6/29/12 Leech Lake Walleye Trolling

The crankbait bite has picked up a little for me. We have had our best luck on Husky Jerks and Minnow Raps behind boards over 10-15 f.o.w.@ 1.5 mph.

Plenty of 24-27 inchers with some bonus Pike mixed in.

Cheers and hooksets!

6/17/12 Power Corkin' eaters

I have a pretty reliable pattern going now for eaters. It's called power corkin'.  I'm finding active Walleyes are set up on weed patches in 7-15 f.o.w. with steep breaking bottom. A slip bobber and Leech has been working best for eating sized fish but running your boat over these fish seems to spook them out. I like to run the breaklines in 18-25 f.o.w. until I mark good bunches of bait and hopefully fish. Then it's time to shut the big motor off and quietly work shallow. When there is a wind blowing in it allows me to drift shallower otherwise I will creep shallower with the trolling motor, constantly pitching  with a cork and Leech. The key to this system is to keep moving until you catch a fish. Just because you are fishing with a bobber doesn't mean you have to sit in one place all day. If you have someone else in the boat you can try having them cast a jig or crankbait to show them something different. The fish tend to run bigger on artificials and bite-offs from Pike are common so it depends on what your looking for. If it's eaters that you are after, try power corkin'!

 

6/9/12 Play The Hand You're Delt-Leech Lake Bass

Nothing but high Sky's today. Not exactly great fishing for Muskies, Walleyes or Pike. These bluebird days can be however pretty productive for Bass and Bluegills.

 I like to look for Largemouths in heavy rice or Lilly pads this time of year. Both is even better. In fact my favorite sunny day bucketmouth pattern is a small clump of pads inside of a Wild Rice bed. Usually 2-5 f.o.w. The Lilly Pads act as parasols and offer cover from overhead predators such as Eagles. Between the Bald Eagles overhead and the 30# Muskies in the 5'-10' weed flats, the thick shallow weeds and rice of Leech lake mean survival for the Largemouth. The best way to extract these fish is with a weedless frog or spoon. And not just because of the heart-stopping strikes. It's actually the best way to get them out. On overcast days I might opt for a swimming jig, fluke or spinnerbait worked around heavy cover but when it's sunny, look to the slop.

 

 

 

 

 I guess they don't call them Sunnies for nothing. Look for Bluegills in the thickest weed clumps or reed edges near drop-offs adjacent to spawning areas and pitch small jig and plastic combos under a float. My favorite presentation is a 1" smoke Power Tube under a small Thill slip Bobber.

 

 

 

 

6/10/12 Family Outing

With the Muskies being a little stubborn, I got my girls out Sunday for a sandwich and a slip bobber session. We dropped the hook on a wind-exposed inside turn and threw out our cork and leech combos. We managed eight Walleyes, two small Pike and a few decent Perch in about two hours. Nice time on the water.