New to fishing and looking for any advice

[WTBskills]

Hello all I have been trying to read everything i can here on these forums for about 6 months now, as well as picking up any info from anyone or thing about fishing that i can. I have just started fishing at the end of last season i bought a boat and decide to try it out. Now its all I want to do.... but i am really not very good at it and don't know anyone that is. Its over whelming and hard to know what to do. So a little about what i got. I have a that i just got a hummingbird 565 i use a open face reel. i got a good amount of lures that my grand father left to me when he passed away. i also have an eight week old yellow lab(useless only sleeps on the boat!) I have fished a lot on eagle lake in Maple Grove at the end of last year and a few times this year, twin lake a bit in Robbinsdale, minnetonka a lot this year and yesterday i went to lake waconia. Out of all of them I really like waconia a lot. but i have been trying to catch walleye as that is the only fish i haven't cought now. i was out there for 10 hours yesterday. could find more than a few pan fish i got a 17inch bass casting a jig and minnow. i love bobber fishing! but i feel like everything i do is wrong. i hope that anyone can help me out here as i am getting very frustrated and want to get fish in the boat!. Ask any questions as i will answer them ASAP. Thanks for taking the time to read this.

-Ben

[Bearfan1963]

WTB, I'm sure you'll get a few chimes with this one. First of all welcome to the greatest and most frustrating sport around. Firstly, patients will be required at all times, even when you become a so called expert. Jig and minnow is a good start. A good sensitive rod for feel is important also, a 7 foot medium/light rod is what I use. At this time of year look for weed beds with 6-12 feet of water in the early morning and evening, and out deeper during the day. You need only use the size jig that lets you feel the bottom. 1/8"-1/4" in shallow and bigger out deeper. You need to change your retrieve to see what the walleye want ie. slow jigging retrieve, slow no jigging retrieve, fast retrieve etc... The hardest part with walleye is what is a bite and what is just hitting bottom. Walleye normally dont hit like a bass or other fish. You could be getting bites and not even know it. When casting to determine if your on the bottom, cast, keep the line taught by slowly reeling and you will see you line quickly drop, you are now on the bottom and can start your retrieve. Do not allow your line to have slack in it otherwise you may never feel a bite. Dont give up, as frustrating as it will be, once you get the feel you will be hooked for life. Good Luck and Happy Fishing

[WTBskills]

Thank you bearfan on Waconia yesterday i was trying to "lindy" rig... my lead only had one hook.. i like the idea of drifting as i dont have a trolling motor yet, on that note i feel i need bow mount. Do I? If you know the lake i was trying in about 9 feet of water but was hooking alot of weeds! also i understood that bass was a fish you dont eat. but now i am hearing people eat them. this true?

[croixflats]

Hey WTB welcome. Bearfan gave great info so I'll add a bit also Drifting is a deadly technique, I would suggest using lighter tackle like a couple of split shots when going through shallower waters and also try to line up along the edge of the weeds. Lindy rigs work great when drifting deeper water or across sand bars or humps. Drifting with fireball jigs work well also.

Depending on the size of your boat you may be able to troll with the main engine, the idea is to keep you speed down around 2 mph. Troll along breaks or weed lines. A bow mount is nice for finessing a position but for trolling I prefer a kicker moter or the main motor if I can go slow enough.

A good thing to do before you hit the water is to study a lake contour map and look for structure and get a game plan where you want to fish, takes a bit of the guess work out of being on the lake.

[Bearfan1963]

I do not know that lake. I do not troll often, but I feel a trolling motor is a must. And my preference is a bow mount. I fish mainly in upper minnesota ie. Kabetogama, Namakan, LOW and Rainy Lake. Trolling too is an art as you have to be moving at the right speed, normally 1-2.5 mph. I drift jig and to control my speed if its too windy, I use a drift sock. Bass are a good eating fish, not as good as walleye, but they eat well. I forgot to mention earlier, but a good guide for a half to full day would do wonders for your experience. A good one not only get you on fish, but also teaches.

[WTBskills]

Hey WTB welcome. Bearfan gave great info so I'll add a bit also Drifting is a deadly technique, I would suggest using lighter tackle like a couple of split shots when going through shallower waters and also try to line up along the edge of the weeds. Lindy rigs work great when drifting deeper water or across sand bars or humps. Drifting with fireball jigs work well also.

Depending on the size of your boat you may be able to troll with the main engine, the idea is to keep you speed down around 2 mph. Troll along breaks or weed lines. A bow mount is nice for finessing a position but for trolling I prefer a kicker moter or the main motor if I can go slow enough.

A good thing to do before you hit the water is to study a lake contour map and look for structure and get a game plan where you want to fish, takes a bit of the guess work out of being on the lake.

[JimBuck]

....also i understood that bass was a fish you dont eat. but now i am hearing people eat them. this true?

People will eat just about anything. Some say that cold water bass is decent..never tried them personally. I recommend throwing the big ones back and avoid eating warm water bass as they have a VERY muddy taste to them. If your fishing for table fare, stick to eyes and panfish. Welcome to fm.

[WTBskills]

Originally Posted By: WTBskills

....also i understood that bass was a fish you dont eat. but now i am hearing people eat them. this true?

People will eat just about anything. Some say that cold water bass is decent..never tried them personally. I recommend throwing the big ones back and avoid eating warm water bass as they have a VERY muddy taste to them. If your fishing for table fare, stick to eyes and panfish. Welcome to fm.

Thanks Jim! happy to be here lots of knowledge floating around here

[mww24]

puking on mille lacs. i've heard of that one from quite a few first timers. In my opinion. instead of going with trolling motors and drift socks. I would spend all that money on gas for the boat and vehicle and fishing. Just get out on the water and fish your butt off. try everything you want. figure out what you like to fish for and than hone your skills and purchase the equipment. all the equipment is great to have if you can afford it, just dont spend all your money and then realize you cant afford bait. nothing will beat time on the water in the end though.

[GRH]

I would spend the money when you can on a trolling motor. Drift fishing can and does work great, but you often drift out to deep or in to shallow, unless the wind is just right for the struture your fishing. with an electric you can use that to move you, or drift and just use it to keep you in the right depth. if its windy you can use it to slow you down also. I couldnt imagine fishing without one. You said you like bobber fishing, try some slip bobber fishing for eye's it can work great at times. Plus you can stay on the structure without having a eletric motor.

[sutter]

I am not the best source of advice on walleyes but here's my thoughts.

A-Walleyes in rivers are MUCH easier to catch than those in lakes. Buy a few firetiger Berkely flick'r shads (they can handle current and are cheap enough that you won't cry when you break off 4 or of them) and make a trip to the mississippi in Monticello. Troll up and down the channels and let the crank bait bump the bottom. You'll catch a lot of fish and some will be walleyes.

B-Eat the bass you catch through the ice and try one or two little one (15" or smaller) in the summer. Little ones taste like big sunfish, big ones taste like mud.

C-If you want fun, fish pike. You've got a lot of lakes with weedline trolling in your area. The second half of June through the first half of July can be the most enjoyable month of the year if you start trolling weedlines for pike. If you can find someone to show you how to remove the y-bones, you'll enjoy eating them. I usually keep one or two in the 2.5-4 lb range each week and average maybe 25-30 lbs of released fished each time out to the lake during this stretch. Best part is, once you've learned what you're doing, you can take kids and friends who don't know how to fish and give them a shot at the biggest fish of their life.

[WTBskills]

mww24- Time on the water kinda sucks when your clueless! lol

GRH- I have bought an older not so nice trolling motor of hsolist just need a battery as i took one out of a small car i have for sale... lasted an hour tops. what kinda of battery should i get?

sutter-I have caught some small pike last year on Eagle in Maple Grove and cooked them up! they where fun! But i did it just achronerd and casting. Today... haha i wish any of you could have seen me... wow well first, trolling the weed line is hard. by the time i know its moving out i get hung up in weeds. So back to today! My roommate and I where trying to troll the weed line, casting and trying out the knew trolling motor and all we caught was a small bass(he did) it was around 8pm and we had plans to try trolling the weed line again on the way back to the launch. Than out of nowhere on my last cast with about 10 feet of line in the water boom! fish!! Shawn says need the net i go ummmm OH MY!! i saw it roll! wasn't much fight there got it netted and he jumped on top of the fishing deck to hold the puppy. and i tried to man up and deal with this huge 40+ inch fish! it was so freaky and strong I didn't get a good pic but here is what i got! Is it a muskie?It was all messed up had only about a quarter of its rear fin left on and one eye was all messed up and blind i think. tons of wounds on him too!

[WTBskills]

how long can a fish be out of water? with that guy there he was out for about 5 mins well we where freaking out. I netted him and placed him in the water to rest and was getting ready to try to take a pic... he got away.... still was awesome!

[jwmiller33]

looks like a muskie to me. wow that is an amazing fish for you to catch! congrats! you said it didn't put up much of a fight??

[WTBskills]

looks like a muskie to me. wow that is an amazing fish for you to catch! congrats! you said it didn't put up much of a fight??

nope I only had about ten more feet to reel in when he got it! I think he was in really rough shape!

[CarpKing921]

Hey congrats on the nice fish. A fish out of the water is never good for em. Try and do all you can while in the water then snap a pic and set it free if thats your intention. You will catch some slack on here for havin it out of the water for 5 min then flopping around on the boat floor will get you even more. But regardless of that nice fish and you'll catch on to the catching and handling of them.

Good Luck

[WTBskills]

Hey congrats on the nice fish. A fish out of the water is never good for em. Try and do all you can while in the water then snap a pic and set it free if thats your intention. You will catch some slack on here for havin it out of the water for 5 min then flopping around on the boat floor will get you even more. But regardless of that nice fish and you'll catch on to the catching and handling of them.

Good Luck

yeah thats why i lost him i knew it was to long.. i guess i should have picked him up by his gill.

[broken_line]

i would say a pike cuz the dots are going head to tail.. still is hard to tell the difference.. for me anyways..

[WTBskills]

so one guy says pike other muskie 1 to 1!

Also what are peoples opinions on crank baits. i have alot of different ones hell not even sure what they are. but when i buy them i buy rapala, am i wasting my money?

[WTBskills]

also i am looking for a new soft side tackle box as that my box opens up way way way to large for my small boat!

[wildcatcreek]

Throw a nightcrawler out into the river, and have fun catching multiple species. CPR(catch-photo-release) is the best in my opinion. FISH ON!

[jwmiller33]

from your second picture it looks like it is a muskie because of the dark spots on lighter background, which is a muskie.

a northern pike is darker background with lighter spots.

can anyone else verify this? is it a muskie or pike?

[WTBskills]

from your second picture it looks like it is a muskie because of the dark spots on lighter background, which is a muskie.

a northern pike is darker background with lighter spots.

can anyone else verify this? is it a muskie or pike?

from everything i have read i think your right

[CrowRiverRat83]

Definetely a muskie. Eagle Lake has lots of em. It really doesnt look like a pike at all in the pics.

[sutter]

Beautiful! Congratulations! The second picture shows enough of the coloration that I am pretty sure you got a tiger muskie. These are stocked fish that are a Northern Pike/Muskie hybrid. You got nice one!

If you are having trouble trolling weedlines (it should get easier over the coming weeks as the weedline becomes more pronounced), you can always position your boat in about 10-12' of water and just cast. It looks like you got this one on a soft-plastic, shad style swim bait? Bucktail spinners, shallow to mid-depth diving baits (like husky jerk rapalas) and daredevils work great for this as well.

Glad to see you're finding some success. Have fun!