10lb. + walleye! where,when, how?

[fishingdad]

Ice fishing this past weekend got me thinking about the post on here about the biggest walleyes people have caught this season.And I was wondering what everybody thinks would be the best shot at a 10lb.+ walleye in -MINNESOTA- What lake? What time of year? and What would would be the best way to do it? I would have to say I would try Lake of the Woods during the October moon on top of a steep break with a sucker minnow under a slip bobber.Or, well I'm talking myself into a hundred different options here. What does anyone else think?

[Scoot]

Rainy River- early April.

[bigeyes]

I agree Rainy in the spring, LOW midsummer, Red River in the Fall, St. Louis River Spring, Pool 4 Fall, Saganaga spring/summer. Even at these places your chances are pretty remote like lottery odds. LOL

[FI Guide]

Canada more bigger fish and a better chance in minnesota Rainy lake or Mille Lacs

[Guest]

I'd say LOTW anytime would have to top the charts anytime of the year in MN.

Don't count out Pool 2 and Pool 4 of the Mighty Mississippi.

Although I have never fished Lake Erie, the Detriot River, or the Columbia River they are known as the greatest waters in the world for big walleyes.
mw

[This message has been edited by Walleye Pimp (edited 01-26-2004).]

[This message has been edited by Walleye Pimp (edited 02-03-2004).]

[Guest]

I agree with all of you.

I've never seen so many BIG walleyes pulled out of Rainy in April. I'm still in awe.

Sames goes for LOTW main basin in August. WOW!!!

Pool 2 and 4 produce absolute hogs. You just need to find them. Get away from the crowds. If you really want to hook up with a fish over 10 pounds, then I would recommend 2 things.
1: go on a charter on LOTW out of Wheeler's point area in August.
2: get a good guide on pool 4 in the fall.

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Let 'em go so they can grow!!!

[ccarlson]

There are a few lakes in the Brainerd area that give you a good shot at a 10. I would say Gull is the best bet. I've caught a handfull of 10's from gull and I know some guides that put their clients on 10's pretty regularly. It is a peak period lake though. For the best shot, hit it around the first few weeks of the season or in september and october for the big ones.
I know the Lindners have shot many shows on gull in the fall.

But remember, fishing for big fish is a whole different approach than the masses fishing for numbers. You have to be content fishing big fish spots and techniques with possibly few bites while others are pulling 12 inchers off the weedlines and what they consider a "hot" bite.
ccarlson

[169Sportsman]

Maybe it is just a local thing for me, but I would have to put the good ole' MN River towards the top of the list. Early Spring, Late Fall, or Winter, I have seen a lot of big walleyes out of there.

[can it be luck?]

Fall's Trophy Walleyes

September is the beginning of the fall trophy bonanza. Targeting the biggest fish in a system calls for searching specific locations and figuring out what techniques will work best. Let's look at big natural lakes, reservoirs and areas around the Great Lakes, first in general terms, then point out some particularly good waters.

Generally speaking, in September look for big walleyes in the area leading to mouths of the rivers. We're not talking about the river proper, but out in the lake or reservoir, perhaps in the area within six miles of the river mouth. We're talking about walleyes that are staging somewhere in their migration that will eventually lead many of them up the river for a false spawn or later into the river to prepare for their early spring spawn. This holds true almost anywhere rivers provide spawning habitat and dump into a larger body of water.

Somewhere within this area of the lake that's influenced by the river are smaller areas in which the fish are eating, and you need to find them. In the fall, walleyes start going on a baitfish binge. As fall goes into full swing, the big females eat everything they can sink their teeth into, putting egg development into high gear.

Sometimes this feeding area will be a reef that the walleyes move up onto at night, perhaps feasting on spawning ciscoes. Or it could be shallow, weedy areas, also foraged at night. Other times, especially in reservoirs, they suspend out from points, moving in throughout the day and night to feed. In Great Lakes walleye fisheries, the walleyes often hang the basins of deep bays, attacking clouds of bait that are so big they look like humps on the fish finder.

Let's take them one at a time:

Shallow Reefs
These are areas found on most Great Lakes and large natural lakes. Find reefs topping out at 10 to three feet. Cast crankbaits or jigs at them during the day or--often better--light the top with a buoy and troll the reef at night. Use floating baits like a shallow ThunderStick, and add a split shot or two, if necessary, to keep the bait near bottom. Troll around the top and the edge. A small "kicker" engine will normally work great since you'll be long lining the bait. If stealth seems necessary, use the electric. A Minn Kota Auto-Pilot is especially easy to use for this.

Weedbeds
Find the greenest weeds you can. During the day, a jigging spoon fluttered over the top and dropped down the weedline can be killer. Or wait until dark and twitch Shallow ThunderSticks over the top. Anchoring right in the middle of the weeds and casting to open water beyond the edges with a Storm Rattlin' ThinFin can also produce awesome results. Walleyes often seem programmed to attack bait as it comes from open water and into the weeds.

Reservoir Points
You'll sometimes see the schools, suspended, say 18 feet down. That's when you select a crank that will go that deep, like a Deep ThunderStick, and troll the structure at the 18- foot level. If they don't respond to that, you might have to switch to a more subtle crankbait like a shallow ThunderStick Jr. and use Snap Weights to get it to the fish level. Keep the colors simple. Black or blue backs with a white belly are hard to beat!

Big live bait is a second choice. For presentations like jigs and minnows or bottom bouncers and spinners, use minnows at least three inches on up to six inches long. Redtail chubs or shiners are a good bet. Or opt for the big crawlers - ones that look like minature snakes. Big walleyes often prefer a big bait at this time of year. Early morning and late afternoon are often the best times to try these areas. We like to use Mustad's Finesse hooks when using live bait. The hooks are light wire, but are manufactured using Aus Tempering - which keeps them strong even though they're so thin. Use #2 hooks for minnows, #4 or #6 two hook harnesses for crawlers.

Basins
When walleyes are belly to the bottom in Great Lakes basins, target them with crankbaits put right in their faces. Try higher action baits like Hot-N-Tots and Deep ThunderSticks first and get progressively more subtle with Deep Jr. ThunderSticks, regular-size shallow ThunderSticks and ThunderStick Jrs.

For all of the trolling applications mentioned, make sure to take a look at using Berkley's FireLine. It has several advantages for pulling crankbaits. First, since it is no- stretch you will be able to monitor the lures action - even though it might be several hundred feet behind the boat. Second it is thin diameter, so you can get 30 to 40% more depth from the diving crankbaits. Finally, for the trophies you're after you won't find a stronger line. For trolling use the 10-4 FireLine. If there is any problems with breaking off fish then we need to talk about how to fight big fish, not how catch big walleyes.

To really increase your odds of big fish contact, concentrate on big fish waters. Here's a list: The Winnipeg River system in Canada near Pine City. Lake Tobin in Nipawin Saskatchewan. Missouri River system, both the mouth of the Cheyenne in Lake Oahe, South Dakota and at Oahe's headwaters near the North Dakota/South Dakota state line; the Red River system in Manitoba.

Lake Michigan areas for big fish include Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, and Little Bay de Noc, Michigan. Lake Huron's Saginaw Bay can be incredible near river mouths. The St. Louis River area of Lake Superior on the Wisconsin/Minnesota line and the deeper reefs of Lake Ontario near the Thousand Island area of New York or on Lake of the Woods in northern Minnesota. And, of course, there are dozens of areas in Lake Erie that fill the bill. And if you want a superb fishing vacation, try the night bite on Lake Winnibigoshish out of Judd's Resort in Minnesota.

It really doesn't take a lot more skill to catch big walleyes than it does small ones. It's really just a matter of finding them and putting a big fish presentation in front of their faces. By targeting the above locations and bodies of water, your chances for a landing a trophy walleye will be improve dramatically.

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http://groups.msn.com/canitbeluck

[This message has been edited by can it be luck? (edited 01-30-2004).]

[FI Guide]

CIBL: Have you eber thought of writing for a fishing magazine because that is all the information that you need to know to put people on big fish awsome post that deserves a gold medal

FI

[walleye6336]

Ashtabula, OH Lake Erie Late July. I have fished there the last five years and have caught at least 1 10# walleye each year. I have a 32 1/2" 11 1/4# walleye on my wall from this lake. The average size is absolutely incredible. Very few small walleye's caught each year. Get a charter boat captain for about 300 per day for three guys and you can not go wrong. I will be there fishing the 24-25 this year. Stranding reservation each year!

[bigeyes]

That is great, but I believe the poster was looking for spots in MN.

[Havin' Fun]

There are plenty of good lakes in Minnesota to target. I'm not going to name names, because I'm thinking about lakes other than the usual big dogs!

1. Find a lake with tullibee, whitefish or cisco, or trout.

2. Find deep water....50-200 feet.

3. Does the lake have walleyes naturally, or stocked. You will be better off if it has a better population.

4. I will narrow the times down to full moon periods, but any time will work.

5. Trolling big baits over suspended schools of bait fish at night over deep water.

By the way, the walleye most recently caught approaching the state record was caught in a lake less than 500 acres. Depth, over 70 feet. And full of trout, cisco ect. The fish was 17lbs 4 oz I believe and weighed 2 days after being caught!!!!

Good luck.

[This message has been edited by Hammer em' (edited 02-05-2004).]

[dfv87]

To me big walleyes means fall night, cranking shallow, full moon, larger lakes, ie Mille lacs.

[rms]

Rainy River late March-early April(the season closes April 14th). Jig and a minnow presented either anchored, vertical jigged or by pitching. Hit it right--water clarity due to rain and runoff are big factors--and your odds of getting that ten pounder are as high as any other place in MN at any time of the year.

[This message has been edited by rms (edited 02-18-2004).]

[LocalGuide]

Ok I got a question on finding Ciscos/tullibee over deep water.
The lake I fish is about 5,000 acres in size and has a lot of structure. It has about 3 spots were it gets down to over 80' with on spot topping out at 105'.
Now what time of year is the best to open water troll for eyes? Like spring? Summer? Fall? And one more question I have a Fl-18 with a 19º transducer and a fairly cheap Lowrance (x-28 or something I cant remember). So were do I look for these in the water column? I'm assuming 20' down or so but will they show up on the vex really good or not?

This year I wouldn't mind hooking into some very nice fish trolling deep water at night.

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AKA PikeEye 300

[who are those guy]

St Louis River - few miles from the harbor. Spring time - when the hogs head out back into the big lake. Spent my college days there. Dont eat anything from there though. Seen my share...

[Havin' Fun]

Local Guide,

Locating them is fairly easy. Cruise over deepwater fairly steady pace and look for them on your lowrance. They will show up....cisco are big enough. If not, switch to view upper water column say top 50 feet and up the zoom. Anything suspended in large schools should either be cisco or perhaps crappies but that we won't worry about.

Typically what I've found is that by sunset they are slowly working thier way up to the surface to feed....sometimes this can be a slow process but it will happen. I put on some large silver and black, or silver blue rapalas in either shad or I prefer original behind some planner boards and go. I have also just long lined them as well and caught fish.

I have also had my best luck on or near full moon periods.

Summer is prime time. Fall is best trolled up shallow as the cisco will be spawning them(good spots to fall troll)
Spring, the walleyes are up feeding on shinners and are post spawn ect. June-September are good times.

I would narrow down the lake if I could. Find one section that is a deep basin area and start there and than work out from there.

Good luck.
It sometimes isn't the most productive method of fishing as it isn't a numbers game, but certainly a big fish game. Typically, if I get a fish or two a night I'm having a great night.

[rms]

Local Guide,

You can use the lake finder on the DNR HSOforum to see if the lake you're targeting has cisco or tulibee. The lake survey should say if they are present.

[tjwierz2]

I have never seen so many walleyes over 24" caught in the past 3 years than MilleLacs. We got a dozen fish last year between 27" and 30".

[LocalGuide]

Cisco and tullibee are the same thing arent they?

So if these bait fish come up to the surface, on average how deep will these eyes be?
I suppose I will need to get some planer boards too. As trolling behind the boat might scare them away, or am I wrong?

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AKA PikeEye 300

[bigeyes]

Local-yes they are the same, dwarfs are a little different and behave a little different though. Hammer-seems like you really know your stuff you gave out some pretty important info. It would be fun to fish with you or meet some time to tell lies. I also do a lot of night hunting myself and spend most of my time targeting bigger fish. There is probably only a handful of us in the whole state that really put in a lot of effort night fishing big walleyes other than a few guys in October. Sounds like you live up north or get up there often. I am from the metro so the tulibee and deep lakes are not what you would find on many of the NE lakes. I know there is a lot of BIG fish up there though most completely untuched my fishing pressure.

[tadpole]

You could pickup this months local fishing magazine, out of Brainard. It has an excellent article on walleye fishing. Included is much info on cisco & minnow movement. The lake he is on which was also featured back in 1985 & 1986, I think is North of Brainard. I have tried over and over to put a big fish in the boat and I want to thank everyone for the responses.

"wish i was fishin"

Tad

[Havin' Fun]

Local Guide,

You can check the DNR report, but often times they don't do a very good job of sampling tullibee/cisco because they are more of a pelagic fish(open water) like the crappie tends to be....so don't let that fool you. I would guess from the discription of your lake, you got them.

It really almost comes down to trial and error on the fishing. Have I caught fish without boards...yes! Do the boards help?
Absolutely! I have used them from Superior all the way down to fishing a 100 acre lake in Alexandria for northerns. They are actually a lot of fun to use.

Typically the walleyes will be under the bait fish. I say bait fish because sometimes the walleyes will be out chasing huge schools of shinners as well in the summer. Key is locating bait fish, and fishing right on the bottom edge of them....which takes trial and error. I certainly error more than I succeed I think, but that's fishing.

Bigeyes....I too actually live in the metro for the time being. Moving to Cheeseland. I however would love to get out some time this spring to chase some eyes. I live in Eden Prairie, and have a boat in Rogers, so anytime...let me know.

I moderate the Park Rapids, Detroit Lakes area as that's where I moved from and fished quite heavily up there...and had decent success up there with this technique.

Trick to fishing this way is to be willing to take some lumps out there. Like I said, it's not a very entertaining way to fish always, as there are nights when all I come in with are mosquito bites and a little groggy, but all it takes is one, and your hooked!!

Also can be deadly for muskies.

[This message has been edited by Hammer em' (edited 02-20-2004).]

[GEO]

I caught my first 10lbr last spring--I LIKE IT!

My confidence presentation is live-bait rigging classic structures--this comming season I going to try some new tactics (new for me, that is):

1) Trolling 'no-man's land' -- pulling cranks on the open basin of Mille Lacs (I think there may be one or two 10lb walleyes out there). This winter I invested in a GPS mapping system to go along with my Lawrance x15, as well as a couple of lead core-line trolling rods and trolling rods with line-counter reels and a bunch of reef runners, shad raps, tail dancers, and husky jerks, etc.

2) the deep lake, cisco pattern

3) Weeds. I think fishing for walleyes 'bass-style' in the weeds is an overlooked patterern--on the right body of water. Every year I see pictures in bait shops of bass fisherman holding big walleyes, yet have chosen to ignore this clue in favor of doing what I'm comfortable with-no more!.

4) Trolling musky baits. Musky fisherman catch big walleyes! Trolling a 6-10" Jake, Grandma, Rapla Super Shad, or Bucher shallow raider for those nighttime trophys chasing ciscoes. a 10" cisco is exactly what a 10lb walleye wants. I discovered this pattern last fall when we decided to troll for muskies and all we caught was 26-29" walleyes, hmmm.

If I could afford it, I'd spend the first week of April on the Rainy River.