WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
July 31, 2008

August and warm water equals high speed fishing and this year is no different then any other season.

The Salmo hornets are on top of the list again for us. We have been working Winnie and Pokegama with the #4 Hornets both during the daylight hours and after dark. The little bait just catches fish day in and out.

On Winnie we have found the best action on the rocks and weed edges in 7-10 foot of water. We are finding fish out in a little deeper water when the wind lays down as well. The hot colors seem to be the gold metallic orange, pearl orange around the rocks, on the weedlines we are finding the hot perch and blue dace to be most productive.

When pulling the #4 Salmo hornets again the line length that typically works best is 40 to 50 feet. The speed again remains around 2-2.5 MPH. Changing speeds rapidly has allowed for triggering strikes as the day goes on. Here, one can either speed up or add some turns to the trolling run. When adding turns, normally you will find one of the lines, either inside or outside lines to consistently trigger more activity. Once you find it, try to adjust the speed based on which line is picking up the bite. Look for the Winnie action to remain solid on the Hornets from now until nearly ice up.

As for Pokegama, we are finally starting to see a much more consistent bite with the night action as the fish have seemed to shy away from the consistent daytime activity.

Again on Pokagama we are finding the large schools of smelt during the daylight hours and then following the smelt to the nearest shallow water location. The walleyes are pushing the smelt toward the shallow water and it has increased the activity for us after dark.

Again the #4 hornets are working but the Salmo stings are finally picking up where they left off for us last summer. The best color after dark in both style baits has been the gold metallic orange.

Another option on the high-speed walleye action has been spinners fish at or near the 1.5 to 2.0 MPH. Here we are running both the Colorado blades and the new shakee blade by Lindy. Most of the better action on the spinner combination is coming from the 14-20 foot of water. We are tipping the spinners with a nightcrawler and using the inline 2 oz. bottom bouncers.

So if you're looking to try something different, give the crankbait or spinners a shot and you will be amazed at how many walleyes one can get during what most call the dog days of summer.

See you on the Water in a LUND Boat,

Sean Colter
member of NMGL
seancolter@seancolter.com