7-6-23. Early Morning Out of Baxter.

[Bill Babler]

Got on the water at 05:15, and had the first one in the boat at 5:36 on a deep crank. Had 2 others on it but one jumped and spat it back at me and the other just came unbuttoned 1/2 way back to the boat. 

The one that tossed my cookies was a nice jaw and I’m guessing the escape artist was too. 

18’ was the magic depth for me today on any of the baits I tossed. Jig was by far the best.

Was after walleye later in the morning and caught 13 on crawlers. 18’ to 24’.  Only had 1 19.5 inch keeper, all the rest were short and I mean short. Anywhere from 6” to 10”.   The keeper was the only one I measured.  They were that small. 

Absolutely no one on the lake till 10 am, then it got silly.  I brought a samitch so I stayed out till 1pm.  Caught all the walleye after 9 am. 

Big gills and little walter’s were still biting at 1.  I used 2.5  24 count boxed of crawlers and I cut them in half.  

Probably had 2 dozen monster gills. Yes, you can target them on live scope. Lots of them are suspended at 10’ to 15’ over the 22’ number. If you see this don’t drop if you’re after walleye as they will snatch the squirm before it gets near walleye country. 

Flat gravel points are just covered with both young walleye and gills. Never did find a decent concentration of K’s and looked as deep as 40’.  Found some babies in tree tops on bluffends but nada on quality. 

No walleye pic’s I just get them back as quick as possible. Not to mention I’m scared shirtless of them, both eyes and white bass always get a fin in me. ALWAYS. 
 

Surface temps at 82.1 on and off. 

Good Luck. 






 

[Quillback]

Good stuff, I am thinking about chasing some gills, I love fried gill fillets.

How do you rig your crawlers for them?

[Bill Babler]

Jeff I just rigged a size 1 on a drop shot and threaded  the 1/2 crawler on it.  As I said I was after walleye and couldn’t keep these pesky critters off. 

[Bgctrading]

I found the same thing this week. If you could stay out of the gills and give the walleye time to decide to bite it you could catch them. But the gills beat them to it ALOT.

[Bill Babler]

Becky fried up the Walter for dinner with M and C and a nice toss salad. A 19.5” walleye made 16 good size pieces. We had 5 pieces left for a nice sandwich. 

If you can, eat them fresh and only what you can consume at a sitting or two there are plenty for everyone. 

Wanted another keeper for company this weekend but no dice. Was durn glad to see I believe at least 3 year classes of sub legal fish. 

I believe the walleye fishery at this point is in very good shape, even with the early harvest we have been seeing the last few years on the White and Kings Rivers. 

I really think they are in better shape than the white bass and the spotted bass. 

The last 3 or 4 years I have done way better on LM, Jaws and Walters than K’s. 

Lots of both LM and Jaws out on the gravel where the K’s used to hang. Not to mention those pesky gills mixed with the big eye fish. 

Good Luck






 

[Bgctrading]

Do you notice on your ffs that the walleye will swim up and sniff the bait 2 or 3 times before taking it? Especially on dropshot

[Bill Babler]

Today was funny. I had some I was for sure were walleye that did look at it and not eat it. 

They never came up off the bottom but a foot or so and were good size marks. 

I did catch two today on a 3/4 oz. Jigging spoon. One of which was the keeper and the other a fat as a pig 14 incher. 

They bite and fight so much different than a bass you really can’t mistake them. 


 

[dan hufferd]

On 7/6/2023 at 4:34 PM, Bill Babler said:

Jeff I just rigged a size 1 on a drop shot and threaded  the 1/2 crawler on it.  As I said I was after walleye and couldn’t keep these pesky critters off. 

When the walleye are in that zone they are fun to spoon !

[Bill Babler]

Yep, the neighbor has a secret point he has been working with that 3/4 jigging spoon and they are snapping at it. 

I do know that depth range has been that 18’ to 22’. 
 

[Champ188]

On 7/6/2023 at 6:29 PM, Bill Babler said:

I believe the walleye fishery at this point is in very good shape, even with the early harvest we have been seeing the last few years on the White and Kings Rivers. 

I really think they are in better shape than the white bass and the spotted bass. 

The last 3 or 4 years I have done way better on LM, Jaws and Walters than K’s. 

Lots of both LM and Jaws out on the gravel where the K’s used to hang.

But Bill, it doesn't hurt to keep SPOTTED BASS. I know it can't hurt because I've read it right here on OAF a hundred times. 

Personally, I don't believe you can put the kind of pressure TR gets on any lake and not hurt the fishing to a degree. But that's just me.