Mayfly’s and Walleye’s

I don’t know what I’m doing wrong but two of us fished

from 6:00-11:30 this morning and all we got was 2 walleye’s

1 eater and 1 released.Caught several sheeps,a bluegill,and

fairly large carp.Boy I thought I had a good eye on untill it started it’s run. Saw our first barge heading upstream

boy it was huge.Fished from Pepin south to where the river

narrows up before the Chippewa and then fished up the Minnesota side.Trolled a lot of different baits in different

depths even tried running a board up near shore with a floating rap dragging behind it about 75 feet. Tossed jigs

with leechs and crawlers.Got the carp on a jig,twister tail

and leech combo.I guess it was a nice day out but it sure

got warm.I’ll be heading back over next Saturday and maybe

Tuesday orThursday evening.I think I’ll go up the lake and

see what thats like or I’ll watch for James and follow him.

Ha Ha I believe he catchs more in a day than I do all year.Is the hatch that happened last night got anything to

do with us not catching squat?There were mayflies thick eveywhere when we lauched. The dock was covered.

Lot’s of different things are going on now- mayflies-current slowing-larger more plentiful frey- but we have had I think four mayfly hatches down here so far( I thought it used to be one), and although I have been tied up in business for the last two days- tues-weds-thurs-fri were no hot bite on 8 and hougie said 7 and I heard the same about 9 and I didn’t get a keeper at Alma tues PM. On Winnebago the bite seems to slow considerably during the hatch and the fish are slow for a couple days after. I’ve seen more walleye than usual on the top of the water after something. Now might be the time to try the mayfliy flies. Some people post that they like them-Usually the bite is on again before I figure out whether they work or not. Lawrence

Mountain Man makes a good point…. this time of year a ton of independant factors seem to conspire against anglers to make fishing just a little bit tougher most days then it was just weeks prior. This time of year we usually see the YOY shad pop. really start to reach a decent size and we’re talking HUGE quantites of shad. Life IS just a bit easier for the walleye now. Throw in a significant mayfly hatch and if you’re not on a ton of fish or if the fish are in between feeding spurts, then the bite can really be a stinker. Maiden Rock has been consistent of late despite the fly hatches. I’ve seen the fish first-hand and heard a real consistent theme by those catching fish…. “if you’re not pulling plugs on lead, you’re not catching many fish.” Longlining just doesn’t seem to be producing right now.

For what its worth….

James Holst

Moving Waters Guide Service

http://www.movingwaters.net

Thanks guys for the input.I haven’t tried lead core yet but wouldn’t just

slow trolling with a bottom bouncer and spinner rig ot lure like floating

rap or something similar be about the same??? I didn’t try this Sunday

but I’m planning on fishing Pepin again soon and will give this a try.Aren’t

the fish generally holding in 12 foot and shallower now in the early am or

does one need to fish deeper say 20 to 25 feet therefore leadcore??? Oh

well it’s all fun when your out and about fishing but it would be nice to bring home

two keepers so my wife and I could both eat a fresh fish during

the same meal,.this taking turns has got to go.Just joking Thanks again

and I’ll be back I’m in the Alumacraf Trophy 170 with 90 Merc,and a

Evenrude 7.5 for a kicker. If you see me stop by for a cup of coffee,Ice tea,

or a Leinies.

maybe someone else knows why, but when the bite is on lead line then nothing else really works the same, except maybe snap weights….. Ive went the 3 way route during a lead line bite and you will pick up SOME fish…. but the people using leadline will be kicking your rump….

at least thats my experience……

I don’t know what the exact difference is but I often troll a longer rod with Fireline and a crank in the rod holder and have a shorter rod – 5 1/2′ – setup with lead line that I hold with my hand to get more separation of baits on the same side of the boat. On some days the lead line will outfish the Fireline almost 100% and then the same thing will happen only vice versa. I run about a 6′ leader of Fireline on the lead line in front of the crankbait – I think the lead line must make quite a difference in the action / presentation of the lure. Wally Divers have been the hot ticket for me so far this summer. CPR’d my biggest yet – 29″ – 9#’s a couple of weeks ago up in the backwaters on the ol’ red/black wally diver….

Barc

Were you running the two lines the same distance back?How about those in line trolling weights.Not the snap ones but the ones that have a swivel on each end?Wouldn’t they work equally as well say 8 to 10 feet ahead of your lure or spinner rig.How deep of water are you generally fishing and how far back are your setups?I tried every depth from the 4 foot flats to say 12 foot while trolling.I also tried running tight to shore useing a planer board.Has anyone ever tried using an attractor like a smaller lake troll ahead of your lure? So many things to try and so much water to fish and so little time.Thanks for your input