder if the cooler weather and water temps has kept the fish keying on smaller baits like the paddletails?
Thanks James. I have pretty good luck well into the summer on both the plastics and hair jigs. They seem to be pretty consistent until usually july when water levels get low. These fish most likely would of hit just about anything that was put in front of them. The 1st 27″er on sunday morning hit in 2′ of water on the shoreline. Im sure she was there to eat and most likely not to picky about what she was eating. The fish that are down a little deeper seem to be a little pickier about what they want. What they want may change day to day or even sooner. I always like to show them a variety of lures.
Excellent report sir!
So why was I way the heck up north catching little fishies?
dd
Great report with some very nice fish. Good to see TBO out on the water
Wow! Those are some thick fish Mike!
Great job! Good to see the plastic bite is still on.
Are you going to welcome the rising water up there?
Very nice report Mike!
Those are some good looking walleyes. Nice job!
Boog
Speaking of high water Boog…how is it looking your way?
Hey Mike,
Sounds like you guys faired like we did. We crossed paths trolling along a set of dams, (same boat as you w/Suzuki).
We found most of our fish in less than 7 FOW, with cranks taking the gold medal. I must say, I’m falling love with a very reasonably priced crank bait!
Thanks for the report Mike, those are some nice fish. Keep catching them big ones now, hate to have you do it tomorrow during the contest……
NICE FISH! Don’t you just love that cotton on the surface when trying to drag cranks around
Great report, Mike!
What a dandy fish there, Joe! Congrats!
I thought I should of known who you where Beno. We managed a small fish pitching to the 1st red cone in that area. Should be some fish around there some where. Got back out for a few hours this afternoon and found the fish going on crank baits this time. I love the high water this time of year Chris. It could stay at this level or keep coming up.
After this afternoon Im most likely shot for the contest. 1st two fish in the boat where a 27 and 28″er. There are plenty of these fish out there. Someone will catch a big one tomorrow. How many people did you get in the contest.
Great report nice job
Some great looking paddletail walleyes Mike!
Congrats! 