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We did OK. Started shallow over in Pike Bay and got zip, went a bit deeper by Stuntz bay and got a couple bigger fish that had to go back(with a smile) and finally moved to some deep water by Birch Island and got 4 nice keepers. Best fishing for us was in about 34 FOW.

Just nice to get the boat wet.

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My clients and I had a very good day Sat.

We boated 59 walleyes between 8:00am and 4:30pm. laugh.gif

Only 3 slot fish between 17" and 19-1/2" but a very fun day.

we kept 30 fish between 13-1/2" and 16-1/2 inches.

All of our fish came out of 28' to 36' of water.

Jigs/minnows and lindys/minnows were both working well.

We even got a few walleyes using leeches as bait.

A great day for the opener! grin.gif

Cliff

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My 6 year old had the first perch off the dock before breakfast. Teamwork out in the boat got us our limit of walleyes in a couple hours this evening before sunset. Our routine is I bait the lines and hook the fish; he reels them all in and takes all the credit.

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Quote:

All of our fish came out of 28' to 36' of water


Yeah....kinda makes me wish we would have started the day where we finished where we finished the day. But is was still great to get out.

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Cliff, we also started deep, not as many fish as you had but we did manage enough for the 5 of us to have the shore lunch at the Larson's, what a good dinner that was. Actually the two best fish came off the dock in the morning prior to going out to the main lake. Later, Darrell.

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Darrell,

Glad that you got into the walleyes! smile.gif

Missed seeing you out there!

The bite on Sunday was much slower then on Sat. we had to really work for our fish! crazy.gif

Cliff

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Sounds like everyone did better then me. I ended up between saturday and today getting 5 walleyes and 5 perch, all in pike bay. Biggest walleye I caught was just over 15". Noticed with my group that the average size of walleyes seems bigger this year then last year. I talked to a guy that got a 22" walleye out on big bay. I want to fish out on Big Bay next weekend but wouldnt know what to use or where to fish. Good luck out there wink.gif

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Launched @ 8:30 AM with first lines down 15 minutes later. No bites on jigs and minnows @ 15 FOW fishing a hump next to a very reliable early bay. Decided to go into the bay and try 5 to 10 FOW and still no fish. After the first hour ticked by we changed areas and went deep to 30 -35. Graphed fish all over the place. Landed about 20 walleyes in 2 hours mostly under 12 inches, but we did land four 16 inchers which we kept. Moved to another deep spot and found basically the same result and we added another six 14 to 16 inchers to the livewell by the time the bite quit. Stopped at a campsite for a quick lunch and long nap. After lunch we tried cranks in front of some shallow bays and landed 3 or 4 over the slot, but got the remaining two fish, a couple of 15 inchers, to finish off our limits. Trailered the boat at 5:00 pm and the opener was over.

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3 or 4 over the slot? were those over 26 inches or were they in the slot.

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My Daughter boated a 23 incher by Long Island. We played bumper boats in Pike Bay for a while Sat. and decided that was just not a happening thing so we moved east.

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Ya, Pike Bay sure was crouded on Sat.! I had to weave inbetween the boats all the way from HooDoo Point to Whisky Island on my way in Sat. night! shocked.gif

Hope that they were getting fish and not just wishing! confused.gif

Cliff

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I dunno when I was in there I didn't see anyone getting any fish. I didn't mark anything either. I usually do OK by Whiskey Island real early like this but we didn't even bump a fish while we were there and didn't see anyone else hitting anything either. So we just moved on to greener pastures smile.gif

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My brother and I where on the water by 7 and had 10 fish total by 10:30. Smallest was 12.5 and the largest was 16.5.

Went out that evening for crappies and could only find 3.

Sunday morning there was nothing!!

All in all the best opener I have had on Vermillion!

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Just wondering what was the bait of choice for the opener? Was Lindy rigging better then Jigging and vise versa? What was the color of choice too? Thanks in advance!

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Vermin-W

They were in the slot 19 & 20 inchers. Otherwise, I would have had an extrodinary day of fishing.

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Aces,

1/4 oz. and 3/8oz. jigs in firetiger,orange/chartuse, and black/white were our best colors, in that order.

Lindy rigs with a 3 foot leader and a plain #4 hook were also working well.

Cliff

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Cliff, we got a late start on Saturday, went down by Stuntz nothing there, went back where we came from, located the fish in 30-35 fow like you said. We kept only the 14-15" fish, they are the best eating anyways. A Lot of little guys were thrown back. Later on that day we went down to Armstrong, 1,15 incher. We were using lindy rig, one guy was using a 3/8 oz. fire/tiger jig, he seemed to get the bigger fish. I was to stupid to change. We loaded up Sunday morning, to windy, fishing should be fun. Fighting the wind is not fun to me. I was going to stop but I saw you leaving Pike Bay early. Later Darrell.

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Darrell,

I had clients on Sunday morning so I could not stop by your cabin. Sorry I missed you guys.

See you on your next trip up for sure!

I went out alone at noon today and had my limit of 13 to 15 inchers by 1:00. Fresh walleyes for supper tonight! grin.gif

Cliff

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Cliff, any area's you would recommend for eyes on the west end. Just need a good starting bay, nothing specific. We'll be up thursday. Walleyes in the morning, smallies all day!!! By the way, opener was good over here in bemidji, we were off the lake with a limit in two hours on saturday....had a long awaited fresh fish meal on saturday night. Can't wait to get up there!!!

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It was slow going off the dock on Saturday. My dad and I got in the boat and caught a couple good eaters Sunday morning to make up for it.

Anybody see the boat on a small island in Pike Bay toward the narrows...I said ON the island. blush.gif I'm guessing the driver thought he was clearing the narrows sooner than he actually did. John from Aronson's said the fellow spent the night there.

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We did ok.. nothing spectacular, but Grandma has a couple of fillets for dinner, and we have enough for 2 meals. All in all it was a good weekend... the Pike Bay Narrows Floatilla notwithstanding.

Wellesy - from an earlier post, I believe that you guys were having a good time on Saturday night... my daughter & I were doing a little night fishing from our dock and I was liking the tunes! grin.gif

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Bigsmallie,

I would be happy to give some advice on the West end but I do not fish up there. Sorry!

Doug or Gary should be able to get you into fish up there.

Sounds like you had a great opener also! cool.gif

Cliff

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Wellesy,

I missed seeing the boat ON the island Sat! He must have been rescued as soon as it got light out! blush.gif

I really thought that the people fishing from their docks in Pike Bay were going to have a great opener. Shows what I know! grin.gif

I did hear that the fishermen that got out there at first light did ok trolling Raps on Sat.

Cliff

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Steve,

As long as Grandma was happy the opener was a success! grin.gif

Cliff

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Cliff,

Fishing was decent in Pike Bay this weekend for our group. Not the best off the dock but out between whiskey island and hoodoo pt we were getting a few 13-15" walleyes. Rapalas seemed to be working too, one of my cousins got his limit sunday morning on rapalas. DO you think the fish will all move out to big bay by this friday? I dont want to actually have to work for them yet wink.gif

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A classic spot is south shore of Wakemup bay, especially more towards the west end of the south shore. You will see boats if it is working. Sand and gravel. Depending on spot runs 10 to 20 feet deep. Sort of a community spot. Best I can do, it's been a few years since I was up for opener.

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Vermilionwally,

All of the walleyes will not leave Pike Bay. Many stay there all year round. Trolling Raps should work there for at least a couple more weeks. In fact, it should get better!

All of my walleyes are comming out of Big Bay. 28' to 36' of water.

Cliff

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Slick - the music wasn't us...maybe our neighbor with all the flags on the dock??? They had quite the party going. We like our cocktails but tend to keep it on the quiet side. Whereabouts are you...general terms that is?

That was quite the flotilla both days on Pike wasn't it.

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Cliff - the boat hit the island late Saturday night so you wouldn't have seen it until Sunday morning...Poor John had an early start to his Sunday morning to go get the fellow. The boat looked in good shape overall given what happened. It was still there at noon Sunday.

Ya, I thought the way things were setting up we'd have a great opener off the dock...fooled us. crazy.gif We did the small raps thing along the wind blown shore of Pike Bay Sunday mid-morning and found some aggressive wallies to take home so all was not lost. grin.gif They tasted good last night.

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Cliff, Thanks for the help! 11 days till we get up there! grin.gif

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