jivey

Good luck, I've got boxes and boxes of that kind of stuff. ;D

For some reason whenever it starts raining, I will go to my spinnerbait rig and I always have luck with it. It's more of a confidence thing than anything, but it works!

I have caught the majority of my walleyes in 18-30 feet of water. I catch them using one of two methods. The first you already mention and that is pounding deep cranks into humps, points, flats and ledges in that water depth. The second is dragging a live bait rig across those same areas slowly. The rig is basically a split shot rig with a sliding sinker and a swivel instead of a split shot. (Google Lindy Rig). A tactic I like to use when night fishing or ealy morning/late evening is fishing with slip bobbers over rocks in 18-25 feet of water. I like leeches, but minnows and night crawlers work well too. I have no idea if the walleye have different behaviors in the south, but that is a fool proof plan up here in the north. PM me if you have any specific questions, I've been walleye fishing since I was a little kid.

Beautiful fish, they are great fighters. My brother had a similar situation and boated a 44" pike on 8lb mono using a 1/4 oz leadhead jig tipped with a leech while walleye fishing.

No such thing! 8-)

Mine wasn't that embarassing, more of a right of passage if you know our fishing group. After getting a jig hung up on the back of a pontoon boat tied up to a dock, we moved over to it. As I was trying to free my jig, I had one foot on the bow of the boat and one foot on the pontoon. : Well my buddy hits the troll motor in the opposite direction thinking I had freed my bait, I hadn't. I had a slight moment of hesitation trying to decide if I wanted to be stranded on the back of someones pontoon or get back on the boat. (I have no idea why I didn't just immediately jump back onto the boat.) So before I know it, I am like mid splits between these boats and I am about to go in. I look to the pontoon and see a ladder that is folded up hanging from the back. In a last ditch effort I grab onto the ladder and leap towards the pontoon. The part of the ladder I manage to grab is just folded up and connected to nothing, so it falls into the lake along with me, my rod and my $125 oakleys >. I am trying to get my friend to take my rod so I can get my glasses (They had fallen off my head and were sinking) but he was laughing so hard he wasn't listening. We dove for 15 minutes looking for my glasses (10-12 feet deep) but never found them, I suspect there still there. My favorite part of this story is that it has happened to each one of the three of us fishing buddies at some point and each story is hilarious and a completely different situation. ;D ;D

Depending on the size of the fish in the lake, a 7'0 MH with braid and a steel leader should be just fine. As far as lures, They will hit just about everything I catch bass with. Spinnerbaits, crankbaits/jerkbaits, I've caught plenty on Jig & Pigs. Again, the bigger the baits, the bigger the fish. If you want to really go after the bigger ones, you can use some smaller muskie baits like bucktails/glide baits. If you're going to be throwing those things though, you may want a heavy action rod.

The lightest you can get away with to still make contact with the bottom. This can depend on wind, how thick the weeds are, etc.

That's one area of the state I've actually never drug the boat up to. Are there some good bass lakes? It's only about an hours drive from me, might be worth it.

They can be a blast to catch IF you are fishing for them. The amount of crankbaits I have lost to those toothy critters is amazing.

Please let us know how this works, I'm curious.

Then I think the pair you posted in the stocking foot would be perfect. (Or something of that nature at a price you are comfortable with) For boots, I have not owned felt soled boots, but I know they do get a lot more traction than rubber. I'm not sure how they hold up if you hike on them though. Maybe someone else has an opinion on that. My only advice on boots is to buy the waders and make sure you try the boots on with the waders on as well. They all fit differently and you will have to leave a little extra room for the neoprene in the boots.

He did say SPINCASTING, not spinning. Oops, long day at work ;D

The waders you posted are basically the same as the ones I have now. (Mine are a few years old). I think I paid right around 100 for mine but they were on sale. I love them and wouldn't trade them for anything. As far as boots, there are a few things to consider. Will you be hiking/walking in your waders for any length of time? Do you want a more hiking backcountry boot, or something more lightweight with less ankle support. As I mentioned earlier, what kind of water will you be wading in. Felt sole vs. a hiking/rubber sole. For me, I just bought a cheap pair of hiking boots because I was using mine while doing some back country hiking, so I was hiking miles and miles up and down hills in them. Here would be a cheap reccomendation...from cabelas at least. http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/pod/horizontal-pod.jsp?id=0026699&navCount=14&parentId=cat20616&masterpathid=&navAction=push&cmCat=MainCatcat20431-cat600398-cat20616_TGP&parentType=index&indexId=cat20616&rid= One other thing to consider...(I may be getting to in depth here, but these are just observations I have experienced) Temperature of the water you are wading in... Neoprene is a heck of a lot warmer than the ones you posted and the ones I have. When wading for spawning walleyes in the spring in a river, I have to wear like three layers of pants for my body not to go numb. I don't mind it, but another thing to consider.

I have p-line on 2 spinning rigs and like it a lot. I prefer 8lb test.

Oops, sorry, the lake is Minnetonka. Any help would be awesome!

Coming from someone who has fished with both kinds... I would reccomend stocking foot waders. (Seperate wading shoes). You may spend a little bit more, but if you're going to be in them for any extended period of time, they are far more comfortable. No matter which pair you go with, if you'll be doing a lot of wading in rivers/rocky areas, look into felt soles. One dunking into the water will make you wish you had them if you don't. :-[

Took a trip this weekend to Northern Minnesota to Walleye fish. Fished about 16 hours total, boated about 12 walleyes, a few smallies, some rockbass and a few pike. The few walleyes we did catch were beauties though. The first is 26.5" and the second is 25.5". Both caught on the same lake, the color difference is amazing.

I've had one of these sitting on a broken rod for 2 years. I finally got a St. Croix 7'0MH rod to put it on. I am excited to get it wet again!

Sorry if I should know this, but why wouldn't a lake be "open" on a Thursday?

Anywhere from 30-50lb. powerpro is on most of my reels. Also, you don't need to have a full spool of braid. You can just put on about 150 yds. of braid tied to the appropriate amount of mono backing. You will never even have close to 150 yards of line off your reel at once and it is cheaper this way.

When they are on like that, they can be one of the most fun fish to catch. I need to plan another trip soon!

That could be an interesting ride if you left the wheels on ;D

Looks like a blast! Were they schooled up? The last time I fished a good (and clear) smallmouth lake, you could watch 3 or 4 smallies follow the hooked fish up to the boat. If you dropped a line down next to it, you could sometimes hook up.

We will launch on the west side of the lake, probably closer to the northwest corner. We're camping in the park outside of Onamia. My buddy has been up there Muskie fishing all week and caught some 24-26" walleyes on muskie baits, so I am thinking we will do alright. We've got 150 acres east of Aitkin that we hunt as well. Small world...