Gull Lake, Temagami District - No Small Walleye... Puzzled

[Sterling]

I just returned from a weekend trip to Gull Lake, just west of Lake Temagami. This is my 3rd time on the lake in the past 5 years.

http://webapp.navionics.com/#boating@10&key=qui}Gb}mhN

I don't mind sharing the details of the trip because, in all honesty, the fishing isn't that good, and the road is awful. One guy ripped off both his running boards, the other guy lost a fender, and I dinged a trailer light. One spot was flooded so badly, water started seeping into the truck cab. Scary stuff.

But anyway, the lake is chock full of small lakers. Biggest one I saw was maybe 3.5 pounds. We were part of a large group of 27 guys fishing from Thursday to Sunday. Plenty of Bass to be had, some up to 4 pounds, but no 5+ pounders.

What's really intriguing is the Walleye. They're rare, but enormous in this lake. Before ever venturing to this lake, the guys told me it only held large walleye. Makes no sense, of course, because they need to start off small, right? The entire group (27 people) boated 7 walleye. Four of those were boated by me, measuring 20.5, 23, 27 and 27 inches. The other 3 were 21, and 4.5 and 5.4 pounds (last two weighed, not measured).

The year prior, two were caught, 8 and 10 pounds. I have pictures of trips prior, all fish in the 5lb+ range.

So my question is this; where are the small fish? The navionics link (http://webapp.navionics.com/#boating@10&key=qui}Gb}mhN) gives a good idea of the lay of the land. I fished the southern portion of the lake, where it's sandier and flatter.

My theory is that Gull River, which runs into Temagami, is a spawning river for walleye. Some make it into Gull and stay there, which partially explains why they're all big. But if that theory is correct, they aren't spawning in Gull Lake at all, which is a stretch, I think?

Anyway, looking forward to hearing some theories!

Thanks

[LeXXington]

My only thought and no expert but Temagami is so clear and full of bass.  Small walleye have few spots to hide.

Once they made it past a stage they are good.

Start stocking the lake with Walleye fry to balance it out

[Sinker]

How are you fishing for them? What kind of structure? Maybe your technique is only targeting mature fish? 

 

S. 

[Sterling]

2 minutes ago, Sinker said:

How are you fishing for them? What kind of structure? Maybe your technique is only targeting mature fish? 

 

S. 

Bottom bouncers with floating harness, variety of colors (doesn't seem to matter) on 10-18ft flat areas near deep water boated all of mine.

Another 2 came from casting harnesses and jigs in rocky shallows, and one was a fluke on a downrigger 30 feet down.

Same strategy as lake temagami itself, where I boat mostly small walleye. 

[irishfield]

Sounds like a pretty good road for one that's not really supposed to be there!! 

My understanding is the Gull River and it's dam is a spawning ground for Lake T's fish. Not even sure they can get above the structure.

[cisco]

Maybe they're in the weeds? Hiding from .... no pike in there?

[Sterling]

3 hours ago, cisco said:

Maybe they're in the weeds? Hiding from .... no pike in there?

No pike in the lake, which is also weird considering Temagami has them. There was very little weed growth, and whatever shelter was available I fished thoroughly.

[cisco]

Fished a similar lake years ago and it held lakers, splake and walleye except nobody caught walleye. We were lucky and got a few diff size walleye before dark quietly fishing minnows in front of the only weed patch we could find at the end of a small bay. Maybe same approach by beaver lodges too. Minnows in there hiding as well.  Close to dark though. Small minnows habitat IMO.

[lickmyarmpit]

You're fishing too deep brother.  I made the same mistakes when I first moved up here.  I've caught hundreds of pickerel the last few weeks.  Nothing in water deeper than 5 feet. Three learning curve has been steep but im figuring them out. 

Edited June 27, 2019 by lickmyarmpit

[Sterling]

10 hours ago, lickmyarmpit said:

You're fishing too deep brother.  I made the same mistakes when I first moved up here.  I've caught hundreds of pickerel the last few weeks.  Nothing in water deeper than 5 feet. Three learning curve has been steep but im figuring them out. 

Even if that were the case, I fished 2 full days near the shoreline targeting 10ft or deeper. On many occasions I ended up shallower. We also targeted shelves and rock piles (very shallow) for bass. We also spent some hours casting for bass (with great success). 

[tomfor]

I've caught walleye in 52 feet of water regularly in Northern Ontario, they're not only a shallow water fish.  We used down riggers and floating raps.  They're EVERYWHERE  

[Sterling]

15 minutes ago, tomfor said:

I've caught walleye in 52 feet of water regularly in Northern Ontario, they're not only a shallow water fish.  We used down riggers and floating raps.  They're EVERYWHERE  

I think it's important to point out that this is because walleye migrate a lot, from shallow water at spawn to deep water in late summer. I also fish riggers in Nipissing from July onward. 

[BillM]

3 hours ago, tomfor said:

I've caught walleye in 52 feet of water regularly in Northern Ontario, they're not only a shallow water fish.  We used down riggers and floating raps.  They're EVERYWHERE  

Sure, but not in June you haven't, lol.

[tomfor]

2 hours ago, BillM said:

Sure, but not in June you haven't, lol.

8 days ago, 36 feet jigging 3 guys 12 walleye in a little more than an hour.  So ya, they're "almost" everywhere.

[BillM]

I'm sure up there it's hard to do anything wrong and not catch fish

[captpierre]

I’ve thought the same about carp here in the Kawarthas. Easy to catch from shore. Never caught one less than 10 lb. Where are the young’ns ?  Obviously somewhere. 

[Sinker]

15 hours ago, BillM said:

Sure, but not in June you haven't, lol.

I catch them that deep on opener, and 60ft on may 24. You'd be surprised where I find walleye. 

 

[chris.brock]

Interesting question.

Has that lake been stocked with walleye?

If not, the small walleye have evolved to hang out somewhere you're not fishing, to avoid predation. I bet if you threw small jigs after dark (when walleye have the advantage) in the most walleye'y spot you know on that lake, you'd get a couple small pics.

[Joeytier]

A lot of the big deep clear Temagami lakes just don't seem to naturally support large numbers of walleye, in general, so the ones that are there have plenty chance to grow large.  I can think of many many examples of oligotrophic waters like Gull that are known for trophy walleye, but good luck catching keepers consistently.

[lunkerbasshunter]

 If you are a a really good lake trout lake would they be eating the small walleye?  

 

 

[Sterling]

On 6/29/2019 at 10:14 PM, chris.brock said:

Interesting question.

Has that lake been stocked with walleye?

If not, the small walleye have evolved to hang out somewhere you're not fishing, to avoid predation. I bet if you threw small jigs after dark (when walleye have the advantage) in the most walleye'y spot you know on that lake, you'd get a couple small pics.

Negative on the stocking. I've yet to try fishing after dark but many groups were doing this. Although, I don't think they knew what they were doing. Guys jigging in 70ft complaining about boating lakers constantly...

On 6/30/2019 at 10:08 AM, Joeytier said:

A lot of the big deep clear Temagami lakes just don't seem to naturally support large numbers of walleye, in general, so the ones that are there have plenty chance to grow large.  I can think of many many examples of oligotrophic waters like Gull that are known for trophy walleye, but good luck catching keepers consistently.

Temagami might be a bit different as it does have large swaths of shallower water and sandy shorelines like the entire cross bay area. But those areas are a long boat ride out. Btw, I used to fish the are in front of spawning bay and get some nice eaters consistently. 

17 hours ago, lunkerbasshunter said:

 If you are a a really good lake trout lake would they be eating the small walleye?  

Entirely possible.