1-21 Report

[ib_jigged]

I fished out of Morris Point yesterday. I started in 28' fished that from 8 am to 11:30, nothing, not even a mark on the Marcum, moved in closer about 22' set up and dropped the jig down at 12:15, had a hit right away. Never stopped marking fish until 5:30. I missed lots, caught 11, 6 keepers, even split of sauger and walleye. Used a gold Gem-n-eye on one and a gold/chart. jig from Tom's on the other both with whole shiners. Had to jig to get them to bite and stay on, deadstick would just get them curious and nibble.

[jasongp99]

Was in 31 feet Saturday and didn't get even a bite. Was in 31' last weekend and did our best with 7 fish. Very bad year, and very frustrating. Tried everything and marked fish but they just won't bite. They take a look and head back down to the bottom. Have noticed more suspended fish this year. Hope it gets cold and picks up in February.

[MN Mike]

I can't really add much more to what has been said, I saw pretty much the same thing. Nothing in the first spot, 22 FOW, moved after an hour of nothing on the Marcum ( of course then a blip showed up but it swam away ) about 1/2 mile and 15 FOW then there were plent of fish marked but not many biters. I also seen the suspended fish and I would see some come thru really quick and moving upward, almost seemed like they were feeding, just not on my hook and lines I tried everything I had, colors, size, whole and half minnows. Finally got some action on hotpink and glo with some saugers and a pout.

I'll be back..... in a couple weeks for a 3 day weekend, maybe they will be a little more hungry.

Mike

[lookin4fish]

most likely those suspended blips that come in and leave right away are ciscos. we caught a buch due to bordem but had to put down a wax worm on a small buckshot with a minnowhead.

[walleye_dog]

These suspenders may be whitefish, or they may also be walleyes. This same thing happened 4 years ago as we were up in the middle of Feb. that year, and we witnessed the same thing happening. Couldn't get these suspended ones to bite for nothing.

Then on the last day, with milder temps, we went out to about 30' of water and had two of them hit Angel Eyes,both were about 23" walleyes. We went back up the last weekend in Mar. that year and had good fishing for 2 days.

Then all #$%^ broke loose on the final evening. Three of us got into the best fishing of our lives, with each of us icing and releasing at least 10 fish and a fish at least 28" or better, within 30 minutes of dusk. All of those fish came in suspended between 5-12 feet off bottom in 20 feet of water, and REALLY agressive. Hopefully this may be a year that is similar to that one.

Just watch for those suspended red lines and hope they hit what you got.

Good-Luck, Rob

[BlueBasser]

Fished up there on Friday the 20th and had suspended fish as well. We were fishing in 33-34 feet of water and caught all our walleyes about 12-15 feet below the ice. It was strange we would see the fish come in on the Vex and bring the bait up and they would hit it. Pretty suprising when the first one that hit was a nice walleye. We ended up with 6 walleyes and 2 saugers all the walleyes were up shallow and the saugers came off the bottom.

[SFBOY]

Have seen that exact scenario in the past. Three years ago, my dad saw the mark on the vex, pulled up to it 15 feet off the bottom and the fish pounded it. He was all stoked up and then less so when the 8lb eel came up through the hole. We have even seen the pouts cruising under the ice. I was told that they were looking for all of the little eyes and saugers that people catch and release that just happened to get the bends on the way up.

[bigbucks]

We fished out in 36' near a big group of houses about 8 miles past the island on Adrian's road on for about 2 hours. 1 small walleye, 1 small sauger, 1 tullibee. We moved into 13' between the island & shore for 3+ hours & got one 18" walleye. Very slow, we should have moved more, but 4 guys & two houses in one truck wasn't conducive to quick easy moves. The walleye & sauger in deep water were both way off the bottom. We probably saw no more than 10 fish on the two Vexes we had all day. The four fish we got, were all jigging. The one good one came on a blue #7 jigging rap, inhaled the whole thing.

[CANOPY SAM]

It's just a thought, but might it be possible that the fish are moving up in the water column because the water clarity is too poor down below to feed effectively?

I've been hearing reports of this kind of walleye activity for a few years now, and following the harsh winds that whipped up the lake bottom just before freeze up it kind of makes maybe a little sense.

I mean if the sediment was settling extremely slowly, because it does as water gets more dense as it gets colder, that means the clearest water is near the surface and the darkest water is near the bottom.

These fish aren't like Red River predators that survive by scent feeding, at least not to that extent. Those fish have to learn to find food by using scent or they die. Lake fish feed much more effectively by sight. Hence, these suspended fish are moving up to the level of other suspended prey fish above the "mud layer" (for lack of a better word) because they can see there supper better. It might also explain the very aggressive bite that comes from these fish - they are suspended high up, actively feeding!

It's just a thought.

I've fished on LOW from a launch a couple times and we've inevitably marked schools of walleyes and saugers suspended up to ten feet above the bottom, just under shools of baitfish. Of course this is during summer, when they are considerably more aggresive, but I would think that the sheer numbers of fish in this lake would force this type of behavior way out in the basin just to successfully feed any time of the year.

I just hope to experience the type of bite that's being described here someday!

Any other thoughts?

[tunrevir]

Was up on LOW 21-22. Fished out of Borderview in 24' the first day got a mixed bag of fish a few ciscoe, 3-4 walleyes and 7-8 sauger that we kept, threw back 1/2 dozen smaller fish. Worked pretty hard to get those fish and the dead stick outpaced the jigging rods. Next day we went out to 34' of water. Caught one sauger within the first half hour 1.5 lbs, Two other bites with one cigar and a missed fish between 8&11 a.m. Two of the 4 of us headed out at 11:30 and about that time the bite picked up. We caught our limit by the 4 p.m. deadline. Cookie cutter fish as they all were 15-16", didn't matter if it was Walleye or sauger. The eyes all came through on the flasher around 5-12' off the bottom.

Tunrevir~

[BlueBasser]

We came up with the same conclusion on the reason those fish are suspending. When we dropped the camera down to the bottom you couldnt see a thing. It does make sense in my mind that the water would clear from the top-down. And it makes sense that the fish would feed where they can see better...

[ib_jigged]

I was marking all the fish on the bottom, I was jigging about 6" off of the bottom. So I don't know what to say.