I made it to the docks again yesterday and probably should have passed, but we all know how when "opportunity knocks". The crappies and sunfish simply were not to be found with the cold front that came pounding in the evening before. People fishing locators couldn't even see fish.

I was dunking my recently hot size/color combo od a 1/32 chartreuse head and a small chartreuse minnow plastic. This combo had been slapping limits of 12-15 inch crappies senseless, but the weather change along with dropping water levels hustled the pannies right back out to much deer water. There is a small hump away from the vertical pilings that will often harbor a few fish so I wandered over to it and dropped the jig. When the line hit bottom I took up my usual 1 1/2 feet of line and was met immediately with some serious weight.

I was fishing a 4 1/2 St. Croix ultralight rod with a Tica hanging on it. The reel has #2 Crystal braid spooled. This rig has had some break-offs with these really large crappies so thankfully I had the drag set light enough to handle this fish. At first I thought either catfish or carp. Then I remember the 10 pound buffalo that was taken last week from almost this same spot. After about 8 minutes of dinking with this I got a glimpse of a pretty decent walleye. It was very apparent that my 15" net used on the pannies was NOT going to be of much help here. I handed the rod to my buddy and had to lay down on the decking to grab the head of this animal and was then able to lay it out on the dock. What a treat.

I don't have a length reference on this rod, but Frank is a good judge of length. We figured this one went between 25 and 27 inches and was pretty solid....we think 5 or 6 pounds, maybe seven. A pic was taken with a phone's camera and Matt will hopefully be able to get it up here for you guys. As soon as the pic was snapped the fish went back. The pic really doesn't show the mass or girth this fish had, but it was a dandy regardless.

You never know what will show up on the shoreline. Very nice fish. The sign of a good fisherman is taking the overweight fish. Good work.

Tuesday evening in the rain my buddy took crappie after crappie from one of our docks, until he chilled, casting 1/32 oz head with an inch and a half crappie slug. One of our acquaintances was there, a guy who thought we were pulling his leg on the crappies we have been taking there. He found out otherwise, he just stood there and watched with his mouth hanging open. That sort of does good for one's soul, you know. Not all fish stories are fabricated.

Wednesday night was dead slow, just a few small perch and 4 or 5 crappies between us. All the crappies were in the weedline, which is where they have been around there all autumn. My buddy was testing a recently acquired ice rod and actually casting the 24" thing with 2# line and that was the only presentation that worked and then only for a little while. That was curious to watch. We tried every color and presentation we could think of, but there was not even a tick. BTW the sunfish seem to have disappeared from there. In years past you could almost always watch schools of them to the point that we got to judging their mood for an indication of other bite, but not this fall in that particular place. The crappies returned when the lake level rose, but the sunnies didn't.

The milfoil beds are definitely in decline now.

Yesterday the Park Board and the DNR pulled the fishing docks.
(heavy sigh!)

This year I got my GPS waypoints set on the dock ends; so we will have a place to start once we get ice. Most of our fall bite on that spot has been pretty specific in location. We have taken a number of hard water crappies in that area in previous years, but were never able to get the point on the point down there very well. Hopefully this winter we will.

its awesome when you catch walleyes when you go for crappie! its especially fun when you are ice fishing!

Crappies and walleyes are not all that dissimilar in niche. Witness what happened on Red Lake. The crappies moved into the niche that the missing walleyes formerly held. As the walleyes recovered the crappies declined. They obviously overlap.

Here's Tom's walleye...

That is an awesome fish Tom! Definately some girth on that baby.

Great fish Tom! That is typically what happens when fishing for Panfish. Something big tends to bite. Glad you landed that fish.

Good fishing,

Corey Bechtold

Great news....the gull schnit washed out of my coat. And Ma is jumping for joy because I shaved the beard off after tagging my buck yesterday. The docks that morning were covered with a heavy layer of frost....that covered a heavy layer of gull "stuff". The fish was just the beginning of the challenges hooking it brought. Landing it, laying on a dock full of the "stuff" without getting a faceful of it, and then getting a decent pic were just a few of these little issues. I don't make a very good picture and these other handicaps made for an interesting enterprise that morning. I wish the pic had a better indication of the fish's girth.

very nice, fun to get on light gear i bet!

I was impressed with the girth on that beard.

How nice was the deer you shot?

Later,

Corey Bechtold