With intentions to spend an afternoon bite for walleye dealing with shorelines tangled by thick invasive and poisonous plants, a buddy and I peeled out of work early. Sounds like a good idea right??? Being a nice day, we knew that we would be sharing water space with tubers, kayaks, and other fisherman.
The fishing started off pretty solid with lots of smallmouth committing. Even though any action is good on a new body of water, that wasn’t the species we were looking for. Targeting deep holes and eddies, we kept chugging downriver trying new spots when we could find them. On this river system, we have no idea what the depths range to but we stuck mainly to 12-15 feet of water.
Although only one spot produced walleye, they were where in the type of water we targeted for the few hours we fished. The best part of this excursion was that the fish were swimming right below us on a ledge. We could see the fish pass by before catching them! What a hoot! As different species passed by, we were able to pick and choose what we flipped to.
These fish, although no bigger than ones we usually catch in the river, put up a much better fight. They were built for strength and when coupled with the river flow, their fight was amazing! The action with these fish was tense. I am use to lifting these fish into the boat quickly or even better when they are 20″+, using a net. Dragging the fish onto shore makes for some tense moments wondering if they will flop off. Luckily, I was able to grab these fish and revive them before the release.
I can’t wait to give this a shot again when I have more time!
D & B Ice Adventures 