Finding Monster Eyes

[slick814]

I'm kind of getting bored & tired with all the 10 - 18" walleyes I've been catching the last few years. Just can't seem to get into that 27" or bigger fish. It's getting frustrating. Used to be that I could hook into a few every year, but now I don't think I've caught one bigger than 19" in like 6 years...I fish a few lakes with just about all kinds of bottom, weeds, depths, etc. Just can't find the bigger females anymore...

SO I pose this question to the forum, with a big thank you for any replies, etc. in advance...

Do you have any advice as to how to more consistently find bigger walleyes, whether it's early season, mid season, or late in the year?

If so, What're your favorites? What kind(s) of structure/bottoms are you most consistently finding them on?

I'm just hoping to break the streak of smaller fish this year, and could use a little help!

[james_walleye]

Im assuming the lakes you are fishing have bigger fish. I would night fish the first couple weeks of the season. Toss big raps up in current areas if you can find some.

[tunrevir]

Slick, the best way to get into some monster eyes is to first and foremost hit lakes that can support a population of bigger fish. Second, would to be on the water at productive times of the year for those bodies of water. I have found that lakes that have a perch and tullibee forage base will hold more big fish then the local lakes next door. The river this time of year is a great option for some huge females laden with eggs. Likely waters include the Rainy River and the Mississippi. The St. Louis river after opener will have some larger fish hanging around and you can get into some mighty fine eyes in the open water season on the shallower reefs in the Great Lakes. Summer after post spawn is a bit tougher nut to crack but trolling the basin in any of the larger walleye waters can produce some hawgs during mid summer. The downside to the summer/midsummer bite is that the fish you catch are going to get far more stressed then in the cold water periods. Fall into early ice can produce another round of big fish in the boat and they are typically easier to get when they move shallow to put the feedbags on then in the summer months. Bonus is that they will be less stressed from the water temps. One other thing, when looking for trophy fish during the summer you'd be surprised at how large of a bait they would take. Many a monster eye has fallen to the guy that was fishing for muskies and pike. Bigger waters typically tend to produce bigger fish. Look at the forage base, creel surveys and of course the reputation a body of water has for producing big fish. Hope this helps!

Tunrevir~

[slick814]

I'm fishing lakes like Vermillion, Birch (near Babbitt), etc... northern lakes more often than not... they do have nice populations of tulibees, perch, good forage bases. Great structure, and do have and sustain populations of larger walleyes... I just can't seem to get into them anymore, whereas when I was younger, growing up in that area, I would catch a few 5 pounders by accident every year. And then we'd actually try for them and do quite well too..

Maybe I'm just sticking to the wrong things here? By which I mean, staying with techniques that are working for smaller fish, because I know that they'll work, and not really giving other stuff a try to see if it produces bigger fish...

How about this, then.. how early do you try a live bait spinner rig? I usually don't until the water warms up a bit... rarely use minnows on them , and only occasionally use leeches on them. Maybe trey one a little earlier in the year with something other than crawlers on the hook?

Something other than jigging in the colder water?

Actually troll bigger cranks early in the year?

Troll the deep water in the spring? Out where the tulibees & Perch reside.. the area that I just blew over on my way to another spot?

I like the tossing big raps into current areas idea... I might have to give that a shot, as it's not been a technique I've tried all that often, if at all for walleye.

As far as night fishing on these lakes goes, it's usually somewhat of a waste of time, ... the water is stained quite dark, and the bite usually shuts down by 11:00 p.m., with the best bites being right around sunup & sunset. But, if you know where to go, you can get into a big number of fish at noon... unlike a lot of the clearer lakes like Mille Lacs...

I'm just looking for something new here guys, maybe a kick in the butt, like "Hey bone head, try a spinner rig on opener instead of waiting until after Memorial Day..."

Maybe not quite that blunt, but a similar suggestion here or there...

[Dave B]

Vermilion does have a glut of eater sized walleye-that is part of your problem.

A good number of the larger eyes that have boated or heard about on Vermilion come from under 8' of water. They were either caught moving very slow w/ live bait or using slip bobbers on shorelines or very shallow humps.

[Team Otter]

For big 'eyes, I predominantly focus on shallow water that is holding baitfish casting crankbaits or pitching plastic. Another tactic I use quite often is trolling crankbaits and crawler harnesses behind planer boards for suspended fish in the main basins of whatever lake you're on.

[slick814]

*DING*

*light going on over Slick's head*....

SHALLOWER.... might be a problem there with what I've been doing.. fishing deeper rather than shallower... I think I've got some spots to try once the season starts.

Thanks guys, I'll be taking the advice and giving it a major shot!

[Dave B]

What part of Vermilion do you fish? We have 7 or so renting a private cabin on Birch Point for the weekend after the opener.

[slick814]

I generally fish the East end. We've got a place on Pike Bay, so that's the home end for me, so to speak, but I will slip up to the West side from time to time, just to see if I can find some new spots.

OH... Dave, btw..

I know that Vermilion has a ton of eaters, but to be honest, I still had a lot more luck in the past with catching the bigger fish on any of the lakes up there, from Tower to Ely to Babbitt... last few years, it just seems like I've been in an "eater rut" for lack of better terms...

I kinda think that it might be one of those technique things, you know, "Had success with this before, so I'll keep doing it", So I thought I'd see if anyone had any new or better ideas, and like I said, I think that the shallower deal sounds like a plan!

Good luck on that weekend.. There's a tournament going on up there. I hear that they're hoping for at least 100 boats... that and it usually seems like that weekend has weather that's not so great. Rain, wind, really rough water, that sort of thing. At least from the last few years, if I remember right. Some awesome fishing if you can get past that stuff, though! I've had 50+ fish weekends, even with the lousy weather. Nice thing is, the boat traffic is usually down compared to on opener.

[Boedigheimer]

Slick814, I have to admit I have not fished Vermillion but I have fished alot of lakes very similar.

If the shallow bite doesn't produce a lunker you could try fishing humps and points at the mouths of big bays, early in the year.

Once the females do there spawning thing some of the bigger fish in the system vacate the shallows and pursue pelagic baitfish like tulibees, smelt, and whitefish. There seems to be a short window of about 2-4 weeks when you get into real numbers of nice fish on main-lake structures. Comb likely spots with big redtail chubs or the biggest nightcrawlers you can find, on a live-bait rig. Good bait is essential. Fish wind exposed stuff after three days of wind and cripes almighty you'll get lunkers.

[Dave B]

We used to have a place just west of Bayview in Big Bay. We would go out all day and catch 12-15", then get the best fish off the dock from 6:30-8:30 at night in 6' of water.

Also, there is one small hump in Big Bay just outside of Everetts. It is just to the west of the bigger island as you come out of Everett's Bay. It is on some maps, but not all. It is all rock, 15' around and 4-7' on top. Slip bobber, leech and nothing else will get you some nice fish for an hour on either side of sundown. The hump is about isnt much bigger than a small home-but worth a look if you can find it.

[MT Net]

Slick, we'll need to head out and troll cranks this year. We started doing this late last season with good success after a bit of trial and error and advice from those who troll cranks often..

I'm still learning, though. We got a number of big perch, nice smallies, and a few larger walleyes.

Tricks that helped; trolling at 2.5 to 3 MPH in the evenings. At first, it seemed way too fast, so we settled on 1.5 that proved nothing more than a boatride. Cranked it up to just shy of 3, and started getting hits.

Trolling up on the first breaks in the shallows work well. Yet I believe there are hoards of walleyes roaming suspended in the open water basins.

Still working on colors, so far (as of early fall), black/silver out performed the perch pattern. We set our baits 100 to 150 feet out per the line counters. Not sure how accurate those LC reels actually are.

But, don't forget about the new slot limit for Vermilion this year.

17-26 inches immediately back in the water.

Only one fish over 26 inches.

4 Fish possession limit.

[slick814]

MT - we can figure out some dates to head up next week at BWW.. sounds like a plan to me, after all, a bad day fishing beats a good day of just about anything else, except maybe sleeping.. or.. well, nevermind about that.

I'm thinking that we'll have to give some of the trolling cranks and the shallower bite stuff a shot. At this point, I'm open to just about anything. Like I said, I realize that there's a glut of eaters in the lake, but I do know that there are a lot of bigger fish too, we just have to figure out where they are and what they're looking for.

Which leads me to this question... has anyone tried big boottail swimbaits? I'm thinking that they may just do the trick both tossing into the shallower water and maybe trolling too. I've used them here & there for bass, both large & small mouth, and it's a very effective technique if you get on the right fish at the right time.

Something I'm starting to see is a lot of the techniques that I used when I was living out west are making their ways east... maybe I should've tried them 10 years ago when I moved back home?

dave.. I think I know the hump you're talking about. Never fished it, but I do believe I saw it from the air during a plane tour of the lake 2 summers ago. I was really wishing that I had brought a map with me. I saw a ton of structure in places that I didn't even know were there. SPots I had probably literally driven the boat past or over, but never stopped to fish.

Thanks for all the great info guys! I really appreciate it!

[MT Net]

Thursday at BWW sounds fine by me! Gotta' stop at the Fleetdale and pick up some more cranks and such. Getting ready for the open water trolling season.

Bring your map, I need to mentally copy your spots.

Geez, I must pass that hump about a hundred times and not know it. BTW, I like thatrabbit island for pulling spinners

[slick814]

You mite like the rabbitisland, but I'm thinking Little Patch West... either that or the flat over by Wirtanen

but then again, that hump by Peter Parker's place ain't bad & is hard to find...

Y'all confused yet?

FLeetdale have any Reef RUnners or Cotton Cordell stuff?

I think I've found something with them... just not sure yet.

BWW by your place on Thursday... what time?

and is leaky or anyone else dropping in on the party?

Map will be in play.. you got one of them there lakemaster ones yet? I was lookin' at the Big V one in a Gander store last night... wasn't overly impressed.. they must've done the survey in the late fall or something... it shows the depth in front of my place at around 5 feet... about 3 feet lower than it will be in May. JUst surprised at how off a few spots were. Also says that the max depth is 72', when we both know that there's more than one 90' hole on the other side of Winton.

ANd a few other spots are showing shallower than it's been my recollection in reality for most of the year...but what're ya gonna do, ya know?

[MT Net]

Fleetdale has a number of them Reef Runners, lots of colors to choose from. i guy could really go broke there. I have that Lakemaster Pro Series map. Not too bad, but I have a lot of humps and such marked on the GPS that ain't on any map.

BWW, I suppose around 5pm Thursday, I'll email Leaky and see if he can make it.

Hey, I just found out that the larger of the 7 sisters Islands (9+ acres), is now up for sale for $750,000. I say we pitch in and buy it.

[toddb]

slick,

Go deep with bigger cranks. If you are flexible on lake choice and time frame,and really want a big 'eye, I would switch to LOTW(Big Traverse) or Rainy Lake. July and August on LOTW produce big fish---PERIOD. I have had some awesome results the last few years trolling Reef Runners, Dipsey Divers, and Deep Tail Dancers on LOTW. Bottom bouncing, along with spinner rigs, also work well. Here are 3 caught on the same day- LOTW 8/23

I don't know who said it, but, "if you do what you've always done , you'll catch what you've always caught".

later,

toddb

[slick814]

Todd - NICE pics!!! THat's what I'm talking about. Might have to get up to LOTW this summer. Thanks for the advice. Kind of what I'm thinking with that quote there, which is why I started this thread.. maybe get some input as to what others are doing that I'm not.

MT - 5 sounds good. Bring that map, I'll bring mine.. and a pen to make some notes with

Only $750,000 for that island? OK.. maybe if I can get my bro & someone else to chip in, we could actually pull it off! Not a bad spot to be, though, some nice fishing in that area.

Now you've got me thinking about a new boat & a cabin... Hmmm.. you suppose I could figure out a way to get promoted at work???

[Roseypike]

Slick,

I've really enjoyed reading this post. My family has a cabin on the East side of Pine Island near Birch Point and my whole year revolves around how much I wish I were up at the lake (not enough). A lot of the advice for catching big 'eyes on Vermilion has been excellent. I would have to second the suggestion to try more shallow for the big mammas.

Looking over my fishing journal from the past few years supports the shallow water=big fish theory. My friends and I have caught a good number of 20-30 inch walleyes fishing anywhere from 1-10 ft. of water. Top tactics have included slip bobber rigs (evenings best, but have caught them in the middle of the day ) pitching jigs or cranks, trolling cranks (mainly around dusk), and live bait rigging. I think those big walleyes like to cruise shallow rocks to slurp up the abundant rustys. There have been many times where I have actually seen the walleyes up shallow. Kind of freaky but pretty cool.

Last summer I was up in late July/early August and noticed a ton of young of the year perch hanging out around shallow rock piles while we fished for smallies during the day. Just before dusk we started hammering walleyes on these spots by casting cranks right up on the rocks. We're talking predominantly larger 18-25 inch fish (big girl went 30'. Big smallmouth too!

Another pattern that works shallow or deep, actually kind of in between, is to find a really sharp drop off that's close to deep water. Say you have a main lake hump (doesn't have to be), and the top hits 8 ft. or shallower but one side goes from 8-20 or 30 ft. in a hurry. Almost like a wall. The biggest fish seem to always come off that "spot on the spot".

Most of the walleyes you catch out of the weeds are better sized fish too! Spinnerbaits and husky jerk/X-rap type lures work really well. I don't usually target weed walleyes but happen upon a enough nice ones to know they're there.

The open water deal has peaked my interest more than once. I don't have the experience to give you any tips but I can guarantee some of the biggest walleyes on the V are suspended over open water for much of the year.

You should try posting this on the Vermilion forum. I'd love to hear what others have to say about the elusive "non-eater" Vermilion walleye.

Good luck.

[Fish Head]

toddb,

When you talk about deep trolling, how deep are you talking about?

[MT Net]

Beautiful walleyes, toddb!

So, it seems the methods are deep and shallow.

I too would like to know what depths you're trolling at, toddb.

I've had similar experiences with Roseypike and trolling the shallows but near deeper water. I think your comment about young of the year perch may be the key. Maybe we should hook up and troll the Big Bay basin with shallow, mid-depths and deep cranks and see what's out there. If anything, we may find a new reef, hump, or depression that we never knew about.

Just one question, though, what is the Vermilion Dells?

[slick814]

Rosey - Funny thing about this is that I didn't necessarily mean for it to become about just the Big V. I fish a few lakes, with Vermilion & Birch getting the bulk of my walleye hunting, so it kind of became about Vermilion. Not complaining, though, with people throwing out ideas, I think I've got a few new spots to try, and a couple of different techniques to use, too. Stuff I never really thought about using on the lakes up there.

MT - what the heck do you mean, the Vermilion Dells??? That's about as cryptic as Peter Parker's Place & the Wirtanen comment I made earlier... I'll show you the Wirtanen one when we go on opening weekend. You've talked about it, just in different terms.

Toddb - that's a good question that was asked of you... how deep are you talking? I don't even own a Dipsy Diver, but until recently, I've pretty much stuck to the jigging/spinner rig/slip bobber stuff. I'm really thinking that trolling the depths earlier in the day where there are big schools of Perch & Tulibees will be a good idea, and then trying the shallows really early or later on in the day.

Gotta run for now.. my UCLA hoops squad is finally waking up against Gonzaga... *fingers crossed*. Hope to keep my Final Four picks intact. So far so good...

[Roseypike]

toddb, First of all, you guys have some very nice looking 'eyes there. I don't think the Big V can compare in terms of big mamas like LOTW can. Here are a couple walleyes from the last night of our July/August trip. Most likely full of perch and crayfish.). There are not a ton of large walleyes on the V but there are enough to keep you interested.

[Roseypike]

Slick and MT NET,

"The Dells" is the part of Vermilion that runs from the Northwest mouth of Big Bay (via Isle of Pines/Pine Island's SW pt.) to the narrows between Mocassin Point and Swanson Island. My Grandpa's used to say we lived in the "Dells". Kind of like the 'in between' "in between" area.

Slick I think a lot of these tannic stained lakes are going have shallow water monsters year round. I love that type of water clarity. Clear, but still some color to the water. And if Vermilion/Birch or any lake has ciscoes or other suspended forage you will find the walleyes feeding on fatty fish. Gotta love that. Potential for some serious hogs.

You guys going up in June or July this summer?

The moon shines on my a** about once a year. And I'm the goofy looking kid who didn't catch any of these fish.

.

[slick814]

Thanks for the clarity on the Dells, Rosey - I know how Grandpas named stuff to fit their thoughts! Mine had all sorts of names for stuff that other people look at you and go "huh?!?"

June/July? Yup.. I'll be up there a couple 13,14 times...