Big Hook Fishing Report Week 12

The summer is winding down. Unfortunately, fall weather has prematurely graced our skies. Heavy northwest winds, cool temperatures and mist falling makes for short fishing excursions before the need for a warm cup of coffee arises. A low pressure system is forecasted to sit around until Monday.

Drastic changes in the weather can make fishing tough. However, windy days tend to push fish to the wind blown shoreline. I find a constant wind for two days is a great for predicting fish locations, especially walleye. As I have mentioned in previous Blog's, trolling along a windy shore with a Shad Rap, Reef Runner, Fat Rap or any crankbait that dives 12-15 ft is one of my favorite walleye catching tactics. The key is holding the boat close to a shore that has a good drop off and trolling forward the slowest the motor will idle. For example, today on Central Lake we have a 20 mph NW wind. I decided to fish the SE end of the lake. We trolled along a rock ledge and managed to hold the boat in 12 ft. One person was using a deep diving brown Fat Rap and the other was trolling an orange jointed Cotton Cordell crankbait. We found 16 walleye between 16-20 inches schooled up along the eastern shoreline in just a couple of minutes.

Over the remainder of the summer walleye will continue their descent. Traditionally, the last week of August walleye's are hovering in 20 ft of water. Pike will continue predictable patterns, feeding in weedbeds and suspending in deeper water. Most big pike will be caught within the weeds and on several rock piles. This time of year my favorite lure to use on rock piles is a Bulldawg or a Rapala 1 oz Storm Shad. Please remember to crimp the barbs on your treble hooks, especially the Bulldawg (that lure can be a nightmare extracting from a pike's mouth). It is always helpful to have an extra long pair of needle nose pliers to help safely remove the hooks and safely release the fish.

The weekly award for biggest pike goes to Favourable Lake, boating and releasing a 45" monster (pictured above). It was the second fish of the trip! Talk about an impressive start to a week of fishing. South Lake continue's an impressive streak with the largest walleye of the week photoing and releasing a 28.5".

Good luck on the water everyone. Please remember to release all walleye's over 18" and all pike over 27.5". Take care,

Nathan

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