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Hit willard with some of my friends after work last night. Moon was bright and the fish were rolling. There were about 2 dozen people there, way more than I expected at midnight. There were 3 guys next to us that there acting strange and we realized they may be taking fish back to their car and coming back. So when we saw a rod bend over we had 3 lights pointed at the fish to see where it was hooked. After he threw the snagged fish in the bucket we told him he should let it go. He got nasty and swore up and down it was hooked in the mouth. Well my friend went over and showed him exactly where it was hooked. After some non English mumbling he threw it back. 6 snagged fish later with us providing light for him, they left with out any fish. I also met a couple of other forum members there, nice guys and a pleasure to talk to. I watched 15 fish caught and only 3 were hooked in the mouth. I had 8 on but only 2 hit it on the drop, the others were probably snagged. One of my friends caught his first walleye
In the mouth, so a good night for him.
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Great fish. Good on ya for discouraging some illegal activity
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Nice work on the fish and for standing up to the "snaggers".
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Nice Report. I would pitch in on some overtime wages for a G&F officer to hang out there all night untill the spawn is over........Fishon
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They could pay for the overtime with all the tickets they issue at night. A couple of plain clothes officers with fishin rods could have a hay day down there...[fishin]
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And there you have it, just as all the "purists" have been saying all along, whatever a walleye purist is.. must be some misguided souls who just want to see the eyes caught in the mouth.
Three caught in the mouth, twelve that you saw snagged, doesn't hurt a fellow to go try what is open legally and take advantage of the new regulation change, but few are being caught legally.
Cripes, can you imagine how many you are not seeing being taken?
Still think it should be shut down for the spawn, but if it is to remain I may exercise my right to fish for eyes with legal methods.
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Mike, I'm sure the non English was just "thanks" for helping them understand the rules. You are a good guy to help them like that!
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Hell I say let them snag them, DWR knew what was going to happen when they opened it up to fishing. They say we have too many walleye in there now so what the hell let these guys (snaggers) have at it.
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Haha, I love it. Nicely done. Just curious, is walleye fishing better at night?
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Better at night is kind of a relative term for walleye. It may be precieved as better because the fish are easier to locate at night. Walleye use every advantage to get prey, and one of their biggest assets is those marble eyes. They can slip into the shallows late at night undetected and hammer the forage. The patterns I have seen with walleye is although they may be great night hunters, they will eat at any time of the day. 1ft to 100ft of water and any light conditions. The trick is finding them. It is alot easier to cast the shore line at night knowing they will be their vs searching the whole lake all day. They will also use muddy water for cover just like they do at night. Some of my best days on the lake have been in water that looks like chocolate milk. I am not a shore fisherman. I would much rather go to the fish rather than wait for the fish to come by me. But bank tanglers do stand their best chance for walleye at night. [fishin]
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good job mike got the jigs ready for ya
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