There’s More Than One Way to Skin a Cat (or Catch a Walleye)

I recently returned from a 4 day trip to Vermilion Bay Lodge with my brother, Greg.  We fished Eagle together for the first time last year and did well on walleye by pitching jigs into weeds and pulling cranks over deep sand grass.   As anyone who has fished for awhile knows, each year comes with a unique set of conditions that can have dramatic effects on water and fish location.  This year the early ice-out and warm weather presented us with green water, fewer weeds and warmer than usual water temperatures.

We started fishing similar spots and using the same techniques as we did a year ago.  We caught fish but the walleye were fewer in number and size.  During a pow-wow with Gord and a few regular guests (thank you, Andy) it was suggested that we work deeper water using crawler harnesses behind bottom bouncers, a technique that was producing well over the previous few days.  Good advice for sure except that I really prefer artificials.

The next day we started looking for fish in 25 to 35 feet of water and found that many walleye were appearing on the graph and were spread over a large area.  This made me happy because it was an ideal set up for pulling unweighted cranks on long lines, something I do often for post-turnover, bottom related muskies.  Once we found the right lures, line length and speed to keep our baits running between 25-27 feet down we consistently caught fish.

 

Results of a properly run crank bait.

 

The key to this technique is to get your bait in the strike zone.  Lure style, color, size, action, etc. matter not if you are running at the wrong depth.  We used this technique several times at various times of day during our stay and always did well.  Lure color and style did not seem to matter as long as they ran at the right depth.

 

75 yards of 10lb. Fireline with a 4' mono leader put this bait where it needed to be.

 

55+ walleye, 16"-22", on properly run crank baits in deep water.

 

One of the nice benefits of trolling larger crank baits for walleye is the chance it gives you for large fish, be they eyes, pike or even muskie.  We caught one nice northern and Greg had a strong hit that resulted in a bite-off.  On our last evening of fishing we were pleasantly surprised to catch a large muskie that took over 20 minutes to land and gave us both a great memory.

 

49.25" of "finned fury" caught using "very hard minnows" 25' down over 30' of water!

The last hour of our trip we caught several more walleye.  Around us were two boats trolling crawlers at about one mile an hour, another boat slowly dragging Lindy rigs and Greg and I speeding along at 2.0-2.2 mph with our cranks and we all were catching fish.  You have to love Eagle Lake and Vermilion Bay Lodge!

 

 

 

 

8 thoughts on “There’s More Than One Way to Skin a Cat (or Catch a Walleye)

  1. Very nice pictures Brad! I really like the musky. In the early spring, we almost always accidentally catch a musky or two, but for whatever reason, I rarely experience that in August. The diverse fishery of Eagle Lake is really a big plus! Did you give the Popeil Pocket Fisherman a whirl? Brian caught a pike on a PPF and stick bait our last day.

  2. Gord,

    Brad’s nice looking hat reminds me of a suggestion. I think that in recognition of your momentous 20’th anniversary that you should purchase all of your guests a custom embroidered Tilley Hat with a VBL logo. Now that is likely to be a little “spendy” for you, so maybe you could take pre-orders? You could be a real trend setter on Eagle Lake. See: http://www.hatsrcool.com/blog/?p=353

  3. Good post Brad…..some good ideas, and to think you didn’t even have to post a picture of your soiled boxers!

    On the hat thing….sure, I could order some $80 Tilley hats and put a $20 embroidered beaver on them………any takers? How ’bout a knock-off tilley?

  4. Very nice of Gord to throw in the embroidered beaver in the price of the $80 hat. Only the original Tilley Gord. Maybe Charles would let you embroider that beaver catching the musky? If so, I’m in.

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Testimonials

If you’re looking for an outstanding vacation spot for the serious fisherman or a family get away you should consider Vermillion Bay Lodge on Eagle Lake, Ontario Canada. We have stayed at many lake resorts over the years, but none offer the simple pleasures of this one. The lake is large enough and holds enough fish for the most adventuresome fisherman and yet easy for local family fishing for young children. Bring your own boat or use one of the aluminum boats (20 hp) at the lodge. Boat dockage is well protected from the wind and allows easy access to the water.

What sets this lodge apart from most others is it is always clean, well kept with lots to do including paddle boats canoes, bon fires in the evenings and a just plain friendly atmosphere.

Bruce & Sally

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