rps

My day today does not deserve a post of its own. I caught three keeper spots and two large bluegill in 7 hours of walleye fishing. My ice chest wasn't needed.

Great trip and great report. Sorry about the hook. I feel your pain.

Those are well thought out Scott. Have you tried any of the other hooks designed to spin the bait? Trokar and Matzuo make versions.among others

This is what I caught the fish on TR on July 2.

By tomorrow, they will be hungry and the water lice crowd should have blistering hangovers or blistering skin or both. I'm going out early.

Two or three of the rigs you see in the picture wrapped on the pink pool float are ones that I tied and gave to Scott as a thank you for a favor. Allow me to respond. I was taught to use the float beads instead of the plastic beads for a specific reason. When your bouncer hits a boulder or limb and pauses, the plastic bead rigs drop. That makes them more likely to snag on the object that caused the pause, even if you pop the bouncer off fairly quickly. When you have rigged with the floats, the blade may drop on the pause, but the floats keep the hook up. That reduces the chances of a hook snag. As for the bottom, walleye primarily feed up. A bait within 3 to 4 feet of them or the bottom is well within the take zone. I actually think the take zone is as much a 6 or 7 feet at times. Besides, at .5 to 1.5 mph, the water flow forces the bait to track the bouncer arm which means the bait is only a few inches above the weight. I ave found 3 to 4 feet between the swivel that attaches to the bouncer and the spinner to be optimal. I know others that swear by 2 feet. Hope that helps.

I have never trolled at night, but if I did I would start with a bait that wobbled wider than a Flicker shad. A wiggle wart or a Hot N Tot. Or maybe a jointed minnow type bait with a wide swimming action. Actullay, that sounds fun and I may have to do it on flats near here.

Looking good Scott!

Great minds think alike, although I do have a roast in the oven. Try this combo: Size 1 Owner worm hook, bobber stop, two pill floats in sherbet (white, blue, pink, chartreuse), bead, pink tiger macks smile blade. Oops. Sorry for hijacking the thread.

They make an excellent point. However, I remember when I fished when I could rather than when it made sense. Be careful and enjoy.

I am glad you caught good fish. The helping others is even better.

For me, the fish have been 24 to 30 feet down, holding on edges. Drop offs, channels, etc. The bait fish seem stacked at 15 to 20 feet deep. Three options come to mind for a first time Table Rock visit: 1. Drop shot crawlers along channel edges where flats are 20 feet deep and fall into deep water. 2. Slow drag a carolina rigged crawler or plastic along those same locations. 3. Size 9 flicker shads in light color, trolled on 150+ feet of 10# line just out in the channel from those same locations.

The operative word is "think."

As far up lake as I am, with Beaver periodically dumping very cold water into the lake, I can see the current here at Holiday Island (somewhere around 12 - 14 river miles down stream from the dam). We often have temperature induced fogs in the morning during the summer, and I have found several patterns keyed to whether we have just received a new dose of Beaver. Small examples: In the late summer when normal surface temp is 85, if we have a late evening electricity peak generation from Beaver, two patterns develop. You can find shocked shad in the river upstream from Beaver town and fish the under side of those schools. In addition, large mouth will move to sloughs and cuts out of the cold current and pick off the lethargic bait fish from the current edges. When he passed, Chuck was trying to teach me the effects of the cold current on the walleye up here. I am still trying to put that all together, but it definitely changes the holds point and the angle of attack with your baits and lures.

Good stuff, Scott.

My, My, My!

I fished from 6:30 to 12:30 today, targeting walleye. The day began oddly when I had to go back in the house and put on more clothes this morning. I was in a sweat shirt all morning. The fish behaved as you would expect on a post front, blue bird sky morning. Everything I marked of size was sitting on the bottom and the bites I did have were all from areas with a break and cover. Still, I cannot complain. The bass weighed under 6 despite the huge head. The walleye was right at 22 inches. Water depth 25 to 30 feet. Night crawler on a harness.

Unless he is tall, think shorter on the rod. 6' MF, M power will fit better. Your reel choice is good. Set him up with a clear or bone Spook Jr., a T-rig set of soft plastics, and old school wiggle warts. Throw in a spinner bait or two. Practice throwing before you go.Then show him how you read the water and choose what to fish based on the season, time, temperature, and your instincts. Laugh at yourself when all fails, and laugh when he prevails. Enjoy.

Good report with information. Great comments with more information. I will venture out tomorrow.

While you are not as bad as Fishing Cricket, bless his heart, you do love to stir the pot, don't you.

I may have to try those.

Not yet.

Mostly.

The spinner bait + leadcore was covered extensively in articles posted on line. Try this as the spinner bait to reduce the hangs to a minimum. 9/16 ounce War Eagle.

PD - I agree about the crawlers. They are a mess. I look forward to getting on a trolled crank bite. But when you have a guest, you go with what you know has been working. In the next two weeks I will spend some serious time using other methods. When I begin to find success, I will post. BTW, I want a good jigging spoon bite this year. That is just plain fun.