Walleye Size ? Opinions

[Jeff Olson]

Hi guys,Im new to the area, from WI and am just starting to learn the upper area of bull shoals.I was out tuesday from 6 am to 3 pm. way to nice out,calm and clear and hot! but I did catch 11 walleye but they were all shorts 10 to 17 in. Im curious from your experience if this means I was to shallow, to deep to fast or slow or just one of those days. I was trolling crawler harnesses and cranks mainly in the 17 to 20 ft range but ranged some in 13 up to 30 .so just wondering if catching all smalls means anything or not? thanks for any info! and also is the upper area good in the summer or is the lower part better? I like the upper because its only 25 min from where we live in hollister by T R dam ,

[Phil Lilley]

I'm not anything close to a walleye angler except I like to catch them - know very little about how to do it BUT I would suggest driving down to and fish the Tucker Hollow area. It's not that much further from where you live vs driving to K Dock.

[Feathers and Fins]

Cant speak for BS but on BL when I get into an age group its a good clue there are other age groups in the area. That is when I stop trolling and start working over an area very methodically... The 4'' keitech swim baits on 1/4oz heads get pulled out and cast away from the boat in all directions trying to locate if there are bigger fish below the schools or if it is a mix of fish and the smaller ones are just more aggresive and active. Normal time spent on them is 20 minutes. If by then All i have caught were the same age class I will move on and keep looking.

BUT pay attention to depth and type of bottom and structure where you were getting them and then move on to an area that has those same features and fish it. I have found they want the same features and the bigger ages might just be 200yards down the road. I think people spend to much time trolling and not enough time figuring out the WHY'S thats why I like to stop when i pick them up repeatedly in the same area trolling and try and figure out why, By throwing the swim baits. Durring summer I have even been known to take a dive.

[powerdive]

Jeff, that's unusual. Probably a reflection of the great spawns that came out of the high water years. But in my experience, walleyes of all sizes live in that area. I've caught 'em from 8" to 33" there. Most of the time, May into October, I troll cranks at 18 to 30 feet. So, you just had one of those days, in my opinion.

Seems there's always lots of show on sonar there, but you can still blank one day and load up the next--welcome to the South. (I'm from WI too.)

[powerdive]

By the way, the tagging study conducted by the MO DOC a few short years ago concluded that there was very little movement between lake sections. In other words, the vast majority of the fish that spawned at Powersite "lived" above the state line.

[Jeff Olson]

thanks for the posts guys! thats great info. when you troll that 18 to 30 ft range , what depths are your cranks running at ,or are you weighting them or useing lead core to fish the bottom or targetting suspended fish? (powerdive im from eau claire, how about you ) also what speeds do you find works best for cranks, and what speed for bottom bouncers & crawlers. thanks.

[powerdive]

Jeff, I use leadcore and flatlines for cranks, target a small depth range (say, 23' to 26') on each pass, and try to run the baits within a couple feet of the bottom. I generally keep it at 2 mph in the warm months, although a little more speed will sometimes trigger a better bite. (Sheer laziness--it's just easier to figure running depth for leadcore at 2 mph.) Sometimes the tough part is getting your cranks down thru the gar.

I don't bounce much anymore, as I prefer to cover water. But generally spinner harnesses work best at 0.7 to 1.5 mph. Colorado blades are best slow, willows are better for the higher speeds. Keep it slow for Slow Death rigs.

I mostly troll the outside edges of flats. In the height of summer you might do better vertically jigging the mouths of ditches that cut thru the flats, at 25 to 40 ft.

I hail from Delavan/Lake Geneva.

[Jeff Olson]

thanks Powerdive! yes them gar can be a pain! also courious if you have noticed a difference if you troll downstream compared to upstream? seems like normally there is very little flow on bull shoals , but I have usually trolled upstream .

[powerdive]

I seldom see enough current to make a distinction.

I assume we've been talking about the Snapp-to-Mincy area. Upstream will be a different story, but I don't troll there.

[Jeff Olson]

thanks guys, Bry, I assume you are using lead core also to be hitting bottom at them depths. I have never fished with lead core but I am going to get set up with it in a couple weeks. Im going to be in rogers,mn. visiting the inlaws and there is a Cabelas there! Im going to start researching what to get, but any tips and suggestions on getting set up with lead core would be great!