First fall jigging Saturday

[curt quesnell]

Oh man I love jiggin for Walleyes in the <BR>fall.<P>The most consistant and easiest pattern of<BR>the year for me. Let me tell you about<BR>Saturday.<P>My Dad was up to close up his place at <BR>Springsteel so Saturday morning we trailered<BR>over to the Wheelers Point boat landing with<BR>a couple of scoops of Shiner minnows (this<BR>isnt usually enough minnows but the season<BR>is early and I didnt figure on a long day)<P>After the blow and rain the water was plenty<BR>stirred up. I cruised the Lighthouse Gap,<BR>where there was already about 50 boats out <BR>in 18 to 30 feet deep water, and didnt see<BR>even one school of baitfish. Since baitfish<BR>is the key to the whole deal I kept moving.<BR>We boated over to Morris Point Gap and stayed<BR>deeper and still nothing on the depth finder<BR>no fish arcs, no baitfish. nothing but the<BR>specs of debris from top to bottom.<P>Finally, I stopped in 30 feet and tossed the<BR>anchor. The area I was in was one of my <BR>favorites. As soon as Dads jig hit the <BR>bottom he hauled up a 15 incher, nice and fat. This wont take long, I thought but <BR>we settled into a pace of 5 tinymites to <BR>a keeper and as the wind steadily increased<BR>we were comfortable with our backs to the <BR>wind using up shiner minnows.<P>I was figuring on a 100 fish day so we began<BR>counting Walleyes right away. In the end<BR>we were way short, 22 in all, 4 keepers and a<BR>26.5 incher to take pictures of.<P>It was pretty windy by the time we headed<BR>in at 3:30. I rained for a while and that<BR>put a halt to the semi bite we had going.<BR>All the boats that were in the lake were now<BR>tucked out of the wind in 4 mile bay along<BR>the river channel, a few small fish and some<BR>pike was all I saw. We were there for about<BR>a half hour and decided to beat the rush to<BR>the boat landing. <P>Putting the boat on the trailer was a whole<BR>nuther adventure. The current makes driving<BR>onto the trailer interesting at the Wheelers<BR>Point landing, but the wind<BR>blowing the other direction tended to grab<BR>the boat and give it a spin just before you<BR>got to the trailer. The third try was the <BR>charm and we headed back to Springsteel and<BR>made it back in time for supper.<P>Oh man I love jigging for Walleyes in the<BR>fall.<P>------------------<BR>Curt Quesnell<BR>NorthCountry Outdoors Radio

[Guest]

Awesome. I am hoping to make it up there 10/17 or so. Any ideas of where to go out of. I've never open water fished the big lake, just ice fishin'. Need a fairly cheap place (just a bed & pillow).

[curt quesnell]

Dave,<P>The Gaps, The Gaps, The Gaps. After that<BR>4 Mile Bay, then the last few miles of the<BR>river.<P>Go out ofthe Wheelers Point boat landing.<BR>Bring lots of Shiner Minnows<P>There are lots of places to stay, The Lakeroad Lodge(?) is a motel very close to<BR>the action, they are nice people, the place<BR>is clean AND they have a fish cleaning area<BR>too. The number is in the Baudette phone<BR>book. Schusters Resort and the Walleye Retreat are sponsors of this website and<BR>deserve a shot at your business. Call them<BR>and get rates too.<P>------------------<BR>Curt Quesnell<BR>NorthCountry Outdoors Radio

[White-tips]

Hey Curt, how many of the 50 or so on the lake were still trolling or downrigging that you could see? Did you try by the windsock or bible camp or any other up-river spots?

[curt quesnell]

The Charter boats sounded like they were<BR>doing alright downrigging. The small<BR>boats fishing were about 50-50 achored<BR>or drifting.<P>It got windy so all the boats left the <BR>lake and were in either 4 mile bay or along<BR>the river to about the windsock by mid<BR>afternoon. I wasnt really watching but<BR>when we came in I didnt see any nets waving<BR>in the boats fishing the river.<P>Lots of small fish and an occasional real<BR>good fish.<P><P>------------------<BR>Curt Quesnell<BR>NorthCountry Outdoors Radio