Bill Babler

Walleye and gills here have a symbiotic relationship. At times as Dan said They will be mixed in with huge gills, really to big for their consumption At other times they will be on smaller gills and will be hunting them. I have not cleaned or seen a walleye here with shad either in its throat or stomach. It is however not uncommon to see either small gills or crayfish while cleaning them or just seeing them in their gullets when releasing them. I’ve cleaned 2 walleye over the years that had small walleye in their stomach so they do eat their own. I don’t believe walleye are in the business of preying on shad. As any predator they are opportunistic and if one falls or flutters by I’m sure it’s consumed. I have never caught a walleye chasing shad. I’ve caught everything else including catfish but no walleye. I have caught them near or hovering under shad but have never seen them enter a shad school Now you ask, why do they eat a spoon so well if they’re not consuming shad? I have no idea. I’m guessing they are like a vulture just waiting for one to die and drift down. Don’t think they are thinking, why wait, let’s just go kill something. Crayfish, small gills and juvenile walleye are in their strike zone all the time makes for less expended energy and much easier prey than shad that is usually higher in the water column.

Don’t know how long this will last, but the amount of short walleye in multiple age groups is simply unreal. 8”, 10”, 12”, 14” 17” We are in a walleye boom. I know there have been concerns about harvesting sow walleye up the White and Kings River prior to the spawn. It looks like some of those concerns are unfounded as the lake seems to be replenishing through quality spawns for at least the past 7-8 years. I’m averaging about 2/3 keepers per every ten I catch. About the same with the 3 bass species. In June and now into July me and my guests have put close to 200 walleye in the boat and only kept 11. I’m pretty sure I’ve been out 15 or 16 times. On another note we have been catching plate size bluegill. Have kept a few that got it deep but there is a ton of them out there. Good Luck.

Went again yesterday with a Lake O. Buddy. Had close to 30 walleye and that many bass. I’m going to post a picture of my LS, it’s a terrible picture as I just couldn’t get the glare and self shadow out but it shows the walleye just perfect. It’s showing 3 walleye and a bluegill. When they’re lined up like this they will bite most of the time. At times they will pull up in the line 5’ or so off the bottom and they get pretty stingy. They will also stack, very seldom, but they do it. You think they might be bass and get fooled. Almost every flat gravel point on the entire White River from Long Creek to Holiday Island has them. You pull up and don’t see candles on the bottom, go to the next point.

Exactly, totally do nothing. Throw it let it sink and reel or pull it slowly. 1/4 to 3/8. White, black or olive. Tennessee ledge you throw it let it sink to the bottom then either crank the reel hard several times or pop it and let it drop. Of course they catch it on the fall. Northern method let it sink to the bottom or to suspended fish and slowly reel it home. Table Rock fish prefer this 99% of the time. Nice call Quill.

Buddy went yesterday. He had just returned from Door Co. They were fishing for SM but caught a lot of Eyes on hair jigs. He caught 5 eyes and over 40 bass on a hair jig yesterday on just a few locations. Hair is something we don’t do here much. I’ve watched them fish it on the Tennessee River ledges but that’s not how they fish it up North. I’ve tried both methods here and the Northern method is how they like it on the Rock. Really fun. Something I’m sure Phil Lilley would enjoy as he loves to straight line jig fish. Nice walleye, glad y’all caught em. Lots of ways to skin a cat or for that matter fillet a fish. 😁

Took my Minnesota buddies again yesterday. We did really well, not the stupid numbers from last week, but way bigger fish. Walleye were totally set up different, and when I hooked my first two on a spoon I told the guys I had bass. Totally wrong. Walleye were more grouped and suspended 5’ off the bottom. Not the typical head to tail line, but just like a school of spotted bass. Catch one or two at a location and then that was it. You had no more than 10 minutes on a location and it was over. Fished 4/5 locations the entire morning last week and fished 2 dozen yesterday. They proved yesterday that I know squat. Nothing on a harness but bass and gills. All the walleye cane on spoons and drop shot. Pretty sure we were fishing under them with the bottom bouncers.

I’m using three quarter oz. At times I’ll use an ounce but really never go above that. At 26’ depth, trolling under 1 mph the 3/4 has no problem staying on the bottom. 12# main line 15# on the harness as they have sharp Chompers. Not saying I’m fishing 26’ right now. I’ll let y’all figure out the depth If they are deeper than 30’ I pretty much fish vertically with either a drop shot or spoon Not a guide anymore or for that matter an expert. The LiveScope has really educated me in the last 3 years on walleye. It seems that for crappie and walleye the FFS has opened windows we thought were nailed shut. Extremely educational.

That’s the thing as far as wind up there, as there are more non-fishing days than fishing days. Buddy has started going to the St.Lawrence and no problem fishing everyday. The problem is the 1300 Mile drive. Said they also caught more and bigger than Green Bay. He said, not nearly the amount of fishermen. He has fished Door Co. for years. We’ll try Chop on our next visit.

Nightingale Supper club was fantastic. Their signature dish is prime rib. I got mine blackened with buttered mushrooms. Fork tender and Becky kept helping me with it. For a while I thought she was a baby bird as she had her beak open looking at my plate. She had the fish and said it was good, but not in the same universe as the PR. Glad ya’ll had a good trip. Did u go to Renards Cheese. Good gosh their Cherry preserves are amazing.

Excellent Thread. Walleye have turned into more that a major player for TR. Guides from pt. 9 to LongCreek catch as many with their clients as we do on the upper end in the Summer and Fall. They occupy very similar if not the same area as spotted bass. They do suspend but most catching activity on the lower end is live bait drop shotting on the bottom. Lots of catches being posted on Facebook, with some real pigs. You can and folks do catch them over the entire lake, but the James River seems to be the weakest area. I have caught them clear to flat creek but your most likely to do better on the White.

Dennis is a total Hammer. I think he has a diary of 20 plus years. He fishes 7 days a week weather permitting. Don’t forget Tom’s wife. She can catch em too.

The biggest I have seen caught here was a guide trip I had in 2014. We had 2 right at 9 pounds suspended in the trees on the deep side of point 9. We were catching K’s out of the tree tops. 28’ over 70’. My personal best was a10 pounder below Truman Dam. I believe both Buster and Tim Sainato have had 12# plus out of Bull.

Northland makes the best crawler harness but they are expensive. We never lost a single one. I usually add 3 additional floats. Randy’s post of making your own is classic Ozark Angler sharing. Review it if you’re going to give this a try. Or, drop the bucks to Northland. The Butterfly Blades out preformed the Colorado by far. Some of these locations are holding dozens of walleye. They may or may not bite but TR has turned into a pretty fair walleye pond.

4 pounds was the biggest. “Released”. Boat full of others. Had at least a dozen shorts 17” to 17 7/8 inches. 3 of us only kept 5. right at 18”. I kept 1 and my buddies kept 2 each I’m going to say the 17” to the 19” fish we caught were all from the same spawn year. All totally fat and unmarked. Might have just gotten out on their summer locations. 1/2oz. White Dixie Jigging spoon also did major damage.

Yep Sorry I’ve learned what they look like. Can’t totally eliminate the bass as we caught some giant K’s today but both of my buddies caught on (No Pun intended). pretty quick and they could tell the walleye from the bass looking at LS. Had 3 doubles and I counted one down for Bob. Got so crazy Lucky. I go 3-2-1 and Bob said there he is. We laughed so hard all three of us had tears streaming down our cheeks. Caught just some monster gills bigger than your palm also We ran 3/4 oz. bottom bouncers with Northland Tackle Butterfly Blade crawler Harness. Started with Pink on 🤣🤣one rod and Chartreuse on the other. Within 20 minutes the pink was back in the box.