The Dan Harms group currently staying in Cabin #5, took advantage of the IDO promotion and landed this beautiful 28.5in Blue Walleye.
Walleye season in Ontario has been open for a full week now and it has been nothing short of a stealer season so far.
Walleye are still being caught in large numbers in the rivers, especially at the base of rapids and slack water along fast moving current. In a short day of guiding last Sunday, we had a boat average of 60 plus walleye. Although the bigger females have been somewhat elusive, we have landed some respectable mid 20s. Males are still full of milk, though we are noticing it less and less as the days pass.
Lake walleye have also been very active. Water temperatures are ranging from a frothy 41 degrees to 48 degrees depending on where you are at in the lake. During early morning and mid day, walleyes are very active in the 45 – 30 feet of water. At night however, they come screaming up to the 8 – 12 feet of water, in large numbers and with one thing on their mind… FOOD! We were also treated to some respectable numbers of large JUMBO perch. Not surprising, they are schooled up very close to the walleye.
I was brought back to my roots a couple of days ago while trying to pre fish a lake in gale force winds. I was marking fish like crazy, however a 14ft boat with a 50lbs black lab and a 165lbs guy doesn’t match up well against 3 ft waves. Some would say I am insane, but most guys reading this wouldn’t hesitate to do the same thing. Anyway, I was reminded of my early years fishing Mille Lacs, without the aid of today’s electronics. Back then, we fished an area, with little specificity. Boat control in the wind was impossible and I was really struggling to land fish trying to be to pinpointed. After an hour of banging my head against the wall, I reassessed and started fishing the area, not the fish. It didn’t take long to start landing them… Lesson Learned!
Until next time…