Still a Leech Bite

[eyepatrol]

After putting an almost pointless 1hr of work in at the office this morning, I said the heck with it, packed up my gear and my boy, and headed to an area lake today. I was fishing by about 12:30pm and at 12:30:10 I had my first fish on! First cast and wammo! Let my boy help reel in the fish and it was a nice 19"er. Game on, right?!!? Well, not as much as I had hoped. Maybe if I had caught all the fish that hit, it would have been different because I missed my share. I did connect with 2 other walleyes though. One being a solid 18"er and another being a nice 16"er. All fish came in the same area I found them opening day. I also released one 6lb pike that drug me though the weeds good.

One item to note: the fish today did not come directly on the weedline. All 3 came from about 30' off the weedline in ~10 feet of water. Only the pike came from right against the weeds (oh, and some sheepies too, of course).

After the clouds blew out and the gail force west winds came, the fish were essentially gone. Deeper? Perhaps, but I got stubborn and stuck to the weeds and 30'-50' from the weeds.

My setup today was a 1/4oz blue/white stand-up jighead with a jumbo leech. Almost went to a heavier jig because it was difficult to keep in contact with the jig in the wind, but I didn't. So far this year, every fish I've gotten has come using a leech on either a jig, or a snell with float.

I'll be back on the water tomorrow morning with a buddy to try and get him some fish. He was on the same lake using the same techniques in the same areas, but didn't catch any 'eyes. Hopefully that'll all change tomorrow. More leeches please!

Hope everyone's weekend is going well!

[eyepatrol]

The jig and leech bite continued on today. My buddy and I started out where I found them yesterday, only to pluck a nice 19"er. We then moved down the shoreline to another stretch of weedline over a mud bottom and were able to connect on 4 more walleyes ranging from 15" - 18". Orange 1/8oz jigheads produced the best for us. And my fishing partner came up a number of times with only the sucker left on his hook.

I did spend a good portion of the day pitching cranks over, along and away from the weedline, but didn't make contact with any fish.

All fish today were again taken 20' - 30' away from the weed edge.

My buddy with a couple for the fry pan.

Myself with a couple for dinner tomorrow.

[jdbolton1]

BC - Those are beautiful fish. Why do you think they are hanging that far away from the weedline? The majority of fish we caught up there on leeches you really had to be tickling the weeds. I did mark a few fish out away from the weedline however I could not get them to go.

[eyepatrol]

Not really sure why jdb. Perhaps they were sliding in and out of the weeds to feed? Maybe if TO sees this, he can provide some explanation.

[clamtrap]

nice fish I'm going to try to get out this evening to check it out. It looks like you and a few good days good luck and stay afloat!!

[jdbolton1]

Very possible of what you said. One would think it would be food related. Maybe little critters hatching from the bottom? Or, following roaming schools of baitfish around?

[Team Otter]

Nice looking fish Eric. I wish I would have had calm winds like that up north this past weekend.

As for the distance your finding those fish away from the weeds and why, I can think of a couple things. Being that the fish are a distance from the weeds, that would mean their more apt to eat and less worried about cover. The light penetration those fish are getting out of the cover may be increasing their metabolism a little bit. Also, if the weeds are growing from a slightly harder or softer bottom than what the bottom content is like 20 - 30' away, then this would serve as a perfect transition area for bait fish and in your case, 'eyes. One last thing worth noting would be whether or not the weeds are all vertical or if some are leaning one direction or every which way. If all the weeds are vertical, it's more or less a "pit stop" for the fish and they will use those areas as an ambush point. Other positions of weeds often times encourages laziness and their feeding binges go in and out, often times only triggered by the presence of baitfish.

An area like your describing holds fish all year, it just may take different presentations to get them to "go" as the summer wears on.