Walleye & Pike Opener - Quality, but not quantity!
Walleye & Pike Opener - Quality, but not quantity!
Went out at 6:30am to fish walleye & pike opener. Got on the water by 7:30am, and my first thought was: "This weather is great - not too windy nor rainy. Looks like a great morning for fishing!"
Two hours later - after searching through several weedbeds using spinnerbaits, spooks, and jerkbaits - my enthusiasm soon withered. We just couldn't find the fish. So, my brother decided to slow down and do some finesse fishing. He threw around a dropshot rig, caught something that initially felt like a piece of weed, but turned out to be a a nice 2-3lb walleye! She was about 8 cm over the slot limit, so we let her go to fight another day.
After the release, I quickly casted my jerkbait, and jerked twice, and a huge splash engulfed my lure. Drag screamed, and after a few minutes, I landed a nice Rideau River pike. Again, she was a quite big, so I decided to let her go.
Aside from these two fish (and a couple of out-of-season bass) we never got anymore hits. After asking around, I think walleye and pike fishing was generally slow today on the river. The fish seemed finicky and didn't want to chase fast moving baits. Of course, I'm not complaining - I'm pretty glad that we landed quality fish. Would've been nicer to have a few more bites though!
Two hours later - after searching through several weedbeds using spinnerbaits, spooks, and jerkbaits - my enthusiasm soon withered. We just couldn't find the fish. So, my brother decided to slow down and do some finesse fishing. He threw around a dropshot rig, caught something that initially felt like a piece of weed, but turned out to be a a nice 2-3lb walleye! She was about 8 cm over the slot limit, so we let her go to fight another day.
After the release, I quickly casted my jerkbait, and jerked twice, and a huge splash engulfed my lure. Drag screamed, and after a few minutes, I landed a nice Rideau River pike. Again, she was a quite big, so I decided to let her go.
Aside from these two fish (and a couple of out-of-season bass) we never got anymore hits. After asking around, I think walleye and pike fishing was generally slow today on the river. The fish seemed finicky and didn't want to chase fast moving baits. Of course, I'm not complaining - I'm pretty glad that we landed quality fish. Would've been nicer to have a few more bites though!
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Re: Walleye & Pike Opener - Quality, but not quantity!
A couple of nice quality fish!
Fishing the St.Lawrence 12 months a year!
- emeraldpirate
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Re: Walleye & Pike Opener - Quality, but not quantity!
FYI ....I believe you are a bit early on your walleye and Pike season opener.
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Re: Walleye & Pike Opener - Quality, but not quantity!
emeraldpirate wrote:FYI ....I believe you are a bit early on your walleye and Pike season opener.
It opened this weekend in FMZ18.
Brad Guenette
Swimbait Canada
Swimbait Canada
Re: Walleye & Pike Opener - Quality, but not quantity!
Depends on the FMZ. 18 is open this past Friday, 12 is next Fridayemeraldpirate wrote:FYI ....I believe you are a bit early on your walleye and Pike season opener.
Damn right I'm good in the sack...I can sleep for hours!
Re: Walleye & Pike Opener - Quality, but not quantity!
Congrats on some nice fish and great pics
Re: Walleye & Pike Opener - Quality, but not quantity!
Zone 18 opened on Saturday not Friday. Definitely some quality fish there klivenDaboss wrote:Depends on the FMZ. 18 is open this past Friday, 12 is next Fridayemeraldpirate wrote:FYI ....I believe you are a bit early on your walleye and Pike season opener.
Re: Walleye & Pike Opener - Quality, but not quantity!
Nice double shot dude! ........morning was a beauty yesterday, afternoon.....not so much
I'm a goin' fishin', mama's goin' fishin' and my baby's goin fishin' too.
.......Taj Mahal.... "Fishin' Blues"
.......Taj Mahal.... "Fishin' Blues"
Re: Walleye & Pike Opener - Quality, but not quantity!
Some nice quality fish bud.
Re: Walleye & Pike Opener - Quality, but not quantity!
I would take quality over quantity any day.
Good fishing dude!!
Good fishing dude!!
MEAT - Grind it, stuff it, smoke it.
Re: Walleye & Pike Opener - Quality, but not quantity!
Well done! I'd also take quality over quantity any day of the week. And good on ya for getting out bright and early...I didn't get on the water until mid-afternoon and was battling gnarly winds and rain...
2007 Crestliner Fish Hawk 1600, 75 Merc, Terrova iPilot
Re: Walleye & Pike Opener - Quality, but not quantity!
I think if you Lindy rigged with a leech or crawler with a shot of air your success rate woulda shot right up. Slow drift at .2-.5mph and you'll get bit!
Re: Walleye & Pike Opener - Quality, but not quantity!
Thanks for all the positive feedback!
Yes, I was fishing in Zone 18, where walleye and pike opened on Saturday - Sorry if I wasn't being clear!emeraldpirate wrote:FYI ....I believe you are a bit early on your walleye and Pike season opener.
Gord wrote:Nice double shot dude! ........morning was a beauty yesterday, afternoon.....not so much
Yeah, when I saw the weather forecasting rain and heavy wind for most of the weekend, I knew that I only had a short window of time early saturday morning to get some fishing in. I'm in a canoe, and its not pleasant fishing when the waves are 2 feet high!Trout_83 wrote:Well done! I'd also take quality over quantity any day of the week. And good on ya for getting out bright and early...I didn't get on the water until mid-afternoon and was battling gnarly winds and rain...
Perhaps I will try this! I've never actually fished with a lindy rig before, so my first thought is whether this would end up getting caught on weeds?67ZL1 wrote:I think if you Lindy rigged with a leech or crawler with a shot of air your success rate woulda shot right up. Slow drift at .2-.5mph and you'll get bit!
Re: Walleye & Pike Opener - Quality, but not quantity!
Lindying would be good for rigging alongside weedbeds. If you're set on fishing the weeds, perhaps a slip bobber set up with a leech would be a better option for you. Leeches are like candy to walleye.