raywriter
01-31-2010, 09:59 PM
I stopped at Bay View this a.m., bought 2" minnows, waxies, and wigglers. Went out from Yellow Gate and picked an area with almost no shacks (therefore less pressure, etc.) Anyway between 8:30 and noon two of us landed 30 perch with 18 keepers including four 11" - 12" football shaped, humpbacked jumbos. We saw two walleyes and a good pike on camera.
The best presentation was a one-inch soft plastic crayfish on a 1/32 ounce jig, with two spikes on the hook as a "sweetner". (I had spikes left over from a previous trip). Lay the crayfish on bottom, stir up some silt, raise it six inches, then "shimmy" it like a belly dancer. Bigger perch liked it! We also caught fish on small Swedish Pimples loaded with spikes, single waxies on teardrop spoons, and wigglers on small "Genz Worms". Some fish hit minnows on a plain hook and split shot rig. Overall, the fish were feeding very (tentatively?). Very few strong hits - long pauses between flurries of action. They acted like there were more pike just out of camera range. As a side note: you can see that we change presentations, jigging styles, colors, sizes, and baits often. The alternative usually is sitting there and catching little or nothing.
After a mid-afternoon break for a fish fry, I moved the entire operation south of the Terrace along the major breakline on the west shore. There I fished in 32' of water without a camera or even a flasher. I know the area and I felt if I just put some bait in the water for the critical 4:30 to 6:30 time frame I would either hit fish or skunk. In this particular case, I knew that I might not see any fish using electronics, but simply fishing it blind was a pretty good bet. The walleyes seem to move from deeper water to the shallower drop-off every evening all along this breakline. You just have to have some bait in the water and try to attract some fish toward your spot. Well... two of us had action on five fish, and I landed two walleyes at 20" and 26". I used a 1/2 ounce neon green Rat-L-Trap lure as an attractor at 5 minute minute intervals, while running a slip float rig 3' off bottom on one line, and a yellow/red Custom Jigs and Spins "Rocker" spoon on another rod. Both rigs had 3" minnows I got from Bay View. I raised the slip float rig up about four feet and let it free-fall back down at one minute intervals with one hand and lightly jigged the spoon rig rod almost constantly with the other hand. When ripping the attractor rig, I set the other two rods down.
Every day on the bay has a twist. Here is what happened to me today: While working for these walleyes, my friend had a hit on his slip float rig but missed the fish. He reeled in his rig to check it and found his clip-on stinger hook missing. (Today he used a stinger hook on his slip float rig, while I did not). Tonight when I cleaned the 26" fish I found his stinger and minnow in the walleye's stomach! That fish had hit his rig, got the minnow, somehow broke the stinger hook off, and still came after the spoon I was working.
The best presentation was a one-inch soft plastic crayfish on a 1/32 ounce jig, with two spikes on the hook as a "sweetner". (I had spikes left over from a previous trip). Lay the crayfish on bottom, stir up some silt, raise it six inches, then "shimmy" it like a belly dancer. Bigger perch liked it! We also caught fish on small Swedish Pimples loaded with spikes, single waxies on teardrop spoons, and wigglers on small "Genz Worms". Some fish hit minnows on a plain hook and split shot rig. Overall, the fish were feeding very (tentatively?). Very few strong hits - long pauses between flurries of action. They acted like there were more pike just out of camera range. As a side note: you can see that we change presentations, jigging styles, colors, sizes, and baits often. The alternative usually is sitting there and catching little or nothing.
After a mid-afternoon break for a fish fry, I moved the entire operation south of the Terrace along the major breakline on the west shore. There I fished in 32' of water without a camera or even a flasher. I know the area and I felt if I just put some bait in the water for the critical 4:30 to 6:30 time frame I would either hit fish or skunk. In this particular case, I knew that I might not see any fish using electronics, but simply fishing it blind was a pretty good bet. The walleyes seem to move from deeper water to the shallower drop-off every evening all along this breakline. You just have to have some bait in the water and try to attract some fish toward your spot. Well... two of us had action on five fish, and I landed two walleyes at 20" and 26". I used a 1/2 ounce neon green Rat-L-Trap lure as an attractor at 5 minute minute intervals, while running a slip float rig 3' off bottom on one line, and a yellow/red Custom Jigs and Spins "Rocker" spoon on another rod. Both rigs had 3" minnows I got from Bay View. I raised the slip float rig up about four feet and let it free-fall back down at one minute intervals with one hand and lightly jigged the spoon rig rod almost constantly with the other hand. When ripping the attractor rig, I set the other two rods down.
Every day on the bay has a twist. Here is what happened to me today: While working for these walleyes, my friend had a hit on his slip float rig but missed the fish. He reeled in his rig to check it and found his clip-on stinger hook missing. (Today he used a stinger hook on his slip float rig, while I did not). Tonight when I cleaned the 26" fish I found his stinger and minnow in the walleye's stomach! That fish had hit his rig, got the minnow, somehow broke the stinger hook off, and still came after the spoon I was working.