Smokey Skys and another Hot bite
We had several days with NW winds and most of the week we had hazy, smokey skies. Once again, the days with a breeze were great and the flat calm afternoons were a tough walleye bite. Quite a few guides spent the windless afternoons chasing pike and the results were very good for numbers and not bad for big fish. For the week we caught and released 9 pike over 37 in., including 6 – 38s, 1 – 39, and 1 – 40. Spoons plus weeds near deep water continue to be the consistent formula for big summer pike.
Surprisingly, the walleyes continue to be caught in a tight depth range. If I had to pin down the most consistent depth range for the week, the answer would be 20 – 25 ft. The main lake basins continued to be the key for big walleyes. Sand and rock both produced well, but many of the best spots were the rock to sand transitions in that key depth zone. There were many reports at round table of guides locating a big rock or rock pile on a sand structure that held numbers of walleyes.
It was another 50/50 week for the speed of presentations. When the walleyes were active, suspended off bottom, or spread out on sand structures, then the answer was some speed and plastics. There were a few fish caught on 6 in. Nemesis this week, but after a few short bites, most guides opted for 4 – 5 in. baits. A white crazy legs Jerk shad was hard to beat. When the walleyes were neutral to negative, belly to the bottom, and concentrated around rock sand transitions, then the answer was lighter jigs and live bait.
The guides prefer to fish ¼’s and minnows, even if it means long lining them at .4 mph. There were times when we found a group of bigger fish that were tight to structure that just would not bite. The next level of finesse fishing is to tie on 1/8 oz. jigs and dead sticking. When that didn’t work, we experimented with drop shots. All those different presentations require that you understand the time constraints involved. If you tie on a drop shot, then you are covering no water. If you break off or get bit off by a pike, then you are in the penalty box. As guides, we are always fighting the clock and it is easy to get too focused on a group of fish that just won’t bite. The most consistent success this week was once again achieved by being versatile. Having multiple rods set up to quickly switch back and forth between Gulping and fishing live bait vertically was the key.
For the week, we caught and released 57 walleyes over 27 in., including 13 – 28s, 3 – 29s, and 2 – 30s. Volume was also strong. Guide sheets averaged 40 walleyes over 18 in. per boat per day.
