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Hot Crankin’ on The Walleye Capital

 Jul 22nd, 2013 by OutdoorsFIRST 

Modified Jul 22nd, 2013 at 12:00 AM

Most walleye anglers don’t wish for the dog days of August.  There is an exception, though, with a group of anglers who have large numbers of big walleyes absolutely dialed in.  This rite of passage happens every summer and just started happening again.  It is a place where one can fish flat mud from about 30 – 33′ for miles and catch fish every mile.  It is also a place where the AIM Pro Walleye Series broke their single fish record last year with Rick Olson’s  32.5″ monster. 

We are talking about The Walleye Capital of the World, Lake of the Woods Minnesota.
Every summer, there is a pattern of walleyes living over “no man’s land” and living off of roaming schools of emerald shiners, young of the year perch and tulibees, as well as all of the critters, many of which I cannot pronounce their names, that live in the mud in great numbers.  These walleyes are in schools that sometimes number in the thousands and are ripe for the taking.
There are a number of ways anglers get their line down to the walleyes and mixed in saugers.  The charter boats use downriggers.  Most conventional anglers don’t have the very effective downriggers, so they resort to leadcore, snap on weights, bottom bouncers with a leader or a very big billed baits that dive deep pulled on your favorite superline. 

There are some nuances to putting more fish in the boat.  Vary your speed until you find out what the fish want that day.  Drive like a “drunken sailor”, or in other words, speed up and slow down abruptly, make sharp turns and notice when the fish eat.

Start out with a different style and color of crankbait than your partner.  Keep switching baits every 20 minutes or so until you get the fish “dialed in”.  I like to start with one conventional crank, one of my favorites.  On the other line, like to run a jointed or certainly a different shape of crank.  Typically, it doesn’t take long to figure out the pattern.

After a while, you will notice where the concentration of fish are.  If you are “pig” hunting ie, looking for the trophy walleyes, you will notice the larger “hooks” on your electronics and can certainly get the fish patterned.

It is easy to experience the summer bonanza.  Either jump aboard one of the many resort’s charter boats operated by Licensed Charter Captains, who by the way, pride themselves on getting you on fish.  Or, if you are set up with your own rig, book a room, find one of the many accesses and have at it. 

For more information on lodging, charters, accesses and everything Lake of the Woods, log on to the areas website at www.lakeofthewoodsMN.com.