Dance a Jig

As the summer progresses along walleye will begin to slip down the water column.  As a rule of thumb these fish will descend 5-10 ft every month.  May-June you will find schools in 2-6 ft of water, July 10-15 ft  and August the bulk of your strikes will come from 15-20 ft.  The bigger female walleye tend to hold in the deeper waters 20-30 ft in August.  The best way to target those big slabs is to practice your jigging technique.

23" walleye couldn't resist the blade bait vibration

Various jigging combinations work very well.  3/8oz gumball jig with a twister tail trailer is by far the most popular among guests.  Recently, I have been keeping the jigs in the box and have been experimenting with other tactics such as: blade baits and the Clackin Rap.

Blade baits are a great change of pace to the jig.  They are super versatile cast em, troll em, and jig em.  Two of my favorites are the Echotail 1/4 oz and the 3/8 oz Zip Lure.  The Echotail gets the slight nod due to the fact you can customize your lure with the interchangeable tail.  Last Thursday (8/6) guiding at Central Lake the customers were casting pike along the edges of a massive weed bed while I casually dropped an Echotail to see if any eyes were holding in the area.  I struck gold with several fish in two drops.  The guests promptly switched to walleye, one using an Echotail and the other a traditional jig/twister. We were surprised with about 20 walleyes, several over 22", in a 30 minute period.  Interestingly though, the walleye would just tap and hold the tail of the jigs, whereas they just slammed the blade bait.

The Clackin Rap by Rapala is another great walleye catching machine later in the year.  Lots of people cast these baits into rocks and along weeds.  As a change of pace, I really enjoy vertical jigging these lures, the 7/16 oz is my preferred size.  The loud clack of this bait is a great stimulant for walleye down deep.  Two colors excel over the other: silver/blue and the Helsinki Shad.  As I mentioned before, the jig is the all time classic walleye catcher.  Hopefully, the previously mentioned baits will produce some fish for you when the jig just doesn't seem to be working.

Weather 

The weather has been truly up and down all week long.  Daytime highs have ranged from 52 to 72 degrees.  From Saturday to Wednesday last week we did not see the sun.  Some mist and showers hampered our fishing and flying Sunday and Monday.  We didn't see any significant amounts of rain to raise the water levels.  The water is down on most lakes a good 1-2 ft, as we have had minimal rain all summer long.  The water temperatures are fluctuating between 66-68 degrees on the surface.  

Fishing 

37" Central Lake pike landed on a silver minnow

After chatting with most of the outposts this week fishing improved at the week progressed.  As mentioned earlier, walleye are grouping up in deeper waters.  15-20 ft rock humps and wind blown points seem to have the highest congregations.  One cannot over stress the importance of a depth finder as it will help you find those reefs.  Weeds are still holding some walleye.  Not many fish are being found near rapids at the moment but that will change if the weather turns cooler. 

Pike are in their typical weed beds.  A wind blown weed edge will almost always hold a decent fish.  Afternoon and evening bites have been more productive than morning.  Top water is still the most entertaining method of catching pike and is always a blast on a calm clear evening. Don't forget your deeper baits this time of year.  Depth Raiders, bull dawgs and various other deep running baits will catch lots of fish on reefs and deep points this time of year. 

Blue Moon Over Big Hook

43" West Lake beauty, released

The title of this blog could very well be a good title for a movie someday. This Friday, there will be a once in a blue moon occurrence. If you step outside, you might find yourself gazing out at a brimming, full moon. Disappointingly, it won't actually be blue; the term is a misnomer. In fact, a blue moon isn't any different to any other full moon. In the past, a blue moon was used to mean "rare," but now the name is given to any full moon that is the second to appear in one calendar month.

According to some fishing/lunar calendars, and take their advice with a grain of salt, fishing should be slow during this time. Now after talking with the majority of our clients today on the round of camp checks, fishing is by no means slow.  Good numbers are being boated at just about every outpost.  
However, the big trophies for both species have been a little shy this past week and maybe, just maybe, the moon does have something to do with it.  

40" West Lake released

SW Lake porch all painted and completed 

 As a guide, I can understand the effects of a full moon.  When I used to fish in the Gulf of Mexico all winter, a full moon absolutely meant that fishing was going to shut down, as the fish fed during the evening hours.  Up here at Big Hook, I believe fish will feed during a moonlit night but not to the same extent.  This week, we had a huge low pressure track right over the top of NW Ontario.  This drastic barometric change will affect the fishing.  The front side of a low, as the barometer is falling, is a fisherman's friend.  However, the backside of a low and a skyrocketing barometer, in my opinion; is a fisherman's enemy.

Fishing  

Pike

Pike are being found just about everywhere throughout the bodies of water.  Most fish are prowling through thick weeds chasing perch. Ripping bucktails and johnson silver minnows though the cabbage are a favorite technique of mine.  Remember not to cast in the same place twice, work your casting pattern like a clock.  First cast at one o'clock, then two, three and so forth.

 Contradicting my previous paragraph, several lakes like Central for example, the bigger fish have been located on deep rocky humps while walleye fishing.  Big open water baits are in order to reach those deeper fish. Depth raiders and bull dawgs are two of my favorite lures to reef fish.  Black is always a good color.  You'll need to beef up your tackle as these lures pack some poundage.

A Cocos Lake monster pike

Last week, Cocos was the hot outpost with 30 northern released over 35".

Walleye 

Walleye are beginning to descend as the summer progresses.  Most fish are hovering around 15 ft on reefs and points.  Trolling is still effective along ledges.  However, jigging is still king.  The wind blown shores have been dominant.  This week we have had west winds about every day and looking at the extended forecast, our westerly winds should continue for several more days.

A steady west wind is good news for walleye fisherman, as the fish should be stacked on the eastern shores. The majority of the time, bait fish will congregate along the windy shores chasing bugs and other sources of food. Toss 3/8 oz jigs with various tail colors or slowly back troll and jig next to the boat (my favorite).  Try to match the colors with atmosphere; light days, use light light colors and conversely with dark days.

Last week, the big walleye lake was non other than South.  Although the boys didn't crack thirty numerous 25-29" fish were boated and released.