Work was tough Friday with the warmer weather on the horizon. The plan originally was to head down to Evert’s on Saturday and fish an evening/night bite, that didn’t last long when I got a call from Steve down at Evert’s saying the night bite was lacking and to get down for the day bite. A couple of *cough* *coughs* at work and we were on the road. Ryan met us down at the resort Friday evening and we went out around 8pm for the night bite. We tried everything Friday night – pitching, dragging, trolling, and vertical jigging; the fish were there, they were just not eating!
Determined to get some fish over the rail we headed back to the cabin early and called it a night so we could try out this day time bite. Morning rolled in, we made a quick stop down at the bait shop for some last minute tactics and were told the dubuque rig was the hot ticket item. Back to the cabin and our poles and gear were set.
Saturday/Sunday/Monday morning and afternoon were complete lights out for my group. Between the 3 days we put over 100 fish in the boat and a handful of big girl walleyes. Tactics changed throughout the day, but we were able to stay on top of the bite with switching between dubuque rigs (3/8 jig on the dropper and a plain hook as the trailer with a minnow), short paddle-tails (cutting them in half), and shortened moxie’s. Small baits put more fish over the rail than any method we tried.
Saturday was used to completely learn this new method of boat control and fishing. Fish just would not bite during a drag, the boat needed to be positioned so that our lines were completely vertical, feel the bottom, raise and inch and wait for that THUMP!
Sunday and Monday we just rinsed and repeated what was learned from Saturday. All of our same tactics were working, however, the fish seemed to have moved a little deeper. A quick adjustment and we were back on them.
Regardless of the amazing fishing we had, our best times were had hanging around the camp grounds at Evert’s talking fishing with everyone there, having a few drinks, and taking in the amazing scenery.
Steve and Kari – once again thanks for hosting and all the amazing tips and tactics you share with us every time we are down. I know that every new person I bring down is asking the next weekend if they can join.
See ya next weekend (but probably during the week). 
It was great fishing with you Jake and Chad! I’ll echo what Jakob said about Evert’s. Lot’s of good folks and if you keep your ears open you might learn a thing or two.
Also an extra thanks to Steve and the guys in the cabin next door for the valuable pointers. The fishing tips 100% made the trip down worth it.
Wow! The numbers you caught sound ridicolous, everybody we talked to those three days struggled. We only caught 9 fish during that same span, but were lucky enough to get a 10 lber.
11 fish per guy, per day, over 3 days is what we averaged. That’s not a huge number when you’re on the water for 8 or so hours per day.
And for the record, I would have fished all 3 days without a bite for 1 28″er. Congrats!
That’s still way above what most guys were catching! I was just the net man, but it was still a sweet moment for my dad and I. We caught her dragging.
Tell that to the 4 guys in the jon boat from IA who were out today! They were putting on a sauger clinic and getting a few nice eyes mixed in. It was a lot of fun to watch. I swear someone on that boat was either catching a fish or missing a strike every 1-2 minutes for a good stretch. Those guys had em dialed in 100%.
Great report Ryan. We where down Sunday. It was a bit slow for us but then again we decide to stick to pitching. Any day fishing is still a great day. Was a little worried on the way down how busy Everts was going to be that morning. It was busy but Steve seemed to be moving people through pretty quick. Between shuttling people up the hill to park or directing traffic at the ramps things moved through pretty quick. Always a good time down there.
Nice fish, Guys!
Great report. And wow. You sure did better than we did. We fished Saturday and Monday. Guess we should have tried to stay more vertical like you suggested. It did seem like a very slow presentation worked best. And the bigger ones we caught came shallow on Monday. 6 feet for one; 10 feet for the others. I gotta say, I told myself I was gonna force my self to stick with plastics on Monday to try and learn that technique better. So with a couple tips from BK on Saturday, it sure paid off. We didn’t catch many but they slammed the plastic when we did find some.
I’m Freaking PUMPED for this thurs-mon it should be pretty damn good especially after hearing these reports
The best advice Steve gave me was a few weeks back. He said if you think your fishing slow enough, fish slower. It’s the river though, so things are always changing.
Everyone in our group got several sauger in this size range as well. We didn’t snap too many pix because we just wanted to keep fishing. Quality isn’t great on this one, it’s a cell phone pic. You’ll get the idea though.
Those saugs are a lot of fun to reel in while waiting for a mama walleye!
Nice job boys!
Might have to run down later this afternoon, sure is nice out.
Great stuff guys, thanks for the info. Loved the scenery photo, reminds me how cool the experience is down there. Congrats!
Joel
Nice work gentlemen! Jakob and Ryan know what they are doing down there. To get a hot tip like that is why we all fish. no matter how much you fish down there it always changes! Keep the reports coming!
Great Fishin this last weekend with ya Jake n Ryan!! It was great to actually figure out the bite and put a lot fish in the boat…..”where they belong”. Steve and Kari always do a top notch job of taking care of everyone that comes through that launch. I don’t think anyone waited more than 5 minutes to get their boat in the water.. Great times as always!! I’ll be buggin everts for years to come. All the neighbors are extremely knowledgeable also if you listen to the tips they give you… You know who you are “”Thanx”” Thanx again Steve and Kari
Them are some funny lookin catfish you guys are catchin! Lol