Bigger Fish are Taking Over Now......

[MarkB]

My last post was 4 days ago and things are definitely beginning to change(at least for us). Water temperatures today were 61.7 degrees this morning. The days are becoming pleasant with warmer temperatures and lighter winds and I think it's having a very positive effect on the fishing. The big female walleyes are moving to the rocks, whether they be shallow or deeper, and the movement is bringing the higher-end eaters right along with them. It's time to chow down after the spawn, and the really good fishing is just beginning!

My wife and I have been jumping around spots the past few days trying areas that offer basically everything: rocks, mud, sand, weeds, shallow water, deep water, and steep breaking contours. We've been catching a way higher percentage of 14"-16" walleyes and lots of slot sized fish. Usually, when we start catching slot fish, dinks are totally non-existent. We have had nice jumbos, gorilla smallmouths, and the occasional northern mixed right in with the walleyes. The fish have been coming from all depths(5'-35') and if I had to pick one specific depth and one specific type of structure, it would be 24' in rocks. There's lots of drawbacks to fishing rocks but that's where the big girls go to bulk back up!

The last few days, we've fished a rock pile in the mouth of a shallow bay surrounded by ~22' water. The rocks top out at ~15'. It's a snaggy nasty spot that's been full of walleyes and jumbos. The best walleye we've taken from this spot was 22.5" and there have been lots of really nice jumbos and 14'-16" walleyes. This area has had the warmest water that we've fished lately (63 degrees) and leeches have been the bait of choice. There is emerging weed growth in this area.

Yesterday, we tried a spot on the far east end that has a reef that rises to 15' and an adjacent 35' deep water hole. Yesterday it was bright and sunny and the walleyes were between 27' and 35'. No slot fish, but we boated 12 really nice eaters from 14"-17.5". All fish we released. These fish preferred big suckers and shiners. The Y Store has a nice mix of these minnows and I've gotten off the leech band wagon when conditions say otherwise.

Today, my wife wanted to try an area that we usually wait until later to try. Good choice! We only boated 3 walleyes below the slot (15",15.5", and 16"). Our slot fish ranged from 19"- 23". We also took some HUGE bass that were down there with the walleyes. 20" was our best. We caught everything but one 15" walleye on big sucker minnows! The big walleyes were engulfing those 4"-5" suckers! Now, let's talk about the snags The snags were so bad, my wife asked me on the way home if I thought it was worth it. I'm sure she got snagged at least 20 times! and I was snagged at least a dozen times. I re-tied a minimum of 6 times! Was it worth it? Heck yes it was worth it and I can't wait to get into a school like that again! Today, we had clouds and a steady breeze and the walleyes we caught were 19'-24'.

My dock fishermen are doing better on eater sized fish and they finally got a 22"er the other evening. As I said earlier, fishing is beginning to take off and I look forward to the coming season.

Good Fishing,

MarkB

This is my wife's best walleye for the day. She wanted me to say that, although it may look like it, she DOESN'T have "man hands" The second picture is my best for the day.

 

 

 

[monstermoose78]

Great Report Mark!!

[Rick]

Really like the pictures @MarkB

[redlabguy]

Thanks for the report, Mark. Your telling us happy days are here again! I'm going to try to post my first photo and forgive me if it fails. It's my wife's best last night. It's not meant as wife competition- and she, too, would insist she doesn't have man hands. It's her pic because I don't have a big one to post. Yesterday my sister, bro-in-law and wife caught a 26, 23, 22, 22, 19 and two 19" bass on leeches and bobbers in < 10' in the rocks. Whooping good time! 

Im encouraged that you're finding fish in other depths because I'm not crazy about what hung bobbers. I searched some reefs in the west end of Fraser today to no avail but I'm betting that'll change soon. 

Happy days,

RLG

[MarkB]

Very nice fish Dick and a very nice picture..

Good Fishing,

MarkB

[Casey Sunsdahl]

I would post a report but it would look like I copied yours! Great stuff.. our biggest was a 25 the last few days. Took some folks bass fishing today, oh boy, lots of action!

[Tom Sawyer]

Tremendous fishery, great report Mark.

[PSU]

Helpful reports as always friends!

[james_walleye]

I really truly enjoy coaching my son's traveling baseball team......but I think in the future I should not read these fishing reports! 3 weeks until I'm up again......hope the fishing continues on the up and up@

[MarkB]

My cousin and his buddy arrived Saturday afternoon for their annual visit. My cousin's 2 sons and his buddy's son usually accompanies them but summer jobs and a medical residency trimmed the group down to the 2 Dads.

My wife and I have been marking quite a bunch of fish on a reef that tops out at 15' and is surrounded by water that varies from 23'-28'. The reef has lots of snags like most of them do and we have been working pretty hard to bounce long enough to get a hit before someone snags up. I have been wanting to anchor up and slip bobber it but windy weather has spoiled my attempts. Yesterday, my cousin,his buddy, and I "attempted" to fish that reef. Long story short, it was a nightmare! One of those two was snagged all the time! I finally just gave up and moved to a totally different area. We found fish at depths from 19'-30' and at days end, we tallied 19 walleyes, 1 northern, and 3 smallmouth. It was an even split between minnows and leeches. The best walleye was 18.5" and of the 19 total, 10 were dinks(10"-12") and the balance were 14"-16.5". We had enough for supper so it was a successful first day.

Today, I went back to a mud flat and we managed 8 keeper sized walleyes which we released. I wasn't particularly satisfied with the days results and when the wind let down in late afternoon, I suggested an early supper and a trip to nasty reef for slip bobbers. What a fantastic decision! We fished 2 hours and caught 23 walleyes! I have no idea how many we missed. It was absolutely the wildest most unbelievable bobber fishing you could ever hope for We caught 21 of those fish in 1 hour and 10 minutes!!! When they quit, they all quit. Our catch included a 21",20",19.5", 3-18", 17.5", and all of the rest between 15" and 17"!!! It was the nicest bunch of keeper sized walleyes I have seen this year. All of the fish were caught on leeches. I anchored in 18' of water and we fished the deep side of the reef.

Up to this point this year, I have been fishing my standard "go to" slip bobber reefs in relatively shallow water(<10'). After today, I may rethink my approach to bobber catching some of the big females I know will be hanging along the deep edges of the reefs that I concentrate on later in the season.

Good Fishing,

MarkB

[JerkinLips]

Great report, Mark.  I hope I have even 10% of your success this week when I am up.

[MarkB]

New reef. Different time of the day. Straight up sun. 8' of water. I went by the reef we fished last night and there were lots of mayflies in the water column. I saw a few fliers today but nothing major yet. Water temps were 65 degrees in a few of the areas we fished. If the warm temps hold, we could have major hatches by the end of next week

Good Fishing,

MarkB

One of our guests and a couple he caught this morning. It was nothing like last night but still good........................