I thought I'd post a little something that happened to me over the weekend. I went fishing up on a large lake in northern MN this past weekend. It was our annual fishing season opener. The fishing resorts were open but we were asked to keep social distance practices in place as much as possible so that made things a little different. I personally don't fear this virus but we must consider others' feelings.
As usual, the targeted species was walleye. The intention was to get enough for a fish fry and maybe bring a couple home. That objective was achieved. Most of what was caught were in the 12" - 14" size, which were considered too small. The favorite size is from 16" - 18". Also caught a few in the low 20" range, which had to be released per regulations.
My usual M.O. for walleye is to use a 1/4 oz. jig with a minnow but I was not getting many bites so I decided to downsize to a 1/8 oz. orange jig and minnow combination. Saturday afternoon with the boat positioned near headquarters by a bridge I was catching a few small walleyes plus a couple keepers for the fish fry. They were biting extremely soft. I was using my medium action ultra fast tipped rod because I can usually feel just about anything that happens on the end of my line but this day even that didn't give me much advantage. They were biting so soft that most of the time the only inclination I had of a bite was to see my line twitch a little bit.
One time when I saw a bite and set the hook I told my partner, "This is a little better fish." I was thinking it would maybe be one of those 20" or so size. It took drag from my feel twice and when my partner caught a glimpse of it he said, "It's a nice sized walleye." But neither of us realized how nice until we got it into the net.
Turned out the be the biggest walleye of my life and the biggest walleye I've ever seen alive at 31" long. I didn't weigh it but general calculations are that a 31" walleye would typically weigh upwards of 12 lbs. and this one was very thick so I suspect it may have gone a little heavier. Here's a photo.
Enjoy!
As usual, the targeted species was walleye. The intention was to get enough for a fish fry and maybe bring a couple home. That objective was achieved. Most of what was caught were in the 12" - 14" size, which were considered too small. The favorite size is from 16" - 18". Also caught a few in the low 20" range, which had to be released per regulations.
My usual M.O. for walleye is to use a 1/4 oz. jig with a minnow but I was not getting many bites so I decided to downsize to a 1/8 oz. orange jig and minnow combination. Saturday afternoon with the boat positioned near headquarters by a bridge I was catching a few small walleyes plus a couple keepers for the fish fry. They were biting extremely soft. I was using my medium action ultra fast tipped rod because I can usually feel just about anything that happens on the end of my line but this day even that didn't give me much advantage. They were biting so soft that most of the time the only inclination I had of a bite was to see my line twitch a little bit.
One time when I saw a bite and set the hook I told my partner, "This is a little better fish." I was thinking it would maybe be one of those 20" or so size. It took drag from my feel twice and when my partner caught a glimpse of it he said, "It's a nice sized walleye." But neither of us realized how nice until we got it into the net.
Turned out the be the biggest walleye of my life and the biggest walleye I've ever seen alive at 31" long. I didn't weigh it but general calculations are that a 31" walleye would typically weigh upwards of 12 lbs. and this one was very thick so I suspect it may have gone a little heavier. Here's a photo.
Enjoy!
You know you don't look at all how I pictured you and you sort of look like 
That looks like and amazing supper to me since I love eating fish!! 
