Lake Darling~Grano Crossing

[NDLive]

What a Sweetie

If this is normal, I’ve been fishing in the wrong places for too long. We hoped to make another trip up here before conditions changed. Water levels have been dropping and with decreased flows and less current things can turn around fast.

Lake Darling has seen some dramatic conditions this year. Unprecedented releases of incredible volume both in and out. Changes like this can play havoc with fishing. It seems this year at least, the biggest problems have been roads and ramps, not the bite.

With lower levels all the ramps are open again and in good condition. The only exception at this time is landing 3, which remains closed. Shore fishing is looking good as well, and the only closure is the outlet area where picnic tables are just beginning to show their tops.

I have been putting in at headquarters ramp but decided at the last minute to put in at Grano. Good ramp, great parking and if you don’t mind going under the bridge you have easy access to miles of great fishing.

From Grano we motored north to the railroad bridge. A short run and great fishing area with only one boat this morning. A quick pull with cranks in 10 feet left us empty handed so off to the gravel pit for a short pull before ducking under the Grano bridge and heading south.

Not ideal conditions today for walleye. Dead calm, very hot, bugs in the face and fish seem hot tub lazy. The few hook ups we get are all on the back hook. Several don’t stay on long enough to make the trip back to the boat.

Pulling the east shore in 10 feet into the current has been the secret to success last couple of trips up here. Today it ain’t gonna happen. Often with calm conditions I will go shallow and kick up speed, way up into the 3 plus range. Today deeper and slow won out.

Downstream a ways and into 12 feet. With flows in at 7,600 and out at 9,600 the area still has pretty strong current. Bomber 24’s are gett’n all of the action. Once we put the pattern together it didn’t take long to find some Darling walleyes even with the flat water conditions.

Ever wonder how deep your cranks are running? For years my guess work left me buying cranks to replace the ones I thought were not on the bottom. It may cost some money but you will get it back in saved cranks plus the bonus of more fish.

Precision Trolling is a great resource for determining how deep you’re running. It covers almost every crank used for walleyes as well as the effects of different lines. I use Fireline 10-4 in Crystal and find the information critical to cranking success.

I even go so far as to transfer the depths to my crank boxes. By writing in the depth and feet back it is easy to hook up a crank, check the depth finder, let out line and be right on the money. I go strictly by the book, no more guessing.

The only time this changes measurably is in current which affects drag on the line. Other than that, speed has very little to do with the depth diving cranks run. It does seem going exceptionally slow with deep diving cranks will put them deeper than the chart. Even then I still go by the book.

We are set up on a flat next to the old river channel where it makes a turn close to shoreline on the east side of the lake. Easy fishing with no need to be right on the money for structure. It did seem the closer I stayed to the contour lines of the channel the better the bite. The longer we fished the better the action.

How good is Darling? With water temps high in the upper 70’s, no wind and fish in a lazy mood, we still caught 3 limits of great walleyes and that in the middle of the day. If you get here when conditions are just right be sure to count your fish. There is a limit you know.

[NDLive]

Ever wonder how deep your cranks are running? For years my guess work left me buying cranks to replace the ones I thought were not on the bottom. It may cost some money but you will get it back in saved cranks plus the bonus of more fish.

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