The roadside daisies are knee high which means the walleyes are moving out to the main lake rock piles feeding on anything that moves. Spring-time pockets and bays are getting too warm for the baitfish causing them to migrate out to rock piles where the water temperature is more suitable for their delicate bodies, and the walleyes are close behind.
Brown water might mean weak coffee to some, but to a walleye angler on the Gunflint Trail it is a reference used to define shallow water. These spots are typically the hazardous rock piles affectionately named “lower unit point” or $700 rock (which would now cost closer to $1,200) referring to the dollar amount of damage incurred by hitting such shallow areas with a motor boat.
Many of these spots are not very big and to fish them effectively requires anchoring the boat upwind and casting slip bobbers baited with lively leeches in front of or on top of the brown water. Sounds easy because it is. Some anglers prefer to anchor and cast jigs tipped with live bait to the brown water but I find them to be very snaggy and losing tackle is never good, especially tackle made of lead.
Slip bobbers are very efficient and rarely get snagged if you know how to use them. Every time a slip bobber is cast out it should go through the exact same routine of momentarily lying sideways until it stands straight up and down. If it does not stand up, then your sinker is on the bottom and needs to be corrected immediately before it gets snagged in the rocks.
This technique is very popular on Gunflint Trail lakes and is responsible for many of the hawg walleyes seen in the paper each week, including the 32-inch pig I caught and released on Saganaga this week which was only ½ inch shy of my personal biggest. I have netted bigger ones for customers, but this was the biggest one I have caught in a while. It was a great battle and she looked very healthy as she swam away with authority, splashing me in the face while descending into the darkness.
Many of these spots are easy to find, some even have marker buoys on them to warn boaters, and are temporary haunts for not just walleyes but smallmouth bass and northern pike as well. Brown water can also be shorelines where the water turns from dark to light as long as the shoreline has some rocks on it and not just mud or sand. Steeper shorelines that drop to six or eight feet are key areas to try for any species of game fish that swims in the lake, so give it a try.
Hawg report
(released)
. Duey Grenier
28-inch walleye
Saganaga Lake
. Cory Christianson
32-inch walleye
Saganaga Lake
. Fred Claussen
29-inch walleye
Saganaga Lake
Cory Christianson has worked as a fishing guide on the Gunflint Trail since 2000. If you have any fishing or wildlife reports or stories to share, send an email to: christiansoncory@hotmail.com or call 218- 388-0315. You can also visit Cory’s website at Gunflintfishingguide.com.
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