Goals for this open water season?

[Jim Hudson]

Just wanted to start a post to get an idea of what types of things people want to experiment with this season when it comes to the walleye... Anything you read about or heard about that you want to key on for the lake you primarily fish? Or is their a technique you tried last year and did fairly well with and want to refine? And maybe, if your unsure of a technique and want help, people that have experience with it can chime in and help you out...

For me, I troll so much out here on Superior because of how the fish roam in the summer that I need to refine my jigging technique... Especially when it comes to spring run river fishing... It's not the jigging part that concerns me but more so the boat control as I am jigging... This plays particularly true to when I am jigging in deeper water and trying to maintain a vertical presentation... just something I will work out, and hopefully be able to get it down pat this year... Also, this year I am going to three way rig more often and try my hands in some leadcore... I think this will improve my catch rates on contours and some deep weed edges I fish that have some good current coming through them...

As the walleye runs are on in river systems, I wish all the best of luck this season and hopefully we will have some good stories and pictures to show...

[gunflint]

I'm going to be doing the oppsite. I seem to spend the majority of my time back trolling with jigs and rigs.(higher percentage tactictics for clients) When I get the opportunity to fish by myself I'm going to work on open water trolling techniques. Like using lead core and snap weights.I would really like to incorporate boards into my presentations but with the one rod rule I just can't get excited about it.

[Guest]

Pulling blades has been very good to me and also slip bobber fishing for the eyes. This year im going to try and work on my jigging,so I will have a few more options.Hope it works or Ill be back to the blades with live bait or gulp.

[rubber duck]

Last season I was trolling spinner rigs with nightcrawlers and ran out, so i tried a plastic lizzard we still caught walleyes. Anybody else use soft plastics+spinners?

[Northlander]

I have used the soft Berkley Power Crawlers trolling spinners on the St.Louis River and Lake Superior. Most days I give the nod to live Crawlers but I have had some days especially on the big lake where the power crawlers did fine. If you get into a lot of Perch or Ruffies either speed up a bit or go to the Power Crawlers. I also found that I dont give the fish a lot of time on the power crawlers as I would with the real deal. They seem to spit them quicker. If your trolling fairly fast they seem to hook themselves with either. If you go faster put on more weight and a bigger blade. This really helped me a few times last year.

[Jim Hudson]

I ran power crawlers and gulp crawlers last season with good success on the limited times I trolled with them... This year I am gonna concentrait on locating some pods of roaming fish with bigger harnesses, and I will use plastic/gulp as they stay on better as I increase my speed... Also, they dont mess up your boat carpet!!!

[BDR]

Jim, I have to appologize! I did not mean to steal your topic for the one I started in the open water forum. I just saw this one or I may have seen it and it stuck in my mind as a good topic. Anyway I hope there is no offense taken.

[Mike Walerak]

My goals for the year sem to vary with the season.

My biggest accomplishment will be met if one of my crazy/stupid ideas or contraptions actually works.

I'm on the verge of perfecting my trolling bobber setups.

My goals for the tournament season are to consistantly place in the top half in every tourney and in the top 5 a few times as well.

I also plan to not get stuck in a rut going to the same lake just because it has been good to me in the past. I have my favorites, and it seems that I am always there trying to make the fish bite when I would be better off exploring new options.

mw

[Captain B.R.K]

My biggest goal....to have my new depthfinder (LMS-332c) graph me a hungry walleye and then be able to catch it

[Corey Bechtold]

I just want to catch one bigger than Brandon!

(shouldn't be a problem )

Corey Bechtold

[Jim Hudson]

Nope no offense... I actually posted this for specific walleye goals... Nice to see the variety of how people fish or want to fish for walleyes in different water or different parts of the country...

[PikeTipper]

Funny you mention a trolling bobber rig. I've been trying to work on something like that too but no luck yet.

[bigbucks]

My goals are to try a few more new lakes & learn a couple pretty close to home that I've hardly ever fished a whole lot better. I also want to learn to use my GPS more effectively.

One of my biggest downfalls I have to work on sounds pretty similar to MW's. I stay on a spot & work it too long, partly because I may not know too many more on a particular lake & hate looking for new ones. When I explore I tend to work too much "dead" water adjacent to structure too. Any of it can be good on a particular lake, but I need to stay with the most likely producers. Hopefully that makes sense.

[Fishing Junky]

My goal is to just get out and fish the St. Louis River more than I have the past few years. Sag has me by the butt. Just haven't been able to get into it as I did years ago. Hope it changes. Good luck to all in thier goals. Junky.........

[eyepatrol]

My goal is to think outside the little box I'm used to being in. I almost always simply troll with either a lindy rig, jig, or crawler harness. I've always had a problem finding walleyes from mid-June on into July and August using these techniques. So, this year I'm going to try and keep an open mind and see if I can't locate some walleye by trolling or casting a shad rap for suspended 'eyes and perhaps shallow weed 'eyes at dusk. I may also try slip-bobbering, but I've always been one to be on the move. One more thing is to not get stuck on fishing one spot for extensive lengths of time. Sometimes I find myself fishing a dead spot for 30 minutes or better. This year I want to keep moving, trying different depths and presentations to try and increase my fishing success.

That's about it in a "nutshell"

[Captain B.R.K]

With that aviator Corey- shouldn't be a problem

Has anyone ever told you...."You aren't funny."

[musky hunter]

Here's my goal: Learn how to use my new gps! It looked sooo easy in the store, but when the waves are crashin' and the wind blowin' it ain't so easy to make the darn thing work!

[Rost]

There are a few lakes in the area that I'd like to get to know a bit better. I would also like to put more effort into night fishing this fall. I need to learn more about fall fishing patterns.

Other than that I just want to have fun! Hopefully have a respectable tourney season.