bferg Posted October 11, 2015 Posted October 11, 2015 Got one of the girls up early this morning for a little Daddy Daughter time. Went to the back of PC and messed around for a little casting some top water at about 7:00. No bites so we ran out to the islands and trolled some flicker shads. No luck there either. About 9:00 AM headed back to the back of PC- this time trolling flicker shads. Proceeded to have a great 2 hours and made a great memory. We kept running the same stretch of bank over and over and caught something on every pass. I was excited whene we hit the "Beaver Slam" (Striper, White, Smallie, Spot, LM). But then she caught a 19 inch walleye and I caught the first drum I have ever caught on the Beav. We were only missing a catfish! The wind started picking up just a little right at 9 and that is when the fish started biting. No real size on any of them except the walleye (who was released to get a little bigger). Smallie was nice and fat but only about 14 inches. Striper was 12 inches. Interesting- the shad colored Flicker Shad which is usually my top lure got no love. Blue Tiger and Uncle Rico caught all the fish... Guess they wanted a little more color. Marked a lot of fish back there today... RyanG, Stump bumper, zarraspook and 3 others 6
Stump bumper Posted October 11, 2015 Posted October 11, 2015 Sounds like a great morning, betting out this afternoon hope they are still around.
Blll Posted October 12, 2015 Posted October 12, 2015 Good for you! Great to be making a fishing buddy for life. Had a similar morning in PC too. (I'm sure we passed you a couple times, boat full of guys) 2wb, small striper, 4 spots, and 2 walleyes (just short) and a monster 14" crappie. Our bite seemed to die off around noon. Flicker shads and flicker minnow. We tried around the islands later but the wind was pretty stiff, so it was afternoon poker and football. good stuff.
J-Doc Posted October 12, 2015 Posted October 12, 2015 What is the deal with the skinny walleye? I know they are typically long anyway, but man..........that thing reminds me of Snoopy's cousin that lives out in the desert. HA! Every walleye I've caught all summer has been lean. Like super lean. And it's not showing any progression when everything else is fattening up for the winter. Not picking on your fish Bferg, just noting an observation I've seen on my own fish. And others. I'm ready to get my daughter out fishing but I just don't think she's quite ready. Her ADHD is worse than mine. LOL! Stump bumper 1 Need marine repair? Send our own forum friend "fishinwrench" a message. He will treat you like family!!! I owe fishinwrench a lot of thanks. He has been a great mechanic with lots of patience!
Champ188 Posted October 12, 2015 Posted October 12, 2015 Should be no reason for Beaver Lake walleye to be skinny, given the overabundance of shad in the lake.
bferg Posted October 13, 2015 Author Posted October 13, 2015 Bill- I think I saw you guys. We were in the green Lowe Roughneck... J-Doc- if you don't like her walleye why don't you go catch your own? j/k I know what you mean. To be fair- that picture sucks. It was just me and my 7 yr old trolling- trying to manage both our lines, drive the boat, watch the graph, work the net, and help her reel... It was a rodeo- pictures were low on the priority list. It wasn't as skinny as it looks- but it was certainly not as fat as the eyes I have caught out there in the past. There is plenty of Shad that's for sure...
J-Doc Posted October 13, 2015 Posted October 13, 2015 I questioned the skinny walleye back in the spring and Notropis said it was due to post spawn. Seems they have not fattened up yet. Literally, all other species (especially the spots) are putting on weight. I would like to see some healthier walleye. That's all I was saying. It's not the first nor the last skinny one I'll see this year I know. I catch one almost every trip. Need marine repair? Send our own forum friend "fishinwrench" a message. He will treat you like family!!! I owe fishinwrench a lot of thanks. He has been a great mechanic with lots of patience!
1969Larson Posted October 13, 2015 Posted October 13, 2015 What is the deal with the skinny walleye? I know they are typically long anyway, but man..........that thing reminds me of Snoopy's cousin that lives out in the desert. HA! Hilarious! You mean Spike... He's Snoopy's brother. J-Doc 1
Stump bumper Posted October 13, 2015 Posted October 13, 2015 What is the deal with the skinny walleye? I know they are typically long anyway, but man..........that thing reminds me of Snoopy's cousin that lives out in the desert. HA! Every walleye I've caught all summer has been lean. Like super lean. And it's not showing any progression when everything else is fattening up for the winter. Not picking on your fish Bferg, just noting an observation I've seen on my own fish. And others. I'm ready to get my daughter out fishing but I just don't think she's quite ready. Her ADHD is worse than mine. LOL! My personal belief in this matter is that Walleye are bottom feeders they stay around rocks in deeper water and don't suspend. The bass and whites will school and run the shad to the top then devastate the school. Walleye work alone, don't move into the brush or feed on top, in a high water year that gives the shad plenty of room to stay away from them. I think the walleye then are left with small bluegill and crawfish darting in and out of the rocks. After the water gets cold and the shad slow down the walleye won't and they fatten for the spawn in cold water, then you will see fat walleye in January and February. JMO I have seen schools of little walleye feeding on top and had little 4in walleye hit a top water but I have never seen a school of big walleye working together.
Notropis Posted October 13, 2015 Posted October 13, 2015 " I questioned the skinny walleye back in the spring and Notropis said it was due to post spawn. Seems they have not fattened up yet. Literally, all other species (especially the spots) are putting on weight. " That was my best guess at the time. I certainly don't have all the answers regarding yearly changes in the fish populations. I agree with both Champ188 and Stump bumper, there are a lot of shad currently in the lake and the other species are looking very plump. I think Stump bumper is on to something, the walleye are not good shad chasers and summer is their most stressful time, being cool water fish. I think they do a lot better when the water temps are colder and the shad are sluggish and easily caught. I believe a lot of these skinny walleye are ones that had to stay close to the thermocline during the summer, restricting their ability to roam for forage. As Stump bumper indicated, they are bottom oriented most of the time, further restricting their ability to chase shad through the upper water levels, especially when the surface temps are close to 90. Jon Stein, current District Fisheries Biologist, does his condition factor studies on walleye during the winter and the Relative Weights (condition factor) were all close to 100% which is very good. I suspect if he did them in the summer, the percentage would be lower. Again, just my best guess! I don't think there is a major problem with the walleye condition factors currently, especially with the high forage levels present in the lake. Lets see if they improve during the winter. J-Doc 1
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