Finally!

I am finally back home and on the fish.  This is one of three nice fish Nig and I caught last night in an hour.  This fish went 22 1/2" in length and fell victim to a jig and leech combination.  We were also catching a few fish on crankbaits in less than 6 feet of water.  We spent the first hour of the evening fishing (catching) crappies.  I think I was able to catch a crappie on 3 out of 4 casts.  It was a ton of fun!  The average size was a bit small but it still made for a fun night. 

As for opening weekend, it was a bit tough to say the least.  I spent Friday night with Walser, Okie and Jay fishing Gull and got skunked.  We tried some shallow crankbaits as well as some bobber fishing and ended up cold and back at the cabin.  Saturday morning I spent some time in shallow waters looking for walleyes and found lots of nice bass instead.   Saturday evening I went fishing on Serpent lake in Deerwood, MN for the first time ever.  I went over there to take Betsy and her brothers out fishing.  Upon arrival I was told by the whole family that there weren't any fish in the lake and they each bet me 5 dollars I would not catch anything.  We went out in the evening to fish a few reefs but had no luck and at dark we tried fishing crankbaits but still had no luck.  It was very windy, rainy, and as the sun went down snowy.  Now that I had multiple excuses for not catching anything....I still couldn't bring myself to give up.  My hard work eventually paid off, and I was able to catch a nice 18" walleye on a crankbait right at dark.  Moments later I hooked up on another nice walleye only to lose it boatside while trying to net it.  At this point the wind and rain had gotten the best of me and I had to go in and warm up.  My work was done; I had proven there were walleyes in Serpent Lake and they will bite if you have the right presentation.  I will fish this lake again before summer is over and hope to continue to learn more about it.  Will be on the water the next few evenings with clients and will report back soon. 

Spring Fever

The nice weather this past weekend gave Betsy, Matt Rauenhorst, and I a chance to get on the water and chase some panfish on Minnetonka.  Betsy was able to land this "giant" largemouth bass while fishing for crappies.  She also learned how to bait her own hook and take fish off.  We will see how well she does this weekend with fish that have teeth.  It was a good day on the water.  We caught in up wards of 75 plus crappies, a bunch of sunnies, and a few bass.  If we are lucky we will have photos with a few walleyes from this coming weekend.         

Look Out

Walleye season is approaching ever so fast.  Groves of Minnesotans will take to there favorite fishing hole for the weekend.  That is if the ice is out!  With the lakes in the north half of the state still ice covered it is hard to think that we are supposed to be in a boat this weekend.  Unfortunately many resorts had to cancel this coming weekends business due to ice.  The ice will not stop guys from going fishing they will just choose other lakes to fish if there favorite is still iced over. 

The walleye season opener is a great tradition here in MN.  For the lakes that are all clear of ice the fishing should be good.  The walleyes should be ever so hungry after a long winter and spring.  They should be all done spawning and be ready to eat what you have to offer.....that is if you offer the right bait.  My plans for the weekend involve a handful of lakes.  I will start on Gull and from there head to Serpent and will finish back here in the metro.  Keep your eyes and ears here for the latest on the adventures.  Good luck to all!     

     

On The Water

On Saturday Pete, Gunner, and Myself bundled up and headed for the river.  Felt great to get back on the water and in the boat again.  We struggled to locate fish for the first few hours.  So we continued to change areas and baits until we finally found a presentation they would eat.  We finished the day with about 25 walleyes, some rough fish, white bass, smallmouth, and one northern. 

The biggest key to our success was finding "clean" water.  The river is ripping with heavy current right now and has clouded up bad.  The fish can not bite something they don't see....  Once we found some cleaner water we started catching fish pretty consistently.  The biggest fish went about 4 pounds with most in the 2 pound range.  They are all spawned out and have started to venture back to some of there summer areas.  With temps climbing into the 70's this week, I hope to be on the lakes around here in the next week or so.  Stay tuned for more pictures and updates soon.