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Today was a day for the memory books and what makes me giggle is that the bite my client and I experienced is only going to get better. The time to pitch crank baits to 1 - 3' of water on wind-blown transitions, rip-rap or other sources of cover is now! Persistence and patience paid huge dividends for us. Let me explain.

I had selected four areas to fish prior to getting to the lake and wind-dependent, we were going to sink or swim with fishing those four areas hard by casting and no trolling. I truly believe that a "game plan" of some sort keeps your mind from wandering and you're able to focus at the task at hand. Rip-rap was the first location and we instantly had short bites, so we adjusted by slowing our retrieve and getting the crank bait as close to shore as possible on each cast, so that the presentation was in the "strike zone" as long as possible. Three casts into the adjustment, this happened in 2' of water...

20" Bruiser

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A pattern ended about as fast as it started though. We were able to put some 15" in the livewell and just like that, the wind made a turn and it was time to re-locate. The second location I had selected ended up being the final destination and we never made it to the others. There were a lot of walleyes and BIG walleyes using a transition area full of bait fish and cover in 1 - 2' of water.

Andy got it going and then for the next several hours, excluding a few lulls, it was tough to turn the fish off. What a blast! However, when there was a lull, we stuck with it. All of these fish and then some came from a 15 yard stretch of water.

18" - Pan Model

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Next cast to same spot - 20.5"

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At times, these fish seemed like they were fighting to get to the presentation. Ever heard "they are stacked in there"...

Andy's best of the day - 25"

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23"er for me

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And last but not least...

Absolute TANK a smidge over 26"

Check out the "beer gut"

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The other two things that paid off for us today, in the form of adjusting to conditions, is that the muddier the water, the better and any type of shallow runnin' crank bait that had an orange belly and you were good to go.

If anyone is interested in getting in on this type of action in the coming weeks, drop me a line.

Thanks again for the great day Andy.

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Sounds (and looks!) like a great day. Man that is fun when a plan works out. Thanks for sharing.

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Nice job TO! Excellent fish. I was beginning to think we didn't have walleyes over 12" down here smile

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Way to go TO.

Thanks now I'm going to have to go out there tomorrow after reading your report. Couple questions for you. Did you fish the west end of the lake at all and did you find any near the weeds. You can e mail me at duckmaster09athotmaildotcom

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Thank you all. It is fun when a plan comes together but credit is due where credit is due. I've said this before but in order to get information, you have to give information through building relationships and trust. FM allows a person to do that for nothing; you just have to get involved. riverrat56, PDOGG, and No_Net have been very influential over the last year or so in getting me to try the shallow water pattern on more than just a couple of lakes that I am so comfortable on. People get stuck in a rut. I have to laugh though. I was discussing my options with riverrat56 the other night and he said "I can send you a few GPS coordinates to get you started". Famous last words: he sent me ~25 spots! Thanks again, especially to riverrat56 and PDOGG. Mark your calendars for early November and you'll be in the passenger seats on the way to ML.

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Awesome, T.O. now I really wish I could have stayed longer I just had a feeling the bite was only starting when we had to back up cuz we caught 2 fish in the last spot we fished. Oh well glad you guys had a good time and I am ready for the Mille Lacs thing just let me know when!

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OK - can you review for me again, what we are looking for? Transitions - hard bottom with weeds? What weed are we looking for?

I'm just getting back into more serious fishing after moving here several years ago, and I'm mainly used to looking for cabbage/coontail from the lakes I fished further north - so a little help would be great. When you look for shoreline spots, are you also looking for lipped banks with a little depth right off the bank?

If you can point me in a general direction to look for, I would appreciate the help.

Thanks for the assist.

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A transition area does not necessarily need to include weeds and in fact, I like weeds to be "on their own" and closer to deep water. As far as what type of weed, if it's there, I'll take it; I'm not too fussy. The transition areas I prefer are sand to gravel or sand to mud and rip-rap shorelines are tough to beat as well. Often times, on a rip-rap shoreline, there is grass or moss that gets hung up just where the rip-rap ends and this "vegetation" holds food. Depth is critical and you need to establish where the fish are striking. Yesterday, I had my boat in 4' and the fish were in 1 - 2'. This is a very typical scenario when wind-driven.

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Thanks Sifty. A great weekend indeed and I especially like it being that it's right in my backyard. Savin' gas money...

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Sweet fish Jamison! Back at it with those shallow walleyes. wink

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Thanks Eric. The fish are right on cue. July could be quite the month!

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It certainly is shaping up to be that way isn't it. Almost seems our June was our May and our July will be our June. Hopefully that'll be the case as I've got the boat anchored at home now getting it ready for our vacation in a couple weeks. July 12 would be my next time out in the area and I'd guess things will be in full swing for summer walleyes.

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I like the new avatar bud. wink I was thinking before the day started we needed to get those winter perch changed out. Oh and a 26 inch walleye is not a carp. grin

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That 26"er definitely had some power, didn't it? Thanks for reminding me. You were one up on me though being that you saw it before I did. Ha!

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Your right silly question. I can't leave mine running though you can't catch fish with a 2-stroke you know.

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All those fish we caught had plenty of attitude and didn't like the fact they were in the boat. They were some of the most well-built, hardest fighting walleye I have ever caught.

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They are angry, angry fish they could use a little help. I think they think there pike.

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Nice fish!

Ran into a few 15"-18" eyes on Lake Washington, throwing a lipless crank for bass last Thursday in the afternoon. Yes, 2-4' of water, just off shore. Thought that was a little odd but, I guess not.

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No doubt. Thanks for the help by the way. I thought TO was nuts for fishing the spot we did at first and then quickly became a believer. blush

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Don't delude yourself T.O. is nuts. But the guy does know how to catch fish.

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throwing a lipless crank for bass in 2-4' of water

Thank you Reid.

When the water temperature is consistently over 72 - 74 degrees, watch for this pattern to really take off. Rat-L-Traps are a good friend of mine.

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