Walleye Opener Pritchard and Wabigoon

[limeyangler]

Hi All,

 

Got out eventually on Walleye opener, weather could not have been worse really, woke up to a howling blizzard....yup...snow blizzard, with temps below zero and gusts up to 55kmh. I was not gonna be denied, and my fishing buddy Lew is just as diehard and was not being put off by a little arctic blizzard....lol.

 

LOL....MUST BE MAY LONG WEEKEND

 

 

 

 

 

On my way home from work at 7 am I decided to look at a little lake just up the road from me, it was perfect, despite the howling winds it was completely sheltered....well , sheltered enough that there were only ripples on the lake as opposed to the 3' breakers washing up against our shore on Wabigoon. Not being completely insane we decided to hit the lake at around 3 pm when the temps were above zero, and as luck would have it the skies cleared and the day turned out o be sunny.....but it was friggin freezing!

 

 

WE HIT THE LAKE AT 3PM

 

 

 

 

 

The lake is a bit of a bowl, very small, more like a pond. We were marking lots of fish, mostly suspended at 10' in 17' . A few spots showed the tell tale arches of walleye stacked up on the bottom, but they were not biting today, water temp was 41F.....brrrrrrrrr. We were using jigs with the little spinner blades, but tried various tried and tested walleye rigs/set ups but no luck.

 

We figured the sandy beach was the mostly like place for the walleye so close to/during/after spawn, as the rest of the lake did not offer up any creeks or other suitable spawning areas. But after about an hour on the beach without a hit, despite marking lots of fish, we decided to explore.

 

We tried the weed edge which is productive in summer and were rewarded almost instantly.....but it was only jackfish...small too, but a welcome change from nothing!

 

 

 

A DOUBLE HEADER OF SNOT ROCKETS TO GET US STARTED

 

 

 

 

 

We set off round the back of the lake after the weedline, basically we tried the whole freakin lake, our plan was to cover it all then head back to the beach for the 'evening bite', thinking the walleye we could see on the graph might switch on at dusk.........that did not happen....lol.....and we had to be content with a snot rocket bonanza....we caught at least 20 between us....nothing big, but better than catching nothing....especially since it was pretty cold out there today.

 

 

CAUGHT LOTS OF THESE LITTLE GUYS

 

 

 

 

The weather people at least got it right for Sunday, 15-20kmh winds, clear skies....a bit more pleasant than blizzards of late. I decided to try for a big pike at the bottom of the yard whilst i was waiting for Lew to get sorted for midday, really pleasant morning but no fish....lol....hope this pattern does not last long.

 

 

THE WEATHER HAD IMPROVED FOR SUNDAY'S ADVENTURE

 

 

 

 

I THINK HE GOT BORED OF DAD TRYING TO CATCH A FISH....LOL

 

 

 

 

 

Lew joined me again this time we hit Lake Wabigoon. I only met Lew this winter so we had never been on Wabigoon before on soft water. We had swapped plenty of stories about where/when/how many we had caught so we decided on a plan that incorporated both our proffered destinations and headed out.

 

 

We tried a shallow creek bay hoping to find the spawn activity....no joy. We then headed to a couple of lakes connected to the main Lake by weeded channels. When we got there, there were around six other boats where the channel opens to the first main lake, Scott and his wife (Scott being last years Red Lake Walleye Classic winner) were there so we thought good chance there were fish there as Scott would not waste his time, but there were too many boats so we went to the next lake down. We tried on a nice hump i fish in the summer that produces great walleye, bass and big pike, but given the time of year neither of us expected to catch anything...and we didn't.

 

About an hour or two later(lost track of time, it was just nice being out in the boat....and relatively warm) we went back to other lake to find it deserted apart from one boat in a corner i wanted to try....so we trolled around the entrance where Scott had been before....we marked fish and caught snot rockets but that was it...still no elusive walleye.

 

We heard a boat motor and realised the only other boat on the lake had vacated the corner i wanted to try so we headed over there. This corner of the lake had produced really well for me last year, its WHERE I HAD CAUGHT MY FIRST WALLEYE USING HARDBAITS.

 

I hooked into a good 15" Sauger as we approached the bay. Promising. Then we anchored up and started to cast at the edge of the muddy water and the clear. Lew tried a cast right up against shore...and got this in 2' of water......not unheard of to catch these on this chain of lakes...but rare,

 

 

WHITEFISH?...WHAT THE HEL!!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

WE ALSO CAUGHT A LOT OF PERCH

 

 

 

 

 

We caught a few more pike and a load of perch, then the crappie and walleye bite started. We were getting really nice crappie and walleye too, all crappie at least 10-12 inches with the best one going to me at 13"....go team #3!

 

The walleye were all at least 17" with a couple coming in at over 20, but not enough to upgrade team 3's current entry

 

 

WALLEYE AND CRAPPIE ON JIGS

 

 

 

 

SOME REALLY NICE CRAPPIE TOO

 

 

 

 

The bite was really on, and we were catching a lot of pike and perch in between the walleye and crappie. They were hitting right under the boat which was fun and it also meant that i could watch my jig on the sonar just like ice fishing.

 

 

RIGHT UNDER US...JUST LIKE ICEFISHING...EXCEPT KEEPING THE CAMERA STILL ON THE ICE IS EASIER LOL

 

 

 

THE STRINGER WAS STARTING TO FILL UP NICELY

 

 

 

 

LOTS OF CRAPPIE TODAY

 

 

 

 

The crappie was a bit of a double edged sword. I had caught the odd one here or there over the years...but a pretty rare catch. Apparently somebody had transported and illegally put them into this lake a few years back. Seems like they have taken hold good now, but after discussing this with a CO last year....although they are fun to catch and eat....they could do some serious damage to the other species according to the MNR guy.

 

 

The bite started to slow and eventually came to a halt. We only needed one more walleye for our 8 between the2 of us and moved back to the channel opening to try and get it...without any luck....but we had enough crappie to make up for not getting our limit in walleye so decided to call it a day....but what a day...slow to start but then made up for it in a frenzied multi species 2 hour blitz....great fun.....

 

 

A PRETTY GOOD DAY IN THE END

 

 

 

 

HAD A GOOD SUPPER SUNDAY TOO, YUM...CRAPPIE AND WALLEYE MEDLEY

 

 

 

 

 

[kickingfrog]

Good to see your perseverance paid off.

[Leecher]

Great report, pics and videos Simon

You certainly got to a slow start but when you guys located them, the fun began

Sweet reward for your efforts on a good mix bag!!!

 

Thanks for taking the time to post this report.... felt like I was tagging along!!!

Jacques

[solopaddler]

Nice haul of fish Simon, and a great start to your open water fishing!

[brkygetr]

nicely done Simon....good to see ya made it out...nothin wrong with a stringer or 2 of fish!!!!!

by the way I got no videos??????????

[jat]

did I spy a bettlespin during one the vids?

[Whitespinnerbait]

Nicely done Mate....

 

Glad to see that there are other Diehards out there............

[rickster]

beauty stringer Simon

gotta love our weather for opener eh?

[tbayboy]

Classic NW Ontario opener weather Simon Nice mix of fish there, glad to see the softwater reports flowing in from up your way.

[Greencoachdog]

Excellent report, pics, and vids Simon!!!

 

I can't believe all that snow at this time of year!... now I know why I live where I do!!!

 

That's a Dandy Fine mess of fish on that stringer!!!

 

I could almost smell the fish frying in the vid and the served up plate looks delish!!!.. are you going to eat all of that?

[corvette1]

awesome report as allways congrats

[Zubris21]

Great work Simon! Way to boost the totals for team 3!

[limeyangler]

Thanks for the replies guys....was good once we found 'em, but was great to be out eithr way.

 

 

nicely done Simon....good to see ya made it out...nothin wrong with a stringer or 2 of fish!!!!!

by the way I got no videos??????????

 

Dale...dunno why that is....you sure your not confusing your microwave with your laptop again?

 

 

 

did I spy a bettlespin during one the vids?

 

Jat...i think it is...lol...I seem to remember Lew Talking about beetlespins at one point....but i kinda blot out half of what he's saying a lot of the time cuz he never shuts up...lol. he was harping on about how back in the olden days beetlespins were the go to set up before twisty tales showed up.

 

Nicely done Mate....

 

Glad to see that there are other Diehards out there............

 

Yup, ...was so looking forward to it....not even a blizzard was gonna stop us.

 

 

beauty stringer Simon

gotta love our weather for opener eh?

 

Its the same every year isn't it?

 

Classic NW Ontario opener weather Simon Nice mix of fish there, glad to see the softwater reports flowing in from up your way.

 

Hey TBay! good to hear from ya.....you getting much fishing in?

 

 

Excellent report, pics, and vids Simon!!!

 

I can't believe all that snow at this time of year!... now I know why I live where I do!!!

 

That's a Dandy Fine mess of fish on that stringer!!!

 

I could almost smell the fish frying in the vid and the served up plate looks delish!!!.. are you going to eat all of that?

 

All of it gone i'm afraid.....surely you have all the catfish you can eat.....i'll stick to my walleye though

[tbayboy]

Hey TBay! good to hear from ya.....you getting much fishing in?

Soon - very soon I hope. We've booked the Thunder bay boys trip for August this year but might try to sneak up North before then and get some fishing in if the GF will give me an afternoon off