Dave K. and I fished the Leech Lake Walleye Tournament on May 30th and 31st. What a blast. Day #1 we battled the wind and went to spot #1. We caught fish but they were all 22 to 23 inchers so we moved. Didn’t find any fish and made another move and found em’. We caught one fish over the 26” slot and our limit fish under 18 inches. Day #2 sitting in 11th place we knew we had to catch two big ones to be in the top ten. The fish were bitting but we couldn’t find any overs. Dave had the hot stick! We released several fish between 20 and 25.5 inches and had a great time. We ended up taking 19th out of 125 anglers.
Next year we are going hawg hunting!
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Saturday, May 9, 2009
So we headed north with a ton of shiner minnows and jigs to the famed Leech Lake for opener. I had a last minute cancellation so it was just my little brother, Joe, and I.
The fishing was phenomenal to say the least. Joe and I caught several walleyes in between 16 and 28 inches and all were on jigs and shiner. We concentrated on shallow weed flats adjacent to spawning areas. We caught most of the fish in 6 to 8 feet of water. It seemed like it took the right speed to get them to bite. Pictured below is Joe and I with two different 28 inchers.
Fishing Tip:
Usually earlier in the season I fish with Kenkatch Hair Jigs and Northland Tackle Stand Up Jigs. It seems both of these jigs have triggering qualities that most jigs do not. The Kenkatch Hair Jig has a large profile and floats through the water. It just seems to drive them nuts. Northlands Stand Up Jig has a special way it wobbles when you hook the shiner up through the head. There are many ways to fish a jig and one way I get a lot of bits is just swimming the jig through the water. Cast it out and just reel it back like a crank bait. The stand up jig is also designed to sit on the bottom of the lake with the hook up. This gives the appearance of minnows feeding on the lake floor or burring its into the weeds. If you not getting bits try and just let your jig sit for 5 seconds and sometimes that is what they want. There is no wrong way to fish a jig as long as your getting bits. Make sure you vary your cadence and you will be sure to get bit!
The fishing was phenomenal to say the least. Joe and I caught several walleyes in between 16 and 28 inches and all were on jigs and shiner. We concentrated on shallow weed flats adjacent to spawning areas. We caught most of the fish in 6 to 8 feet of water. It seemed like it took the right speed to get them to bite. Pictured below is Joe and I with two different 28 inchers.
Fishing Tip:
Usually earlier in the season I fish with Kenkatch Hair Jigs and Northland Tackle Stand Up Jigs. It seems both of these jigs have triggering qualities that most jigs do not. The Kenkatch Hair Jig has a large profile and floats through the water. It just seems to drive them nuts. Northlands Stand Up Jig has a special way it wobbles when you hook the shiner up through the head. There are many ways to fish a jig and one way I get a lot of bits is just swimming the jig through the water. Cast it out and just reel it back like a crank bait. The stand up jig is also designed to sit on the bottom of the lake with the hook up. This gives the appearance of minnows feeding on the lake floor or burring its into the weeds. If you not getting bits try and just let your jig sit for 5 seconds and sometimes that is what they want. There is no wrong way to fish a jig as long as your getting bits. Make sure you vary your cadence and you will be sure to get bit!
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