Back to Back Perching

Fished with Joe and Daryl. Temperature this morning was in the upper 60s and when we quit fishing it was in the lower 80s and starting to get warm. The winds were out of the south southeast from 10 to 15 knots this morning with waves about 2 feet and by 9:00 AM the wind switched to the south around 5 knots with a very light chop on the lake. The water temp is 77 Degrees. Started out fishing near the shipping channel by the 17 and 18 buoy right where I was yesterday. The catching was not as fast as yesterday but at least we were on some perch. Stayed here until the bite slowed down and then we made a move back to our old spot off the dumping grounds. It was a repeat from yesterday, all white perch. Joe even caught a triple header of white perch. Stayed here only a few minutes and made a move to the C buoy and dropped the anchor. Caught a couple of junk fish so we just called it a day. Kept 67 perch and threw back a lot of small fish again. 

Great Day to be on the Water

Went perch fishing by myself. My scheduled partner forgot to call me back early enough and by the time he did call, it was too late to call someone else. Temperature this morning was in the lower 60s and when I quit fishing it was in the lower 70s. The wind was light out of the north with no waves on the lake. The water temp is 78 degrees. Started fishing where we left off on the last trip and caught mostly white perch. Made a few moves in this area without any luck, just more white perch. Made a move out to the shipping channel by buoys 17 and 18 and started to catch some perch. Had to sort through them because most of the fish were too small to keep. Kept 27 perch and enjoyed a beautiful day on the lake.

First Perch Trip of the Year

Fished with Daryl and Joe. Temperature this morning was in the mid 70s and when we quit fishing it was in the upper 80s. The wind was light and variable with no waves and no bugs.Our goal was to perch fish in close to shore so that was where we started. Dropped the anchor at the W Buoy and fished there for about 15 minutes and we had no fish but a few bites. Made a move out past the dumping grounds and slowed down to try and mark some fish. We had some nice fish suspended so we set up for walleye fishing. Trolled with crawlers with 2 oz. bottom bouncers set at 25 feet back and mini dipsy's set at 50 feet back. Only caught a white perch off the mini dipsy but marked a lot of fish on the bottom. Went back to where we marked the fish on the bottom (41 48 900 / 083 19 125) and set up for perch fishing. Started to catch a few perch and some of them were pretty nice so we stayed put and caught perch until it got too hot and the fishing started to slow down. Kept 68 perch. The heat wave still continues but the good news is the algae bloom has not started yet, probably from the lack of rain.

John's Crew

 Fished with John, Branden and Kevin. Temperature this morning was in the lower 70s and when we quit fishing it was in the lower 80s. The water temp is 76 degrees. On the boat ride out this morning the wind was out of the South 15 to 17 knots with waves up to 3 feet. Around 9:30 a.m. the wind started to come out of the South, Southeast less than 10 knots with waves about a foot, which made it a lot more comfortable. Started fishing at (41 48 300 / 083 06 200) which is 15 miles from port, just too far to go and chase walleye. Set up with jet 40s set at 60 feet on one side of the boat and 80 feet on the other side. The fishing was slow and it stayed that way all day. Made a few down wind trolls and only caught 1 walleye so we pulled lines and started one last down wind troll. We changed the set ups to 80 feet and 90 feet back with the jets and that did not help either. Picked up one more walleye and a few perch and then we called it a day. Kept 2 walleye and 2 perch. The guys on the other boat had 11 walleye and a perch so they cleaned the fish and went to Trapper's for lunch.

Big Fish

Fished with Joe and Uncle Dan. Temperature this morning was in the lower 60s and when we quit fishing it was in the lower 80s. The wind was out of the northeast 5 to 12 knots with waves 1 to 2 feet. The water temp is 79 Degrees. Started fishing where we were on the last trip, set up with wiggle warts at 6o feet on one side of the boat and 80 feet on the other side. The catching was very slow but we were marking a lot of fish so we tried to work this area. Caught a couple of fish off the 80 foot side so we tried jet 40s set at 40 feet to replace the wiggle warts that were at 60 feet. Caught nothing but junk fish off the jets so we put wiggle warts back on and set them at 110 feet.It seemed to help but the catching was very slow. With about an hour to go in the trip Joe caught a 42 inch muskie. It took some time to bring it in but he did manage. Dan went to net the fish and only half of it would fit in the net. Some how he manged to get it all into the net and into the boat. According to the muskie charts the average weight of a 42 inch muskie is 20 lb. Kept 6 walleye, cleaned them up and then went to Trapper's for a walleye lunch.

No Wind, No Waves and No Bugs, But HOT

Fished with Captain Daryl. Temperature this morning was in the lower 70s and when we quit fishing it was in the upper 80s. There was no wind today so we had no waves. The water temp is 78 degrees. Started fishing where we have been the last couple of trips with wiggle warts set at 65 feet back and 80 feet back. Trolled around and we caught a few walleye but the action was kind of slow. We were marking most of the fish on the bottom so we set the lines at 100 feet back and 120 feet back. Started to catch some fish at (41 48 350 / 083 19 450). We stayed in this area and picked up our limit of walleye. There are some weeds floating so we had to check the lines quite often but it was not too bad. The temperature was starting to get very hot so it was a good thing we got done early. Kept 12 walleye and 1 perch. As I'm writing this post the temperature outside is 99 degrees and the heat index is 115.3,  just too hot.

Too Bad the Fishing Wasn't as Hot as the Temperature

Uncle Dan an Dwayne

Fished with Uncle Dan and Dwayne. Temperature this morning was in the lower 70s and when we quit fishing it was in the middle 90s. It was HOT. The wind was out of the southwest around 10 knots with waves less than a foot. The water temp is 78 degrees. Started fishing where we have been the last couple of trips, with wiggle warts set at 70 feet on one side of the boat and rebel crawfish set at 60 feet on the other side. Both sides were catching fish and then it just slowed down. We started changing the setups but nothing seemed to work. Caught a few throw back walleye and 2 nice small mouth bass but it was hard to catch a walleye. Kept 9 walleye and they were just of legal size. The reports back at the harbor was the catching was very slow. Could have been from the storms that blew through last night! On a side note, Dr. Doug was in attendance today when Uncle Dan managed to hook himself. Surgery went well.

Bugging Out

Fished with Joe. Temperature this morning was in the middle 60s and when we quit fishing it was in the lower 80s, and that was at 9:30 AM. The water temp is 76 degrees. The weather person called for an East wind 10 to 15 knots with waves up to 3 feet. The lake was flat with no waves, but a whole lot of bugs. Without any headgear on you would breath in bugs through your mouth and nose, just terrible. Started fishing where we were on Saturday and we never left this area. Trolled with jet 40s set at 35 feet back and wiggle warts set at 65 feet back. Today the jet 40s out fished the wiggle warts 2 to 1. Caught mostly walleye but most of them were just of legal size, 15 1/4 inches. The fishing was great but the bugs were hard to put up with. I told Joe it took longer to wash out the bugs from the boat than it did to catch the fish. Kept 12 walleye and we were glad to get off the water. Just in case you cannot tell from the picture, Joe has a smile on his face!