MWC IL River Re-Cap

The first tournament is in the books. 'Ol Shooter and I put ourselves in a position to win as we were third after day 1. Unfortunately, we didn't get it done on day 2 and slipped to 16th which was good enough to finish in the money. We were disappointed but in the end it was pretty good finish after a sub-par pre-fish period.

Pre-Fishing

With the MWC moving the tournament to a Friday I was only going to have two days to pre-fish. I decided to head down the Saturday and Sunday before the tournament despite the river being a mess from the snowmelt. We had to do a little ice breaking even to get on the water.

This ended up being an expensive decision as one of my favorite jigging rods didn't even make it on the water. Good thing GLoomis and Shimano have a lifetime guarantee!

I pre-fished with Mark Michael and Bad Brad Munda. In two days of fishing we did not catch a fish. I wasn't surprised on Saturday as visibility was around 2". Sunday the river was well past the crest and visibility had increased to 4-5". With no rain in the forecast and mild temperatures in the forecast, there was no doubt fishing would be much better when I returned on Wednesday.

My partner, Scott Pirnstill aka Shooter, was unable to pre-fish so I called on Jim Lukancic to help me out. I felt strongly that the tournament was going to be won downstream and that is where we spent most of our time. The fish were still migrating upstream and we couldn't connect with the right fish to say the least.

We did find one area that did not have a lot of boat traffic that I felt had great potential. Jim lost a real nice fish, I caught a legal and missed one. I thought if we fished this all day we could win the tournament but we could also zero. We moved on and hooked up with a couple of decent fish and found a pod of male Sauger's up to 19" with an occasional female Sauger mixed in.

The Plan

The night before the tournament I was not happy with the game plan I put together. I really wanted to go down river but it was extremely risky. If we didn't catch a couple of nice fish we would have to go upstream and fish with a lot of boats. I thought the best plan was to go upstream, catch a limit of 18-19" males with the hope of getting a bonus fish or two while fishing deep. This way we could get a quick limit before the fish were pressured and then focus on shallow, big fish, spots.

Day 1

We started right in the middle of the river in a community spot just upriver from takeoff. We had a limit by 9 AM, the problem, most were small with the exception of an 18-1/2 female Shooter caught. You can't win on Day 1 but you can fish yourself out of the tournament so we went into grinder mode. Slowly but surely we had put a decent limit in the boat. The highlight of the morning is when I dropped my left jigging rod on the gunnel as I went to net the fish. The rod took one bounce and went in the river. I tried to net the rod but missed. The entire time Shooter is yelling at me to net his fish. I was pretty bummed and told a couple of the boats next to us to let me know if they catch my rod.

The very next pass Shooter yells "get the net"! I run to the back of the boat and he had hooked my GLoomis rod right on one of the eyelets. We were screaming and giving high five's. I am sure most thought we were crazy! 

Greenhorn Shooter, who for the second year in a row didn't pre-fish, came out firing. About 12:30 he landed a 20" male walleye and all of sudden we had a decent bag of fish going. He also lost a big fish that would have been a huge help.

I decided to move into the first break from shore and it was game on. I lost a Sauger around 20" at the net. Shooter tickled its tail with the net as it swam away. Shortly later Shooter landed an 18-1/2" female Sauger. I made another pass and caught a 20", 3 pound 9 ounce, Sauger. All of a sudden we were in contention. We made several other passes with no success so we headed down river to the spot that caused me to lose sleep.

We made one pass at my spot with no luck. Knowing that females were on that shallow break we headed back for a couple more passes. Lucky we did as Shooter caught a really fat 18" Sauger at 3:05. We ended the day sorting through 15-20 keepers to weigh 14-02 which was good enough for 3rd place, less than a pound out of first.

Day 2

We headed out in 3rd place behind Mark Mearvy who is a two time winner and a jigging legend. In first were Adam and Steve Sandor winners in 2009 when we finished third. Top that off with Danny Plautz, another past winner in 5th. That is pretty good company. Mix that in with not being confident the bigger fish would be in the same spot and I had a restless night of sleep!

Just like last year, I was hot on day 2 and we were about on the same pace as day 1. Unfortunately, we had all males, four between 18-19" but we caught a ton of 14" Sauger's that we could not upgrade. We checked the shallow break where we caught them on Day 1 but they just weren't there. I thought we had around 9 pounds and wanted to get at least 10 to secure a check. We just couldn't get that last one and we died on our spot.

It was tempting to go down river as the word was out that a lot of big weights came out of an area down river. Tempting but not right so we waited for the fish that never came. We ended up weighing 9-06 and held onto to finish 16th good enough to cash a check.

I did talk to Danny Plautz after the tournament, who finished fourth, and he caught most of his fish where I wanted to fish. I wish we could have caught an upgrade and I would have made the run. I don't know if it would have made a difference as most of the fish Danny caught were early.

All things considered it was a good tournament. We put ourselves in a position to win we just didn't get it done. Shooter and I have been in the hunt down there several times. If we keep knocking one of these days the door will open for a win! With the risk of sounding like a Cub fan, wait until next year!

2015 Schedule - Here's My Chance

I have been anxiously waiting for the 2015 fishing season since November, 2008. New Years Day 2015 marked the start of the seventh year with my employer. I love my job and I love that I now get four weeks of vacation! This extra week will allow me to fish all four National Walleye Tour Tournaments along with one of my favorites, the MWL IL River. With gas prices at the lowest level since I began fishing tournaments and a schedule that fits my strengths, my opportunity is now.

MWC IL River - March 20-21

The longest running walleye tournament almost ended after last year's decision to have an artificial bait only tournament. The Spring Valley Walleye Club walked away from the MWC and will be holding the IL River Walleye Classic on the last weekend of March. This has always been the MWC weekend. Thankfully, politics aside, the MWC was able to find support in the community and moved up the tournament a week ensuring the streak will continue.

My partner Shooter and I have been in the hunt to win here three times including last year when we finished 3rd. I couldn't be happier with the week earlier start. The last three years I have been on a great bite the week before the tournament only to see those fish disperse when it counted. If conditions are right they will be there again. Unfortunately, that is a big IF as rapidly changing water conditions are the norm. This river will humble you in a hurry!

NWT Mississippi River Pool 4 - May 7-8

If you call your blog On the River with The Viver you better get excited about this one. I learned how to vertical jig plastics on Pool 4 and it is my favorite destination. I have fished 3 major tournaments here and have cashed two checks. I have had two really good tournament days but I haven't been able to put two really good days back to back. Fish will be in transition and will be difficult to catch in the same areas two days in a row. I am hoping to learn from past failures and have two consistent days. This will be the only NWT tournament that I will be sharing information with another angler. This will be a great help as he is a river rat and one of my fishing mentors.

NWT Leech Lake - June 12-13

Even though I have never fished Leech Lake I am really looking forward to this tournament. Fishing a lake for the first time that has 112,000 surface acres can be a bit overwhelming. This task is even more daunting when you are fishing alone. Fortunately there are resources available like Fishidy that allow me to identify areas that I will target long before I wet a line. If you are not a member of Fishidy I highly recommend becoming a member, it is worth every penny! I will also be reaching out to a few of my friends who have knowledge of Leech. I hope that I can also use what I have learned fishing deep structure on Lake Mendota to catch the "overs" along with some shallow water tactics for the "unders". Leech Lake has a slot limit, no fish can be kept between 20"-26" and only one can be kept over 26" per person.

NWT Green Bay - July 24-25

I have had some of the best fishing days of my life on Green Bay and the worst. Unfortunately, a few of the worst came on tournament days. One of my goals in 2014 was to be competitive on the Bay of Green Bay and I accomplished that at the NWT Bays de Noc. In fact I had a shot at the win sitting third after day 1. I wasn't able to make the adjustments on day 2 but did hold on to cash a check. I learned from that experience and I look forward to applying those learnings in July. We are launching out of Green Bay which should help me. I am assuming that the DNR will put a boundary at 45 miles north of the launch. This would take most of Door County out of play. There is so much structure in Door County that it is difficult for me to cover enough water. In the past I have tried to fish everywhere instead of concentrating on a few areas. 

NWT Championship Devils Lake - September 17-19

The 2015 schedule will finish with the Championship on Devils Lake. I have never fished here or the Missouri River system. From everything I have heard and read this is going to be a blast. Just about every tactic will come into play. I will be fishing this one alone as well and don't have any friends that I can go to for information. I will be leaning on tips, forecasts and marked catches from Fishidy. Once there I will be relying on my past experiences to see if I can come up with a plan that will be a little different.

I can't wait to get my Lund and Mercury Verado on the water. I love the schedule now I have to maximize my opportunity. Follow my season here and on my Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/RoyVivianProWalleyeAngler?ref=hl. 

LBDN - My Plan Worked - Almost

Why Even Bother?

Due to work obligations and limited vacation time I could only fish one NWT tournament this year. Without a true river tournament on the schedule the choice was not easy. The Detroit River/Lake Erie event was tempting but with walleyes leaving the river the winning fish would likely be 40-50 miles away. I am not on a team, with Canadian waters in play I felt there was too much water to cover so I ruled it out.

Mobridge, SD was next on the schedule. I have never fished in the Dakota's, it is a 12 hour drive and my niece was getting married that weekend. That left Bay's de Noc in Escanaba, MI. Crap! I love fishing the area and it is only four hours away. I have had pre-fishing days where catching 28"-29" walleyes was easy, often at the same time. 

The problem is the two tournaments I had fished out of Escanaba, I was in the bottom 10. My record a little south in Green Bay isn't much better. If I was going to have any success I needed to have a plan, a different plan.

Out With the Old

In the past I tried to cover as much water as possible trying to find the hot bite. One day I would be in Little Bay, the next day in Big Bay, the next day on the shoals etc. With endless amounts of structure within the MI boundaries I found myself overwhelmed as can be seen in my past results.

No Team No Problem

Walleye tournaments are dominated by teams and "super" teams. Some teams are formed by longtime friends, blood and others by design. On a tour like the NWT, that has several stops, some teams will form on their expertise. For example one team member might be a guide on Lake Erie and excels in open water trolling but rarely fishes rivers. So he/she looks for an expert river fisherman. Throw in experience fishing on the Missouri River reservoirs out west and the structure filled Green Bay and you have a well diversified team.

It can be a little intimidating knowing that not only am I fishing against some of the best walleye fishermen who have ever lived but they also share information leading up to the tournament. Some of these "super" teams have living legends and multiple hall of fame anglers. Then you have the young anglers who are breathing new life and there own expertise into the sport. A team of 5 can fish five different areas in one day, compare notes at the end of the day and make adjustments. To cover the same amount of water it would take me 5 days. If I was going to have any chance I needed to identify one or two areas and know them like the back of my hand.

The Plan

To the best of my knowledge the 2012 NWT out of Escanaba was won in Big Bay de Noc with big weights also coming out of the Cedar River area. I decided these were going to be the two areas I would spend my time pre-fishing. To get more lines in the water and to not go crazy my buddy SFC Richard Wright helped me as did my cousin Sam. I wanted to find as many spots as possible within a close proximity to each other or on the way from the launch as possible. As always wind would play a key role so I needed to find spots for all wind conditions. Everything else was the same, fish wind blown structure with crawler harnesses.

This is Easy

I met my cousin Sam and Rich at the Cedar River launch the Saturday for the first day of pre-fishing around 10 AM. I had not fished the area before but I did identify areas on a map to target. It was raining lightly with a SE wind. It didn't take long and we found a shallow wind blown hump holding walleye's over and under 23". Local regulations allow only 2 fish over 23" so finding both "overs" and "unders" in one spot is key.

We then headed to other spots that looked similar and the fish went banana's. Doubles, triples it was unbelievable. Why does this always happen to me on the first day of pre-fishing?

Big Bay de Not

With fish going in the Cedar River area I headed over to Big Bay de Noc. The water temperature was a couple of degrees colder and the bite was the same. I did mark a few fish and a lot of bait but couldn't find any active fish. I then went out to the sprawling shoals. Water temperatures were the same as Big Bay and I had the same results. I ruled out Big Bay and the shoals. The rest of my pre-fishing was done between Escanaba and my spots south.

Wind Vs. No Wind

The rest of pre-fishing was great when the wind blew. I would go into a spot, catch 3 or 4 then go look for a similar spot. The walleye's were concentrated on specific spots of the structure. There was a lot of unproductive water but when you found them they would eat.

The problem was when there was no wind. A couple of the spots I was fishing had huge boulders and the fish would be in as shallow as 5' of water. With no wind you could see the boulders down to 15' and the bite was gone. I found some fish in deep weeds but not enough to make me confident. After a day and a half of scratching my head I finally found fish on a deep break. 

As pre-fishing winded down I felt good about my day 1 chances with the SE winds forecasted. I wasn't as confident about Day 2 as winds were to be calm early and out of the north late in the afternoon. I was hoping the fish I found on the deep breaks would be there to carry the day.

Close But No Cigar

Day 1 couldn't have gone much better as I caught 3 perfect "unders" and 2 nice "overs". I was in first place after the first 50-60 fisherman and ended up in 3rd less than a pound out of first. On day 2 the wind didn't blow and my bite went with the wind. I couldn't find any fish on the deep breaks and with that went my chances of winning. I did get two "overs" that helped me hold on and cash a check with a 23rd place finish.

My hats off to those that were able to adjust to the changing conditions. My plan almost worked but in the end it failed. I did learn from the experience and look forward to applying those learnings when I am in a similar situation. Hopefully with a different result. Next year can't get here soon enough!

Tackle Storage - Protect Your Investment

Tackle Storage - Protect Your Investment

Have you purchased a fishing lure lately? If so, you know there are more styles and colors than ever before and they are not cheap. With lures like the Rapala Tail Dancer going for $10 a piece and more it is extremely important to keep these lures in excellent shape. It doesn't matter if you fish once a year or 100 times a year, you want to make sure your lure is in excellent condition. It can be the difference in catching a fish of a lifetime or ending the day with a big fat zero.

Protect Your Gear

I have been using Plano Storage Boxes as long as I can remember. Using a quality box is more important than ever. The Plano 3700 Series Pro Latch box pictured below has over $300 in Rapala Tail Dancers.

Water Is Not Your Friend

The most important thing you can do is keep water out of your storage boxes. Water that gets trapped in  storage boxes will rust hooks and split rings. To make sure there is no water in your boxes open the box and run your finger on the inside of the top. If you feel any moisture leave the lid open until the moisture evaporates. This will not take long if the box is exposed to sun light. Make sure the box is placed in a secure area where the box will not be stepped on or tipped over. I always check the boxes at the end of the day to make sure there is no condensation in the box.

Tips to Keep Water Out

• Inspect and replace boxes that have cracks or broken latches.
• If bait has been in the water, shake off excess water before placing in box.
• Don't leave boxes open in the boat - water will not get in when the box is closed.  
• Don't leave boxes on the floor - stepping on a box that was left on the boat floor has ruined a lot of boxes and lures. It is even worse if the box is open when it is stepped on!
• When stowing in a boat compartment make sure the box is free in clear from the latch - I recently ruined a box by not paying attention to where I placed the box.

Other Options

I have so many Plano boxes that I can't justify replacing them as they work just fine and last forever, as long as I don't puncture a hole in them. However, moving forward I will be buying their Hydro Flo boxes. The boxes are made with small holes so water will flow through the box. You can check these out here:

Plano Hydro Flo Tackle Systems

Plano has everything you will need to protect and organize your gear. In addition they have waterproof cases to protect electronics or anything else that needs to stay dry. You can check out their entire product line on their website http://www.planomolding.com.

Sturgeon Bay NWT Re-cap

Day 1

My Day 1 Co-angler was Billy Ditto from Leaf River, IL which is only 25 miles from my hometown. He fished one tournament as a Co-angler last year and has been hooked ever since. I was hoping I could give him a tournament that he would remember.

I usually don’t sleep well the night before a tournament and this was no exception. With the fish moving around like they had been along with isolated storms in the area I knew it might be difficult to find them. Knowing that these were the “right fish” made me even more anxious.

I headed to the area I had found the day before. The water temperature was the same as was the wind but the fish were gone. I knew there was a reason I didn’t sleep well. I went to another area that was good earlier in the week and made one pass with no luck.

I went back to where I was the day before and drove around for about a half hour going about 20 MPH looking for fish. Finally I marked a few on the screen and set up for a pass. Almost immediately we caught a 22” when another rod went. I helped get the board off of that rod while Billy fought the fish. Unfortunately, that was a sheepshead. I thought long and hard about throwing that fish back in. 

Once you keep your 6^th fish you cannot cull and you are done for the day. This was not the type of fish I was catching nor was it going to win the tournament but I decided to keep it hoping it would be the smallest of the day.

The pod of fish was much smaller than the day before so it didn’t take long and we were no longer marking fish. We packed up and made another pass. Almost immediately the board on the same rod that caught the 22” walleye went back. Billy fought the fish perfectly and there was not doubt it was a big walleye as the fish came slowly in. Just before I reached for the snap weight the fish came off. I was extremely surprised to see that the fish broke the line above the hooks. The only thing I can think of was I didn’t check the line after catching the 22 incher and it must have nicked the line. I am sure it was the size of fish I had been catching between 27 and 28 inches. We were disappointed but we had plenty of time left in the day.

Unfortunately, a storm moved in and we only were able to catch one more fish. The fish moved down in the water column. All of my adjustments were for not and we headed back to the weigh-in.

Day 2

I drew Bill Ball as a Co-angler on day 2. Bill is an accomplished angler with a couple of MWC wins to his credit. Bill was going into day 2 in ninth place. I fished myself out of the tournament on day 1. My day 2 goal was to keep Bill in the top 10.

I made the long run south again and I spent 20 minutes looking for the school of fish I had been fishing. I couldn't find them so I went to another area that I had caught them earlier in the week. I marked fish so we set up made our first pass. It didn't take long before we boated a 27 incher. We put that rod back out and had another fish take a board back but it was gone by the time we got to the rod. I thought we were going to have a good day but that was the end of the action.

I was marking fish but I just couldn't get them to bite. It turns out day 2 was tougher for all but that was no consolation.

Bill Finishes 14th

Despite only catching one 7 pound fish Bill only dropped 5 places and finished 14th. That helped my spirits a little bit but if we just could have caught one more he would have finished in the top 10. Bill was a blast to fish with and he brought some awesome venison sausage! 

Fools Gold

My plan all along was to fish the northern portion of the boundaries. I even stayed in Fish Creek to be closer to the northern water. I ended up only fishing one full day up north. Once I caught those nice fish over the mud down south I made the decision to go all in down south. I didn't have the confidence that I could find fish up north alone. It turned out that the majority of the top 10 was fishing north. If I would have spent more time up there pre-fishing would I have had a better outcome. I will never know but I am disappointed I didn't follow my initial plan.

The fishing on the mud flats in the south can be so easy it is like fools gold. I feel for it two years ago and I had the same result, BAD! It is not uncommon to catch 30 pounds one day and a fraction of that the next. I noticed many others fishing the same area had a similar fate. However, there were some that were able to make the proper adjustments and did well. 

The lesson I learned is anybody can catch them when the bite is "on". Hopefully I will learn from the experience and have a better outcome next time.

NWT Sturgeon Bay Pre-Fishing Recap

I had high hopes for the NWT Sturgeon Bay tournament. I was fishing alone and with the tournament boundaries stretching from the southern end of Door County all the way to Death's Door on the northern tip. That meant I had to cover a lot of water as efficiently as possible. My plan was to stay north and hope the fish had migrated to their late summer home.

Day 1

The final day of the AIM tournament was underway out of Oconto. Despite the forecast for 3-5 ft. waves with some to 8 ft. I decided to go north and stay out of the way of the AIM anglers. This turned out to be a mistake as I did not get much accomplished. I marked a lot of bait and some fish but did not catch a fish.

Day 2

Because I wasn't on a team it was really important that I had someone with me so I could get more lines out which allowed me to experiment with colors, depths, presentations etc. I had a friend of mine from Madison, Scott, with me on Saturday and Sunday and on Sunday we added the son of a co-worker of Scott's. Richard will be a freshman at UW Superior where he says he is majoring in Walleyes and Whitetails.  We put Richard through Walleyes 101 on the bay.

We went south and found plenty of drum but no walleyes. Part of majoring in Walleyes is dealing with sheepshead so we made Richard reel in everyone! He didn't seem to mind but we need to find walleye's. After a few stops we started marking fish and caught one 18" walleye. We set up a little deeper and then it was on.

We were pulling crawler harnesses and were able to identify colors with the biggest fish coming on a certain depth. The depth we targeted was just above the fish we were marking. Although the other baits did catch fish I felt like I was honing in on a pattern.

Our best 5 were all over 27" with the exception of one 26-1/2. I have fished this area before and fishing can seem so easy and the next day is another story so I hoped to find something up north but at least I had a spot with big fish. I slept pretty good Sunday night.

Day 3

I fished with an old co-worker of mine and we went north. I was surprised to find water temp in the low 70's. Due to changing winds temperatures in the southern bay were all over the place, when we found the warmer water we found the walleyes. 

The wind was perfect as I checked areas I caught fish last Labor Day weekend. There is a ton of structure and I covered as much as I could. I did mark a fair amount of bait and a few fish but nothing like I did down south. We lost 2 fish that I think were nice walleyes but the rest were sheepshead. I decided to spend the afternoon between Sturgeon Bay and Egg Harbor with nothing to show for the effort. In retrospect I wish I would have stayed north of Egg Harbor.

Day 4

A small craft advisory was issued for the bay. Winds were out of the NW at 20-30 MPH with gusts higher. I wasn't going to fish but the thought of sitting around the hotel all day got the best of me. I only fished from 9 to 2 and I was happy I had one fish on. I never felt unsafe, thanks to my Lund but the conditions were not the best. I didn't accomplish anything fishing wise but it beat sitting around the hotel.

Day 5

I wanted to fish north so bad but I chickened out. I wasn't confident that I could put something together up north especially when the fishing was so easy on Sunday. I decided to go all in on the south bite and would spend the next two days trying to hone in the pattern.

One of my favorite things about fishing tournaments is you get to meet some great people. I shared the boat with one of my co-anglers from last year, Sargeant Richard Wright who serves in the National Guard. Rich is character and we have a similar sense of humor. It also helps he brings beef jerky!

We tried a couple of different spots but the water temps were colder than I liked. I headed over to where I was on Sunday and there was nothing there. Just like years past these fish move. There is no structure and the fish roam around chasing bait fish. Once you found the bait you would see the walleyes with them. In some cases you could see where the walleyes were feeding as the bait fish were scattered instead of in a ball. When we found that we usually hooked up.

Just like Sunday, once we found them the bite was awesome. We had a double of 28's and just after taking a picture we had another one on of that size or slightly bigger that got off. I made Sargeant Rich drop and give me 20 for dumping that one. You hate to lose a fish like that but we knew what was there and we were happy!

Sargeant Rich Drops and Gives Me 20

Even better we were catching are fish quite a ways from other boats. I don't like fishing in big groups and it is always my goal is to find fish away from the crowds. Normally I don't net fish during pre-fishing if I can help it but because we were fishing away from everyone I was able to put the Frabill to use! 

Day 6

I fished the last day of pre-fishing with Rich and Mark Michael, the owner of EZEE Steps. We only had until 2 O'clock so my goal was to hone the pattern and get ready for Friday. We went where the fish were on Sunday, nothing. Next we went where Rich and I got into them, we marked fish but not like the day before. We caught a 28" and a 25" when we moved shallower but I was getting nervous. 

I decided to move to another area. About two miles later I was going about 30 MPH when I noticed a couple of blips on my locator. I slowed down and noticed there were quite a few marks and some bait fish. We set up and made a pass. We caught one big catfish and a drum but I knew there were walleyes in there. We made another pass and we caught two good walleyes. That made me feel better for the tournament. It was clear that fish were moving and all I had to do was spend the time to find them on the electronics and go from there.

I will post the tournament re-cap later in the week. Thanks for reading!

NWT Red Wing Re-cap

Pre-Fishing

I arrived in Red Wing on Saturday, April 20 to begin pre-fishing for the first ever National Walleye Tour tournament. I had this tournament circled on the calendar and was looking forward to catching post-spawn walleyes. In a normal year the majority of the spawn would be finished and water temps would be in the lower 50's. Not this year, water temperatures were in the upper 30's and most fish had not spawned. That meant a total change in plans.

With mother nature being a few weeks behind schedule I was confident that most fish would be caught from Red Wing to the dam. The Minnesota Tournament Trail was having two one day tournaments on Saturday and Sunday. I did my best to stay out of their way as I concentrated on spots where I have caught fish over the years. I did pick up two fish over 26 inches along with a couple just over 21 inches but overall fishing was slow. The MTT results showed the same with the exception of some big limits being caught pitching jigs. I didn't want to take any of the tournament anglers spots so I waited until later in the week to try my luck.

Secret Spots

There really aren't any secret spots in Red Wing as tournaments have exposed winning patterns and locations over the years. However, I always try to find a spot that is away from the other anglers. This strategy has served me well in my last two FLW tournaments in Red Wing. The biggest problem with these out of the way spots is they often do not hold as many fish. There is a reason that you will see 50-100 boats in a small area, it is because there are a lot of fish there. 

I spent Monday in Pool 3 knowing that not a lot of anglers would lock through the dam during the tournament. Despite 37 degree water temperatures I did manage to find a couple of nice fish. One was a 27" spawned out female and the other was a good male that was milting. I was betting on the water warming up and filling up with post spawn walleyes. Well, it was a good thought but rain and snow raised the water and kept the water temperature low which killed those spots. I did check them again on Wednesday but it was obvious that they were not going to come into play.

Snow?

Community Spots

I woke up Tuesday to 3-4" of wet snow. I am used to fishing in nasty conditions but snow on April 23? This is getting ridicules!

I, and I think everyone fishing the NWT, knew there was a good bite going on up by the dam pitching jigs. With 126 boats in the field I would have to get a low number in order to get one of these spots. I started at the bottom end of the rocks which are about 1/4 mile long. On my fourth cast I caught one over 8 pounds. I started working my way up river and caught a 25 inch male and lost a nice fish. To make a long story short I caught 6 walleyes in about 1 -1/2 hours with the smallest being 21 inches and my best 5 weighing close to 25 lbs. This does not count several that got off including two that I thought were monsters. Wow, no wonder everyone in the MTT tournaments was fishing there.

I left that area and spent half of the day pitching jigs in areas that have been good in the past with no luck. I was able to catch a few 21" plus males in a community spot which had me feeling pretty good. I was amazed at the fish I was catching as I did not catch a walleye smaller than 20" pre-fishing.

Open the Flood Gates

On Wednesday I checked one of the community spots and promptly caught a 21" male right on a way point. I did my best to hide it from other boats and headed to the next spot. As I checked my spots I noticed the current was a little different and also noticed I wasn't catching any fish. I knew the water was supposed to come up a little but I didn't think enough to change the bite. I was also noticing a lot more grass, leaves and wood floating in the water. I headed up river and sure enough all of the DAM gates were open. Uh Oh!

I have fished Red Wing a lot in March and April. Any time they open the gates it takes a few days before fishing improves. The bite generally gets better once the river crests and starts to recede. This was not going to happen this week so I had better find something and soon as the tournament starts on Friday!

Hope is not a Strategy

I began checking every spot I could think of hoping that fish would either be there or they would be filtering into those spots in the next few days. With the high water there were current seams everywhere and I tried as many of them as I could find. I ended up finding this 27" pre-spawn female at the end of the day on Wednesday.

That beauty gave me hope but I did not catch a fish on Thursday and I could only hope that fish would filter into spots where I have traditionally caught them. As I went to the rules meeting on Thursday I couldn't help but wonder if I was missing something. I guess I would find out soon enough!

Day 1

I ended up with boat #22 and headed up to pitch jigs to the rocks. I wasn't the only one with this strategy as there were boats lined up from top to bottom. I drew a great Co-Angler who actually guides so I felt confident if there were fish in shallow we would catch them. I ended up with a spot near the down river side of the rocks. We fished them hard for about 2 hours. No walleyes but several smallmouth bass, up to 3 pounds, got our heart rates going. We also did not see any fish caught so we went to plan B. I finally caught a fish on, I think, plan F and that would be the only fish we caught. We did lose a nice fish where I caught the 27 incher on Wednesday but he was only on for a short time.

Misery Loves Company

I wasn't the only one that struggled as a third of the field did not catch a fish and there were a lot of ones and two's. The leader was pitching jigs too but on the upper end of the rocks. I at least felt better that I had not missed the bite.

Day 2

Winning was no longer an option, however, cashing a check was certainly attainable as I was only 2-1/2 pounds out of the money. Normally I would say there was no pressure except my co-angler was in 3rd place after day 1. For those that are not familiar with the format co-anglers are randomly selected to be with a pro. The pro and the co-angler team to weigh there best 5 fish. On day 2 the pro fishes with a different randomly selected co-angler for day 2. The co-angler adds up the weights from the two days with two different pros. This meant my co-angler, Larry Oleson, was in the hunt to win the Co-angler side of the tournament and the pressure was on me to put him on some fish!

We tried the rocks again with the same results. We headed down river to the spot I lost a fish the day before and immediately caught a 17 inch male walleye. Not a monster but in this tournament five of those would be great. We fished that spot for the next 2-1/2 hours with nothing to show for it so it was scramble time. I hit all of my spots with nothing to show for the efforts until 12:45 when I boated a 17" sauger. We wore that spot out and had one really nice fish on. It was so nice I am not sure if it was a walleye. I had him on for about thirty seconds then he was gone. With the water being so cold I had to fish slow. When you are fishing crank baits slow sometimes it is hard to keep them buttoned up.

With only an hour to go and only 4 pounds in the boat I decided to go back to the rocks. I knew if we caught one fish I would have a chance to get into the money and that would ensure a good finish for Ole. With about 1/2 hour to go I felt one swimming with my plastic or at least I thought I did. I reeled in my ringer worm and something ate the tail. Are you kidding me? In most cases shallow river walleye's clobber that jig. I may have been taking the jig away from the fish and he just grabbed the tail or he might have been just a little finicky. I see that a lot when I vertical jig with plastics, in that case I usually change the color or the style of the bait but I rarely see it when I am pitching jigs shallow. Whatever it was it never was on the hook so I will never know what it was. I am satisfied that I got a fish to bite in a big fish spot, I just wasn't able to execute.

Day 2 turned out to be another tough day for the field and my two day weight of 5.94 pounds was good enough for 63rd out of 126. Just over 10 pounds was all that was needed to get into the money. Normally I am frustrated after a mediocre finish. I can't say that I am with this one. It was a very tough bite and I gave myself a chance. I didn't cash a check but I learned a ton. What I am most proud of his the measly 4.0 pounds we caught on Saturday was good enough for my co-angler, Ole, to finish 3rd! The disappointing part is if we would have caught one more two pound fish he would have one the Co-angler side. With the bite as tough as it was he was very happy with third!

I will not be fishing Lake Erie but I will be fishing the NWT Sturgeon Bay in July. Thanks for reading!