Trolling Crankbaits (part 3 of 4)

Post number three from my recent 10-day stay at Leech Lake.

Once my boat was out of the water for the season, I had to rely on my neighbors the Newmans and Malays if I was to have any fishing action this trip. As usual, their kindness and generosity allowed me several trips out onto Leech Lake to hunt for walleye.

Of the several trips I took onto the lake this trip, one of my first was with John Newman. We started the day with controlled drifting off of Duck Point with Lindy rigs for walleye. The little breeze we had at the start of our expedition died in the middle of our second drift off the point, and with it, any chance we had of catching fish. We motored over to Hardwood Point to try the reported 'hot' action on the west side of Sucker Bay, but we didn't catch anything there either.

We then moved north about a half mile to the weedbeds near Deadhead Bay. There we saw some limited action; we both caught a number of small perch, rock bass, a few small northern pike and John hooked a very large black crappie, which was returned to the lake. To end this trip, John and I motored across the bay to "the birches" where we had very good luck fishing for jumbo perch during my July 4th trip (see July 13 post). But whatever had attracted the jumbos to "the birches" must have passed, because we only hooked into a couple of small perch.

While the fishing wasn't that great, being on the water again was absolutely wonderful. Nothing beats being on the water fishing!

My better fishing experiences came with Tom Malay and his son Sean. Both Tom and I, and later Sean and I, tried Lindy rigging for walleye off Duck Point, but as with John Newman, we never hooked any fish. It wasn't until we changed tactics and began trolling crankbaits that we started to catch fish.

During one angling adventure with both Tom and Sean, we all caught fish. Sean caught a nice small walleye, which we returned to the water, while Tom and I caught a couple of medium-sized pike. As the week went on, both Tom and I, and later Sean and I, trolled for walleye off Duck Point, Second Duck Point and Ottertail Point. All three locations yielded walleye. The best fishing was during the evening -- from sunset until about 10 p.m. There was a full moon on Thursday, Sept. 7, and it was a wonderful experience to watch the giant, bright, full moon rise over the trees, illuminating the entire lake, while we were trolling and catching walleye.

The lure of choice for the Malays this trip was the very new lure from Rapala called the Minnow Rap #9, or the MR-9 (pictured above). The lure is so new that as of this posting it isn't even listed on Rapala's web site. The hot color for Tom was the MR-9 'hot perch', a red/yellow/orange-colored lure with black strips. It looks kind of like a orangish-colored firetiger. Tom landed at least a half dozen or more beautiful walleyes between 19" and 25" with this lure -- unfortunately, those fish fell smack in the middle of the Leech Lake slot limit and were thus returned to the lake immediately.

I used my trusty Cotten Cordell Grappler Shad in the Glory Green color. I hooked several nice walleye and several large pike, including what may be the biggest pike I've ever caught at Leech Lake, a 31-inch marvel that was almost as fat as it was long. Must be from eating all those white suckers that swim in the lake.

This trip was very enjoyable from a fishing perspective. Lot's of walleye put in the boat, all while trolling crankbaits during both the daytime and after sunset.

My last post from this trip will be an update on the new Lund boat I'll be getting next spring. I can't wait to fish for 'eyeballs' next May in my new boat. Until then, may your lines stay tight and your stress level loose.