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"Watch your Step" Walleyes


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I've got a headache... I'm laying flat on my back... Feet are in the water... Head just cracked the concrete... and I haven't even wet a line yet. This trip was not starting out very well. One little misstep at the boat ramp and my feet are heading towards the sky and my back and head are crashing down onto the concrete with a force that takes your breath from you. Ouch! I'm going to be sore tomorrow!

So here's a big reminder, be careful and watch your step when its 10 degrees outside and the depthfinder in your boat is telling you the water temp is an even 32 degrees. Those ramps get slick quick!

Between the 30mph wind, small sheets and chunks of ice, cold air temps, taking a hard fall on the boat ramp, boat starter battery dead, and the trolling motor freezing up.... We had a blast!

And I caught my personal best walleye tonight!

28" Walleye weighing 9 1/2 lbs

11-28-07%20Hanson%20Eye%201.jpg

Got another shot of this girl as well...

11-28-07%20Hanson%20Eye%202.jpg

Dtro was putting on the clinic again tonight boating these 2 beauties before I "finally" got in the action with a nice fish of my own.

26" Walleye weighing 8 1/2 lbs

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27" Walleye weighing 9 1/2 lbs

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I still cannot believe the weight these fish carry at this time of year on the river. All these big walleyes are carrying 2-3lbs more weight than a comparable length lake fish. Good diet of shad and emeralds for these girls!

Really nothing special about our technique or location, just working the current seams with jig and minnow slowly on the slack side of the seam. The best areas seam to have the deeper water nearby.

Besides the 'eyes, a variety pack of fish came to play tonight including a dandy carp, sheepshead, and 1 lone eater sized 'eye.

What an interesting night! Now I have to get Darren on some of those 14-15" Upper Red Lake Crappies in return. wink.gif

If these air temps keep up, the river will be full of ice soon.

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Fun night Chris, that was a blast.

That fall could have been a disaster.

I looked forward and said, "give me a shove" looked back to start the motor, looked forward again.........no Hanson. shocked.gif

That may have been the last hurrah unless we get some warmer weather, a few of those ice chunks were rather large.

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Looks to me like darren could be the guide of the year for the large eyes he's finding for us.

Way to go on the nice fish. I know they are all swimming yet too.

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I know they are all swimming yet too.


Of course...... but it was scary being so cold, catch the fish, quick measurement/photo and right back in. Any more than a minute or two out of the water and there would've been issues.

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Wow, you two never cease to amaze. Congrats to both of you. Darren is having quite the fall, he even "trumped" Hanson for top spot on the home page! Sounds like Hanson had quite the "fall" too. Ouch, hope all is good. I know how the couch, ice & Iboprofren is....

Those fish are awesome, girth is unreal, but I have to say, you gotta keep the talk about how good river fishing is on the back burner. Enough about how good river fishing is!!

Chris

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You gotta keep the talk about how good river fishing is on the back burner. Enough about how good river fishing is!!


Well... the fishing can be good but it sure isn't a slam dunk. For every good river report, there are probably 3-4 other outings that were near failures that folks here don't read about. Its all about paying your dues and putting in your time. I've pulled many all nighters flatheading without so much as a twitch, no clicker, nothing. Very frustrating!

The walleyes give you a couple brief windows to target them with success, the rest of the year you might as well try fishing cats, whites, carp, or sheepies.

If you have the patience and determination, it can be a fun place to fish. I'm betting I have more days and/or nights logged this summer without catching a fish than I do have catching them. It can get real frustrating at times.

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Quote:

Quote:

You gotta keep the talk about how good river fishing is on the back burner. Enough about how good river fishing is!!


Well... the fishing can be good but it sure isn't a slam dunk. For every good river report, there are probably 3-4 other outings that were near failures that folks here don't read about.


Nice fish, but I wouldn't say that. For guys that know what they are doing and live near it or have been fishing it for a while - the river rats, fall around slug to turkey day is pretty much a sure bet. Maybe not for those big ones all the time, but guys that fish that river(myself included) know dam well what is in there and how easy they can be in the fall. Again not always the big one and those are some beautiful fish.

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Looks to me like darren could be the guide of the year


Easy there big fella.

Let's not go overboard. We (not just me) found and patterned some big fish. Add some free time (and a little insanity) and you have a recipe for success. cool.gif

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Way to go guys! Looking at the river this morning I may put the boat away. Some of those ice chunks looked pretty intimidating. I've got the ice fishing gear ready, and should be on some small lakes in a few days.

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Dang Hanson!!!! I'm glad you got a biggie to make the boo boo a little better.

Nice fish Mates!!!!

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Man, for Hanson taking that plunge and being sore, he sure looks like he is having alot of fun. The Hanson smile grin.gif.

I guess a walleye like that would take the edge off of pain.

For like the tenth time this week, nice fish DTRO.

Nice fish the both of ya.

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Chris, you and dtro are amazing. Thanks for the great pics and info. Can you tell us what time of the day you caught those big 'eyes? grin.gif

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The photos have the time stamps on them.

#1 was at 1650 (4:50pm)

#2 was at 1750 (5:50pm)

#3 was at 1808 (6:08pm)

The bite has been that hour right before dark and slightly after dark as well. Now we have an ice issue. frown.gif

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  • Your Responses - Share & Have Fun :)

    • Brianf.
      I'm not there, so I can't tell exactly what's going on but it looks like a large area of open water developed in the last day with all of the heavy snow on the east side of wake em up Narrows. These two photos are from my Ring Camera facing north towards Niles Point.  You can see what happened with all of snow that fell in the last three days, though the open water could have been wind driven. Hard to say. .  
    • SkunkedAgain
      Black Bay had great ice before but a few spots near rockpiles where there were spots of open water. It looks like the weight of the snow has created a little lake in the middle of the bay.  
    • LakeofthewoodsMN
      On the south end...   Thanks to some cold spring weather, ice fishing continues strong for those still ice fishing.  The bite remains very good.  Most resorts have pulled their fish houses off for the year, however, some still have fish houses out and others are allowing ATV and side by sides.  Check social media or call ahead to your favorite resort for specifics. Reports this week for walleyes and saugers remain excellent.   A nice mix of jumbo perch, pike, eelpout, and an occasional crappie, tullibee or sturgeon being reported by anglers. Jigging one line and using a live minnow on the second line is the way to go.  Green, glow red, pink and gold were good colors this week.     Monster pike are on a tear!  Good number of pike, some reaching over 45 inches long, being caught using tip ups with live suckers or dead bait such as smelt and herring in 8 - 14' of water.   As always, work through a resort or outfitter for ice road conditions.  Safety first always. Fish houses are allowed on the ice through March 31st, the walleye / sauger season goes through April 14th and the pike season never ends. On the Rainy River...  The river is opened up along the Nelson Park boat ramp in Birchdale, the Frontier boat ramp and Vidas boat ramp.  This past week, much of the open water skimmed over with the single digit overnight temps.   Areas of the river have popped open again and with temps getting warmer, things are shaping up for the last stretch through the rest of the spring season, which continues through April 14th.   Very good numbers of walleyes are in the river.  Reports this week, even with fewer anglers, have been good.  When temps warm up and the sun shines, things will fire up again.   Jigs with brightly colored plastics or jigs with a frozen emerald shiner have been the desired bait on the river.  Don't overlook slow trolling crankbaits upstream as well.   Good reports of sturgeon being caught on the river as well.  Sturgeon put the feed bag on in the spring.  The bite has been very good.  Most are using a sturgeon rig with a circle hook loaded with crawlers or crawlers / frozen emerald shiners. Up at the NW Angle...  Ice fishing is winding down up at the Angle.  Walleyes, saugers, and a number of various species in the mix again this week.  The bite is still very good with good numbers of fish.  The one two punch of jigging one line and deadsticking the second line is working well.   Check with Angle resorts on transport options from Young's Bay.  Call ahead for ice road guidelines.  
    • CigarGuy
      With the drifting, kind of hard to tell for sure, but I'm guessing about a foot and still lightly snowing. Cook end!
    • PSU
      How much snow did you get on Vermilion? 
    • Mike89
      lake here refroze too...  started opening again yesterday with the wet snow and wind...  very little ice left today...
    • Hookmaster
      A friend who has a cabin between Alex and Fergus said the lake he's on refroze. He texted me a pic from March 12th when it was open and one from 23rd when it wasn't. 🤯
    • SkunkedAgain
      I don't think that there has been any ice melt in the past few weeks on Vermilion. Things looked like a record and then Mother Nature swept in again.   I'll give my revised guess of April 21st
    • leech~~
      As I get older it's really not just about sending bullets down range.  Some of it's just the workmanship of the gun and the wow factor. The other two guns I have really wanted which I'll never have now because of their price, is a 8mm Jap Nambu and 9mm German Luger.   Just thought they always looked cool!  
    • jim curlee
      I had a guy hit me with a lightly used 1969 BAR, he wanted $1650 with an older Leupold scope. More than I think they are worth, I made an offer, he declined end of story.   You know if you look at the old brochures, a grade II BAR sold for $250 in the late 60s, $1650 would be a good return on your investment.    Why would anybody want a 50 year old gun, they are heavy, have wood stocks, and blued metal.  I guess mainly to keep their gun safes glued to the floor. lol   You can probably buy a stainless rifle that you never have to clean, with a synthetic stock you never have to refinish, is as light as a feather, and for half as much money, perfect.   I'm too old for a youth gun, although I've shrunk enough that it would probably fit. lol   No Ruger 10/44s.   Jim      
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