THAT'S IT!!!

[Mell]

I just returned from another disappointing trip to LOTW. In four hard days of fishing with three people in the house we might have landed 80 walleye. I lost a 24 incher at the hole and another 18 incher at the hole as well. Had my tip-up for two days out there and not a flag. The pout can eat a big one for all I care. I did come home with my limit of dinks. I would much rather cut my drive down a couple of hours and have my chance at at least catching some quality fish and maybe a nice size gator. Sounds like we will have our house on red for the remainder of the season. To all of those that would like to attempt lotw have at it I have fished it too many times just to find out I was there a day late or should have been there last week. I was on structure and everything still nothing to brag about. Thanx for letting me vent.

[Stradic]

I hope this is a joke. This IS a joke.......isn't it???

Complaining about not catching ENOUGH walleye???

You've got to be kidding me!

[SapperACE]

Mell, I hear you on that one! Last spring was my first time on lotw, and my group had a horrible time. It was mid-march when they say that you have a great chance of catching a wall hanger. We fished our tails off and had very minimal success. We thought maybe it was just us. Turned out the only people that were catching fish were those taking bombers out to garden island. We ended up leaving a day early stopping in the Spicer area on the way home and caught a pile of crappies on Diamond Lake. That place is way over rated to me and way to commercialized.

[ole]

Wow, I have NEVER had a bad trip to LOW. Do catch a lot of dinks but also catch plenty of nice fish. Have you tried different locations or times (dates) on the lake?

ole

[SapperACE]

I have to say that I was making judgement based on one bad trip that I had. I know alot of people that have had great luck up there. I think I was really turned off by the atmosphere up there. It seemed hard for me to find someone up there who would give you good advise (without having to pay them) and not treat you like an idiot. I also experienced the "you should've been here last week" or "we really nailed em after you guys left"

I have had all great trips to url though. The locals are much more hospitable in my opinion ,and don't try to make you feel like they are fishing gods just because they live close to an awesome fishery.

[benelli_dude2002]

me too i thought this was a joke. thats why its called fishing and not catching aint it. i've never complained about fishing. i love to fish and even though i live close to LOTW i never went out yet other than a recent trip for lake trout on the Ontario side. I just say 'oh well there's always next time!"

[upnorthfishin]

I agree that Red is way to commercialized. With that said it has never affected me up their. Whatever happened to the concept of finding your own fish? This is why we call it fishing. You don't understand how much of the water up their goes un-touched. I have been fishing northern Minnesota lakes my entire life and besides the lake of the woods I can't think of another lake where you can go and fish your [PoorWordUsage] off for 3 days and catch 80 walleyes. We are all spoiled by Red Lake and what it produces.

[bturck]

Wow, sorry to hear that you had a tough time on LOW. I concur with you that fishing has been tough the past couple of weeks. our day after Xmas trip which we've done for years was a disappointment compared to others. Over the past 10 years, averaging at least 3 trips per year I would say our satisfaction rate has been 98%. As far as hospitality and friendliness up there I have never had the experirance from anyone that I was just another schmuck to extract a dollar from. As far as Red, I have never fished it, but I read the thread alll the time and have seen lots of negative fishing reports along with some fantastic ones as well. Don't give up, keep an eye on the bobber. Bill

[jjohnson5150]

I've seen it both good & bad. When you get on the good bite like we had 2 weeks ago, it's like nothing else. I'd try going to LOW early ice (mid Dec) next year.

[kelly-p]

"In four hard days of fishing with three people in the house we might have landed 80 walleye."

Wow, I hope you're joking. A lot of people would be real happy with what you caught.

[smokie30]

It's bad trips like I just had on LOW. That make

me miss my fishing from the LUND. Rainy River Ice out,

Here I come. LOL

[cheets]

We had similar luck on LOTW last week. But on the bright side, I got the chance to fish with a new buddy and learned a few tricks, smoked a couple dozen walleyes on URL and had a great view of the stars from our sleeper shack. Some times you get them, sometimes you don't.

[morefishplease]

80 fish and that's bad??? Everyone expects to come to LOTW or Upper Red and have fish jump out of the hole. A lot of people have had "bad" trips including me, many of them. You can't control things such as a weather system that pushes a fish killer front in and shuts the fishing down for a few days. There is a reason why LOTW is called the "walleye capital of the world" it's a fish factory. Sometimes you time it right, and others just do not work out. Just my .02

[BuckKiller]

id be happy with 80 walleyes in a weekend. thats like 15 walleyes per person per day were else could you beat that?

[Mell]

Holy Moly, Didn't think so many people held stock in lotw. I have been up there when it was hot. but more often than not you catch dinks that u can't even fillet. Rainy river ice out is very fun with alot of quality fish to catch. and it was more like 6 fish per person a day to the person who didn't do their math right. The reason I was disappointed was because it was a toss up over red and lotw and I hear all the reports and I still have faith in the big one from lotw. I didn't expect them to jump out of the hole either. I did expect to catch a little better quality though. I would rarher catch and release one 24" walleye than 20 dinks and I do feel you all feel the same. That is why I'm gonna try red for the rest of the year.

[Ice Ranger]

80 walleyes? Yeah, I'd be happy with that!

[DTro]

When success is measured on the catch rate alone, you will be disappointed more times than not.....no matter what lake you fish.

Did everything run well? Did you make a few memories spending time with friends/family? Did you learn something new? Were the accommodations satisfactory? Did you make it home safe?

These are some of the things I like to base my judgment on.

It's not very often that I come home grumpy

I like to catch big numbers of big fish just as much as the next guy, but to base my success on that alone would be asking for failure.

[leech~~]

dtro, Ditto! Good times with buddies and a few fish on the side is always a good time for me!

[metro fisherman]

I dont know what you call small eyes, but you aren't going home with anything over 17" from URL (One over 26" allowed). 80 sounds like a great trip for me as long as the auger starts and my lines dont rats nest.

[norwall]

80 eyes not enough? some things are never good enough for some people. Christ get over it,If ya didnt have fun catching 80 fish than maybe its time to take up a new hobby or sport!

[ib_jigged]

Read my signature!

[CAJ]

I think I would be happy to have that good luck if it were me. You should live here in NE MOntana where you have to drive at least 80 miles just to find water, not to mention catch fish. I've been down there several times and gotten skunked and the next time can't keep them off. Weather has a lot to do with fishing also. I am happy just to say I got another chance to go fishing.

[IceChicka]

What ever happened to a bad days fishing is better then a good day at work??

80 fish GEEEEBUS my other half and I where up there for 3 days last year and caught maybe 15 keepers between 2 of us and we where THRILLED just be together and to have come home with a nice fish fry dinner for the parents.Be happy and proud that you caught that MANY fish.

Why not find a little less STRESSFUL sport LOL. How about Knitting?

Each to their own I guess.

[FISHINGURU]

80 walleyes for 3 people in 4 days isn't that great really...thats only about 6 eyes per person per 24 hour period of straight fishing....and if you were fishing with me i'd catch more then 6 which means your average would be lower lol.

i'm happy just gettin out there though and if i catch alot of fish thats cool...if the fish aren't cooperating and i only catch a few a day thats cool too.

i guess i'm a little different then most of you because i'm grumpy when i get home because i never wanted to leave lol

[norwall]

I heard theres a place where ya can shoot fish in a barrel,that might be the way 2 go for this guy or in my humble opinion this guy should take up a new sport or play that fishing gm they have for those video gms? I wonder if @ some pt he was so fed up with the bite or should I say lack there of he just snapped his rod in 2 n packed it up

[DHanson]

Nothing wrong with Mell's post. You guys can call it catching 80 walleyes if you want, but if 65 of them are 6"-12" it gets really annoying. It's like catching little dink perch. When I fish, those fish 12" or less don't even count in the total number of fish I catch. I understand that being with family and friends while fishing is the most important thing for many of you, but then why not fish closer to home instead of driving to the border?

I would rather fish Red than Lake of the Woods any day.

[eyebjim]

Hmm. I just spent 4 days in a sleeper with 0 eyes. I'd take the dinks for a little action. I still had fun.

[norwall]

or use a stick of dynamite :*

[AHLHAWK81]

In a round-about way, it sounds like Mel is making a nice compliment to URL. And well deserved. You never know when you set the hook if its 23" eye, 16" slab or 38" pike. And at times, steady action of quality fish.

Both lakes are strong fish factories. I do agree that catching 6-10 inchers all day can get frustrating, but far better than other lakes especially when you mix a few keepers in.

For some, limits may create differing opinions as well.

[leech~~]

eyebjim, where did you go for 4 days? I just want to make sure I don't go there!