powerdive

I trolled cranks on leadcore for walleyes in the Baxter area today. Had a limit of chunky eyes up to 22". Also caught a bunch of "in the way" fish: 11-12 bass up to 20" and 20-25 white bass up to 16". Even had a smallmouth on a turnaround, 20' down over 50' of water. Fished 18-25 feet on points and across the mouths of coves. They're all mixed together--kept me busy (and perspiring). Bite died by 10:30am. They wanted white today, and only white. No white in the cranks, no hits. First time I've seen that.

Nice catch! And the fish aren't bad either.

CS, thank you for your support! Fished at Bull with Rangerman last week and caught some very nice perch (10+") AND monster gills mixed in with the walleyes. If somebody wanted to target perch at Bull Shoals, you could potentially bring in a monster, better-than-Devils-Lake type stringer. They're doing very well in there, now that they're established, and I don't know of anyone who's specifically targeting them. Yet.

Perch = bluegills, right? You people sure talk funny down here. Great report, OG. Thanks.

Now THAT is a fish worth catching! Crawler?

It's December 22, 2012. There are no other boats on the water, nor will there ever be..............

You mean where I tried to sink my boat?

Buncha showoffs...while the rest of us are stuck here workin'....hmmmph!

Thanks, straw hat, but I was probably less than half serious. I guess my point is, it's nothing new; this complaint has been voiced for eons. But now that the pace of life is speeding up so quickly, the gap just seems to get wider. Me, I tend to just take it and turn away. I don't mind sharing the lake (we're all out there to have fun), and I think most of the pleasure boaters and jet skiers actually don't have a clue that they're bothering someone. Not being fishermen themselves, it just doesn't even enter their pointy little heads.

It's a natural progression that is accelerating along with the pace of life... 1680-1930: steady, though slight, erosion of social values among the young, perhaps increasing with each succeeding generation. Biz as usual. 1930-1945: hardship. Incomplete values installation as masses of young folks leave home early to escape tough times or are inducted into wartime service. 1946-1965: ascendance of "the greatest generation." They were great at fighting wars and building infrastructure, but they sucked at raising children--they felt compelled to give their kids all the things they'd lacked when growing up. Television starts to take over. Material focus begins. Teens turn to "rebels" for leadership. 1966-1985: hippies, liberated women, the ascendance of the soccer mom/dad. Social change and moral clouding accelerate. Conspicuous consumption, heavy-duty marketing, the beginning of the over-deification of kids. 1986-now: advent of the electronic age, widespread social entitlement, financially inept government, counterculture, and most importantly, rampant me-me-me-me-ME-ME-MEism spanning multiple age groups. Result: the behavior referenced above. OK, I just made all that up, but I do think every generation decries the erosion of social values and the outlandish behavior of the young. You soccer parents can take exception, but I truly believe it's part of what got us here. And I've been just as guilty as anyone on that score.

Good report, OO. May I ask, how deep? Reason I ask, I received some primo baitcasters to try out from a client who's focused on bass fishing. Since I'm mainly a walleye troller these days, there is a fairly steep learning curve involved--but I do need to get out there and give it a try, and soon. Can't really appreciate these setups and how they handle if I don't stick a few real, live bass! Thanks in advance for any additional info.

Good job. Basically the old shoreline, eh?

Nope, skeeter, by sheer weight of numbers, YOU are paying for 'em. So, thank you. I'm happy there are any walleyes at all, this far south. So go ahead and harvest a few walleye fillets. It's GOOD for the population. But yeah, sometimes those 'eyes are tougher than a bugger to find. They're out there, and in ever-growing numbers, so someone's gotta be catching some at any given time. I figure you bass boys would run across some decent walleyes now and then...hoping to learn something from you.

rps, if bass tasted better things would be different. Just put some under your tomatoes and call it even.

Hey Bob, I thought the letter of the law was, once you have your limit, you're done. Catch another, unless by accident when clearly fishing for another species (and that's always debatable), you're over your limit the moment you bring the fish in the boat, even though you intend to release it. A ticketable offense. But are you saying it's legal to keep fishing (C&R) even though you have your limit onboard?????

Not so sure about that, SWMO. Sounds more like 50-58 feet to me. Minnowhooker, can you clarify?

Excellent report, MH. Thanks. Last weekend I didn't see much around the brushpiles either, but there were semi-loads of crappies suspended in the mouths of spawning coves in the top 10-12 feet of water. You need to be over 25-40+ fow. Fish 5' down, you should catch a bunch, whether trolling or casting.

I have a set of Church snapweights, but I've only used them a couple times--not really needed on Stockton, at least during the warmer months, most years. (Might be different this year: looked like a thermocline was starting to set up at 44' last weekend--that's way deep for Stockton.) Cinch the screws down when using lighter braid, and they'll hold pretty tight even when dragging bottom on contours--but probably not as well in brush or craggy rocks. Haven't lost one yet, knock on wood. Removing the clip is a breeze. A whole lot easier than planer boards. And most folks run them 20-50 feet ahead of the bait, so there's room to work when you need to pluck the weight.

Nice going, rps. Nice way to kick off your summer. Pretty soon, you'll figure out the walleyes too, and all will be right with your world.

On Table Rock, due to the population dynamics, it seems you can't go out walleye fishing and not catch bass. (I actually had about 5 lbs. of bass in a doubleheader last year, on a Reef Runner longlined at 30'. Thought I had the new world record 'eye coming in.) So, bass guys--how often do you pull in walleyes while bass fishing? Any types of spots/techniques that seem to make it happen more often?

Of course, as mentioned, the best solution (this is the approach used in most of walleye country) is not to allow tournaments when water temps are high. Good luck with that one around here!

Good explanation, Bill! Walleye guys use the technique as well, for fish caught out of warm water. They use snap weights (a trolling aid), which have non-injurious pinch pads rather than alligator clip teeth. Most of the time, in a recirculating livewell, the fish recover and are swimming upright within 15 minutes, so you can remove the weights. If you're going to use alligator clips, I'd strongly suggest using rubber snubbers on the jaws to cut down on possible fin injury.

RM, they sell thousands of 'em, so those reels can't be all bad. I'm just 3-for-3 on the lemons.

Uh, that would be you, Martin. At K Dock on upper Bull Shoals. You were just learning, and I'd never seen leadcore in action. You got me pretty good--your core took a pair of fat 24-inchers, and my longlining only managed one skinny 19. It was the only time I know of when a jacket was needed all day in July--the high never hit 60. As someone once said to me, I may be stubborn but I'm not stupid. I had to try it after that. What an awesome deal not to have to put out 240' of braid with two splitshots to get a Deep Jr. down to 23' (and also to be able to dodge those freakin' stumps down there). If I never said thank you, I'm saying it now.

I use 8.5' BPS Walleye Angler Deadstick rods (my favorites, nice moderate action, tips are giving but easy to read, good backbone) and Cabela's 5' Leadcore Shorties (tough to use in a tiller boat, but the oversized guides are great for letting line out). For reels, I've used BPS Gold Cup 4000LC (discontinued but still my go-to's), Daiwa SG47LC (best of this bunch, but it's on a longline rod), Daiwa AD47LC, Okuma Magda and Convector linecounters, and Cabela's Depthmaster. Sorry to say, and this is only my experience, I would not recommend the Depthmaster. Cabela's was very good about replacing the two that the gears quickly stripped out on, but the third time it happened it went into the trash. Spend $10 more and get a low-end Okuma 30-class if cost is a major factor. Again, that's just my opinion. Note: the soft-action 8' Cabela's Depthmaster rod that came in the combo turned out to be an excellent bottom bouncing rod.