Float Tube Wallie Limit 6-16-23 (VIDEO ADDED)

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(LINK TO VIDEO)

I was supposed to get in the boat with the "Deadly Duo" on Friday.  But one of them had a hitch in their schedule and it looked like they couldn't make it.  They eventually got on the water and had their own fine day.  But I launched my tube solo at the south marina about 7ish.

Man...Friday really is the new Saturday.  You'd a thunk it was a weekend with all the boats launching...all morning long.  There was a lineup of power squadron types at The toll booth as I was leaving just after 1 pm...just in time.  Had lots of company on the lake.  Air temp at launch was a cool 52...warming to about 70 by midday.  Water temp started out at 65 in the marina and 67 in the main lake...only rising a couple of degrees by noon.  Should warm up quite a bit more over the weekend.  Amazing how full the lake is right now.  Water level is clear up into the parking lot...and the boaters are having to wade to get onto the docks.  But I always have to get wet to fish.  So be it.



Since most of the best walleye catches have been on cranks lately, that's how I started.  I washed a variety of sizes, shapes, colors and actions on my way down to the area I usually fish.  Nary a sniff from anything fishy.  And didn't see much on TV either.  Spent almost 3 hours working different areas and different depths...using both cranks and bottom bouncer rigs...in different colors at different speeds.  Only caught a couple of dink wallies...footlongs that were released for bad behavior.  Also lost another one or two and a humongo perch. 

A bit before 10 am I had worked my way back to the area straight out from the marina.  Water temp was a bit lower...probably because of the inflow from the inlet.  And the fish I was seeing on sonar were all orienting closer to the bottom.  So I went back to making a bottom presentation...using fire tiger whirly fligs with a crawler harness.  Within a very short time of pitching out the first of two rods I went bendo on my first decent walleye. 


Then I had a half hour of fairly fast action...putting four walleye in my basket.   Two took the original fire tiger whirly flig with crawler harness.  Another took a chartreuse whirly with 3 red spots...which also took the only perch I landed.  Three of the 6 walleye I eventually caught took a new model whirly flig which has a small buzzbait blade instead of the small airplane spinner blade.


Between walleyes #5 and 6 I had a hard hit and hooked up something a lot more substantial than the walleye I had been catching.  I was hoping wiper but had to settle for a chunky catfish instead.  Okay..  My next door neighbor had ordered one from the TD fish market. 


I had arbitrarily set my quitting time at noon...to take care of a little medical thing I gotta do around midday.  Just as I was getting ready to bring in the lines and rocket back to the ramp one of my rods went bendo with my sixth and final walleye for my limit.  I have managed to get a few walleye from Willard each year but this was my first limit in about 3 years.  Yee hawwww.