Has anybody else been catcthing 5-7 inch walleyes? I've been trolling leadcore for years on the pond and this is the first year I have caught these little guys. Sometimes as many as a half dozen a trip. Using #5 hornets, so I wonder how many I would catch if I was running #4's. Are we starting to see the effects of the dreaded zebra mussel? Or is it just a super outstanding year class. Are these little guys that hungry. It's amazing that they hit the lure. It's almost impossible to get the hooks out of their little mouths.
Walleyebry
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"I'd rather have a fancy boat and a old truck, than a fancy truck and a old boat."
I'm with you. I caught 12 a couple weeks ago in about a 3 hour stint of trolling. Even on bigger cranks. They are very abundant out there right now. I do not know why they are biting so much right now though. It is good to see I say. A couple of years they will be itching and ready to meet the grease ...
Depending on the DNRs Survey (which should be done by now) there could be another reason... Anyone want to take bets on the SSB being lower again this year?
Talked to Dean Fisher yesterday. He said Dnr told him the YOY perch numbers were the lowest they had seen in years. What I cant figure out is how they can expect accurate numbers when they Trawl the same areas on the same dates every year. We all know is you cannot look at the calendar when it comes to finding fish on Mille Lacs. Sometimes they are here by this date, and sometimes they are not. And they may never show. What I have been finding is the perch have been out deeper later this year. Maybe thats why their numbers are way down. Are the little walleyes biting this year because the ecology of the lake is changing? Have the zebs removed alot of the food source these little guys are used to feeding on? It is a good thing to see all the little walleyes, but is it a cause of something else happening with the lake? I sure hope not.
Walleyebry
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"I'd rather have a fancy boat and a old truck, than a fancy truck and a old boat."
Out of over a couple hundred fish caught on my boat this last weekend, over a hundred were under 12 inches (Near 2 year olds) and half the unders were only year-olds. This time of year the food the fish eat account for 3/4 of their total yearly weight. So fish of all sizes are packin' it away while they can for the winter cold water. The smaller ones are the first to bite, usually, I've found.
Very interesting analysis on the feeding apttern of smaller walleye's.
It certainly makes sense.
Chow down now before it gets into the cold water season.
All the birds at my feeders have been stocking up heavily too.
This is not a bird brain joke -- they went through 50lbs wild bird seed in 4 days.
Walleye Wanda must have been coaching them.
PS. We need to get Walleye Wanda a nice kayak rig for the winter hard water season to keep her afloat. That would be kinda Hollywood ya know? Maybe a racing stripe on the side?
Wanda's been hangin' out in the bar all summer. She'd have bar butt, but the chick don't sit down. I think she needs toi get out a little more often out fishin'.
Jonny, Catching small walleyes on a bobber is much different than catching them on a 3.5+ inch crank bait being trolled on lead core at 2 to 2.5 mph. Most of these fish are not a lot larger than the crank its self.
Walleyebry
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"I'd rather have a fancy boat and a old truck, than a fancy truck and a old boat."
I saw Wanda all hidden under her Hoodie in August by the Resort Restaurant/Bar entrance door. She loked pretty discouraged ... no action so to speak.
You're right she needs to get out a bit more and work on her celebrity campaign or something. Maybe I will get her a new Arctic Cat snowmobile and park her near the bay window view of the web cam two.
Jonny, Catching small walleyes on a bobber is much different than catching them on a 3.5+ inch crank bait being trolled on lead core at 2 to 2.5 mph. Most of these fish are not a lot larger than the crank its self.
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