04-08-2018, 01:47 PM
Over the past few years I have personally gone to the inlet to see what all the fuss is about with the walleye spawn. Thought that maybe I was missing out on a valid opportunity to catch walleye legally in the mouth with bait or jigs and wanted to try it since it was now legal and the fish would be stacked up.
What I witnessed each time was elbow to elbow fishermen jerking sharp jigs and spoons through the stacked walleye. In hours of fishing on each of these occasions, I saw dozens of walleye brought in. All, and I repeat all, were foul hooked, not even one was legitimately hooked in the mouth.
Snaggers had a method and certain spot they fish from, casting across the fish, letting the snagging apparel sink to the bottom then slowly bringing it in across the bottom until they felt any kind of resistance, then giving a sharp jerk, which often produced a fat spawning female walleye, tail caught and dorsal caught being the most common catch.
Using bait, I caught one fat mudcat for all this effort, my son caught one fat walleye that was foul hooked and released.
Garbage was rampant, especially beer and soda cans. We picked up as many as we could and hauled them out.
Far as I am concerned, fishing the inlet during the walleye spawn is just a practice that shouldn't happen.
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What I witnessed each time was elbow to elbow fishermen jerking sharp jigs and spoons through the stacked walleye. In hours of fishing on each of these occasions, I saw dozens of walleye brought in. All, and I repeat all, were foul hooked, not even one was legitimately hooked in the mouth.
Snaggers had a method and certain spot they fish from, casting across the fish, letting the snagging apparel sink to the bottom then slowly bringing it in across the bottom until they felt any kind of resistance, then giving a sharp jerk, which often produced a fat spawning female walleye, tail caught and dorsal caught being the most common catch.
Using bait, I caught one fat mudcat for all this effort, my son caught one fat walleye that was foul hooked and released.
Garbage was rampant, especially beer and soda cans. We picked up as many as we could and hauled them out.
Far as I am concerned, fishing the inlet during the walleye spawn is just a practice that shouldn't happen.
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