if you are hitting the water this weekend my advise is to go bar hopping. Or point hopping, or rock pile hopping. Well you get the idea. The fish seem to be everywhere- but not in great numbers. I fished alot of spots today and all of them had a few fish. One spot would yield 3 or 4 fish, the next spot 6 or 7. It just does not pay to sit and wait them out.
No monsters today but a limit of 15 to 16 inchers for the pan. The best depths ranged from 11 to 16 ft. There are fish deeper but all are dinks. verticle jigging took the majority of fish. I also picked up a few fish deadsticking a Lindy rig. Hair jigs are still the way to go. Using dark colors tipped with fatheads.
The key is to stay close to deep water. Find points, rocks or sand that are near, or drop into the main channel. Fishing tighter to the shoreline yielded a few smallies and some crappies. Pitching jigs tipped with small fatheads worked well for crappies.
Time of day did not matter. We caught fish all day, it was just a matter of staying on top of the active schools. The bite is getting better every day. Get out and enjoy some of the best fishing of the year. See ya on the water, Don.
Note: not the best photo, but the cameraman was cold.
Don, nice report. I spent the today on Tainter, also. I didn’t see your Crestliner on the North side of the launch, so I suspect that you spent the day near Pine Point, right?All of my fish came from 20 to 25 feet, and were taken on a 1/4 oz. jig tipped with a Berkley Power Minnow. My biggest was 26″ but with only a three fish limit, it isn’t hard to get a limit. You are right about the numbers of small fish, though. How about those Smallmouth Bass? For a while, I felt like one of the Bassmasters! Had one Smallie tape 21″. Man, did that one fight! Fish were active throughout the day, but the larger Walleyes were the most active from 9 AM to 11 AM. With the water temp at 42 degrees, the fishing will only get better until the channel freezes up! Dr. J.
Thanks for the info. I tried plastics, but hair jigs were working better for me. A 26″ is pretty decent! Keep us posted on how you do. Maybe see ya on Monday, Don.
Don,
I got out fishing this afternoon after church. Tainter was a totally different lake today than yesterday! The North wind was blowing just hard enough to make boat control somewhat frustrating, especially out on the main lake. I know, no excuses; but, I could not catch a legal Walleye. Caught nine Walleyes between 10″ and 14″, but none larger. The Smallmouth, though, were on a tear! Not quite as large as those yesterday, but I had three Smallies over 18″ and five in that 11″ to 16″ range. Even had a couple of WhiteBass, too. Everything came from 20′ deep, using a Berkley Shad colored 3″ Power Minnow on a 1/4 oz jig. The weatherman is calling for 3″ of snow tomorrow morning, with rain and snow in the afternoon! That should make for an interesting day on the water tomorrow! Good luck, Don. Perhaps you’ll see that purple Skeeter tomorrow afternoon.
Dr. J.
I was back on Menomin on Sat. and Sun. Kind of the same deal, plenty of small fish. Keep us posted on how you are doing. Sounds like your getting some awesome action!