Esky River 6-5-11 report

[The Bait Shop Guy]

Diane and I headed down to the Escanaba River after dinner Sunday night for a little evening troll. I was happy to see that the water temps were in the low 70's. Normally when it first hits the 70 degree mark in the river, the trolling bite for walleyes and bass is hot. It ended up being surprisingly slow. We didn't catch anything until after 9pm. Between then and 10pm we landed 6 walleyes and a bass, and lost another 5 or 6, (not a bad trip, just slower than you would expect.) Half the fish we landed, and most of the ones we lost, were nice eaters. Didn't feel like cleaning fish tonight, so back they went. Normally at this time of year you have to sort through 10 or more small fish to get one keeper, so this trips average was pretty good. Got one on a #6 pink clown Husky Jerk. All the rest were on a chart/green Rebel Wee-R Crayfish trolled in 3 to 6 FOW.

If you have kids or just want to catch a bunch of fish in a short time and have some fun, the next couple weeks should be good down there.

Good luck.

[YooperTroll]

Thanks for the report, Chris.

I caught a 17-inch Walleye and lost a really nice one in the river last Friday using crawler harnesses (yeah, I lost a couple of setups ;)).

Do you use any special techniques trolling--or just long-line it?

[The Bait Shop Guy]

Just throw the baits "a good cast" behind the boat and troll upstream.

[YooperTroll]

Just throw the baits "a good cast" behind the boat and troll upstream.

Thanks, bud.

[perch"n"eyes]

Chris i was out on the river also , i left a little after you got there. Fished out of the mouth and to the south and got a few bites and one small walleye drifting and caught 2 smallmouth , 13-14" , 1 14" walleye , and probly 15 rockbass in the river anchored near wooden bridge i was casting a full crawler on a plain hook and the ole' lady was fishing a slip bobber and had one set up with a orange n black floater.

[YooperTroll]

Chris i was out on the river also , i left a little after you got there. Fished out of the mouth and to the south and got a few bites and one small walleye drifting and caught 2 smallmouth , 13-14" , 1 14" walleye , and probly 15 rockbass in the river anchored near wooden bridge i was casting a full crawler on a plain hook and the ole' lady was fishing a slip bobber and had one set up with a orange n black floater.

Yes, there's no shortage of the rock bass in the river. At least the ones I've caught were of pretty good size.