06-21-2019, 10:11 PM
Well last time out at Starvation I was worried about the wind and launched from Rabbit Gulch instead of Knight Hollow where I wanted to launch. Well again I headed out from Vernal at 3:30 AM when I got off work at the Gilsonite Mine, and yes my wife still thinks I am playing with several cards short of a deck. I arrived at Knight Hollow around 4:30 AM and the wind was blowing around 10 mph, I knew this was probably not going to be good as if wind is blowing a little at first light it's going to be blowing a lot more by 10 ish. I had my mind made up that it's going to be Knight Hollow or bust it took me till 5:45 to finally get the nerve to launch. The inlet at the pipe sounded like a freight train a coming, I can't say that I have ever seen that much water coming in. I headed north west up toward the point that everyone fishes dragging a Lindy Rigg with a 1/2 oz walking sinker with a crawler, on the other I had a #9 firetiger jigging rap. I started marking Walleye in 9 ft of water and what do you know I had my first visitor a 15 inch Walleye on the Lindy Rigg. The little bugger inhaled both hooks on my harness so I took that as a good sign. I caught 5 all under 15 inches by 8:15 and caught 2 of those on the jigging rap. About that time Mother Nature showed up and it was blowing 30 mph and we had 2 and 3 footers and in my toon that's not that pleasant. Well I had enough of the free thrill ride and decided to pack it in and headed for the truck and about that time a couple of other boats showed up and one came over to me because he thought I might be in trouble. I told him I was good and he told me that I was nuts. When he saw my Walleye he said of course what did you catch them on and I asked him are you a Bft er and of course he thought I was nuts all over again. I have to admit I had reservations but I caved even though he wasn't family Lol. He had been fishing too deep and I found fish that were willing to feed my addiction from 8 to 14 feet of water. The rule of thumb per Al Lindner is 30 days from spawn you will find fish on the first break from the spawning grounds and yes that's exactly where I found them.
On the ride home I decided to stop at Cottonwood to see if the wind was manageable and possibly see how the Wiper were doing. It looked real good so I launched and headed east to a spot that I have I had luck in the past and started marking fish in 7 to 8 feet of water. I decided to drop anchor and give it a whirl first cast with a Neon Mooneye jig with a blue maniac minnow nothing and same on the next 20. I was about to pull anchor when I thought why not just try a jig with half a crawler. What do ya know in the next 20 cast I caught at least 10 Wiper no big ones with the biggest being around a pound.
Overall a Great day and I learned a few things first don't leave fish without dipping into the tackle box and second I will never use a bottom bouncer again. The Lindy Rigg is much more pleasant to fish and accomplishes the same thing as a bouncer. And oh yeah Al Lindner has forgotten more about Walleye than most people people will ever know. Watching him on the Angling Edge has definitely helped me tremendously.
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On the ride home I decided to stop at Cottonwood to see if the wind was manageable and possibly see how the Wiper were doing. It looked real good so I launched and headed east to a spot that I have I had luck in the past and started marking fish in 7 to 8 feet of water. I decided to drop anchor and give it a whirl first cast with a Neon Mooneye jig with a blue maniac minnow nothing and same on the next 20. I was about to pull anchor when I thought why not just try a jig with half a crawler. What do ya know in the next 20 cast I caught at least 10 Wiper no big ones with the biggest being around a pound.
Overall a Great day and I learned a few things first don't leave fish without dipping into the tackle box and second I will never use a bottom bouncer again. The Lindy Rigg is much more pleasant to fish and accomplishes the same thing as a bouncer. And oh yeah Al Lindner has forgotten more about Walleye than most people people will ever know. Watching him on the Angling Edge has definitely helped me tremendously.
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