P-4…4/11-4/15…Walleyes, White Bass & Wind

I joked to Wade Kuehl that someone was going to get a big one this morning, then on my third cast the little 3/32 jig and shad body was crushed on a sharp hit…I knew it wasn’t one of the many White Bass that had moved in…heavy head shakes and short hard runs told me …Walleye…Wade deftly put the net under the 31", spawned out 11 lber… and the high fives ensued. Last year I caught a 30" spawner that weighed 11 lbs 14 oz. I wonder what this girl weighed with a full load of eggs? Probably 13+…

It was the 8th annual Yooper Invasion at Everts resort. There are 6-8 of us from Iron Mountain Michigan that come every year. The high water and rapid warming pretty much got the spawn cycle over in record time…but we hoped at least to get some eater Sauger to take home…

Now my partner Al can be a stubborn Swede (Crosby, Mn born). We acquired a couple 7’3"Powell demo rods to try for casting small blades…(Powell markets them as dropshot rods). So that ALL HE USED…the whole week he threw nothing but 1/4 and 1/8 oz blades and did very well…He caught several small to medium sized Sauger/Walleye, loads of 14-17" White Bass, and also Sheepies and Carp.

The big Whites are a Blast and tasty… We had a fish fry on Tuesday of White Bass fillets coated in yellow corn meal, Garlic salt, Lemon Pepper, and Cajun seasoning that everyone went crazy over.

The unseasonably warm weather brought unstable weather with it… T storms, rain and strong winds nearly every day. Some days we just would find a small bay or backwater out of the wind and usually find willing White Bass to give us a ton of fun. I switched to my St. Croix LXS 69MLXF and threw small jigs and plastics for the Whites…but they are very vulnerable to the blades as well as the other game fish. We pretty much caught our limit of 13-17" Sauger and a few bigger Whites each day…but worked hard for them.

It was not the normal hot P-4 action but we took the attitude that when we would find a spot holding fish…regardless of species…we would stick to for some time, reasoning that the conditions that brought the whites there would eventually attract Walleye and Sauger also. That plan worked pretty well throughout the week. The Dam was not crowded but we decide to stay pretty much away and find other downstream locations. We normally don’t come back to the River until October but this year we want to try some summer dragging and pitching Pepin Rip rap so hopefully we get back in July

See you on the water kids!!!