Last week hit us with more of the unusual, mornings that you could see your breath with frost advisories that transitioned into beautiful sunny afternoons with light winds and minimal clouds. While this may not be the exact weather our friendly Walleye fishermen would prefer, calm winds and sun have helped bring the water temp up a few degrees and get the grass growing, I think we’ve already mowed more times this year than we did all of last year.
pictured below from L to R: David Goos from Newton, IA – Mike Burnside from Cedar Rapids, IA – Ray Hitchcock from Maplewood, MN, and the Hitchcock crew with a nice batch of slip bobbered walleye.
With water temps starting to climb into the mid 50’s we’ve started to see a few of the nice Leech Lake black crappies starting to make their way into live wells and then onto my cleaning table. I would guess they are just getting started with their spawn as a few fish have had some eggs inside them. Perch and Sunfish have been a little harder to come by, historically they like a little warmer water temps, we’ll see what they decide to do over the coming weeks.
Walleye fishing has been a bit of a struggle as of late, with winds swirling and changing direction it’s been hard to pin them down. One evening you’ll have success slip bobbering spot-tail shiners off of shallow rock shorelines and the next night they are nowhere to be seen. Being mobile and willing to fish in the wind has helped, and having a variety of bait has also been important. We have had guests catch Walleye on everything from crawlers, leeches, minnows, and even crankbaits, the bite seems to be short during the day but if you’re able to get out of bed early or stay out late, you’ll catch some fish.
The Memorial Day holiday is fast approaching and with that comes some of the best fishing of the year, we have our fillet knives sharp and ready to go! we cannot wait to see everyone.
The featured image up top is courtesy of Greg Ohlander from St. Michael, MN – off of cabin 9’s deck.
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Ray@bigrockresort.com
Ray
