You have to be flexible......

[MarkB]

My last couple of posts have expounded on the fact that we HAVE NOT been finding the walleyes in the rocks. The purpose of my posts is to try to relay pertinent information to fishermen having problems catching fish. Most likely, it's not always helpful, but it's always the straight information as my wife and I experience it. So, then, with that said, today, the walleyes were all over the rocks! We found em scattered from 26' all the way up to 15'. I figured with the thunder boomers from last night, the bite might go deep..Not so! We couldn't get a hit in the areas that were loaded up 2 days ago!

Now, here's another switcherooo I've been relating how everything is gobbling up the 1/2 crawler. We've been catching walleyes, smallmouth, perch, bluegills, and rock bass on crawlers. It's the only way to go, right? Well, not this morning . This morning it was all leeches almost to the exclusion of crawlers. I mean they were swimming alongside the boat taking numbers....well, maybe not exactly , but the leech bite was fast and furious. My wife and I caught lots of fish and we weren't bothered by the little guys at all. Several 16"-17"+ and our total catch produced ~25% slot fish. No big fish today(that we landed) and all of our slot fish were 18.5"-19.5"(5).

We pulled out when the approaching monsoon involved lightning. The fish were going strong when we left!

The subject of this post "You have to be flexible" is to illustrate how futile it is to read the post of a guy and think you can go out and duplicate his experience based upon using his posted methods. You have to be flexible! Memory bank the information you deem pertinent and mix in your own skills and experiences. Keep trying different "spots" and, eventually, you will catch fish...regularly...I guarantee it

Good Fishing,

MarkB

[fishingdad]

Mark; Very Informative as always. I think I am going to personally nominate you for The "Vermilion Info. Award" with Cliff & Casey taking home the supporting roles. Speaking of Leeches are they readily available around the lake still? I know last week both of my regular stops on the way up were out.

[MarkB]

I buy a couple pounds of leeches in July and nurse them through until minnow time. Some years, I don't use that many of them. This year, I've taken leeches every time I go out and, today, they really jumped on em!

The last leeches I bought were at Babe's in Ely.

Good Fishing,

MarkB

[Shulsebus]

Mark what do you use to keep your leeches alive for so long?

[MarkB]

You have to keep them cold and they have to have fresh water(lake water). I keep them in a garage refrigerator and change water every 3-4 days. I find very few dead ones when I change the water but, if I do, I get rid of them.

Good Fishing,

MarkB

[StillFishin']

I do the same as Mark. I buy several lbs. in early June and keep 99% of them until late Sept. Sometimes I can't change water for several weeks and they still hold up but if all possible it's better to change water more often. I use the dead ones for bluegills. I pinch them in half and they seem to work just as good if not better as they are tougher and there is less bait stealing. I cought my personal best gill(10 3/4") on half a deal one!

One other interesting thing is once they get a small white dot on them they ARE going to die so use those first. This usually happens when they are collected later in the year when the water worms so it is best to buy them earlier in the year.

StillFishin'

[Shulsebus]

Thank you for the info! I'm headed to Chippewa flowage in a couple and I want to make sure I have some leeches. If Vermilion wasn't twice as long of a drive I would gladly drive there. Good luck fishing!