View Full Version : Need help on new lake........
night_eyes
06-19-2000, 06:30 AM
I have a new lake to fish..my buddy just bought a cabin on Stalker Lake near Fergus Falls MN. First if anyone has ever fished this lake id appreciate any tips. I fished this lake for 5 days here the week before last. Its got a great walleye population. Its a clear lake...secci disc reading of over 8.0. And its a lake that tapers to 8 feet then the bottom drops out to like 30-40 feet. Lots of sunken islands and points. Not a lot of weedbeds. We did well fishing from about 8:30-10:00 fishing the edge of the only weedbed i could find in about 14' of water..in fact we got a 27" and 24". But we couldnt catch a fish outside that time frame. I know you guys out there might only be able to give an educated guess. But where would you search for fish during midday? We tried the break..the points...the islands. Do we need to fish in 30'? Is it a case where the eyes just might not feed until toward sunset? Any help would be appreciated. Thx in advance!
Toughest walleye fishing there is....
I fish a lot with my buddy at his cottage property. It too is a very clear lake, and frankly, we don't bother fishing for 'eyes between 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. They are either suspended over the main lake basin at about 30 to 35 feet in 70 feet of water, or they are sulking on the bottom smack in the middle of some serious milfoil weedflats with no pockets to speak of.
We have caught suspended fish trolling with weighted worm harnesses and deep diving Rapalas, but generally we switch to daylight-oriented feeders - pike, bass, and perch.
You might try any area where there is shade, or current...anything to lower the intensity of the sunlight penetrating the water. Any necked down areas between islands with 15 feet of water, and some shade? Any deepish main basin structure such as sunken islands or rockpiles?
Good luck! I guess that's half the fun of the wily 'eye, though. If they were easy to catch, what fun would it be?
What a coincidence! I live in Fergus, my brother lives in Alexandria and Stalker is one of the lakes we've decided to learn to fish because its close to half way between us. I've been watching this post hoping to pick up some tips but its not looking good. I've been assuming its like many of the area lakes and walleyes are really hard to find when the sun is up. I've been planning to fish deep and on the shady side of structure. And to troll Shads to find fish. But I really feel that low light is the time to be fishing. Also, early season and late season. In my experience leeches do well on many of the area lakes. Good luck to you and I'll post some Stalker Lake tips if I can sniff any up. Or if I can figure it out on my own.
night_eyes
06-20-2000, 07:29 AM
Hey cool maybe we can keep each other posted as time goes. I can tell ya last year my buddy and his family stayed there for a week at the end of August. Strangely enough...and one of the reasons im confused...is that they hammered the eyes all day long there. They figured they caught over 200 eyes. And all they did was troll shad raps on the break. I think there is a bit of an algae bloom or something that knocks the water clarity down a bit...maybe its just enough that the eyes become more active during daylight...not sure. Anyway...right now seems as though low light is best. And we did catch all our fish on leeches. Slip bobbers and leeches to be more specific. If you go to the opposite corner of the lake as the public landing there is a new house or something being built on a hill. Straight out from there is some good weeds in about 10-12 ft. That is where we caught our fish...in about 12-16ft. If you look on a lake map there is actually a bar that looks like an "L" that comes out. This spot is actually the inside turn of that bar so its a really good spot with the turn and the weeds being there. Let me know if you fish the lake anytime soon. My buddy is up there quite a bit..so if he hits some fish i'll let you know whats going on.
I'll keep you posted with any tips I can come up with. You can e-mail me at work (mcdougal@prtel.com) any time. I'm not online at home yet but my fiancee is really chomping at the bit.
My favorite walleye lake is straight east of Stalker about 10 miles. I grew up near it. It sounds much the same. Can be very clear but during mid summer there is a big algae bloom. I troll Shad Raps, Lindy/leech, slip bobber/leech. And I've watched other boats not catch a thing using minnows while I'm limiting using leeches. During a bloom I troll Shads in 10' all day long and catch fish everywhere on the lake as dusk starts to get near I switch to slip bobbers.
Another lake to try right near Stalker is Johnson. Small lake but has an incredible walleye population. A 10 pounder came out of there two weeks ago.