Willard Walleyes and Wipers

[wiperhunter2]

[font "Calibri"]Mike4cobra and I fished Willard today from 8:30am to 2pm. Water temp was 66* when we launched and 70* when we got off the water. It was one of those crazy[crazy] days when everything goes right, from all the weather folks saying it was going to be windy today but it wasn’t, to getting four walleye in the boat at the same time. We had several doubles but we knew it was going to be a great day when we had 20 eyes in the boat in less than two hours. We caught 42 eyes today that ranged in size from 14” to 20” on Kokanee Creek Tackle’s new Walleye series worm harnesses. Then I landed three nice wipers that were 19 to 22” on the same harnesses, I sure wish I had caught them last week during the tournament but oh well, such is life. Thanks so much Mike, it is one of those awesome days on the water that don’t happen often, at least for me, but I sure would like to try it again and see if we can do better[]. Good luck next week on your tournament.[/font]
[font "Calibri"]WH2[/font]
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[Jmaze]

Last year I noticed a big upswing on the walleyes and this year was everything I hoped it would be. Glad to see people out there hauling the walleyes out while they can. Good for the food chain and all. Wouldn't feel bad about taking even a big female this year if one presented herself to me. My hot color has been white beeds with a red, silver and blue blade. Those look delicious... Good ones.
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[wiperhunter2]

Funny you should mention blue blades, that was the hot ticket today, although we did not get a pic of one. I was doubtful that color would work as well as it did, it was a splatter UV color that I have never seen before but it was hot. Here are a couple of the wipers I forget to add on that first group of pics.
I could be wrong but it seem like the walleye increasing in numbers is a result of the DNR stocking less wipers for several years. I love the drag scream from a wiper but I'd rather eat walleye any day than a wiper.[]
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[Jmaze]

This has been the magic blade for me. I apologize for any past stingyness on info, but I want people to get out there and hammer the Walleye while the getting is good.
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[CoyoteSpinner]

Dang Curt - giving me the Serious Eye Envy! So when am I getting my Willard adventure? I haven't tried down there this spring, but really ought to give the skunk-suit another donning.

Thanks for the blade info too. Worms, worms. Nice. Good looking Wipers too, same rigs, eh. So bottom bouncing?

[mike4cobra]

Definitely a fun day on the lake. That blue and nickel harness was a prototype from Kokanee creek and the only one in existence, and now it's at the bottom of the lake[crazy]. Now if we can get the crank bite to turn on so I can stop taking worms to the lake. I'm ready for lazy drive in circles fishing.... [fishon]
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[bmitchell]

Nice catches. We are headed back out there tomorrow. Hoping to find a few once again. Had success last week near North Marina, but never know with that lake. We will likely start there then putter around until something promising happens. Hopefully wind cooperates and we can find them. Going to have to see if I have anything in blue if that is indeed the color that worked well. Thanks for sharing.
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[theboilermaker]

Nice catch!! I was going to visit willard today but I the wind report kept me away. Was not happy when it turned out to be a great day. Sometimes you just got to go check it out. Nice pics
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[wiperhunter2]

Yes, one of the wipers was caught bottom bouncing with the same rig as with the walleye but two of them was caught with a method Mike calls the 50/50 method. You let out 50 ft of line with the worm harness, then you attach a one ounce clip on weight, then you let out another 50 ft of line, then you can put it in a rod holder or clip on a side planner and let of another 50 ft of line.
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[reelfast]

Good going there Curt. Retirement is good. The walleye are tasty from the bay this year too. I might be able to get out there in the morning for a while. Its back to bottom bouncers for sure.
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[mike4cobra]

You were actually using 1/2 oz snap weight for yours. The snap weight method is an awesome way to troll harnesses suspended at pretty specific depths. We were seeing the wipers bunched up in groups of 3-6 about 10 ft down. That 1/2 oz going 1-1.2 mph put it right about in their face. If you guys haven't used it in your trolling arsenal you're missing out... [fishon]
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[Jmaze]

Why not just use a larger bottom bouncer? Less line out and less bend in your line, and less line stretch?
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[mike4cobra]

It's not for running on the bottom, it's for running a specific depth for neutral running lures. You could mess around with lead core or other weights and change until you start catching fish or.... I like looking in my trolling book and saying I want to run X amount of depth and I am going X amount of speed, the chart tells me the exact weight to use in-between 1/2 oz and 3oz. No guess work. Look at the sonar and see where the fish are suspending and put it in there face. Curt can tell you it almost immediately produced fish. The 50/50 method is way accurate. I wouldn't go through the trouble of letting out up to 175 ft of line if it didn't catch fish in tough conditions. Check out offshore tackles web site, they have the depth chart with out having to buy the trolling book. [fishon]
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[Jmaze]

Interesting read there. It definitely takes the guess work out of it. I don't like the idea of the extra line out though. I will give her a try next weekend. It would save me a couple extra minutes of fiddling with the depth. I kind of like the fiddling part, but on one of those finiky days it would catch you more fish for sure.
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[mike4cobra]

Snap weights are spendy if you buy them in the kit. So here is the poor mans snap weight using off the shelf weights. On the left is the brand name ones and on the right is the home jobber. Just use alligator clips with heat shrink tubing over the jaws to protect your line, a paper clip to attach. You can use the same chart with the same results. For all you trout guys, use this setup with planer boards in clear water when the fish are being boat shy, works great... [fishon]
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[mike4cobra]

It seems Like a lot of line, but worth the hassle if they're eating it. What's cool about it is with two guys in the boat you can run blade speed with two bouncers out the back and two boards out suspended. Great way to fish for walleye and wiper at the same time before the crank bite turns on. [fishon]
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[CoyoteSpinner]

Until some bozo jetskier decides to run circles around your boat and tangles up all your rigs!
But I'm guessing you're across the lake on the west side, and not such worries from the beach-going-bunch.

Thanks for the info on the rigs, and weights. I was wondering what kind of weights you meant. I've got some plastic slider rigs that you can clip a weight onto - passed on from my dad, though I've never used them - think they'd be perfect for this. Ever use the flattened inline trolling weights?

So do you get more hits on the outer rods than the inner?
I presume you've got line-counters on your reels to know where you are.

Gads - I gotta get down there.
WH - Mon or Friday someday - I'm in.
It's really been a while since I've utilized my trolling rods.

[mike4cobra]

Never had that happen, and if does my boat is quick enough to run most of em down. [] besides, I'm only letting out 75 ft to the boards, thats half the distance of wake less right[crazy] like they care. The only way to run these is with a line counter, if you're guessing length then you aren't running where the chart says. [fishon]
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[wiperhunter2]

I know the kit cost $40 at Sportsmans and it seemed like a lot but compared to downriggers or even a medium priced lead core set up that isn't a bad price. What was the name of the kit again?
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[mike4cobra]

It's the off shore tackle snap weight kit. Sports mans sells them.
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