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We are going up to the Western Basin to spend the weekend fishing. Plan on perch fishing mostly during the day, but want to do some walleye night fishing (trolling, drifting...doesn't matter).
Anyone at least have an idea where the walleye might be in the area? We can do the rest from there.
Thanks in advance.
We have been getting a few on the shoals, Kelly's and Gull.
Thank you! Appreciate the info.
No luck with the night fishing on Friday night. Although it was a picture perfect evening to be out on the water waiting for the blow to come in, the water and fish didn't cooperate much. Ended up having to pull lines every 15-20 minutes because of grass. Marked good fish, but I am sure the bait wasn't very attractive with 20 inches of grass dragging behind whichever harness or Smithwick was on the line.
Perch fishing was awesome this weekend though if you could navigate the waters. Took 45 minutes to get from Catawba to the SE side of Perry Monument in 3-5 foot waves. Once we got there, moved around a little until we got on a somewhat inconsistent bite. Ended up with 5 person limit on Saturday which went 48 lbs at the cleaners. Some very nice 10-11 inch fish mixed in with a bunch of 7-8 inchers. Sunday was a little slower with 3 kids and their moms on the boat. Fished for about 3 hours with 90 fish on the boat.
Homemade rig with a 2 oz. sinker on bottom and two 4" leader hooks tied up 6" and 16 inches directly to loop on line worked best this weekend. Had crappie rigs and spreaders on 3 poles that didn't work as well most of the time as the homemade rigs on two of the poles.
Awesome weekend with a net of about 22 lbs of cleaned fish in the freezer. Everyone loved it once we fought through the waves and found shelter behind the island.
A quick word to the a*hole boaters in that area - in three days of hanging out in that area, I had more jerks with horrible boating etiquette than I have had in the past 25 years boating in other areas. Friday night, had a 42 foot boat bare down on us at 20+ mph and come within 15 feet of my starboard side without ever slowing down. We were trolling at midnight and had this jerk damn near take us out. Going in and out of Catawba, had more 40+ foot boats overtake us in the channel without ever signaling their intent to overtake us. It is a no wake zone and we were doing about 6 mph sog and had these tools fly up our side and pass us without warning. It is pretty simple boating etiquette. If you are wanting to overtake another vessel, signal with 1 short blast of horn if you want to overtake on their starboard side, 2 on port side. Do not pass until the other vessel mirrors the signal acknowledging it is safe to overtake. If you are spending the kind of money it takes to buy a 40+ foot vessel, spend the couple hours it takes to learn safe boating and learn the rules. Nobody is impressed by the size of your boat if there is a brain-dead tool at the helm.
Stay safe out there. Take the time to learn safe boating and enjoy the bounties of the water.