Mixed Bag Report 5/21

[packersooner]

Fished from about 1:30 until just after 8 mainly targeting walleye. Was able to boat 15 of them with the 4 keepers being 15, 16, 17, and 18". Most of them were caught on crawler harnesses in 18-22 fow. Had to switch colors as the skies cleared up. All of them were either on points or just inside points on the main lake. Also caught a nice catfish who mangled one of my harnesses...lol!

Then switched to leadcore and Flickers around 6:30. Caught a half dozen keeper crappie and a handful of shorts (crappie and walleye). Fished the 16-21 fow range.

Jason

[slab slinger]

Great report. Glad to hear about the eyes. Good job bub!

[Kdub]

Ok. New to OA and boat fishing. I need a little advice. The wife and I tried to target Walleye yesterday using slow death rigs. Fished a few points on the Big Sac arm right at the south end of the State Park. We dropped our rigs in about 35' of water and would troll very slowly up to about 15' and then turn and go back out. Working across the point in that fashion. We did catch 1 eye that was 14.5" and a few keeper crappie along with a small catfish, carp and drum. What do we need to do get on the fish?

[Aggressor1988long]

Evening time before dark and after

[wuteversbitin424]

I catch quite a few trolling flickr shads in 20 - 35 fow across points and down the shorline. Agressor nailed it too...troling before sunset and after is very affective

[mjk86]

Its just stupid how effective dragging flicker shads around is. Middle of coves for crappie and main lake points for walleye. I always catch a bunch of bass and drum too.

[packersooner]

Kdub,

Slow death is a great way to catch walleye on Stockton. You will almost always catch something on that type of rig.

The first thing I'll throw out there is to make sure your rig is cork-screwing. If it's not, you will not catch fish. A good swivel is a must. Also, make sure you are trolling at least 0.7 mph.

The way I will usually fish it is to troll a certain depth contour versus trolling from deep to shallow and vice-versa. Maybe start in at 12' make at least two passes (one each way) trying to stay on the 12' foot contour. Then move out 2 or 3 feet and repeat. For some reason, 20 fow seems to be a common depth for them to hang out at.

Generally speaking, a two ounce bottom bouncer weight (I prefer pencil verses L-shaped) will work for those depths. 1.5 ounce would probably be a bit better if you find them in the 12-16 fow range. The general rule of thumb is an ounce per 10 feet of water.

BTW, welcome to the forum!

[Kdub]

Packersooner, Thank you! Sounds like I need to change a few things. Heavier bottom bouncers, Im using 1oz L shape and have been fishing 20-25 fow. Also need to make sure rig is cork screwing. Part of the reason I was going deep to shallow was because I didn't have a depth finder on the front of the boat. It was the only way I could think of to cover the point. I have a cheapy for the moment that at least tells me the depth. We tried today with limited success but we were not covering all depths like you described. How do you know your speed?

[Boobie]

If you can feel your bb hitting bottom and not hanging up speed up just a touch. Your depth finder just telling you depth is good enough besides a good map. If no luck in one spot move to another. If you are on them they will hit it. If not move. You will find them. Like sooner said make sure you a moving fat enough for your bait to spin coming down fri with son to fish slow d rigs. His first time. Also google slow death rigs to pick up any thing u might be missing. Once you get it down you will have a blast. Good luck.

[packersooner]

Kdub,

You can always check your speed and to make sure it is cork screwing by dropping the rig down a 3-4 feet into the water and starting to troll. Once you are going fast enough, you will see it spinning. Then, you can drop your rig to the bottom. Don't just thunk it down there either. First off, dropping it too fast can increase the chance of it getting hung when it initially hits bottom. The second reason is that all of the drag on your crawler may pull it down on the hook. If that happens, you will not catch fish as your rig will not cork screw.

As Boobie said, speed up slightly or reel in a bit of line if your weight is constantly hitting bottom. You want your bouncer weight a foot or two above the bottom. Occasionally drop your rod tip down to make sure you are within a few feet of the bottom. If I mark what appears to be a walleye on the depth finder, I will sometimes drop my rod tip to entice a strike (wounded baitfish effect).