BobT

I figure any fish that doesn't get into my boat was a wall-hanger for sure.

Not every time. When fishing for walleyes I never use a steel leader but do attract a fair number of northerns to bite. Once that happens, it is just luck that the line doesn't cross its teeth and get cut. We have also caught them this way and wondered how they didn't get loose. My brother caught one last week about 34" in which the jig was lodged in its throat. All we could see was the jig head. Unfortunately, where we were fishing, a 34" northern was illegal to keep so we had to cut the line and hope it will survive. How that mono leader didn't get bit off is a mystery to us. Never mind. I didn't comprehend your entire post. My bad and I agree with you.

We fish mostly in the Lost Lake area. The morning bite was quite a bit slower than we have grown to anticipate. Some pick up in activity around noon and then much better in the evening in current. Friday, I took my fishing partner up to Pelican Rapids and from 6:00pm - 9:30pm we figured we boated over 200 walleyes. Every one was between 15" - 17". Nothing larger or smaller. Saturday evening we found the bite slowed a bit (only boated about 100 walleyes in the same time period) but they ran slightly larger with most running in the slot. Crooked narrows (west of Deception Bay) was productive, especially in the evening. Keewatin Bay produced some nice eyes on Thursday with many falling in between 25" - 28". Our biggest of the week was 28.25". One boat made a run up to Grassy Bay and did well. He also stopped at Devil's Elbow and found it to be productive. Caught one musky there too. Caught quite a few northern pike in the 31" - 34" range. With the slower morning bite, this was the first time in the 20 years we've been going that we did not run out of bait. I gave away about 30 dozen minnows to a neighbor that didn't have any. So end tally was that we fed out 170 dozen minnows and a pound of leeches with 10 guys.

We're heading up to the southern end near Deception Bay next week. I know we won't be heading that far north. May take a run up to the Grassy Bay area though.

By this time next week I'm expecting to have set the bar for our tournament. Will be launching from the Lac Seul Resort in Hudson on Lost Lake. This is the southern entrance to the Lac Seul reservoir. Expecting to do well as usual. I can report when I return.

Probably nothing at this point. I ordered bait from our supplier in Dryden for our June trip to Hudson, which is northwest of Sioux Lookout, and Lisa told me the lakes are well capped in ice yet.

Jigs for me. There's just something about the challenge of feeling that subtle pick up when a walleye sucks it in. About the only time I use something else is if I'm looking for a meal and jigging isn't producing. In those cases, depending on the time of year, I might choose to go with a Lindy rig or deep diving shad rap. I find the raps will work well on a local lake (not mentioning the name ) during the dog days of summer (late July and August). I've discovered that the weed growth seems to die of on certain areas during the summer where it was thick earlier, leaving clean bottom sections within the weed growth. I'm talking areas of no weeds in 7-11 feet of water with weeds both shallower and deeper. I'll speed troll (up to about 5mph) those raps so they tick the bottom and trigger walleyes. In these areas all the rules are broken by the eyes. I'll catch 'em in 8' feet of water, midday, with calm water and bright sun using those raps. Of course I also wrestle with the northerns and bass too.

Found about 14" of snow and slush on Big Swan north of Grey Eagle. Spent about 1-1/2 hours trying to get my ATV out of that mess. Of course, it wouldn't have taken so long if my noodle was working well enough that I went home after the first time but I was too stupid and had to try a different route and get stuck a second time. Got out of there and neighboring Long Lake was okay. I also notced Lady Lake had vehicles on it.

I like the pushbutton start. With the key in my pocket, it always comes with me when I leave the vehicle so I never forget to remove my key from an ignition. Like Del, I like how just grabbing the door handle unlocks the doors. Likewise, locking the doors is as easy as touching a pad on the door handle.

We never start processing for at least 24 hours after the kill to allow rigor to settle out. I always age my venison for at least a week before final processing. Since I don't have a cooler large enough I quarter it and put it in an old refrigerator that we have for beer, bait, and game. Ideally for aging the meat should be able to breath with some exposure to air but too much and it will dry out. Also good to set it up so the blood can drain off.

Prior to buying my '06 I hunted with a Marlin 30-30 lever for about 20 years and any deer I shot fell pretty much where they were standing. I hunt in northern MN so most of my shots are less than 50yds. I always wanted to get a 30-06 or .270 bolt action and finally got my opportunity for a good buy. When I bought my '06 I bought Winchester 180gr silver tip simply because that is what my father used. The first two deer I shot with it, didn't drop in their tracks but forced me to track them down for about 50 - 75 yards. My shot placement was good but I noticed that the exit wounds were not much larger than the entrance wounds. I talked to a co-worker that is pretty sharp on bullet types, and he told me I was using the wrong bullet. He said, downsize to 150gr soft point, Nozzler partition, or Core Lokt. The smaller weight bullet will stand a better chance of expanding upon impact on the deer and the recoil would be noticeably less. I bought a box of Federal 150gr Core Lokt PSP and haven't had to follow a deer since. From my reading this cartridge has been a staple for many years.

Looking for lodging options near Kenora in February. We stayed three years ago at Wilson's Resort NE of Kenora but the new owners are not open in the winter. We fish a couple lakes about 20 and 30 miles respectively northeast of Kenora for lake trout. If anyone knows of a place that may provide winter lodging, it would be most appreciated. Thanks, Bob

We are strictly a jig and minnow group. We've tried using artificials thinking if they worked as well as claimed it would save us quite a bit. Contrary to what they claim, real minnows out-produce plastics by a factor of 20:1 in our experience and we tried everything from snap jigging to finesse jigging and everything in between. Tried plastics, powerbaits, etc. Minnows out-produced crawlers by at least 3:1 and also out-fish leeches most of the time but we are okay with the leeches. $45.00 - $50.00 CAD per pound for leeches has been about the going rate for years. In June when we go, we usually find the fish in shallow water near shore. Trolling is not as effective because it puts you out too deep. I go through probably 4 dozen jigs in those 4-1/2 days of fishing. It would cost a lot more than the live bait replacing all the crankbaits.

You could clean the fish at the launch if you bring a means to dispose of the entrails. That way, you can pack the filets on ice for the ride home. Just be sure to leave at least an inch of skin on the filets for identification. The easiest way to do that is to stop just before you pull the skin completely off and then back up and cut the skin off an inch early. When you get home, just grab that piece of skin and tear it off. If you bring water from home, you might be able to transfer the fish to that cooler for the ride home, keeping them alive. This is how I do my minnows.

Just returned Monday from our annual trip to the Hudson area on the very south end. Most of our fishing was just south of the Lac Seul but part of the English River system. The average fish size seemed smaller with most being males in the 14" - 19" range. That is, until Saturday afternoon and Sunday when we began to notice a definite increase in the size structure of the fish. We started catching more in the 22" - 26" range. Anyone in that area this week is probably getting a treat. The numbers of fish caught was quite significant. Let me put it this way. We checked into the Lac Seul Resort near Hudson around noon on Wednesday last week and checked out Monday morning. In those 4-1/2 days of fishing, eight guys used 200+ dozen minnows and 1-1/4 pound of leeches. We had a pretty good time with that.