Friday, November 23, 2012

Fall Redemption....GIANT Walleyes

Let's first start by saying that as bad as the weather and fishing was earlier this fall, the last two weeks have been equally as good.  Maybe we needed the Hurricane to clean out our system. The result has been near fifty fish or more days almost everyday for nearly two weeks.  Fish have ranged from a couple pounds to a whopping 13.3lbs, with a pile of double digit fish reaching the boat.


We have been using a variety of stickbaits, but Husky Jerks, Reef Runners, and Ripsticks have been the clear winners. Colors have seemed to change from day to day, but the one thing that has been constant is that they want a particular speed.  The range has been from 1.2 to 1.6, but almost everyday I have seen a particular speed make a huge difference in the catch rate.  I think a lot of this it is due to the weird currents we have been seeing. This also has made the direction you go really important.


Another thing that has really made a difference is not using a gas engine. Minus a few hours here and there I have been only using my Terrova I-pilot. Both the catch rate and bigger fish like it quiet.  Getting away from traffic also made a HUGE difference in order to get the really big girls.  I'm not sure why everyone always like to pile on top of each other, but I promise you it makes a difference.  During the week with few boats out we were able to get a lot more of those ridiculously large fatties.


Hopefully we will get another week of reasonable weather in before we grab for the ice shanties


PS--Almost all of the giants we caught were released to be caught another day. As good as our fishery is, the numbers are down and we need to show some conservation. I will never understand how everyone perceives it common place to let every bass go, yet knife each and every walleye they get, especially the giants.

Capt. Ross Robertson
www.bigwaterfishing.com

Sunday, November 11, 2012

Smash Fest Fall 2012...Finally

This fall has been really tough...until this week.  Blame it on Obama, Romney, Sandy and bananas...its been tough.  This week however we landed more than 200 walleyes and had several over 12lbs. If it couldn't be any better, we had almost no waves and rather warm air temps. Jinga!


I found the fish after driving around at 26mph for 2hrs with not a single mark on the humminbird. When I did finally mark fish, they were there big time.  Empty screen = no catching, which isn't always the case. Running at that speed to eliminate water is super key.  It allowed me to eliminate a ton of water very quickly. You don't want to be the guy that just follows a pack of boats or relies on a internet report...high speed graphing is the best way to find your OWN fish.

The "hot bite" did seem to move from day to day a little bit, as the water one day was chocolate milk and gin clear the next.  We caught our fair share of fish from the super clear water (including 2 over 12lbs), but the chalky colored water was the magical color. The hot color seemed to shift from hour to hour, but Husky Jerks and Reef Runners were the go to baits each day.


My buddy Jan from the Czeck Republic was kept busy the last two days, as we handled at least 50 fish per day.  It was amazing that some of the walleye tackle he took back last year worked really well on the Zander he has near his house.  If you ever get over that way, Zander also love Eriedescent Reef Runners.

Capt. Ross Robertson
www.bigwaterfishing.com