miltona reports

[glojig]

headed up to miltona thursday for the weekend, wondering how fishings been for walleye and what seems to be working? any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!!!!

[KrappieKiller]

I'll be heading up there as well, I've heard both good and bad. Some people say the walleyes are still going strong while others say they can't buy a bite. As always, most people are pretty tight lipped about spots and presentation.

[TommyJ33]

I am heading up there on Sat for a whole week!

Just hope to catch a few walleyes, and chase the occaisional muskie. See you guys on the water. 16' Red lund with 40 horse merc tiller. Say Hi if you see me.

[Woollman99]

Glojig, I fished Miltona, a couple of weeks ago (three days straight), and must say the walleye fishing has really rebounded....the best fishing I have had on this lake over the last three years. We caught many eyes, with a majority boated in the early AM (5:30-8:30) and in the PM (8:00-10:00). Most fish caught ranged from 16"-18", many released between 20"-23" and the largest going 27" and 28.5". Many different year classes were represented, which is great to see.

Most of our fish were caught deep....30' or deeper, with live bait rigs being the main presentation. A lively jumbo leech was the prefered choice of live bait. You'll need to experiment too......a certain hook color and bead combo made a world of difference.

You'll find fish shallower (especially if there is a nice chop on the lake) but don't overlook deep water structure. We sure found them. Good Luck.

Woollman

[schr0563]

Woollman - Your success in deep water has caught my attention. I catch plenty of walleyes, but they are either on the first break or up in the shallows. Now there have been times where I haven't been able to buy abite and my fallback explanation is typically that the fish are out deep. Apparently that is the case.

So I understand HOW to fish for them, I just don't know WHERE to start. Can I fish too deep? Are flat basins good, or do you always find deep structure? Is the deep structure as defined as most of the weedlines I fish, or am I looking for subtle depth changes? Do you use your electronics to find fish even before dropping a line?

I am asking these questions in general. I hope to use some of these deep water tactics up by Leech in a couple weeks.

[Woollman99]

In my fishing travels, it seems many lakes have different "deep water" fishing nuances. Things learned on one lake may or may not have any applications at another. Lake structure (or lack of), forage base, weedlines, water clarity, water temps and weather conditions all play each lake's deep water fishing equation.

The important factor is your electronics should show something first and then it's a matter of presentation experimentation to boating any of these deep fish. I have found and caught fish loafing around in 35-40' flat basins (in the middle of nowhere), as well as finding fish on subtle changes in deep water (ie. 20x20 spot which rises 1' off the bottom). Other obvious areas include 30-40' depth areas off a 50'or more drop off.

Do some initial homework on the lake you intend to fish.....read up on the lake and take in account the various fishing "factors". Then, pick out spots to search with your electronics.

Our success on Miltona was finding deep fish located directly off of mid-lake structure (sand bars). We'd start deep (40') and work our way up the breakline (to 18'), or vise versa, depending on the wind direction. Fish caught in water 35' or deeper were of the nice eating size. The larger fish we caught seemed to be hugging 29-34' "ledges" on the mid-lake structure.

Lastly, one thing to remember about deep water fish, be very careful when reeling them in. Take it easy and slow when working them up.

Good luck on Leech....hope you can find some of those nice eyes. Woollman