Lots of Fish with Lockjaw!

[MarkB]

My wife and I took advantage of the lack of wind this morning and went fishing for a few hours. Overcast skies and a mild breeze from the north made some ideal conditions.......we thought. Generally, when we go out, we have an agenda in mind. We'll check this place first, that place second, and so on. If we find a concentration of fish at any of those spots, we drop the baits and have at it. That's exactly what happened this morning. Every "spot" I checked had fish and 2 or 3 had LOTS of fish! One big problem was evident fairly quickly however: no biters. I'm not sure if we have ever pulled our baits through that many fish and NOT gotten a single bite! The fish we found are, obviously, stuffed with perch minnows. Most of the carpets of walleyes were either in the midst of or really close to huge concentrations of bait balls. In fact, after striking out on our first 3 stops, I didn't even stop if perch minnows were in proximity to the walleyes! Finally, at the very last spot I wanted to check, I found some fish without any bait visible in the area. My wife used leeches and I baited 1/2 crawler and I immediately got a rod bending hit a very short time after dropping my bait. I broke off 2 consecutive big fish when my leader broke while fighting the fish to the boat. After changing leader material, I copied my terminal gear setup on my wife's pole. I was using a 4' leader with a yellow/orange floater and an orange hook. She immediately began catching fish. She caught 4 fish on leeches before switching to crawlers. My guess is the crawlers outfished the leeches 2:1. We kept a few for dinner and released the rest with the biggest being 22". Most of these fish were 13.5"-15". Slot fish were mixed in with them but there were so many low end eaters that slot fish didn't have much of a chance.

This ended up being a very good day if we only consider that last spot. I have never worked harder trying to locate biters. Under normal conditions, I would have called it a day long before we stumbled into that bunch of fish. I wish I could claim skill of some kind but, alas, my wife said "why don't we head for home and try ........ on the way." I haven't asked her yet where we should try tomorrow The accompanying picture is our best of the day.

Good Fishing,

MarkB

 

[TrueNorth]

Mark, 

Thanks for the detailed report.  Do you or others think this is a normal year with the amount of bait fish in the system?  I was seeing massive clouds of baitfish as well during my few trips up there.  

I hope things normalize for the late summer/fall bite.  

Thanks again and always appreciate the information you provide.  

[norwaybay]

 Mark B thank you for the post.  There are a lot of people who read your posts and not only find them enjoyable but also very informative.  I know the East and West seem to act like two different fisheries but I have seen more clouds of baitfish this year than last on the West side where I fish.  Reading your posts makes me feel like I may not be that far off in what I'm doing.  Hoping to be up this weekend to try trolling cranks.  Whether fishing is good or not always enjoy the lake.  Once again thanks for the posts.

[MarkB]

I agree! There are loads of bait balls just about anywhere you go. I have seen perch minnow schools in Daisy Bay with minnows approaching 2" already! The minnows that the fish we caught today had in their stomachs were the tiny ones. The size of these are 3 weeks behind the ones around home. I was encouraged by the aggressiveness of the walleyes we ended up catching today. They didn't fool around when they hit! Nice to know that biters are around! Once these minnows all grow up a bit later this season, they won't be nearly as easy to catch as a BIG sucker with a hook through his lips

Good Fishing,

MarkB

[redlabguy]

I agree with True North and norwaybay.... Your posts are informative and a good read. It was a promising, but tough day today but good to be out on the lake. I think you are right about the bait ball bonanza and I hope you're right about better times ahead. You are more often right than not. The Trout portage area had a few fish this evening and it was a great evening to be out there.

Thanks for the post-

Dick

[mtheis]

Mark I also really enjoy your posts! Your including more information on details of rigging and strategy that is proving invaluable to guys like me who go up twice or three times a year. Please don't stop! Your our teacher and I love learning from you!

Thanks for your posts,

Mike

 

[djlong]

Mark,

 

 My father is flying into town tomorrow and we will be fishing Thursday through Monday.  The last time I was up

was late June and did well on the mid lake structure with slip bobbers.   Would you be so kind as to help give me an idea if the mid lake structure is still the best choice and what depths to look for.  Obviously, every day is different but just a starting point.   Also, my dad loves to catch smallmouth so any tips for C&R fishing for these beasts would be awesome.  Again, thank you for all your posts. 

 

[fishingdad]

Mark,  I am glad to see that you are still putting fish in the boat. I myself had taken a bit of reprieve from hitting the water except for a little evening fishing the last couple weekends but we will have a 10 day stretch at the cabin starting Friday with my first ever trip into Trout on Monday so I have No idea what to expect up there but if I'm fishing life is good. I hope it is similar to last year in August. It seemed just like you said once the minnows got a little tougher for them to catch the walleyes seemed to be more aggressive & actually got a little smallmouth type spunk in them on the way back to the boat.

 

[neptune]

Mark if all the fish you were catching were stuffed with minnows why choose leeches and crawlers instead of minnows for bait?

[MarkB]

First off, gentlemen, thank you for all the kind remarks. Now, individually, Neptune, the crawlers/leeches that we are using are dressed up with colored hooks and following behind perch colored floats. I don't actually think that walleyes "know" that crawlers are crawlers. I do believe, however that the color/speed/scent triggers go off when you are dropping down to aggressive biters. I would rather give them something different than what is readily available. I won't buy minnows when the water is this warm. Unlike crawlers and leeches, minnows just won't keep. Next month is a way different story however.

Fishingdad, Trout Lake is a tough nut under the best of conditions. If I were going into trout this month, I would concentrate on the 24' contours in mud/sand bottom bays. A couple of examples would be the bay on the west side of Sioux Pine Island and the bay on the south side of Stony Island. If you want any chance at all for walleyes, you have to stay out of the rocks and fish where the smallmouth aren't. Another good spot at times is the west shoreline across from Sioux Pine. Just remember, all of these spots are only good at times. They may be empty at 8:00 in the morning and loaded up at noon On your way out, check the 25' contour on the west side of the Big Sister(commonly referred to as the Eagle's Nest). I've had my best luck on the south end of that run.

djlong, the last few days, I have been finding biters in 20'-25' of water on soft bottom . Shorelines and flats have both produced. I truly believe the "color" that we've added to our terminal tackle is helping the bite. The float is getting the bait up and I think those fish are relating going up after perch minnows. Today, I went straight back to where my wife and I found them yesterday. Yesterday, we were alone, today, there were 3 boats there at 7:00 So, we tried a couple spots we haven't been back to since May. Joila! We found more biters. Both places produced . Our first place had scattered fish and we had to work to get hits. The second place was a 25' shoreline contour on a soft bottom bay. Lots of fish! We boated 20 with biggest at 17.5". All crawlers. Water temps are 70 degrees and started off at 67.8. We didn't get a single snag today!

Good Fishing,

MarkB

[neptune]

Mark,

Thanks.  That makes sense.  Are you doing about .7 MPH with a 4-6 foot snell?  I have family coming into town from Phoenix Thursday night and if we can get some fishable weather for them (when they wont be cold or too wet) I hope to get them on some fish.  I like the idea of no snags too for this group.  If i have to turn around with 4-5 lines out i might get annoyed.  I'm used to fishing alone or with my wife (she's far better than me most days too).

[MarkB]

.4-.6mph with .4 optimum in most instances for me anyway. When I get to .6mph it just feels a bit fast. That's using the terminal tackle described in this post. Spinners would be used faster. Snell length runs 3'-4'. I can't even imagine 4-5 lines out in some of my favorite areas! I will tell you one interesting story regarding dead minnows. I have a friend who lives on Rainey and we were having a recent conversation regarding using minnows at this time of year. He recently caught a 28" walleye(his biggest ever) on a minnow. I asked how he kept them alive in the warm water at this time of year. He said he doesn't even try! He prefers dead minnows AFTER they have been dead for two days! He says that the smell is what the walleyes are drawn to and he uses nothing but dead ones! Well, take that for what you think it's worth BUT this man is an old timer in the north country and a once upon a time resort owner. He's kind of a character but I believe he explained his bait preference with sincerity.

Good Fishing,

MarkB

[chaffmj]

Thanks again for the reports Mark! If you and Cliff keep postings these reports with the great looking fish pics I am going to have to leave the Ely area and wander over to Vermilion and fish some day.

[fishingdad]

Mark;  we are back from our trip into Trout. No walleyes but what a beautiful beautiful lake. We cut it short due to out running a massive rain storm from North arm all the way back to the portage. I told my wife I never talked to an outboard motor before but I was yelling at like I was riding secretariat in the Kentucky derby with the rain 200 yards behind us for about 10 minutes. Massive smallmouth, all the northerns you can handle, impressive sunnies, & a 14 year old son saying that was so much fun was everything we could have hoped for.

[MarkB]

Great! I have generally fished the north arm in the spring but it sounds like you made it work mid summer. Glad to hear you and your family enjoyed yourselves. The boundary waters is supposed to do that for people.

Good Fishing,

MarkB

[MarkB]

I was going to start a new topic but then, this topic certainly fits our fishing exploits this past week. We have been exploring around Big Bay, Portage Bay, Frazier Bay, and Daisy Bay and have found fish virtually everywhere we have looked. Soft bottom is our go to areas and 15'- 20' has been the magic number. Now, here's the problem, for us anyway: the walleyes are still gorging on perch minnows and even with the carpets of walleyes we have found, the biters are few and far between. A good day has been 10 fish, 6-8 low end eaters(15" biggest), no slot fish, and a couple dinks. Absolutely no problem getting fish to eat. I cleaned some walleyes today for our dinner and every one of them was busting with perch minnows! I counted 12 minnows in one 14" fish! There wasn't much room left for the 1/2 crawler it ate.

Now, if you're having trouble getting the fish you're seeing to bite, then try this: I have given up dropping my baits to blankets of fish on level bottom areas I have been going straight to shallow(15') humps and flats surrounded by "deeper" water. Today, we fished an area that involved a 15' flat surrounded by water 22'-24'. IF the fish are up on the shallow hump or flat, they are feeding and biters will be available! It may not be fast fishing but perseverance will put fish in your livewell. The other day, I was fishing by myself on a 22' shoreline contour. Lots of fish but I only caught one fish. There is a 14' hump not far from shore and I marked some big marks so I anchored and brought out the slip bobber. I didn't bring leeches that morning so I broke a crawler in half and dropped the bait after setting my depth. Over the next half hour, I landed a 18.5",19",19.5", and a 21". In addition, I missed  a fish and broke my line on a hookset. Once again, the marks that were ON the hump bit. We have caught a few in the deeper adjacent water but the shallower water is giving us the most action.

Usually, when I post, I am describing outings on one or more of our "spots". Places we go to based upon prior success and time of year. Recently, we've been fishing places that we've never fished before. We fished a place for the SECOND time EVER today! Tomorrow, I'll continue looking at mid lake humps and flats in hopes of finding another "new" spot.

Good Fishing,

MarkB 

[norwaybay]

I was fishing over the past week and found the same pattern.  Lots of fish on the bottom with baitfish above.  Did not catch any fish other than a perch or two.  Moved a bit farther in and fished over a 12 foot hump with a perch colored spinner and was able to catch two nice slot fish and two 17 inch eaters in a 30 minute period.  Same pattern worked each day.  This is fishing on the West end and I was very pleased.  The walleyes I caught were full of perch minnows.  The bite window was narrow but the bite was good when it happened.  I was surprised to find the fish in an area I usually visit in the spring on the west side but the walleyes were there.  One of the slot fish, a 24, had a huge bite mark on it.  Swam away after I released it without a problem.  Mark B is right on the money.

[Sota2Florida]

Thanks to MarkB for all the great info. I made my first trip of the year  to Vermilion yesterday and found one area that had biters. As Mark has been saying, soft bottom and 15-18 ft. of water. I must have hit 15 spots of varying bottom types but found the (biting)walleyes in that one area. Not to be repetitive but a half crawler was the ticket. Curious if it has a bit of the "slow death" motion to it? along with size preference. 

Thanks for all the posts from the regulars on here. My work schedule does not permit much time up there and I would have been very unlikely to fish in 15 ft. of water the middle of August with the sun out, wind or no wind. It went from a nice day bobbing in a boat to a great day of catching walleyes.