Walleyes today

[ctom]

A friend and I set sail on Lake Pepin, a super -wide spot inthe Mississippi River. The lake is amazing for its walleyes. This trip was planned week ago so of course today the temp was about 35 degrees when we hit the water. And the wind was pumped up to about 35 mph.

We put in regardless and fished an area right outside a marina entrance and along a section of rip rap that is known locally as a "spot". To entice the fish we caught, we pulled or drifted #2 phelps floaters and leeches held down on Lindt type rigging. And Do It walking sinkers. Bright yellow/green floaters got the nod with the bright skies and the choice was a wise one.

No huge fish today however we did see some nice walleyes and a channelcat of bout ten pounds kept me busy with the six pound line.

We've definitely fished under nicer conditions but we take what were given and do the best we can. It was a fun day and a welcomed change from the crappies, which will see my presence tomorrow.

[Muskygary]

WOW! Your fishing has been good this spring. Looked at the temperature and the waves on the lake and decided to stay inside. Haven't had a good day yet.

[ctom]

In looking back at what we drove up to this morning I think we'd have been smart to turn back for home with the boat dry. We saw one other boat and it was a much larger boat than our 16 footer. The boat drained for all of ten minutes at the ramp when we trailered up and got ready for the road home.

[WALLEYE WACKER]

Sounds like you had great time even with the poor weather conditions.

[Muskygary]

CTom you are a die-hard fisherman!

[ctom]

Back to crappies today. They're what's for supper

[ctom]

Crappies yesterday and again today. Yesterday was a 200 fish day. A cold front slipped thru last night and while the air temps were very comfortable this morning the fishing was poor compared to yesterday. My buddy brought home 9 for their dinner tonight. I stuffed up on e crappies last night. Even with the spotty fishing today we did find a huge deadfall buried in 22 feet of water. The gps coordinates are stored already. Fishing a slip float at 16 feet we got four of the nine fish kept off this snag pile .

Color today was simple. Clear plastic with plenty of fire-opal micro glitter and uv enhancer with a chartreuse tail on a purple head. If we varied from that, we really were having poor fishing.

Done for this week now. Ma's be grumbling since last night so I guess I'd better straighten up, eh.

[efishnc]

All 200 fish on plastics?... and how many locations to get them?

Regardless, it's a nice haul!

[ctom]

We fished maybe three primary areas on the lake with two giving up several fish apiece but they are both very focused locations and hold limited numbers. The third location was a shoreline of about 1/8 mile in length wit a small bay at each end.the shoreline easily gave up over 50% of the fish.

And yes they are all fish taken on plastics. I have more confidence in plastic than I do in live bait for crappies. I have rods that are over 20 years old that have never seen a minnow or worm of any kind. My last years of ice fishing were done entirely using Culprit Crappie paddle tails. I no longer fish the ice but as soon as I can flip jigs from shore spots for crappies in late winter it'll be done using plastic. The closest to live bait I get for crappie fishing is the occasional use of Gulp 1" minnows or 2" power bait minnows. I don't need to use either of the scented minnows very often. While the 1 1/2" thump it is without fail my go to bait now, I carry about five different plastics in maybe as many as seven or eight color patterns each. It's a super simple system, but super effective. And on the water I am fishing right now, I know it like the back of my hand since I have been fishing it for over 50 years. Like any reservoir it goes thru changes. I make it my business to learn of the changes...and plastic is used in that education.

I feel bad for people hung on live bait. Walleye are one of those fish that will show seasonal preference for live bait just like they have seasonal preferences for crank baits that are cast or trolled and for plastics. Crappies are willing plastic participants year round but you won't know that with a minnow or waxie on the line.

[efishnc]

I didn't take you for a live bait guy, but I wasn't sure if you may have been trolling for a portion of these fish.

It's fun when a guy can exploit a pattern and just keep it going... I had smallies running like this during the flood of '93; almost nobody else was fishing at that time and I was having hundred plus fish days of quality fish with a few kickers thrown in.

[ctom]

On this lake there are plenty of trollers and many use the plastics in lieu of bait. They catch fish but the ones they get are those scattered "average" fish. Seldom do the see larger crappies because once a fish is caught it's that depth that gets all the attention. I prefer to locate specific structure and pick it apart. This is where the truly largefish lay in this puddle. Right now I focus on spawning water that isadjecent to much deeper water. We're still a couple degrees short of actual spawning but the fish are there and ready. IF a cold front comes along and cools the water a little all I need do is back out into that slightly deeper stuff and fish deeper. The fish don't hightail it a half mile to the deepest part of the lake like the trollers think they do when a front visits. Crappie movement due to a cold front right now is maybe 15-20 feet horizontally and up to 6 feet in depth. In reality the movement amounts to me fishing out of the other side of the boat. 

I bump into a lot of the trollers at the ramp and they moan and groan about the spotty and crappy fishing. Then they get a peek of the bag in my pail. Whine,whine whine when all they have to do is fish for the fish instead of trolling for so-so fish and drinking beer. It's about choices and knowing and understanding the crappies.. They want to troll, they miss 90% of the bite.