Night Eyes

AtticaFish

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Spent a couple hours enjoying this unseasonably warm weather last night and managed another walleye......

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This one went 25" and caught it on the 3rd cast of the night.  The big Kalins jigs are still catching and can't seem to get them on anything else.  Got another big bass and was hooked into something else, but never got a chance to see it.

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Was surprised to see this walleye had recently eaten, most of them have had hardly anything in their stomachs from this reservoir but tiny little 1" panfish.  This one had a bluegill that measured 4".

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AtticaFish

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Just edited the pics. Didn't think about it, but i inserted those pics (copied image address) from a post i made the Ohio forum that requires being logged in to see them. I never log out there so the pics were showing fine for me! I thought you were crazy. :D They should be up now.
 

duffy

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Nice fish! That one's a two-fer. :D  Hope your enjoying the nice weather because it looks like there may be a mess heading you way if the weather dudes are right.
 

AtticaFish

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Made it out again for a pair of 22" walleye and another big bass.  Was throwing twister tails to start and not a bite.  Switched to a swimbait and started getting bites.  Missed a couple good hard pulls and had one other hooked of for a few seconds.  Most of the bites came from pitching jigs out to the transition of rip-rap to main lake and bumping bottom all the way up the rip-rap.  One of the walleye hit right at the surface though, line went tight right after i closed my bail.  Was another late night.... got to the reservoir at 9:30 and no bites till almost 11:00.  Both walleye were females full of eggs and one had a 4.5" baby bass and 2 other small unrecognizable panfish in its gut.  You can see on the one picture how far in the walleye took the jig.  That is a 4" swimbait.

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JUNGLEJIM1

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Should have enough for several meals now. I love walleye but haven't caught any for a few weeks now. Rivers are up from the rain we've been getting and banks are too muddy to get to the hot spot. Did you weigh any of the walleye? Curious as to what the 27 incher weighed.
 

AtticaFish

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We eat fish pretty often, so i like to stock the freezer during these times when they are available. But this is a flip from my summertime freezer. During warmer months i usually have lots of panfish and only a bag or 2 of walleye. Now i have plenty of walleye and my panfish is starting to get low. I have gotten out trying o find crappie or bluegill and can't even get a sniff from them. The way the weather is going, very well could be casting from shore all winter long. They keep trying to forecast a change in the weather....... but the wind just seems to be stuck coming up out of the South. I don't have any scale so have never weighed my fish. I have gotten some of the biggest bass i have ever caught this fall too. Would be interesting to get a weight on some of those fish.
 

AtticaFish

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Glad i eeked one out tonight......... sure was cold this evening! Temp on my dash was floating between 21° and 24° on my way home. The wind was nasty when i first got out around 9:00 but did calm down and shift more out of the SW later. I tried a spot IN the wind right off the bat and froze my nuts off so retreated back to the upwind bank and just hunkered down and casted for a while. Once it switched a little to the South, moved to a different area and caught this 20.5" walleye on a Kalins grub. Good deep hook-set, she was not about to pop off and put up one heck of a fight. Thought i had a monster. :cool: Threw swimbaits, twisters, hair jigs (including the new herring spinners) and X-raps... but that was my only bite for the night. These fish are obviously taking advantage of the small bass venturing out at night to find a meal. This one had a 3" bass in her gut.  I do see bluegill here and there, but they sure hold tight to (or under) the rocks. The baby bass are a little more confident and raise up out of the rip-rap more........ till Ms. Walleye passes by anyway. Caught her very shallow in a spot i know they frequent because of some big boulders in the area.  Still can't believe i am fishing like this at almost the end of December.  I will take the ice gladly when it comes, but i may just be casting more of this winter than walking on water.

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AtticaFish

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Oh yes, was melting the ice out at least every 10 minutes or so. Have braid on my favorite walleye rod now and this is the first i have used braid in below freezing temps. Once you get even a little ice in the eyes, the braid starts getting stuck if you reel slowly or let it stop for a second.
 

duffy

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Nice Walleye!  What kind of braid are you using? That was the reason I use Fireline in the winter was that it didn't freeze to the guides.
 

AtticaFish

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duffy -  Guess i forgot to reply to your question - sorry!  I am using Fireline, but starting to think it has more to do with my rod guides letting ice build up quickly than it has to do with the line.  And the fact that i have only ever used mono before this year.  The top 3 guides are very small compared to most of my other rods and that was something i really did not think about when i bought the rod.  It is just a totally different feeling when the line freezes in the guides with braid on this rod.  You go from reeling to just a solid stop.  First time it did it i honestly thought my REEL froze up because it just would not budge.  Mono is a little more forgiving where you will feel it getting harder and harder to reel when the eyes start getting iced over.

I made it out for a few more nights of casting before the ice set in last week.  I brought home 2 more walleye in the 18" to 20" range but had to endure several freezing cold skunked nights.  Went 4 trips in a row (around 12 hours of time casting) with out a fish to show for it and my wife was starting to think i was going mad.  Nope... just walleye fever.  Ice is pretty much everywhere now but not thick enough to walk on yet.  Got a buddy heater for Christmas that will go into my ice shanty so that will make it way more comfortable to spend extended time on the ice if it sets up thick................. may have to spend a couple long evenings after dark on the ice trying for a walleye in the places i left them before it locked up.  Otherwise, i won't get to pester the walleye again till spring!
 

HairyMooseKnuckles

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Meh. I've hunted rabbits in my underwear in colder weather than that. LAUGHING!!!!

Just kidding, man. That was pretty chilly. If I was 20 again, I'd do it in a heart beat.


You know, I have always wanted to Ice Fishing in one of those huts like you see on TV. I hope before I die, I get to do that.
 

AtticaFish

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HMK - You are more than welcome to come up and fish with me, if the ice ever comes back that is. I have one of those huts..... just probably no where near as nice "As Seen On TV". haha. Actually have 2 shanties now. 1 is a 2-man pop up shelter and the other is a 1-man flip over shelter i take when i head out solo. Got out only a couple times this year when we had decent ice about mid January. The heater sure works wonders and ended up fishing in my bibs and a t-shirt once the heat got going. Honestly though, i would rather not sit in the shelter and would much rather cut several holes in a big circle on the ice and hop around to the different holes so i stay active instead of sitting over 1 hole waiting for the fish to come to me.

Funny you bring up this thread..... stupid Northern Ohio weather is on the mild side (no ice at all right now) thanks to El Nino and actually got out on Thursday casting from shore for walleye. Temps at night were upper 30's so was pretty comfortable. Spent 2 hours in the dark and not a bite.
 

Hawnjigs

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You realize your wife was right, yes? Go on, admit, "I am a nocturnal wally puller addict".

Do the wallys depart the frigid shallows in winter cuz deeper mid-lake water is warmer?
 
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