WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
April 26, 2007

We're down to about two weeks and the recent weather has many anglers getting very excited for the opening day, including myself. I am heading to Winnie tomorrow afternoon and will get some pictures of those Walleyes that get stripped at Cutfoot. I have heard that the Walleyes have really made a run the last couple of days, so I'm excited to see what this years' fish look like. I certainly know that we have two enormous year classes coming up right now and we have a large number of those 17-to-22 inch fish.

So, with Winnie being as healthy as I have ever seen, this upcoming open water season should be excellent and those hungry Walleyes are already calling for those Salmo Hornets, at least in my dreams the last few nights. Keep your fingers crossed that mother nature continues to bring us this amazing weather, even a sun-filled weekend with 60 degree highs will be much nicer then the typical opening weekend.

As we head into the final countdown to the season, I want to tell you about a few things that will be going on in the community and if you get a chance stop by and say hello and talk fishing with us. On Thursday, May 10th, the Northern Minnesota Guide League will be helping with the Grand Opening of Rapids West Gas Station located next to Jerry's Liquor. Most of the guys will be there from 11:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m.

Then, the Grand Rapids Chamber will be hosting the Fishing Opener Barbecue on Friday, May 11th from 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. Here, we'll have a few boats and the kids casting contest. The Sawmill Inn will be serving their famous BBQ pork and beef sandwiches and these are worth the stop. If you're looking for something to do those last couple of days before hitting the water, these are two exciting events.

With the recent warm weather, no better time than now to talk about the exciting crankbait bite that may happen as early as opening day. Typically water temperatures play a significant role in whether or not the fish are willing to chase their prey and as that water temperature hits the ideal range of 52 to 62 degrees, one can get moving and catch fish with those Salmo Hornets. Even though water temps are a critical piece to the success, a few other details will also increase one's catch.

As for the Hornet, I would recommend buying the #4 floater in at least 3 or 4 colors. The Hot Perch, Red Tail Shiner, and Blue Dace are my top choice but the Gold Metallic Orange and Pearl Orange will work on days when the other colors are slower. As for boat speed, when running the Hornets, look for 2 MPH to be the best speed, but with water temps ranging from 45-52 degrees, look for boats speeds in the 1.3 to 1.5 MPH to be your better speed. As the water temps push that 52-62 Degrees, look for that 2 MPH to be the top choice day in and out.

The other detail that will make or break the day's catch with the hornets is line length. I would recommend buying a reel with a line counter, stop in at Ben's Bait and they have what you need. For most spring outings when those Walleyes are in that 5-8 fet of water, one can run 40-to-60 feet of line. When the fish are showing up closer to the bottom on the finder, try pushing that line out to 60 feet, if you're seeing those fish off the bottom, look for 40 feet to be magical. The last piece to making the technique perfect is the line and rod. I would recommend using the 4/10 fireline and find yourself a 6.5-to-7 foot medium light trolling rod and your set to start those big number of catches with the Salmo Hornets.

Here are a few of those Hornet Winnie Walleyes from last year!!!
Gotta Love those Hornets.

The crankbait fishing is purely one of the simplest ways to catch those Walleyes in shallow water, and once you try it, you might just forget about those minnow and leeches and fill that tackle box with hornets and see why so many of us are so excited to see the crankbait hornet magic again this year. If you have any questions, please feel free to give me a call or send me an e-mail as I want to help everyone get into this way of catching Northern Minnesota Walleyes.

Get those rods ready,

Sean Colter
member of NMGL
www.seancolter.com
seancolter@seancolter.com