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Opening weekend, of walleye season.

8 mile quad ride to buddies cabin;



Came across these, on the way out Saturday afternoon.



Weren't there, 4 hours before, on the way in !

2 limits (8) of Walleye, 2 crappie & 2 perch, Saturday;



Sunday was 2 limits of walleye.

Saturday night;



Sunday lunch, at camp;



Sunday dinner;



Monday, Family dinner, with the kids & partners;





Sux to be us !

Staying with the fish / salad theme !



1 More meal to go, yet !

Lemon pepper & garlic butter basted;

Strong work!

As you know we don’t have a “season” our water doesn’t solidify during the winter, so if they’re biting we fish. We’ve been into the “eyes” since early April, just now really getting into the hot bite. Crappie spawn was a bust, cold nights hung on later than normal and they never came in shallow to do their thing. We did manage to catch and eat 75 or so but never got anywhere close to catching a 37 fish limit on any one day.

This evening was a good one. Me and my sidekick hit the ramp at about 3:30 the second time, first time we made it down there and had left his float coat at home so had to backtrack. We got onto a big school of sandbass within minutes of leaving the ramp. He was having fun so I let him catch for an hour or so before we dragged up and headed for greener pastures in search of saugeyes. After we found them it didn’t take long for him to fill my 6 fish limit and we peeled out to go eat supper by 7:00.

Final body count for this afternoon was 29 sandbass, 8 saugeye, and one incidental channel cat. Pretty good little outing at our lake that sits 2 miles south of the house.

Beauty Mate !!

37 Crappie is quite the limit !

The MNR labeled them an invasive species up here.

Then gave us a huge 10 fish limit !



Lil' fella is growing up !

Walleye season up here, closes on the 15th of April every year, till the 3rd Saturday in may, to protect the spawn.

That, I can agree with !

Awesome work and nice pictures, as always.

Between being sick, slammed at work and my fishing partner dealing with kids travel soccer, I haven't been out much yet. Hoping to change that soon.

We hit the water at sunup this morning and churned out another 6 fish limit by 10. Went to town and had coffee with the guys before going home and cleaning fish. Boy had a bang up idea to eat some for lunch. So we got the grease hot and fried up a pair. Outstanding as usual.

And about that 37 crappie limit. I’ve always thought that they must have just drawn a number from a hat to settle on 37, really a strange number. But it’s been that way since forever, my dad said that was the limit when he was a kid 60 years ago. My fish biologist buddy says it’s impossible to fish them out in this area due to the climate and forage available so it might as well be 100 a day or like our state fish the Sandbass and no limit. But let me tell you from experience, you get on them and have three boats with 3 guys in each boat and limit out on 10 to 14 inch fish. You’ll swear you’re never cleaning another one if you live to be 101, until next spring when they start biting again! Me and my Grandad cleaned 288 one night, it sucked big time. But the next weekend when we had a big fry we forgot about the cleaning.

Just finished my first run of the year up in NW Ontario Berens river country. Never seen such low water. Not really any big sows for the group, 44” the biggest. Walleyes as crazy as ever, solid measured 22” average. Only 27” for the largest.

A few females still holding eggs, and plenty of males discharging milt yet. Weather improved daily. No lakers on this run.

Osky

Cool, so from what I'm seeing, it flows out of, or into, Lake Winnipeg !

Yeah, no milt in any males we caught, couple of immature females holding eggs.

Last summer, on a whim, I began trolling the shallows for panfish using ultralight gear. I had great success until Labor Day weekend when the temps took a drastic dip, but July and August saw lots of action. I boated 4 different Master Angler qualifying fish including a 10.5" bluegill and a 10.5" Pumpkinseed that tied for 5th largest Pumpkinseed submitted to the MA program for 2022.

Last Sunday I went out and tried the same tactics in the same locations, but the fish weren't there. We did manage a couple right off the bat, but the usual spots were barren.

The first bluegill of this year was just big enough to meet the minimum requirement for MA at 10".


My daughter was with me and caught the next fish, a pretty Pumpkinseed.


Last year's big Pumpkinseed.


I'm looking forward to when the panfish move back into the shallows soon. The action can be fast, (I had a triple on bluegills while fishing alone last summer) and the little buggers fight hard on UL equipment. Plus there's always the chance for a bonus walleye, smallmouth, crappie or pike.

Good times.

Excellent Scott !!

Really just crappie & yellow perch, up here for panfish.

Cheers to all the Dads, had a great day here, fishing with Doug & Sophie girl.

Fish fry with the kids & their partners & 6 out of 7 dogs !

Did I mention, Soph loves Grandad !

















Life is good !

Doug & I fished for less than 2 hours, to limit out, yesterday !

One of the best walleye bites I have experienced, without it being spring.







Every fish, smashed the bait !

you are killing me 99, my new boat motor has not come in yet and I all ready took the old one off the boat😪

Hammer time! You guys did good.

I didn’t have anything going Monday morning so I dumped the boat in early and fished until about 10 when it got hot.

Could not find a saugeye to save my life. Got into a big school of sandbass and caught a couple dozen on my light spinning rig for fun. Caught a big drum, 24” or so, on a Rapala, thought for sure I finally had a good fish but no.

Then on the last pass as I gave up I hooked up and caught a nice 5 pound saugeye. Called it a morning and headed for the ramp.

My last outing, out on Lake Michigan, was just a nice boat ride and a beautiful sunset. No fish were harmed at all! Lol!

Not a wasted day, by any stretch, Mate !!

You either, Dean !

Trying to stay healthy !!

Spectacular!

Last of Mondays walleye, down the hatch !

Dang man that looks absolutely fantastic I love it!

I’m taking my youngest son out in the canoe Saturday morning for smalllies & northern gonna toss big sun baits and top waters!

Father & son fishing is the best… we’ll be hitting the stretch of river I fished with my dad right before he got sick. Good memories.

Doug & I went out again, Saturday, raining so no boat pictures;

Pretty quick to catch our 8 fish limit, all 16"-17"

Cooked down some pancetta for the Caesar, used the renderings + big knob of butter & the juice of 1 lime to poach the walleye.



OMG, it was fantastic !

Last of the weekends walleye;



Back for more tomorrow !

Doug & I went out, again, Sunday morning, actually.

On the lake for 9:15, home before noon.



Fish were hitting hard, after Saturdays storm fronts.

GOOD !

Doug & I got out again, yesterday.

Hit the water at 10, home by 12:15, with a great bunch of eaters.

2 dozen minnows, 37 fish caught, 8 kept (2 limits).

Only light winds yesterday, so back to jig & minnow.

Found them up top, of the same transition, we fished last weekend.

No big fish, just a pile of cookie cutter, 14 -17", school fish.

Doug & I headed out, again yesterday morning;





Dinner for 7 !







Deb's Mum is here for Doug & Megan's wedding, she's amazing for 82 !

Anyone else still fishing? I went today and caught a ton of panfish and a few walleyes, nothing worth keeping.

Went camping in the end of September in and area off of Shadehill res in northern South Dakota. Found some sharptail grouse for a limit the first day but only one the next day.it was calm and nice on the lake so I thought what the heck. Broke out an old spinning rod with a Mitchell 300A on it. Just had a minimum of lures with me at the time and put on a old Berkely Frenzy plug in fire tiger pattern. 4 casts and a solid strike resulting in a well hooked fish put on a good fight. I was surprised to see a nice channel cat (25") when I got him in. He was excellent eating that nite..mb

Awesome. I fish all over eastern SD but never West River.

Pearchin in the shipping channel in Sturgeon Bay (West end by Sawyer Harbor). Doin pretty good too...

Sorry, no pics. I always forget something now, this time it was my phone! Sitting in its cradle in the truck, right where I put it!

I haven't been out that much lately, and the fishing hasn't been good the few times we have gone. The last time we went about a week ago we got a handful of dink bluegills and one or two little bass.

I'm ready for ice at this point; it's been a pretty trash open water year for me.

I was out last Sunday & the Sunday before on a new lake and had a blast.

Yesterday I hit another lake for just a short time but no action just follows and lost lures 😡

Hoping we get safe ice this year last winter SUCKED!

I love how ya hit it man the family aspect is amazing!

Last ice season was garbage here, too. Had 1 day of doable ice in late Nov, 4-5 days around Xmas, then a meltoff. January was all open water, then a little cold snap for 2-3 days of ice in early Feb, and that was it.

I took the GF and her friend for 1 last trip on the river yesterday. Weather was beautiful but he water was getting pretty skinny in spots. We got a couple limits of Coho's and then played catch and release with a few nice rainbows before deciding it was time to head home.
Bittersweet day, but a good way to end the season.

Winterized the big boat & put the covers on, Sunday.



Hunting season is here !

I enjoy Hunting also but fishing is so good this time of year. I should have taken my rod and tried casting for walleyes today. It was beautiful out. I will fish from shore right up to freeze up. I have some great spots for that

I hear you !!!

But, we've had frost &/or below freezing mornings, for the last week.

Last year, I held out & ended up with 2' of snow in the boat, in late October.

I finished my Canadian groups two weeks ago, helped get a couple of the fly in camp operators shut down.
It was a great summer, nice lakers, literally tons of walleyes, good pike but only two jumbos over 50” which is well below normal. Next year.

Everyone had fun, schedule filling up for next year. I do hope far northwestern Ontario and northeastern Manitoba and the tributaries that feed them have a wet fall, snowy winter, and wet spring. The water levels were at crazy lows.

Going to take a few folks for musky this next half week before the weather turns then pack away the boats. I’m already getting set to head out to Montana to enjoy the mule deer and elk, season for rifle opens Saturday already not counting the youth season tomorrow.

Great thread seeing what all you other guys have been up to. Thanks for the free trip ticket.

Osky

Awesome Mate, glad we treated you right & you & your clients had a good season !

In our 17 years in Canada, I have never know the walleye, to continuously hit as hard as they did this season.

Very few missed fish, due to short striking tail grabbers.

Hear you on the water levels, big time !

And a big thank you, to all of you, for joining in, this was always meant to be a sharing & caring thread.

Will start a hardwater thread, sometime around mid December !

See you there.

Stay safe Fellas !

99s… if you ever make up a little cook book regarding what you can do with Walleye if be the first in line for it.
Granted I have limited resources around the remote shore lunches and impatient groups that want to get back on the water, some of those you post would be certainly doable. I’d greatly enjoy the culinary diversion after 50 plus years of pretty much the same old same old around those campfires.

Osky

on Wednesday, I was going on a two day fishing trip, today and tomorrow. On Thursday I was going on a one day trip, tomorrow. Today, there is no trip. One of my buddies had something come up and then that something got postponed until tomorrow. Idk what it was, but I hope he enjoyed himself. I will probably go Sunday as tomorrow I am busy. Ended up in a tree today, watching a squirrel and listening to specklebellies fly over. I like bad weather better as I get the place to myself. Sposed to be too nice on Sunday.

I went today. Some folks were in my spot. They were catching fish and keeping them so I'm glad they took my spot rather than I take their spot. Caught lots of bluegills and a few crappies. If a guy wanted to keep a sack of fish, he sure could have because some of the bluegills were 9". I usually catch a lot of predator fish when I'm in my usual spot. I caught 3 bullheads, which brings my total of bullheads this year to 3. I didn't keep anything. I don't mind cleaning fish but I don't mind not cleaning fish, either.

Cheers Boys !!

Was in Quebec City, for a long weekend, meeting American friends, whose cruise finished there.

Great food, wine & company, in a truly beautiful, old City !

I made it out for some hot bluegill action. The bait shop was closed even though the sign on the door said 7 and FB said 7, it was 8 before it opened. I just lopped a piece off a curly grub and used that to great effect. It was a beautiful morning.

I got out again yesterday. It was 55 and sunny so was pretty decent, a little breezy though. Still chasing panfish but the bigger fish are moving in, I caught some bass and one guy had a 30" pike on that broke off. With the forecast in the 60s, I might be going for some time yet.

Nice picture, I love calm water in the morning.

That was last week. Yesterday would have sunk the Edmund Fitzgerald again.

LOL

I went after stocked rainbows in South Dakota the last couple days. They aren't real challenging but it's something different for a change, and they pull pretty hard.

Looks football fat, Jason !

That’s a nice fish! SD is my favorite state…

Went and got a couple more today. The others tasted great on the grill, so I'm excited about these. They fight really hard and they are pretty. I still have my grandfather's trout knocker somewhere, I should start taking that with me. It's probably 70 years old.

Super cool Jason !!

Still getting a couple of these. They are getting sluggish.

That's a pretty nice kittykat. I don't catch very many catfish. I can only think of about 4 I caught this year and those were all one day in the Missouri River reservoir at Yankton SD. You never know what you are going to catch at Yankton. Except largemouth or muskie, I've never caught those there.

I went fishing yesterday in a community spot with lots of other guys around and nice docks to fish from. I was catching bluegills and crappies, then a muskie bit and pulled around for a minute until the line hit a tooth. I didn't have another jig on me, so I talked to a couple fellas for awhile and then went trout fishing in a pond in Iowa where they stock them. I think I'll go Sunday since our sanctuary at church is being worked on and then that might be it, because it's getting colder and I get busy the next 3 weeks. I didn't make it out that much this year, compared to other years. Buddies were busy and weather stunk on the weekends. I got a lot of years left, Lord willing.

Lots of trout stocking going on here to for the winter. But i really don’t go after them and if I did go for trout it would be for steelhead or brown out of Lake Erie or Ontario very nice trophy trout can be caught. Then I’ll fish for golden rainbows in spring when stocked then to Muskie. Carps and cats in summers.

I went again today probably for the last time, if the forecast holds. I was road hunting for pheasants, then caught some bluegills, then went after trout. A fun day to end the fishing. Now I have to get serious about hunting.

Still not cold for those trout. Nice. Thinking I’m done to maybe one more nice day if we get it. Then on to the ice. If I’m nuts enough to go.

Went out walleye fishing tonight. Caught this dink lost what would have been my PB, which isn’t saying much.

I’ve never really fished hard for walleye. I’ve decided to make them my winter project.

Hooked the big one on my third cast with a jointed Rapala with a weird cup-shaped lip.

What a freakin rush. Gonna hit it again Friday evening.

Where at Eric.

Ada Dam

Walleye one of the fish I can’t catch 👍

Glad you 3 guys are still getting out !

Had snow, 3 times that stayed for over a week, only to lose it again.

From tonight, onwards, it seems like ice building weather !

Got three tonight; 2 dinks and one keeper. The fish and I love the Yo-Zuri jerk baits!

The hooks on my rapalas keep breaking tho; I’ve got two with hooks that have broken and it leaves em unbalanced.

Anyone else have that problem?

Right on Ernie !

Of all the messed up things to happen in life, the weather is gorgeous in South Dakota this week. My buddy keeps texting me pictures from Allen's Fishing in Chamberlain so I finally checked the weather last week and said, next Tuesday it will be 48, wanna go? He didn't respond so I figured that was the end of it. Saturday he texts, still thinking about going, do you really want to go? I said I'm in. He contacts Allen's and we are going Tuesday, tomorrow. He even talks his brother in law into going to help cut the cost. So tomorrow at 415am, we are heading to Chamberlain for one last go round with the walleyes.

Right on Jason - 9" of ice up here, time to start the hardwater thread !

Doug was on the ice, Saturday, with a group of buddies, his take home;

Need pics, when you're back !

Here's the guide with one of my fish.


Me with a fish. It was really good for the last trip of the year, finally.

Our catch.

Excellent, thanks for posting the pics !

Good chewing, right there !

Now ya gotta outdo the host of this thread and get yer family together and make pretty plates of delicious walleye with all different mouth watering colorful sides that’d make Martha Stewart green with envy.

Sheesh man ya really gone and done it.

Seriously tho that looks like a blast. Congrats on an awesome putting pretty doggone ate into the winter!

Good folks, please wear a PFD on the water.

No.

Bump for Badger - Mostly Eagle Lake !!