How did everyone do on opener?

[fishing addict]

I am dying here having to work all weekend. How did you guys do? where did you fish ? I can't wait to get my chance next week.

Please give us poor guys something to look forward to.

[walleyehawk]

From what I heard on the west side, very slow in the morning and early afternoon and I don't think I saw 3-4 caught among the armada. After about 4 in the afternoon there was more activity with some boats catching multiple fish.

Overall, slow day. Water temp I think was around 52 degrees.

[Sportfish1850]

My son got 5 on the opener.....oh wait those weren't fish, they were hits in his baseball tournament where I am spending my weekend. Oh well, I can fish all my life, can only watch him play baseball for a few short years. He can't wait to hit the water too so here's to wetting a line next weekend.

So yeah, I'm with fishing addict and let us poor guys with other things on the docket this weekend know how you guys did up on the pond.

[letsfishjeff]

On the pond at 3.30 AM off the pond at 8:30AM 8 Fish two guys on the west side! Water temp is 48 All the fish came after it started to get light. Only 1 came while rigging. 17 fow.

[LoveToFish]

Fished the north end sand from midnight to 2:30 am (Friday night/Saturday morning). Not even a bite. I tried to give people some room but I didn't see anyone get one while I trolled by either. Marked fish but not interested in what I had on the hook I guess.

[Tour. Pro 175]

Fished the West side 23 walleyes in 11 hours 16"-27" Sunday fished 4 hours caught 11 18"-26" The fish were scattered, leeches was the bait of choice.

[beretta]

Tour pro: I wasnt able to get down to the big pond this weekend. Im hoping to get there tomorrow night or wed. Not looking to steal your whole technique but just wondering bobbbers, lindy rigs? also roughly what depth? thanks a lot and good fishing.
-beretta

[musky1]

Fished the north end from midnight- 7 am. Caught 6 19" to 22" trolling with raps. We came out again around 11:00am. Had only one fish all afternoon. They finally bit for about an hour, from 9:30 pm to 10:30 pm, on the rocks in 10 feet of water. Caught 4 19 inchers and missed a few others, slip bobbers and leeches.

[fishing addict]

Wow, reading these reports is really making excited for next weekend. Any one else have any luck?

[Guest]

Fished the Wealthwood area Saturday from 6-9 pm. Not a strike. We trolled Raps in 6-11 feet in the rocks and sand. Only marked 3 fish on the graph. Didn't see another fish landed all day. We probably went by 300 boats and didn't see one net come out. We spoke to several people and most had no fish. A few had 1-4 fish. Very slow as the water temp is still very cold. It was at 48-50 depending on where you were.

[Mayfly]

Fished the south east area of the lake.....and caught not one walleye! One 13 inch Perch. Seemed to be the trend so I don't feel too bad. Out of all the boats I saw and fished by, I didn't see anyone net a fish. I remeber a few years ago on opener it seemd like everyone had their nets out...that was a fun opener. Overall had a great time, i'll be back wed-fri and I will catch fish!

[tj417]

Hey Adict -

No reason to get excited - Fishing on the big pond was BRUTAL this weekend - I talked to at least 20 different groups of guys who fished the north and east sides of the lake and if you had one keeper you did better than most - My partner and I worked the hell out of Big Point all day Saturday and Sunday and we had 2 keepers and 4 over 20 in the two days - NOT GOOD!!!

[Tour. Pro 175]

Beretta,

We were pulling lindy rigs in 12'-15' of water. We were in Vineland bay. Don't get caught up fishing in the packs of boats. the fish were really scattered stay on the move. change your leech frequently.

Good luck.

[Beef46]

Pretty slow weekend. Fished Wigwam, Sherman Point and JarJar Banks area most of the time. 4 in the slot Saturday, 3 in the slot Sunday. (One out on 8 mile flat) A few at about 21 inches and one 22 inch. It was definately tough sledding. Water temp needs to come up about 4-5 degrees to turn them on. I suspect by within the next week or so they will start going on a frenzy.

[jayson]

Well even applying all my advice from everyone given to me the past month or so. My father and I did not catch a **** thing in 9 hours! We covered a lot of water and talked to a lot of people both on the radio and in person and it was horrible on much of the North/East side. It didnt matter the depth or technique no body seemed to catch fish the best I heard was 4 fish in a boat with 4 guys fishing all day long.I should have went to big pine...

[Long Gray Line]

Trolled the sand from Malmo to Red Door, zigzagging from 5 to 18' feet from midnight to 3am with tail dancers, shad raps, floating raps, NADA! Marked one small bait fish ball and a couple of small ones off the bottom. Tried it again from 10am to 2:30 the next day, one slow bite on a shiner in about 16', trolled deeper for about 2 hours up toward the cut, SKUNKED! Same story from most on the east side. A lot of goose eggs.... Oh well, did manage to burn out a bunch of stabilizer......

[STILLNOFISH]

Fished out of the red door. we caught two keepers and four in the twenties. really slow fishing compared to other years, but still nice to be on the water. congratulations to those that had some success.

[This message has been edited by STILLNOFISH (edited 05-17-2004).]

[TheGuy]

Fished the West side, most fish in 18 to 21 feet. Leeches...slow!! Some of the fish we got into were spiting up small perch about two inches long. We got 7 under 20 and about 6 over and 2 about 10 inches. Slow weekend but the fish we did get were fatties!!

------------------
Get the Net!!

[TheGuy]

One Guy in our group got 2 tagged fish. Did anyone else get any tagged fish? These two were both under 20 inches.

------------------
Get the Net!!

[Sportfish1850]

Sounds like it was hit and miss this weekend with some guys having good luck and others struggling based on what I read above. Guess thats to be expected in the transition post spawn time period when the fish are still pretty scattered about.

Still, can't wait to hit the lake this time next week. Hoping they concentrate a bit more by then and start to feed. I'd rather fish and catch nothing than cut the lawn or plant bushes.

Thanks for letting those of us that had other things going on this weekend know how you guys did. I'll do the same next weekend.

Anyone catch (on purpose) any Northerns ??

[walleyes29]

Our boat (3 people) had a total of 15 fish from 7am til 2pm with the biggest being 27" and 4 nice slots. All in the south end!! Lindy rig and leeches. The fish were slamming the bait! Great to feel that again.

[Benfishin]

Worst opener in recent memory for us. Four walleyes(all too big including a fat 26 incher) and that includes fishing some today. Fished primarily the north end but did hit the Big Point area. Fished three hours this morning and never saw a walleye caught in the Malmo area. I think I saw no more than 10 walleyes caught in the three days we were fishing. In my opinion part cold water temp, cold front leading up to the opener and too many bait fish!! Beer was cold and I won in poker so all was not lost!!

[Berle]

fished sunday 9am to 2pm. 2 of us caught 7 eyes- 5 in the slot mostly 17-18"ers. fished in the crowd in Vineland using leeches. use lively leeches!

[Wild Willie]

Fished for about ten hours start at Garrison Bay upto Wealthwood and Malmo. Fished 6', 8', 12', 16, and 24'. Tried fatheads, leeches even nightcrawlers. Tried Lindy rigs, tried cranks, tried bobbers, tried trolling....tried everything. Nada, nothing, zero...ziltch. Finally we went out about 3 miles from the northeast corner in about 32' of water..and guess what..began marking more fishing than I have ever seen in my life. Conclusion...the fish are in TRANSITION! Should only be another week or so before things break loose! Anybody else thinking the same way?

[Mayfly]

El Pescador: I see you were fishing in the same area as I was. Just curious if you were one of the boats that fished just outside of Macs Twin Bay. It was packed! Getting in and out from the bay was a maze. I refused to fish there....Any idea if they were catching anything there?

[sawtooth2]

Things were pretty slow in the SE corner on Saturday and even slower on Sunday. We caught four during the day Sat. rigging with leeches and two in the eve bobbering on Hawkbill Reef - including one 16" tagged fish. There were fish being caught, but very few compared to the number of lines in the water. If the water warms up a bit (51.7 degrees now), Memorial weekend may shape up to be decent.

[irishjigs]

Our boat of 3 guys caught 4 fish all weekend. 1 on Friday night, 3 on Saturday. The three on Saturday we were able to keep. Fished on the sand on the north side. We were out of Hunter's Point.

[wallyeye]

Fished the rocks out in front of Myr Mar and the Reef farther out. Caught one 17" and one 19" between 12pm Opener and 4:30 AM Sat. morning using slip bobber and leeches in about 9 to 12 feet of water. Very slow but nice to be able to keep the fish i caught for once.

[Wild Willie]

Gizmoguy - the fish we were marking out there were suspended at about 22' to 24'. Is that what you saw?

[gizmoguy]

I too went out to deep water staight out in front Wilderness. In the area that say's bumps on the Reel Bottom MMC. Fish all over the place. Hook after hook. Lots of bait fish schools too. So we're out there with another boat. Kind of in the middle of nowhere. So you have all seen it, here come the boats. Where having a good laugh and telling stories of placing bouys in the middle of nowhere and off the fish holding structure then the first boat to arrive actually catches a fish.

[This message has been edited by gizmoguy (edited 05-18-2004).]