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Re: walleyes

Posted: Wed Feb 07, 2018 4:31 pm
by Controlled chaos
Hi guys! I’ve been gona awhile! Headed out again on Saturday to Costa Rica. Anyways walleyes are commercial harvested were im from in the upper peninsula of Michigan, across Wisconsin,etc... the Indian tribes have full rights. 25 walleye per day per person any size. They target the spawn when they run up the rivers at night and spear in the shallows... it deviates the population every year but there is nothing anyone can do.... if you go to a grocery store out there walleye is $16.99 a pound right now... last year at the mouth of the sturgeon river in chassell,MI the Ojibwa tribe speared a world record 37” 25lb 13oz female... i haven’t researched for solid proof just going by fell0 walleye fishermen up there...

Re: walleyes

Posted: Wed Feb 07, 2018 4:41 pm
by Controlled chaos
I fish the CT river religiously and it is full of beautiful eyez. Fellow forum member “river rat” and I have figured out for the most part how to catch any size we want and when. We release anything over 20” keep only a couple a year between 19”-20” and most we keep are 15-16” eaters... the slot limit has worked very well in my opinion, and we see a lot of fish between 20”-29”...

Re: walleyes

Posted: Wed Feb 07, 2018 4:46 pm
by Controlled chaos
I would like to invite any forum members to come down to Brattleboro this year and come out with me and catch some eyez! Send me a PM

Re: walleyes

Posted: Thu Mar 01, 2018 10:29 am
by Strange 'Eyes
Walleye fishing on Lake Champlain and all its tributaries is very much alive and well. I know I have never posted on this site before, however I have spent much of the past 3 years chasing walleye all over Vermont. Plenty of size in both males(biggest was 26") and females(biggest was 29"). I think the reason why walleye information is hard to come by is that you must fish them on certain types of structure that can't hold more than a boat or two at a time. You're not fishing in open water looking to find a school of them chasing a larger school of bait. You have to fish walleye on exact pieces of structure that hold fish. Be in the incorrect spot on the structure at the wrong time of day and you will get skunked. Nobody is going to give you their exact hot spots because of this but there is some basic information that can help point you in the right direction.

You can find them easily in the rivers that feed Champlain from opening weekend through the end of May. Once water temps are over 50 degrees the bigger females are gone from rivers, smaller males will stick around for a bit. After that you must fish structure and drop-offs. Putting in time and research will help to get correct techniques. Its going to be tough more often than not but eventually you start putting it all together.

I hope this little bit helps!

Re: walleyes

Posted: Thu Mar 01, 2018 2:45 pm
by Gecha (Gerry)
Welcome to the forum.
Thanks for your post.
No one wants to reveal their secrets, but its always informative when members share their tactics.

Re: walleyes

Posted: Thu Mar 01, 2018 3:12 pm
by Strange 'Eyes
I will always share as much information I as feel comfortable sharing without giving up my personal secrets. It's insane the amount of time I've spent both on and off the water researching walleye and their patterns. I am also always willing to share more information in person and could talk about walleye all day if given the opportunity.

Re: walleyes

Posted: Thu Mar 01, 2018 8:55 pm
by Sawyer
Welcome Strange Eyes
It's nice to hear that the Walleyes are doing well in the lake. I grew up fishing them in southern part of the lake back in the 70's.

Re: walleyes

Posted: Sat Mar 03, 2018 9:35 am
by Wallyandre (Andre)
@strange eyes, check your pm

Re: walleyes

Posted: Mon Mar 05, 2018 5:45 am
by digitroll (ron)
If the walleyes are on structure they can be over deeper water as well. I remember a person on the NY side who was very proficient at catching LCI "All Season" top 3 Walleyes ever year some 15 years ago. I asked him one time what was his secret? He would start at four brothers and fish as far as Cumberland Head over deep water all night out of a 14 ft boat. His favorite tactic was jointed J-11 Rapalas one out each side. This technique yielded double digit fish almost every year in his hay day. He fished alone and fished often 8 hrs or more a night. Sometime going weeks without a strike. Like fishing trophy salmon or other large fish the more time on the water = more opportunities for larger fish. It's like an algorithm. :)

This was during the lean years where there wasn't near the population of walleyes there are now.

Re: walleyes

Posted: Mon Mar 05, 2018 7:06 am
by grandpa2h
I HAVE FISHED THE 4 BROS. TO HATCH POINT AND DOWN WILLSBORO BAY DOZENS AND DOZENS OF TIMES IN DAYLIGHT WITH SOME LUCK WITH BOTH LT AND SAL. BUT NEVER A WALLEYE. I DO'NT KNOW FOR SURE BUT THOSE ROTTEN STINKING CORMORANTS LIVE THERE BY THE HUNDREDS AND KILLED ALL THE TREES AND MOST LIKELY HAVE A DIET OF WALLEYES. SAD THING

Re: walleyes

Posted: Mon Mar 05, 2018 10:00 am
by Strange 'Eyes
If you are spending time fishing deep open water, its like trying to find a needle in a hay stack. I'm sure he caught large fish doing this at night, as this is an old timer technique that worked extremely well in past but who wants to fish weeks at a time without a strike? Its not random that large walleye are where they are, its biology.

Re: walleyes

Posted: Mon Mar 05, 2018 12:43 pm
by digitroll (ron)
It is true that larger trophy fish are nomadic and solo in nature and if one was targeting these fish it is like hunting that trophy buck. It can add up to a lot of hours in pursuit of these fish on a reef or over deep water.

The good news is there are a lot more fish these days with the forage and the efforts of the Walleye organization stocking them.

Re: walleyes

Posted: Mon Mar 05, 2018 1:58 pm
by ThreeBuoys
Word has it that there is open water in the rivers and guys are catching pre-spawning walleye.
I wish guys would practice catch and release this time of year, but I guess that isn't the case.

Re: walleyes

Posted: Tue Mar 06, 2018 6:35 am
by keithm87
I caught a decent walleye off the west side of the brothers during the Lci 2 years ago trolling for lakers. It was right off the rocks on the western island in like 20 ft of water, hit a perch stickbait

Re: walleyes

Posted: Tue Mar 06, 2018 10:25 am
by Strange 'Eyes
Sounds like we have enough walleye knowledge on here to put the major Lake Champlain walleye mystery to bed. Don't blame cormorants or stocking programs. There might not be as many walleye in the lake as back in the 70's and 80's but its called fishing for a reason, not catching. All I can say is do your research if you want to catch big ones and consistently. You don't need to fish for hours to catch one over 7+ lbs. Which from what I've read all over this forum is a trophy for most folks. Take a lot of peoples information with a grain of salt. 10% of the fisherman catch 90% of the fish.