Walleye fishing "down south."

[The Bait Shop Guy]

Got out last night after work with "Doofighter." We started near the Ford River Can with no action. Packed up and headed between the Ford and Bark Rivers, with everybody else. Hooked our first fish about 30 seconds after getting the full spread in the water! We thought it was going to be fast and furious, but based on the radio chatter, we caught the tail end of the good bite. We still ended up with a two man limit, but it took 3 hours to get them.

We caught most of our fish on Reef Runners in 18 to 24 FOW. Purple Barely Naked was our best producer, with Blueberry Muffin in a close second place. Purple Prism took a couple, and a Purple Sunfire Deep Husky Jerk also caught one.

[rambler]

So were you catching most of these fish after dark. What is the best way to light boards if you are using them? I have heard of people using glow bracelets? Where do you get them?
How far a run from The Escanaba launch to the fishing between Ford and Bark Rivers?
Boy! That's a lot of questions.
Got out last night and fished just a few hours. Only two keepers just south of the Escanaba lighthouse. They hit right at dark and lost one more that hit at the same time. Thought we might be on to something but not anotehr bite fishing a couple more hours after dark.
I feel like I am in the dark about this night fishing.
Some advice?
Speed? equipment.? Location? etc.
I'm all ears and they are flapping

[The Bait Shop Guy]

Yes, we were fishing after dark. You can catch them during the day, too. Generally, the day time bite seems to be better using harnesses fished suspended behind in-line weights.

There are a lot of different ways to light your boards. 4 and 6 inch chemical light sticks are the most popular way. Light them up and rubber band them to the top of the board or to the flag. There are also battery powered light sticks that work well, (my favorite way to go.) Offshore make a light that replaces the flags on their boards. Some people mount spotlights on the back of the boat, pointing back at their boards. That works well, but other boats can't see where your boards are, (sooner or later, you're going to get in close with another boat out there,) and it also makes it difficult for other boats to read your navigation lights to tell where you are going.

1.5 MPH is a good all-round starting point for trolling cranks. Most of the fish we marked were 15 feet down and deeper, so we set our baits to run at 14 feet. If you don't have one already, get yourself a copy of "Precision Trolling" to tell you how deep a lure dives with a given amount of line out. They're a little pricey, but you will use it every time you go out!

As far as structure goes, any little point, rock hump, or reef can hold fish. When you go out, just look for the boats. You'll see they are pretty well spread out. If you pull up onto a particular piece of structure with two or three other boats on it, take a minute to see how they're working it. If everyone is trolling from south to north, don't just jump in and troll north to south. Don't be THAT GUY!!! Everyone hates THAT GUY!

Hope this helps a little. Let us know if you do any good.

[jigginfins]

Thanks chris for the info.

Last weekend when we fished there we were all over the water column. Only got bit near the bottom. But it was calm and sunny. We did run spinners and baits. Spinners got the fish.

Based on what you said im pretty much in the right spot, just have to get the fish to cooperate, so hopefully if i get out at night they will.

Thanks again

Travis

[DooFighter]

I believe it is about 6 miles from the esky launch to ford river mouth if you stay safe. From there, you can fish anywhere down to oconto, just depends on how far you want to run. Watch the weather, be sure safety gear is up to snuff and use your head. Mistakes are magnified in the dark and bad things can happen fast.