Sunday, May 25, 2014

Will Fish for Work


 I'm continuing to boat a nice mix of eaters and bigger fish. With water temps increasing precipitously, I expect Walleyes to start transitioning off of the classic spring spots and more into summer patterns.  Expanding your presentation mind-set beyond the jig and minnow should help to consistently boat fish. Live bait rigs, spinner rigs and crankbaits are starting to become important search lures.


I still have many weekday openings for June trips.


Cheers and hook-sets!

Wednesday, May 21, 2014

Lots of Wonderfull Slots


Despite the liberalized slot limits this year, the keepers are coming in one out of every 4-5 fish with the bulk of the catches being 22"-26" fish. A few of my spots are kicking out more keepers but it's very hard to leave big fish for eaters! The good news is that the catching has been fantastic with just enough keepers to make for some outstanding outings. Taking pictures of mid-twenty inch fish is starting to get quite redundant but we never tire of setting the hook and reeling in this quality of fish. Not to mention the "certain kind of grin" we get when we hoist one of these beauties. With water slowly warming, I expect to soon be able to catch Walleyes a dozen different ways including artificial lures, minnows, leeches and crawlers as well.


Cheers and hook-sets!



Wednesday, May 14, 2014

The Bite Keeps Rollin'



The community spots are kickin' out some fish too.
Here is a pair of two footers from this morning's outing.
We had a nice run of eaters and slot fish today.


Cheers and hook-sets!


5/14 Boxer Recon

 


With weather improving, I got out for two hours in the evening and tried a different area that I have been thinking about. The 15-20 inchers were out to play this time which is a good sign after this weekend's mostly female bite. Five out of six fish were boxers though I only kept one. I have confidence in 1/8oz green jigs tipped with a Spot Tail Shiner minnow right now. Is there a fish fry in your future?

 
Cheers and hook-sets!

Sunday, May 11, 2014

Full Tilt Walleyes- Leech Lake

I got out with my friend Jim today, we hit several spots and caught fish on all of them. We netted two dozen fish total.  Lots of 22"-24" and up to 26". It's great to be in full swing again here on Leech Lake. The females were spawned out and seemed to enjoy the warm weather, they hit even better when the sun came out. Water was 45-49 degrees. It was an absolute perfect day on the water.

Cheers and hook-sets!

Thursday, May 8, 2014

Metro Carp Session

 
4# test, a can of corn and a swollen spring creek made for an interesting impromptu Carp session. Here's a smaller one that didn't school me. What an under rated sport fish. Walleye opener can't come soon enough though.

Cheers and hook-sets!

Sunday, May 4, 2014

Count Down to Jigs Down!


Walker Bay is taking her sweet time opening up for opener but the view from Stony Pt. this morning is all open water.

 
It's almost time to set the hook into some delicious state fishes.
 
Cheers and hook-sets!

Friday, May 2, 2014

No Tarpon...No Problem


It's nice to get away for a couple of days. While helping a couple of snowbirds move back to Minnesota last month I did get a chance to tangle with the Tarpon. A late April cold front kept the fish activity down but it was great to see huge schools of fish rolling and daisy chaining and a few hook-ups besides. I'll hopefully be back in the future though it's hard to justify leaving MN in May or June.


                                                     King Mackerel are a blast!


I won't disclose my spot but it rhymes with "Polka Band".
The highlight of the trip were the plus-sized King Mackerel we caught.
-Video to come-


Cheers and hook-sets!

Thursday, May 1, 2014

April Showers Should Bring May Walleye-ers

 
 

er....

With about a week to go until Walleye opener, it looks like Leech Lake will shed her icy top layer just in time. Most of the bays are now open and ice on the big lake looks like it's had it. 1/8-1/4 oz green, white, gold or chartreuse jigs tipped with a minnow is usually the presentation of choice but don't overlook a jig and soft plastic or a #10 Husky Jerk for casting to very shallow fish. The MNDNR has liberalized the slot for 2014 as well so 4 fish limits can now include fish up to 20" with one over 26".

 
Cheers and hook-sets!