Potholes Walleyes

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Comment by Mark Wells on April 7, 2009 at 9:54pm

How deep did you find the smallies?

Comment by Nick Berto on April 7, 2009 at 7:44pm

Bummer you couldn't get them to co operate with ya. I have had good luck with all the techniques talked about, jigs and carolina rigs being the best for me.

I saw you out there sat/sun... (: I caught a good number of smallies!

Comment by Mark Wells on April 7, 2009 at 5:34pm

N spillway vs S spillway - Crab Creek @ the Moses Lk spillways.
Clarification.
Mark

Comment by P.J. Koshi on April 7, 2009 at 5:11pm

I know for sure that these cranks and worm harnesses you are all talking about take a lot of fish in the early summer, but for this time of year I think alternatives will take more Walleyes. Smiley blades in the summer and clown or firetiger shadraps are pretty killer in the dunes during the late spring and early summer. All over in the dunes, and the Coulee during higher water levels and the area in front of the dunes and the wasteways during low water levels. Like mentioned moving water helps!

Comment by Mark Wells on April 7, 2009 at 4:32pm

Thanx Mike,
We worked the flow from the N spillway since the S spillway wasn't in operation at the time. We saw a few big females but no takers. We worked a few different crankbaits, stop and go and suspending. Drug Carolina rigged night crawlers and soft plastics and a combination of the two. We even jigged with them tipped with crawlers. After most of Sat and 3 hours Sun and no one even got a bite in any boat we spoke with, we tried for smallies by the dam and up Lind Coulee. Nothing. We tried for walleyes in LInd Coulee also but no takers. We then ran back into the dunes by the job corp dike to check out some largemouth spots. I spoke with one boat that caught three smallies on Sat in 50' of water.
A couple more days of this kind of weather and everything will be turning on I'll bet.
Mark

Comment by Mike Singson on April 7, 2009 at 3:46pm

Hey Mark!
I am certainly no expert on this but have had some success at PotHoles this time of the year.
My 3 techniques right now would be cranks, vertical jigging and carolina rig live bait.
An older local guy I met their gave me some great advice - look for moving water and you will find walleyes.
Crab creek and Lind Coulee are 2 great spots, but I prefer Crab especially if you can get up by the spillway.
Like bass fishing, I usually use cranks to try and locate fish and then, depending on the depth, use some type of vertical presentation to catch them.
In Crab Creek another great technique is Carolina rigged leeches or crawlers in the current. If you can drop an anchor or bank the boat get that Carolina rig out in the current and let her sit. Work the area like a stream, start up high and work it down. We have caught some awesome limits up there with this technique. If you get into a school, you can use a fuzee grub tipped with crawler. Work it down stream in the current bouncing it up and down - its much cheaper way to catch 'eyes than using leeches.
Out in the main lake, if there are fish on the face of the dam I like to use suspending cranks with a slow stop and go retrieve. I usually exaggerate the pause and use braided line to feel the 'tick'. This usually works well when there is wind against the dam. If you mark a school in 15-20 drop a bladebait or jig down. I have accidently found crappie doing this.
Blades and jigs usually work well on the west side of goose island. I found some nice humps with a few old submerged trees/willows or whats left of them with my camera. Again, If i find a school - its usually walleye.

This is what has worked for me over the past few years. Its not gospel or rocket science - and I hope it helps!

Mike

Comment by Mark Wells on April 7, 2009 at 1:21pm

We saw some real monsters rolling with little males crawling all over them up Crab Creek just below the spillways but they were busy so no feeding. Definitely encouraging though.
Mark

Comment by 2000subaru on April 7, 2009 at 12:59pm

I have never caught one, but was told that back in the lind coulee area of potholes was pretty good fishing.

Comment by Dave Massey on April 7, 2009 at 12:03pm

Heard of guys catching them on Crank baits both back in the dunes and around the dam. I actually saw a decent walleye right by the job core dike cruising in about 8 feet of water this past Sunday when I was down there.

Comment by Mark Wells on April 6, 2009 at 10:25pm

Good call. That's something we didn't try this past weekend.

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