It's already September! How did that happen? I arrived at Leech Lake on May 23, and to me that seems to be no more than a few weeks back. Wow, time sure flies when you're spending it in your own personal paradise. For me, that place is Leech Lake, Minnesota.
The temperature today was 88 degrees with winds out of the SE at 12-18 mph. Although the lake had a good "walleye chop" to it today, I decided to spend my time on shore with Joe, Kathleen and my parents.
No fishing on Leech Lake today.
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Walleye vs. Bass -- Chess vs. Checkers
Over the years, I've been asked several times by various friends, acquaintances and family members why I prefer walleye fishing to bass fishing. I inevitably respond with a brief story told to me by a professional walleye fisherman.
Several summers ago, I fished in a Professional Walleye Trail tournament as a co-angler in a pro's boat. During our time on the water together, the walleye pro told me that fishing for walleye is like chess, whereas fishing for bass is more akin to checkers.
What he meant by that is both chess and checkers are played on the same game board, just as walleye and bass often live in the same bodies of water. But where checkers is a fairly simplistic game, with pieces that can move in only one direction until kinged, chess has six different types of game pieces, each of which can move in different directions throughout the game. In short, chess is just more complex to play that checkers.
Likewise, walleye angling is more complex than bass fishing. As I posted here on this blog a few years back, I once had an afternoon on Leech Lake where I caught 21 largemouth bass on 21 consecutive casts. An unbelievable stretch of fishing! That, however, would never happen while fishing for walleye.
Typically, when a bass hits your bait, the fish hammers it hard, letting you know it's on the line, and it doesn't let go. Therefore, I tend to land 95% of all the bass that hit my lure.
Walleye on the other hand are much more finicky. By nature, walleyes tend to be light-biters. When fishing for walleye -- be it with a jig, spinner rig or trolling a crankbait -- you're likely to lose more than 70% of the fish that hit your bait. In fact, many times a walleye will take your bait into its mouth, only to spit it out without you ever knowing it was there.
Many times the only way you'll even know that a walleye is on your line is you might feel a tiny weight on the end of your line, a "mushy" feeling, or maybe a slight tick through your line, and sometimes you won't feel anything at all until you begin to lift your lure through the water and suddenly realize a walleye has decided to call your bait lunch.
Obviously, both bass and walleye are affected by many of the same factors, such as time of the season, weather conditions, temperature of the water, oxygen content in the water, available forage, structure and cover and a myriad of other external conditions. If the bass are in a neutral or negative mood, getting them to bite is challenging. If walleye are in a neutral to negative mood, getting them to bite is nearly impossible.
I enjoy playing both checkers and chess. On a hot summer afternoon, it's often fun to relax with a cold glass of lemonade and a simple game of checkers. But on other occasions, it's more fun to play a game of chess, where you have to employ complex strategies to beat your opponent.
Likewise, I love fishing for bass. They hit hard, they put up tremendous fight once hooked and bass are relatively easy to locate and catch. Walleyes, however, require a bit more finesse. They're harder to locate and harder to get to bite.
Of course once hooked, walleyes are notorious for "giving up" and letting an angler reel them directly to the boat. Yes, there are those 'eyes that will give you a head shake or two and some walleyes will make a dive to the bottom as they approach the boat. But pound for pound, walleyes just don't fight as hard as bass. Walleyes are, however, much harder to catch. They test your skills as a fisherman more so than bass.
So in my opinion, it's more of a challenge to fish for walleye than bass, thus making me a better angler in general. That's why more often than not, when I'm out on Leech Lake, my targeted species of fish is the sander vitreus.
Several summers ago, I fished in a Professional Walleye Trail tournament as a co-angler in a pro's boat. During our time on the water together, the walleye pro told me that fishing for walleye is like chess, whereas fishing for bass is more akin to checkers.
What he meant by that is both chess and checkers are played on the same game board, just as walleye and bass often live in the same bodies of water. But where checkers is a fairly simplistic game, with pieces that can move in only one direction until kinged, chess has six different types of game pieces, each of which can move in different directions throughout the game. In short, chess is just more complex to play that checkers.
Likewise, walleye angling is more complex than bass fishing. As I posted here on this blog a few years back, I once had an afternoon on Leech Lake where I caught 21 largemouth bass on 21 consecutive casts. An unbelievable stretch of fishing! That, however, would never happen while fishing for walleye.
Typically, when a bass hits your bait, the fish hammers it hard, letting you know it's on the line, and it doesn't let go. Therefore, I tend to land 95% of all the bass that hit my lure.
Walleye on the other hand are much more finicky. By nature, walleyes tend to be light-biters. When fishing for walleye -- be it with a jig, spinner rig or trolling a crankbait -- you're likely to lose more than 70% of the fish that hit your bait. In fact, many times a walleye will take your bait into its mouth, only to spit it out without you ever knowing it was there.
Many times the only way you'll even know that a walleye is on your line is you might feel a tiny weight on the end of your line, a "mushy" feeling, or maybe a slight tick through your line, and sometimes you won't feel anything at all until you begin to lift your lure through the water and suddenly realize a walleye has decided to call your bait lunch.
Obviously, both bass and walleye are affected by many of the same factors, such as time of the season, weather conditions, temperature of the water, oxygen content in the water, available forage, structure and cover and a myriad of other external conditions. If the bass are in a neutral or negative mood, getting them to bite is challenging. If walleye are in a neutral to negative mood, getting them to bite is nearly impossible.
I enjoy playing both checkers and chess. On a hot summer afternoon, it's often fun to relax with a cold glass of lemonade and a simple game of checkers. But on other occasions, it's more fun to play a game of chess, where you have to employ complex strategies to beat your opponent.
Likewise, I love fishing for bass. They hit hard, they put up tremendous fight once hooked and bass are relatively easy to locate and catch. Walleyes, however, require a bit more finesse. They're harder to locate and harder to get to bite.
Of course once hooked, walleyes are notorious for "giving up" and letting an angler reel them directly to the boat. Yes, there are those 'eyes that will give you a head shake or two and some walleyes will make a dive to the bottom as they approach the boat. But pound for pound, walleyes just don't fight as hard as bass. Walleyes are, however, much harder to catch. They test your skills as a fisherman more so than bass.
So in my opinion, it's more of a challenge to fish for walleye than bass, thus making me a better angler in general. That's why more often than not, when I'm out on Leech Lake, my targeted species of fish is the sander vitreus.
August 31, 2008 on Leech Lake
After yesterday's experience, Joe decided to go panfishing with me again today on the beautiful Sucker Bay of Leech Lake.
We fished from 2:00 to 3:50 p.m., under sunny skies, with a temperature of 85+ degrees, winds out of the SE at 12-20 mph and a water temperature of 72 degrees. Using the wind to push us along at approximately 0.5 to 0.7 mph, we set up in front of our cabin in 8 feet of water. In this position the wind would move us along the weed line north to the Birches.
We used the same tackle set up today as we did yesterday -- 1/16 oz. Northland Neon-tone Gum-Ball jigs with silver Colorado blade spinners, tipped with 3" Gulp minnows in smelt color.
We didn't catch as many fish as we did yesterday, but Joe did put a fair number of mid-sized perch, bluegill and crappies in the boat. I caught only a handful of fish, but among them was a very nice jumbo perch which went directly into the live well. I want to treat my parents to a Leech Lake fish fry, so we're going to need a half dozen or so big jumbo perch.
We fished from 2:00 to 3:50 p.m., under sunny skies, with a temperature of 85+ degrees, winds out of the SE at 12-20 mph and a water temperature of 72 degrees. Using the wind to push us along at approximately 0.5 to 0.7 mph, we set up in front of our cabin in 8 feet of water. In this position the wind would move us along the weed line north to the Birches.
We used the same tackle set up today as we did yesterday -- 1/16 oz. Northland Neon-tone Gum-Ball jigs with silver Colorado blade spinners, tipped with 3" Gulp minnows in smelt color.
We didn't catch as many fish as we did yesterday, but Joe did put a fair number of mid-sized perch, bluegill and crappies in the boat. I caught only a handful of fish, but among them was a very nice jumbo perch which went directly into the live well. I want to treat my parents to a Leech Lake fish fry, so we're going to need a half dozen or so big jumbo perch.
August 30, 2008 on Leech Lake
Joe and I went fishing today from 1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. I had told Joe about the great panfish bite I was experiencing and he finally decided to go with me to see for himself.
The temperature was 85+ degrees and the wind out of the south was 8-12 mph went we left the boat lift. We headed to the front of Norm's cabin in 10 feet of water, with a water temperature of 72 degrees, lined up the boat along the weed line, and then let the wind push us north toward the Birches.
We were both using Northland Neon-tone Gum-Ball jigs with silver Colorado blade spinners tipped with Gulp 3" minnows in smelt color. Together we caught numerous perch, bluegills, crappie and a few rock bass. A another good day of panfishing on Leech Lake.
The temperature was 85+ degrees and the wind out of the south was 8-12 mph went we left the boat lift. We headed to the front of Norm's cabin in 10 feet of water, with a water temperature of 72 degrees, lined up the boat along the weed line, and then let the wind push us north toward the Birches.
We were both using Northland Neon-tone Gum-Ball jigs with silver Colorado blade spinners tipped with Gulp 3" minnows in smelt color. Together we caught numerous perch, bluegills, crappie and a few rock bass. A another good day of panfishing on Leech Lake.
August 29, 2008 on Leech Lake
My parents arrived today for a 4- or 5-day visit, but before they did, I managed to sneak out onto Leech Lake for a little late-afternoon fishing.
From 4:20 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. I used the 8-15 mph NW wind to drift from Schiebe's cabin to our cabin in 8-10 feet of water. The air temperature was 75 degrees. I used a 1/16 oz. orange Northland Neon-tone Gum-Ball jig with a silver blade spinner tipped with 3" Gulp minnows in smelt color.
I caught a few perch, a couple of bluegills, a handful of rock bass and a couple of crappie, one of which tipped the scales at about 1 1/2 pounds, a real slab if there ever was one. All fish were released.
From 4:20 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. I used the 8-15 mph NW wind to drift from Schiebe's cabin to our cabin in 8-10 feet of water. The air temperature was 75 degrees. I used a 1/16 oz. orange Northland Neon-tone Gum-Ball jig with a silver blade spinner tipped with 3" Gulp minnows in smelt color.
I caught a few perch, a couple of bluegills, a handful of rock bass and a couple of crappie, one of which tipped the scales at about 1 1/2 pounds, a real slab if there ever was one. All fish were released.
August 28, 2008
The temperature today was 75 degrees, the wind was stiff at 10-20 mph out of the west, driving waves and white caps directly toward us. It wasn't the greatest day for fishing, and since we needed groceries anyway, Kathleen, Joe and I went into Bemidji for an "errand run."
No fishing on Leech Lake today for us.
No fishing on Leech Lake today for us.
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