recent walleye action

[gregnwtf]

Mid Winter blues for some, fishing for others. Last Saturday was a nice day, about 60 degrees. A fellow captain went out trolling for awhile during the warm part of the day and did well for early Jan. They boxed a dozen or so walleye. Trolling and jigging been taking fish. Spoke with another capt yesterday that was jigging recently and taking walleye also. Top of the lake may harden with this cold snap, at least in some areas. Less than 10 weeks till walleye charters start on the reefs. Phone ringing for summer trips already and havent sent out winter letters yet. Get your lures made and new line on the reels, its getn close to spring time.

[gregnwtf]

Its all in the wrist. Some feel it , some don't. This makes or breaks your day.
I had pretty good feel Saturday morning as I caught my personal limit within a couple hours with 3/4 oz. black \ purple with fake meat (Gulp). Lift the jig less than a foot then follow it back to the bottom. They grab it on that slower drop. Water temp is 49. Back at it next Sat n Sun.

[gregnwtf]

Drifting action is fair for jigging but good fisherman can catch. If the jig is not moving up and down the walleye ignore it. Casting spinners is just starting to take off and bottom bouncers are taking a few walleye also. Trolling has gotten the better story so do what it takes to put some in the cooler. I did alittle of everything this weekend and caught in all methods. Not a slam dunk for most but some did well that trolled.
One huge walleye taken Saturday but a friends charter service out of Wild Wings, 34 inches long and 13.5 pounds.
Hard to beat that length for sure. The big ones are all over if you figure out the pattern for your boat and gear or skill. The transition can be a tough one to figure out the fall turnover. When you mark fish from 8ft to 23ft everywhere you go in the depths off the reefs, it can take so time to find the depth and the menu for the day.
The other thing that is hard for some to get right is line out off the line counter reels. A full spool ( very full ) will read the right depth, a spool that is half or 3/4 full will be way off on feet back. So if Jim says 50ft back for his jets and his spools are prob full, and the average Joe calls him and asked what his leads are. Average Joe sets his half full spool on a different brand reel, guess what happens. Joe is prob not catching because he is too high. Then the line type and size comes into play. Thats the lesson of the week.

[gregnwtf]

Had one group for the weekend. Went out Sunday morning, talked them into trolling as the no wind. Talk about white bass city, the walleye were inside what seemed like a ring of white bass. Nice cooler of 36 walleye and size range 16 to 29 inches with most in the 21-22 inch. No throwbacks for us. 40 jets and spoons 40 to 75 ft just kept getting deeper thru the day. Getting some on Dipseys, with spoons and little rippers. L Jen 30 on #1 and 45 on #3. Speed 2.0-2.2. I heard a few people talking about pulling worms was working also with their set ups. This coming weekend is all drifting on Friday and Saturday.

[gregnwtf]

Walleye just diving in the boat this week. Drifting and trolling taking eyes all day long. No slow downs but very early morning is just fast as you can get baited and set. Boat #2 Sunday was 4 hours dock to dock with 42 walleye.
Constant weather patterns keeping all the fish biting.

[gregnwtf]

4 days, 4 limits. Drifting was even with trolling on catch rate. Trolling spoons on 40 jets , 50-60 ft. Was all alone 3 of the 4 days and fishing was very good. 14.5 to 27 inch fish. Dipseys starting to take a few walleye on #1 setting 35-40 ft with stickbaits. The casting bite is just great and its like the old days. Throw it out and hardly reel just to keep it moving and at the end of the swing or 2/3s the way around you feel the weight. Either no count down or an 8-10 count, just keep the line tight and barely move the crank. Troll speeds of 2.0-2.5 varied.