Inside Turns and MN Opener

[muskiewaldz]

I fished Walker and Ottertail lake for the MN opener. I couldn't find a pattern that would be consistant. I found fish from 7 feet out to 22 feet. They seemed to be scattered everywhere. And they didn't seem to want to bite very well.

The only place that seemed to hold more than one fish was on the inside turns of a point(20 ft deep) with access to shallow flats. My partner and I had a few doubles on these inside turns and would come back through right away and pick up more fish.

Anyone else notice fish stacked up on the inside turns and not on the sloping points or flats???

Crawling with the electric with 6' leaders and blue gamakastsu hooks tipped with 3" river shiners were the ticket.

Anyone else do any good on Ottertail??

Muskiewaldz

[EAGLE EYES]

I didn't fish Ottertail, but I did fish another area lake, that is very similar. That exact type of location is the biggest producer by far. Every year I fish this spot during the early season. The forage abundance is very high in the slightly warmer water up on the flat area. I almost always "still fish" using using slip bobbers with a jig and minnow combo. I anchor on the break giving me access to fish either 20ft. or 6ft. I usually don't leave the house until 5:30pm. Then, get set up and fishing by 6:00pm. Fish until slighly after dark. The best inside turns are usually located not too far from river mouths or feeder creeks. Toss out the minnow, grab a beer, and before you know it you will have a no slip cork to be found!! Heh heh! Give this a try on Ottertail early in the year! You will be amazed! ;-)

P.S. This works very well for me year after year. Picked up six by 7:30pm this year!

[AquaMan]

'Twas not like years past. The late spawn had the big females down in the 40-60 feet bowls. The males were indeed scattered. The river, the river mouth, 5 feet down to 20 feet. I worked a few points and inside areas to pick up some onesy/twosies, but nothing consistant. We found them on points and laying in the middle of nowhere. The midnight bite was poor, the 6AM to 10AM was fair and mid afternoon was a bust. The early evening was decent and the fish caught per hour was the greatest that Saturday from 6PM to 9PM.

We hooked a nice 2.5#er on a ShadRap right in the middle of the lake. This one was suspended 15 feet down in 30 feet of water. It was a fluke since we were about to troll the 15-20 foot flat in front of Walker. Never caught another one out there and headed back to the river for a few meat sticks that afternoon.

How was Walker for the 'eyes? We never made it up there. I heard a few guys slamed the Crappies on the northwest side, but no word on the 'eyes.

Glad to hear you did well and found a patturn that worked. It is a phenominal lake with so much structure that patturns can be hard to develop.

AquaMan~~~~~~~~~~~~~

.·´¯° --- "It all begins and ends at the water's edge"

Eric@crowncomputerinc.com

[muskiewaldz]

Glad to hear of a few other fairly successful stories. We fished crappies on Friday and caught and released some real nice fish. Walker has some real bruiser crappies. (1 1/2 + lbs) I think the crappie population has taken a toll over the last 5 years. Before the word was out you could c-n-r some really big crappies, catching numerous 14"ers was nothing uncommon. Now it's harder to find them big slabs.

Thanks for the input! I will be on Big Detroit this weekend in search of more eyes. See you on the inside turns and small cabbage beds close to spawning areas. :)

Good Luck to You!!,
Muskiewaldz