The Bite is On

 Sunday was our day to reaffirm that the hot bite we experienced during last weeks MTT was the beginning of that pre summer frenzy which usually lasts through the month of June.  Joining me in my boat was my neighbor Lory as well I allowed my friends Tom and Tom to tag along, provided they stayed out of my way!  Having exhausted my supply of leeches we stopped and picked up a half pound before heading to the lake.  Our destination was the Shah-Bush-Kung-Bay landing, just north of the casino.  Sometimes known as Cashes Landing (years ago), it has a nice deep water protected landing and offers a lot of fishing options being near the middle of the lake.  There are a number of great late spring/early summer spots just off the landing which are excellent for catching walleyes.  This year everything is about 2 weeks late and these near shore locations should be really hot.  Well my predictions were true.  Within 15 minutes we had our first walleye.  Looking for something in the box the first 6 fish were all larger than 18 inches.  With the slot at less than 18 and 1 over 28, it was proving difficult to do.  I started with a crawler and Lory with a leech, Lory nailed the first 2 so I switched.  That was a good strategy for the first couple of hours.

As often happens, the bite went slow for a little while so I decided to head to a deeper rock reef a mile north.  Generally this reef is good for some of those slot fish for the livewell but the rocks makes it more difficult to fish.  My guess was correct as we nailed 2 fish, one for the box and a 25 incher I am holding in the first picture.  More often than not usually I am the only guy on this reef.  Many times guys will drive by and see my boat, quick turn around and see what's up.  On Mille Lacs most people fish the well known spots where all the other boats are.  When they see someone in a spot unfamiliar, they got to check it out.  As I stated its quite difficult to fish with the rocks so most people don't stay long.  After a few lost rigs and fewer marks on the sonar we headed back to our original spot.  We immediately started catching fish again, ultimately ending up the day with 12 and 2 in the box?  Lory nailed this fat 26 incher on a leech, the largest of the day. We chose to spend the last hour trolling Indian Point with Shad Raps.  With a south wind hitting the reef all day it should have been good for a couple of keepers.  Well all we caught were 6 smallies.  I truly believe that these reefs have been over run by smallmouth bass which leaves little left for the walleyes (in my opinion!) 

I am getting more familiar with my HDS10 and am having a lot more fun.  My previous depth finder, the Genetron, was excellent at marking fish which over the years I had developed the confidence.  My greatest concern with the new Lorwance was redeveloping that confidence.  One of the ways I am learning is to record the sonar readings and look at them on my computer.  This is actually pretty amazing as I found recordings of my sinker and bait falling to the bottom.  We marked a tremendous amount of fish and it is fun to go back and actually see where they were, look at the GPS points, and try to establish some patterns.  A labor of love for sure.  Friday is my annual duty of helping my good friend Mark Applen making his ENA Golf Tournament another success.  We hope to raise another $25,000 for helping kids with cancer, having passed the $200,000 mark in the last 8 years.  It is a tribute to the Applen's dedication to their son Eric, who passed away from this terrible disease.  Sunday is Father's Day and with my father struggling it will be good to spend some time with him.  As a bonus my Uncle Jerry is in Eleva, man I have been practicing up for a few years now!  Luckily we like each other.  Might just have to skip out early one day next week for that evening bite as the night ban has expired on Mille Lacs.