Frozen Fingers 4 BIG Walleyes!

[MarkB]

It was a banner day, fishing-wise, today. Cold blustery NW winds at 12mph, 32 degrees, and snow/ice flurries. Wow! It helps to be slightly nuts to go out in weather like that BUT, the walleyes are really chowing down, so, it's worth every goose bump. We've been continuing our winter preparations but I've managed to find time on most days to go out for a couple hours. Earlier in the week, we found fish pretty close to home which made life pretty simple. I've been wanting to try the channel between Comet and Moose but still haven't managed to get off my first spots yet. There has been plenty of boats fishing around that area including the north side of Birch Point, the hump on the south side of Isle of the Pines, and the reefs south of Moose so there must be some action around there. In my neighborhood, the usual number of boats are fishing the north and west sides of Banana where my wife and I have done well this fall. We are catching some really nice jumbos now on a fairly regular basis and my wife loves them for eating. It was a bit cold for my wife today, so I fished alone. I went out about 2:30 and was home by 5:00. Everything exposed was pretty numb but as previously mentioned, it was well worth it. I tried only one spot and caught all of my fish in 24'-26' of water at the end of a rather long narrow reef. I missed 6 hits, broke my leader on a fish, and landed a 23",21",19.5",18.5",18", 17.5+",17.5", 16.5",16", and a 15". Absolutely phenomenal fishing!!! All of these fish were returned and all were caught on huge sucker minnows. The hits were the double up your pole, I've got a snag type. I have no idea how I missed 6 but that's about par for me.

I reflect on my days on the water and a day like today makes me wonder about all those days where things DON'T go exactly as planned. It gets frustrating sometimes when you find fish and can't get them to bite and that scenario can last for days at times. It takes days like today to remind me that all of those summer daydreams about BIG fish and constant hits are real at times if you're in the right place at the right time. It usually happens in the fall and today was one of those daydream days..

Water temperatures were 50 degrees where I was fishing. I marked very few fish on my sonar so make sure you give your favorite fall spots a good try before moving on

Good Fishing,

MarkB

I've never figured out my cameras timer and I'm too fat for selfies so here is what I resort to when taking a picture of a fish while fishing alone.....

 

[MarkB]

Just a follow-up to yesterday's post: I managed to talk my wife into going out this morning due to no wind and in spite of 32 degree temperature! We were able to manage ~1 hour before cold and company finally wore me and her out. There were no other boats as far as the eye could see and ONE flippin boat came to us like a gull to a crippled perch. Before we opted out, we landed a 24", 21.5", and a 16.5" while missing 4 and losing 2 hooked fish(one at the boat that looked to be 20+"). I managed to leave my card in my computer(again!) so no pictures from today. The water was 49 degrees this morning and the air was chill to the bone cold. I may have lost my fishing partner to the cold weather

Good Fishing,

MarkB

[redlabguy]

Slightly nuts? Naw, glad you're still getting out there and landing lots of those nice fat fall fish! Don't you love that "I've got a snag" feel when it starts to move!

Take care out there,

Dick

[fishingdad]

Good for you Mark.  Saturday mornings temp got the best of me also.  I tried for a while to hang in there but I also sadly was aware of the fact that the dock had to be lifted so I packed it in, headed back, & lifted the dock  & called it a year for the boat fishing.  Good Luck out there everyone & be safe.  Mark keep the posts coming as I will be fishing vicariously through you the rest of the open water season.  Fishingdad

[JerkinLips]

Thanks for the posts, Mark.  I wish I could catch even half the walleyes that you do, but I keep trying.  Along with a few nice eaters, my daughter did end up catching a 21", and as we drifted slightly out of that spot to take a picture, the other boat fishing near us was kind enough to fill in for our absence.

[MarkB]

What a beautiful fish! The fins and colors are so perfect it looks like a replica mount. Good job!

Good Fishing,

MarkB

[RoosterMan]

After being away from the lake for most of the fall chasing elk and what not we returned this weekend to put another soft water season in the books today. Pulled the boats on a beautiful vermilion Sunday. I hit the water on Friday in the rain for a while. Fished the bay exclusively we moved around some and finally ended up on a good school of fish. All fish came on Jiggin raps. When we recounted the days catch later around the fire. We had a pretty good bite with 20 some fish in about 2 hours. So not terribly fast and furious but pretty good none the less. No big fish but a lot of really nice eaters.  Anyhow the cabin is ready for snow and hopefully lots of it this year. 

Thanks to everyone on here for keeping the posts going throughout the fall. Look forward to some ice fishing shortly. Take care. 

[JerkinLips]

[JerkinLips]

Fantastic Fall Fishing on October 28-30 as shown in the pictures on the previous posting (couldn't post comments on my home computer for some unknown reason).  In the 3 evenings fishing alone I caught 19 walleyes, including 15 slot fish of which 11 were 22"-24".  All but 3 of the fish were caught after sunset.  This is the first time I found good fishing after dark on Vermilion.  The best period was Friday from 6:20pm to 7:10pm when I caught 7 eyes 20"-23" long while anchored in one spot.  Fished at noon on 10/29 without getting a bite.  Took my sister and brother-in-law out 10/31 at noon and caught a 22" and a 17" in 2 hours of fishing.  15-20 FOW using pike suckers on a plain hook.  If I am fortunate enough to shoot a buck early this season, I may try fishing again before the hard-water season.