Bay de noc

[Hogeye]

Just got back from fishing. Fishing was ok, caught some nice fish. One 24", two 28's, one 30", fishing was ok in the morning, best seemed to be an hour before dark. Trolled on leadcore, with husky jerks, black/gold/orange, which seemed to be the best bait. 28 foot water seemed to be key. Hopefully this helps anyone going up fishing soon.

Hogeye

[hungry for eyes]

Nice fish, congrats.Anybody catching fish to the south? Did you try fisning at night? Any significant ice development? What about water temps? I am going up this weekend if the water temp holds. Don't mean to fire all the questions at you.Thanks for the info.

[eyeball]

fishing was slow compared to two weeks ago . shell ice around the edges . i am hopeing for one more trip my self . hope the guys up there fishing this week can keep the launches open . i was also fishing leadcore 30 to 35 ft of water no big fish a couple of eaters acouple of throw backs and a couple northerns a slow bite

[Hogeye]

>Nice fish, congrats.Anybody catching fish to
>the south? Did you try
>fisning at night? Any significant
>ice development? What about water
>temps? I am going up
>this weekend if the water
>temp holds. Don't mean to
>fire all the questions at
>you.Thanks for the info.


Yes, there are fish being caught to the south, still try targeting 28 feet of water, especially towards dark. Not sure about night bite, most boats trolled on north end at night in shallows. Harbors are starting to freeze up at night, still can put boat in at gladstone landing. Water temperature at north end on surface was 34, and south end was 37- 40 all on surface. i would check ahead with Bombay motel to see if the landings are froze up when you decide to go, # is (906)786-6241, she'll give you good information.

Hogeye

[Sunshine]

Hogeye,

I just got back myself and would agree that it is slower than expected. I talked with a DNR officer Sunday and he indicated that all reports coming in said that it was slow. We only ended up with 12 fish for the weekend. Biggest were 8 1/2, 7 1/2, 7, and a 6. All but four eaters were released. During the day leadcore and AJ's worked for us ( two fish caught on a deep little ripper). At night, all fish came on purple prism Aj's, but we tried everthing from fast-tracks, No. 18 Rapalas, jointed rapalas, huskys, and smithwicks. This was the first trip in 6 years that I could not buy a fish on first reef at night. We ended up catching them in the bay in front of butlers island. During the day, most of our fish were caught in the narrows.

Good Luck, I'm hoping to make it up one more time but I'm afraid the landings will be freezing up on us.

[hungryforeyes]

Thanks for the tips. The first week in November we caught 18 fish in two nights. Two just over the 10# mark, a couple at the 6# mark and the rest were eaters. We caught the big fish North on the reefs and the eaters south. All fish at night. Most fish came on Husky jerks and Rogues. Prisms worked on Center. I want to try during the day, and have snap weights not leadcore. In 28ft of water can I get away with running lures at 20ft or do I need to be on the bottom? Can I get away with 1.2 mph or do I need to be slower in the day as well? I really appreciate your willingness to share the info.

[Fenwick]

Sunshine, Got a message for me? Also whose boat did I tow off the sand bar Friday night? Did you survive without hypothermia. Fenwick

[Sunshine]

Yes, I feel that this time of year you can get away with snap weights. Snap weights take away from some of the action that the waves put on your lures. This time of year when the fish are looking for slower presentations, I don't see any significant advantages with using leadcore or snap weights. IMHO, I try to use both now, and let the fish decide. If I can get away with using snap weights I will, makes life easier because it doesn't take as long to get lines out. I think starting at 1.2 mph is good. Once again, let the fish tell you. While I was out there last week, I passed allot of boats because they were going slower and I was passed by allot of boats because they were going faster. Be observant and watch what is working for others if you're not having success. IMHO, I think that it is critical to use a lure that matches the slow speed that you are going. I don't think that a dead stick in the water catches much fish. When I go as slow as I can go, I use a fast-trac or jointed rapala so that I still get some lure action when crawling. I would like to hear from others to see if they agree. Storm dj's and deep little rippers acheive the same thing in deep water. I'll probably post the question on the general discussion area of walleyecentral.

Good Fishin

[John]

>Hogeye,
>
>I just got back myself and
>would agree that it is
>slower than expected. I
>talked with a DNR officer
>Sunday and he indicated that
>all reports coming in said
>that it was slow.
>We only ended up with
>12 fish for the weekend.
>Biggest were 8 1/2, 7
>1/2, 7, and a 6.


Fished friday and saturday night. Got 10 fish. Only two eaters. The rest were between 7 and 9.5 lbs. On friday fished the shallows out from the launch in Kipling. 10- 12 feet with husky jurks (clown and blue and orange)55 to 60 feet back. On on saturday fished deeper and got all big fish. Lots of boat traffic in the shallows. The fising was slow but the fish that were caught were big 27-29.5 in. I think it was slow because the water temps. had drop 5 degrees in 7 days. The weekend before Thanksgiving the water temps were in the low 40's now they are 35.5 to 34.8.

[Sunshine]

Food for thought......
I talked with a DNR officer on Sunday as I was coming off the water. He indicated that he was taking a creel census because they feel that they have lost a year class. He said that they do not know what happened to the 8-9 year olds. I asked what size these fish should be and he indicated that they are the 23-23 inchers. I assured him that I was catching that size and he acknowledged that I probably was but that they were not resident fish and were coming from the main lake.

[hungryforeyes]

thanks for the info. I am going up this weekend (if the weather holds) I will post how I do.

[Sunshine]

I'd call before leaving first if I were you. I think it will be touch and go concerning the boat launches. They were starting to freeze up last weekend. Let's cross our fingers and hope for the best. Good Luck

[Hungry for eyes]

just got back from fshing the bay. Looks like the upper bay will probably freeze in the next few days. Had to break through some thin ice to get to the launch early Sat am, some small floating ice chunks on sat evening. The wind tonight will probobly open things up, but its supposed to be cold and calm the next few days. Fished a few hours friday and saturday night caught 8 fish total on a varuety of lures. Fishing was slow with no consistent patterns for us. Curious if any one did anything. Oh well, looking forward to hard water.

[Lou fish]

I was out Sat. morning as well. We fished 'til about 7:30 p.m. Only 2 fish all day. One 7-10 and one 10-2. The quality was there was quantity was definitely lacking. Waiting for spring now, boats getting thawed out as I speek.
cya in Spring,
Lou Fish