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  #1  
Old 08-06-2018, 10:45 PM
Drewski Canuck Drewski Canuck is offline
 
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Default Calling Lake Suspended Walleye

Fishing was so slow on Saturday I expected SRD or what ever its called these days, to do a creel survey to justify TAGS!!!!

Nothing from 8 - 30 FOW for hard effort.


Sunday was completely different.

For years now I have been carrying on about trolling the abyss for suspended walleye. Had to save face with some newbies so we headed a couple of miles off shore. I put on the tunes, put up the umbrella because of the scorching sun, and started to troll Canadian Wigglers and Walleye Divers.

Had a kid on the boat who had never caught a fish before, or been in a boat for that matter.

She had to wait exactly 1 minute for the first hit. Fast troll and hard hit from a good fish and the rod tip almost hit the water before the drag started to spin.

We boated 6 keeper and + size in an hour, and took the kids in.

Best action on the chartreuse perch walleye diver.

Evening I set out with Chartreuse / perch, and silver with blue back.

Very quickly it was clear that the "good" hook had been bested by the silver / blue.

Had two teen age girls fighting fish while the sun set, while Crystal Blue Persuasion was playing.

It does not get better than that.

Drewski
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  #2  
Old 08-06-2018, 11:23 PM
Kurt505 Kurt505 is offline
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Good to hear. I was hammering them in 42 fow using a deep diving rap that would go about 18' deep, chartreuse, copper and orange, blue and silver, it didn't matter, they all worked. Biggest was about 76cm, lost count after 40.
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  #3  
Old 08-07-2018, 07:22 AM
walleyechaser walleyechaser is offline
 
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Trolling cranks or slow death is hard to beat this late in the summer

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  #4  
Old 08-07-2018, 07:23 AM
Fishwhere Fishwhere is offline
 
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Cant say ive done a lot of suspended fish fishing - one day. Maybe next time i mark them heavy ill give em a shot
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  #5  
Old 08-07-2018, 08:26 AM
walleyechaser walleyechaser is offline
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Fishwhere View Post
Cant say ive done a lot of suspended fish fishing - one day. Maybe next time i mark them heavy ill give em a shot
Don't really have to mark them heavy. Have a few guys with you and test the water. Put them all at different depths and soon you will find the depth of the day.

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Old 08-07-2018, 09:38 AM
TROLLER TROLLER is online now
 
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Only problem is you start releasing fish caught in 40FOW and they die. Just look down their throat and you will see their guts coming out.

While fun not good for the fish. If you cannot keep them then maybe try your luck in 25 or less FOW. For the fishes sake.
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  #7  
Old 08-07-2018, 09:45 AM
Kurt505 Kurt505 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by TROLLER View Post
Only problem is you start releasing fish caught in 40FOW and they die. Just look down their throat and you will see their guts coming out.

While fun not good for the fish. If you cannot keep them then maybe try your luck in 25 or less FOW. For the fishes sake.
The fish are suspended 16-25 feet down in 42 fow so you're only pulling them up from where they hit the hook, in my case I was 18' down.
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Old 08-07-2018, 10:52 AM
Drewski Canuck Drewski Canuck is offline
 
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Troller,

Kurt is correct, they are not that deep. If you are slow trolling a spinner rig in 40++ FOW, then there is a concern.

Troller, You obviously are just bar stool talking from your comments and you obviously have never tried this technique.

If you had, you would know that the fish are not having an inflated swim bladder when landed. I have unhooked too many using this tactic over the years. I have never seen a swim bladder expanded.

None of the released fish have turtled on the surface like they do with an inflated swim bladder. Every one swam for the depths. Never saw a floater come back up.

But all the same, give it a whirl. The fish are out there, and are very aggressive.

Watch your sounder. when you see a bunch of small arches at 10 - 20 feet and BIG arches underneath, you are in the right spot.

Drewski
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  #9  
Old 08-07-2018, 01:08 PM
TROLLER TROLLER is online now
 
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My error, sorry mis-read I thought you were hooking up in 40FOW. Getting old so I will have to start reading once over. BTW have been fishing suspended walleye for over 25yrs. now. Quit drinking 30 yrs ago so don't have a bar stool to sit on.
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Old 08-07-2018, 07:07 PM
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thorne thorne is offline
 
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We had a great weekend up there as well...saw a lot of walleye on bottom in 35-26' of water with lots suspended at 20-10' at the same time...looked like Lakers on sonar with the lazy well fed guys on the bottom and the hungry feeding fish 8n the thermocline.....so if it looks like a laker.....out came the down triggers and it was a fish EXTRAVANGZA!!! Trolled in the 15'ish range and it was fish on!....never done that befor but certainly will again!
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  #11  
Old 08-08-2018, 07:51 AM
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Kim473 Kim473 is offline
 
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I love my chartreuse 16 fow deep diver !
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Gonna get me a 16" perch.
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  #12  
Old 08-08-2018, 02:48 PM
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NSR Fisher NSR Fisher is offline
 
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Thanks for the update Drew, when we were up there they were a lot shallower than that!!!

Awesome to hear the kids had a good time.

Shoot me a PM sometime, would love to hook up out there again and I have yet to see your boat in action! I'm sure you are a busy man but keep in touch!

PS: when they are suspended like that and your sonar is loaded, sometimes it helps to kick out the motor and idle in the area and vertically jig a lipless crank or even a blade bait. When they are being sluggish sometimes that can excite a bite.
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  #13  
Old 08-08-2018, 07:02 PM
walleyechaser walleyechaser is offline
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by NSR Fisher View Post
Thanks for the update Drew, when we were up there they were a lot shallower than that!!!

Awesome to hear the kids had a good time.

Shoot me a PM sometime, would love to hook up out there again and I have yet to see your boat in action! I'm sure you are a busy man but keep in touch!

PS: when they are suspended like that and your sonar is loaded, sometimes it helps to kick out the motor and idle in the area and vertically jig a lipless crank or even a blade bait. When they are being sluggish sometimes that can excite a bite.
Give a jiggin rap or a shiver minnow a try. Nothing beats those two for reaction bites

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  #14  
Old 08-10-2018, 01:06 PM
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EZM EZM is offline
 
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Open water crank bait trolling (over deep structure) is one of the very best ways to catch walleyes in the summer. I run deep diving crank baits as slow as the I can (to keep the action and lure vibrating) and try and get down 15'-25' feet. Seems to work well.

Guys do this in the great lakes year round and often times even run a small dipsy diver to get down to them. They seem to run their cranks deeper too.

If you ask the average walleye fishermen in the great lakes what depth they are biting at - don't be surprised if they tell you 40'-50' down - and yet they release these fish back to swim.

They also jig perch all winter in 60'-80' of water.

You hardly ever hear anyone talking about the dangers of barotrauma out east or warning others about it.

I'm not saying if it is, or is not a concern, just stating a point. I haven't done a study on it, I have seen it myself (on other species) but can't say how if effects walleye.
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Old 08-10-2018, 03:53 PM
huntsfurfish huntsfurfish is offline
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by EZM View Post
Open water crank bait trolling (over deep structure) is one of the very best ways to catch walleyes in the summer. I run deep diving crank baits as slow as the I can (to keep the action and lure vibrating) and try and get down 15'-25' feet. Seems to work well.

Guys do this in the great lakes year round and often times even run a small dipsy diver to get down to them. They seem to run their cranks deeper too.

If you ask the average walleye fishermen in the great lakes what depth they are biting at - don't be surprised if they tell you 40'-50' down - and yet they release these fish back to swim.

They also jig perch all winter in 60'-80' of water.

You hardly ever hear anyone talking about the dangers of barotrauma out east or warning others about it.


I'm not saying if it is, or is not a concern, just stating a point. I haven't done a study on it, I have seen it myself (on other species) but can't say how if effects walleye.
Would = lots of Dead fish. Doubt many walleye/perch are released.
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  #16  
Old 08-12-2018, 03:07 PM
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EZM EZM is offline
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by huntsfurfish View Post
Would = lots of Dead fish. Doubt many walleye/perch are released.
Likely the case I think.

I never target any walleye/perch/pike in anything deeper than 25 feet or so.

There no point to risk killing every fish you hook IMO.
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  #17  
Old 08-13-2018, 11:45 AM
huntsfurfish huntsfurfish is offline
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by EZM View Post
Likely the case I think.

I never target any walleye/perch/pike in anything deeper than 25 feet or so.

There no point to risk killing every fish you hook IMO.
Agreed.
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  #18  
Old 08-15-2018, 05:53 AM
ontario gunner ontario gunner is offline
 
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Im one of those guys that fishes the Great Lakes regularly deep(Erie central basin mostly). Right now the hot bite is 42' down for walleye in 65fow.. and your right not too many go back,, 6 a day limit per person, and no slot size there is a lot of walleye dinners for friends and family. A lot of fish are caught up high as well in top 15 feet,, rapala taildancer11s and reef runner 800s 40 to 65 back off the boards stack up a lot of fish.
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Old 08-15-2018, 07:07 AM
walleyechaser walleyechaser is offline
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ontario gunner View Post
Im one of those guys that fishes the Great Lakes regularly deep(Erie central basin mostly). Right now the hot bite is 42' down for walleye in 65fow.. and your right not too many go back,, 6 a day limit per person, and no slot size there is a lot of walleye dinners for friends and family. A lot of fish are caught up high as well in top 15 feet,, rapala taildancer11s and reef runner 800s 40 to 65 back off the boards stack up a lot of fish.
Erie guys always love their reef runners eh. Wonder bread pattern used to be so popular back a few years, still the ticket? Hard to beat tail dancer action

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