[lirwin4]

Too nice a day not to be out fishing! It was almost dead calm and they were on fire right from the get go. The action was pretty much non stop and never really slowed down until late afternoon when the wind came up. I don't know how many times, I had a bite as soon as my line hit bottom. At noon, I landed 5 big fish in a row. By 7:30, I ran out of minnows, going through 5 tubs so I called it a day. Straight up and down with no pause worked the best in the morning and high lift, pause in the afternoon. I never moved all day! I ended up with 206 Wallies. Crazy big fish bite! I easily caught 2 dozen 26", over a dozen 27", 5-28", 3-29" and a 31". Here are some pictures:

 

[freespooling]

Lance, you caught all the walleye that were catchable on June 23. We fished Hecla the same day and caught a total of 4 walleye between the two of us. Yes, the pic shows where we were fishing but it's no secret.

 

[smerf]

Wow awesome day!.....what depth were you fishing?...where are you buying your bait?.....Bait is getting quite expensive!

 

[foxer]

Wow awesome day!.....what depth were you fishing?...where are you buying your bait?.....Bait is getting quite expensive!

Yes bait is getting expensive, and quality is going down in most cases..... If you had a butcher in your area which sold rotten meat would you buy his product at a high price? I do not think so. The retailers are not blameless either, they keep selling the junk. At this time there is no incentive for the producer to improve. Too bad.

 

[lirwin4]

Yesterday, I was fishing in 20 fow. I rarely move from this depth. Lots of baitfish around where I was fishing. Yes, it is hard to find good, quality minnows at a reasonable price these days. Supply is becoming a major problem. I catch some of my own shiners but that usually doesn't go very far. I mainly buy, always salted, by the case from a local, unnamed supplier in the Spring. I find that Spring minnows come from colder waters and hold together better. A lot of the quality problem comes from retaillers that don't store their minnows at a cold enough temperature. There are also some good case lots deals every now and then, but supply is often limited and subject to seasonal availability. All I will say is, get them while you can! IMO, Northern Lites are usually pretty decent. When out fishing, I carry a small cooler with ice packs on the bottom and sides to keep them cold between tubs.

 

[tconasam]

Too nice a day not to be out fishing! It was almost dead calm and they were on fire right from the get go. The action was pretty much non stop and never really slowed down until late afternoon when the wind came up. I don't know how many times, I had a bite as soon as my line hit bottom. At noon, I landed 5 big fish in a row. By 7:30, I ran out of minnows, going through 5 tubs so I called it a day. Straight up and down with no pause worked the best in the morning and high lift, pause in the afternoon. I never moved all day! I ended up with 206 Wallies. Crazy big fish bite! I easily caught 2 dozen 26", over a dozen 27", 5-28", 3-29" and a 31". Here are some pictures:

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Yesterday, I was fishing in 20 fow. I rarely move from this depth. Lots of baitfish around where I was fishing. Yes, it is hard to find good, quality minnows at a reasonable price these days. Supply is becoming a major problem. I catch some of my own shiners but that usually doesn't go very far. I mainly buy, always salted, by the case from a local, unnamed supplier in the Spring. I find that Spring minnows come from colder waters and hold together better. A lot of the quality problem comes from retaillers that don't store their minnows at a cold enough temperature. There are also some good case lots deals every now and then, but supply is often limited and subject to seasonal availability. All I will say is, get them while you can! IMO, Northern Lites are usually pretty decent. When out fishing, I carry a small cooler with ice packs on the bottom and sides to keep them cold between tubs.

 

[tconasam]

Lirwin4 you are a walleye" Champion", without a doubt ! I thought your Red River posts of a couple of years ago were amazing, but since moving to the Lake you have really locked on. I notice that your technique has stayed pretty much the same. Awesome. Thanks for the reports and added tips. Location, Location, Location????? has to be a key factor. ( not a hint LOL)

 

[smerf]

Yesterday, I was fishing in 20 fow. I rarely move from this depth. Lots of baitfish around where I was fishing. Yes, it is hard to find good, quality minnows at a reasonable price these days. Supply is becoming a major problem. I catch some of my own shiners but that usually doesn't go very far. I mainly buy, always salted, by the case from a local, unnamed supplier in the Spring. I find that Spring minnows come from colder waters and hold together better. A lot of the quality problem comes from retaillers that don't store their minnows at a cold enough temperature. There are also some good case lots deals every now and then, but supply is often limited and subject to seasonal availability. All I will say is, get them while you can! IMO, Northern Lites are usually pretty decent. When out fishing, I carry a small cooler with ice packs on the bottom and sides to keep them cold between tubs.

Okay thanks... that's close to the depth I was finding them at Hecla and yes I always bring a cooler with ice packs also.

 

[lirwin4]

Lirwin4 you are a walleye" Champion", without a doubt ! I thought your Red River posts of a couple of years ago were amazing, but since moving to the Lake you have really locked on. I notice that your technique has stayed pretty much the same. Awesome. Thanks for the reports and added tips. Location, Location, Location????? has to be a key factor. ( not a hint LOL)

Thanks for the praise. No real secret spots, just lots of time and passion! Yesterday was just at the right place at the right time, finding fish following baitfish. I am old school and am almost always out there all day. I still have lots to learn and to work on. My biggest flaw, although it can it can also an asset at times as well, is that I am lazy and don't move as often as I should. I don't have livescope or virtual anchor technology and I don't put a whole lot of faith in my electronics. I am stuck with my gen 2 HDS8 c/w original transducer. I find it is not uncommon for fish to be so tight to bottom, that they don't show up on the screen. It never ceases to amaze me how a simple change in jigging cadence, even a slight, subtle variation, can be a huge trigger for moody fish. Most often, I find the length of the pause and speed of the drop to be the biggest factors. Contrary to popular belief, slow finesse jigging is not usually best to trigger negative fish. Speed cranking, ripping, snap jigging, freefall drops, etc. more often are. Some days, they won't touch it, unless you make them chase.

As for location and finding spots, I cannot say enough good about Anglers Edge Mapping. It is a real eye opener! It is very accurate and has helped me discover many new stucture/ features/ spots that I never knew existed before. The depth colour coding system is awesome! AEM has helped me immensely to better understand fish movements and patterns. As for location or spot on a spot, I have some waypoints saved that have special structure such as mud flats, boulders, drop offs, current seams, etc. that are favorites, but quite often I find that structure is not a big factor on LW. Seasonal migration patterns and baitfish movements are key. We are so fortunate to have such an amazing, world class Walley fishery in our back yard!

 

[bddl]

Yesterday, I was fishing in 20 fow. I rarely move from this depth. Lots of baitfish around where I was fishing. Yes, it is hard to find good, quality minnows at a reasonable price these days. Supply is becoming a major problem. I catch some of my own shiners but that usually doesn't go very far. I mainly buy, always salted, by the case from a local, unnamed supplier in the Spring. I find that Spring minnows come from colder waters and hold together better. A lot of the quality problem comes from retaillers that don't store their minnows at a cold enough temperature. There are also some good case lots deals every now and then, but supply is often limited and subject to seasonal availability. All I will say is, get them while you can! IMO, Northern Lites are usually pretty decent. When out fishing, I carry a small cooler with ice packs on the bottom and sides to keep them cold between tubs.

You don't realize how bad frozen minnows are until you happen to find some that are not mush. These mushy ones must have been frozen and thawed multiple times. I guess many are mush before being salted. It takes a lot of effort to produce crap like this consistently. I am moving to artificials for this reason.

 

[foxer]

Yesterday, I was fishing in 20 fow. I rarely move from this depth. Lots of baitfish around where I was fishing. Yes, it is hard to find good, quality minnows at a reasonable price these days. Supply is becoming a major problem. I catch some of my own shiners but that usually doesn't go very far. I mainly buy, always salted, by the case from a local, unnamed supplier in the Spring. I find that Spring minnows come from colder waters and hold together better. A lot of the quality problem comes from retaillers that don't store their minnows at a cold enough temperature. There are also some good case lots deals every now and then, but supply is often limited and subject to seasonal availability. All I will say is, get them while you can! IMO, Northern Lites are usually pretty decent. When out fishing, I carry a small cooler with ice packs on the bottom and sides to keep them cold between tubs.

May I add.... When a person does find decent salted minnows, fresh caught in the spring he must do his part in keeping them. Freezers must be at a cold enough temp to keep the minnows and the brine frozen solid after purchase.

 

[bddl]

May I add.... When a person does find decent salted minnows, fresh caught in the spring he must do his part in keeping them. Freezers must be at a cold enough temp to keep the minnows and the brine frozen solid after purchase.

Any normal functioning deep freezer is more than cold enough. Frost free/auto defrost can cause freeze thaw cycles which can turn vulnerable products like ice cream, shrimp, frozen vegetables or salty items into mush. Depends on the freezer but many defrost 2 or 3 times a day and often get quite warm. Others cause few problems. There is little excuse for this to happen with the producer or distributor.