Final Open Water Fish of 2021

16.5" Jerk Shad (Tomato)

7:00-8:50PM South Jetty, North Corner

35℉, Cloudy, 1-3mph SE 

Started on the South Jetty, no action. On the North Jetty spotted one fish and caught it.  MY heart wasn't in so I packed up shortly after letting it go. This was my final trip of the 2021 Open Water Season.

 

Will This Be My Last Open Water Trip of 2020?

5.53lbs/26.5" Jerk Shad (Silver Sexy Shad)

 

2.20lbs/19" Jerk Shad (Tomato)

7:30-8:30PM Pete's Standing Rock, North Corner

31℉, Clear, 5-7mph SW

I started fishing around 7:30PM. I spotted a moving eyeball when I got up on Pete's Standing Rock. I made several casts to the area. On about the 6th one I caught sight of the eye's obviously tracking to my Tomato Jerk Sahd. I just let the Jerk Shad sit and yanked when I thought it grabbed the lure, which it did. I was glad to have the skunk gone. I wasn't really enjoying myself in the cold and the fish weren't biting so about an hour in I said to myself, next fish in hand and I'm leaving. I was fishing the North Corner just about to go back to the Harbor Mouth and give the Rage Swimmer Jr. a try when the 26-incher grabbed my Sexy Shad Jerk Shad. After releasing the fish I indeed had enough and quit fishing. Will this be my last open water trip of 2020? Not sure, all I know is that I really didn't enjoy the last couple of trips very much. The thought of grinding out walleyes in the bitter cold with freezing hands is losing its luster.

Ok Night At the Jetty

4.49lbs/23.25"Jerk Shad (Tomato)

 

3.57lbs/24" Tomato

2.86lbs/20.5" Tomato

Some ice in the Harbor

7:45-10:00PM Harbor Mouth, Pete SR, N. Corner

37-42℉, PC, 0-4mph SW

Started throwing the Tomato at the Harbor Mouth. Got a fish on about my 7th cast on a slow retrieve. About a half hour later I got the 24-incher on the slow retrieve at the Big N. Corner Standing Rock. I went through a slew of lures, nothing. At 9:30PM I went to Pete's SR and got two fish (21.7,23.25) bing bang on the Tomato on the slow retrieve. That was all the bites I had 4 for 4. The muskrats were around and ice was flowing from the harbor out to the lake. Didn't see a single eye. They were all caught blind.

4 Eye's 

iPhone Back At the Jetty with Jamar and Kin

 

4.32lbs/23.5" Jerk Shad (Tomato)

6:30-8:45PM North Jetty

33℉, Cloudy/Snow, 3-6mph WNW

I suited up in Eddy's parking lot and didn't notice anyone out on the Jetty when I pulled up and parked. I was almost to where I put my stuff down when I noticed Jamar's stuff sitting where he always puts it. He had gotten a walleye on his first cast of the night (swimbait). That was the only fish they had gotten and had been there for about half an hour. I got my rods rigged. Jamar headed to the N.Corner and Sr, headed for the South Jetty. About 5 minutes later Jamar caught the 5.59lb walleye on a gold Husky Jerk. I didn't get anything at the Harbor Mouth or Pete's Spot. When I was at CSR Jamar lost one at the N. Corner. He went back to the Harbor Mouth, so I went to the N. Corrner. I spied two different eyes in shallow right next to the Jetty to the West of the standing platform. I threw the Tomato Jerk Shad at them and they both swam out to deeper water where I lost sight of them. I threw about 12 casts out to where I figured they would be sitting and eventually the 4lber bit. Jamar went to the North Corner and got a fish as did one of his kin (not sure if it was a brother or cousin). I switched to the Rage Swimmer Jr. It started snowing and I had to get my line, which was getting caught on a knot on the spool straightened out. Sr. caught a fish on the South Jetty on a swimbait. After I go my line situation fixed I missed two bites then hooked up with a skinny 24"/3.94lb walleye. One of Jamar's Crew got a fish at the Harbor Mouth at about the same time. I think they got a couple more and then the bite quit. The snow got heavier and started accumulating on the rocks. I had enough of the wet heavy snow at 8:45 and gave up. I was amazed that once I got to the ridge about a mile to the East of our place on 27 that it went from snow to wet pavement.

Fish Jamar caught after I left on a Jerk Shad

Possibly Last Open Water Trip of 2019

4/7, 25" Crackle Jerk Shad

12" Smallest Eye caught thus Fall

I thought it was a walleye, nope T-Shirt.

20" Tomato
Possibly last open water fish of 2019

5:30-8:30PM North Corner
30-34℉, Partly Cloudy, 2-4mph ESE

When I arrived at the Jetty the launch captain I met the other night was fishing at Pete's spot.  He hadn't gotten any bites.  I set up on the North Corner.  I think I missed one bite on the Grass Pig.  He left after 20 minutes so I moved my stuff to the Harbor Mouth.  I got my first bite around 6PM on the Crackle Jerk Shad.  It was 19.5" eye at the North Corner.  I added it's twin about 5 minutes later.  Then I went at least half an hour between fish catches.  I did miss a couple of bites.  I switched to the small Rage Swimmer and had a 19.5-inch eye take it immediately on the first cast.   Then that was it, so I switched back to the Crackle and got 4 quality sized eyes (25, 3x24.5).  I also caught the T-shirt at the Harbor Mouth.  I was debating most of the time after I hooked it as to whether or not it was a walleye convincing myself a few times that it was.  The joke was on me.  That was the only bite I got a the Harbor Mouth, but I didn't fish there very hard either.  Then the action tailed off so I switched back to the small Rage Swimmer and had a 24/25-inch fish get off just as I was bringing it up to the rocks.  I ended the night fishing the Tomato Jerk Shad catching that little cigar and three 20-inch fish.  When I first started fishing the Tomato a boat full of muskie fishermen came into the harbor.  One of the guys started casting a big muskie plug off of the North Face and brought in a walleye on his first cast.  I think he said it was about 24-inches long.  My guides started freezing up so I left.  The guys didn't get any muskies.  This may be my last open water trip of the year.  However, if it's above freezing tomorrow at dark then I will probably get out one more time.

12 Eyes
1 T-Shirt

Got Out to the Jetty Tonight

5.40lbs (Tomato)

5.40lbs Jerk Shad (Tomato)

3.02lbs (Chart Shad)

3.02lbs Jerk Shad (Chart Shad)

5.11lbs (Crackle)

5.11lbs Jerk Shad (Crackle)

Harbor Mouth

The Face of the Jetty at Center Standing Rock

6:05-7:05PM North Corner
7:05-7:40PM Went to Subway
7:45-8:20PM South Jetty Harbor Mouth
8:45-10:00PM North Corner
38-36℉, Clear half moon, 12mph SSW

I was happy to see open water at Eddy's Jetty.  The rocks being covered with snow covered ice not so much.  The docks were ice-free, but I didn't catch a thing at the North Harbor Mouth.   Probably a good thing as I don't know how I would have landed a 5lber.  On the first cast at the North Corner I wasn't paying attention and snagged the Tomato Jerk Shad in the rocks.  I tried and tried to get it unsnagged and eventually the line broke.  Was not happy! Went and tied on my last Tomato Jerk Shad; I discovered it in the tackle box I gave to Steve last Spring.  I promptly caught the biggest fish of the night.  After not getting any more bites I switched out the Tomato for a Crackle.  I got two eyes (4.54,2.60lbs) on the Crackle in the North Corner.  I got cold, so I went and ate a meatball sub at Subway.  I came back and fished at the South Harbor Mouth.  Caught one walleye on my second cast on the Chartreuse Shad Jerk Shad.  That was it for bites at the Harbor Mouth.  I ended the night fishing the North Corner getting two nice ones (5.11,5.09lbs) on the Crackle.  For both of those fish, I had to sprawl out over the ice to land the fish.  The final fish was hooked in the gill and bled all over.  It did swim away when I released it at the harbor mouth.  I doubt the fish will make it, but you never know.

25.77lbs for 6 Eyes

6 Eyes   

Spent Election Night Rolling Eyeballs

5.59lbs/24.9" Jerk Shad (Tomato)

Same as above

4.89lbs/24.5 Jerk Shad (Tomato) Last fish of the night

21" (Tomato) 1st Fish of the Night

14" (Chart Shad) Smallest Eye of the Night

5:30-10:00PM NCSR, Harbor Mouth North and South Jetty
31-29℉, Cloudy with snow, 10mph WNW

I arrived at Eddy's a few minutes after the guy that beat me to the Jetty last week.  He was headed to the Harbor Mouth while I was putting my Ice Armor Stuff on.  Next thing I know he's reeling in a fish.  He caught fish on two out of his first 3 casts.  I got out and started fishing.  That wind was COLD.  It was out of the WNW not producing much in the way of wave action, but it made fishing the North Corner a pain because I couldn't use my body to shield my hands from the wind.  I caught my first fish (21") off the North Corner Standing Rock on the Tomato Jerk Shad. The NCSR sits on the lakeward/southern part of the corner so I was able to shield my hands there. I had a fish hook up then quickly get off on the Center Standing Rock. With the way the wind was, I thought maybe the South Jetty might be a better place to fish from.  I went to tell the guy what I caught and tell him where I was going.  He told me he was going to leave and showed me what he was fishing with, a deep diving Shadow Rap, which he reeled in very slowly.  Interesting,  I would never think to throw a bigger lipped bait for fear of losing it to the rocks.  Anyway, I got up on the Harbor Mouth Standing Rock and proceeded to immediately break off my Chartreuse Shad Jerk Shad when my cast suddenly stopped.  My line broke about 5 feet up from the lure.  Freezing guides or line was the most likely reason why my line stopped  Dang it, that was a fish catcher.  I went back and tied my back up Chartreuse Shad on.  I carry a back up of that color because I have lost quite a few of them to pike at the Grumpy Old Man Hole.  Anyway, I caught that little fish then headed to the car and drove over to the South Jetty.  I warmed up in the car for a while listening to election results on the Fox News Channel.

At the South Jetty, nothing was going off the South Corner, but there were fish at the South Harbor Mouth.  I caught 3 fish (19,?,19) on the Tomato and 4 fish (22.5,20,24.9,21) on the Chartreuse Shad.  I also had one fish hook up and get off fairly quickly.  The ? fish was at least 24-inches long that got off as I was pulling it up on the rocks.  I was able to touch the fish, but not grab it before it swam off;  I used the 22.5-inch fish twice on the scale to account for that caught but unweighed fish.  I did have to go back to the car once to war up.  I went back to the North Jetty to end the night.  I lost a big one at the CSR and caught that last big fish (24.5) at the Harbor Mouth on the Tomato.  This may be my last trip to Jetty as we are going into a deep freeze for at least a week.

    10 Eyes

Rough Start, Took A Break, Wind Fish

22" Jerk Shad (Tomato)

(Not sure what all the blood is about on the first fish was hooked from the outside)

6:20-8:10PM Nothing!  Was calm and cold.  I was discouraged so I went and got a meatball sub.
9:00-10:00PM North Corner
32-31℉, Clear, 4-6mph SE

The wind must have started up right after I left for Subway.  As I sat in front of the South Jetty eating my sub I watched as the waves started to build.  The wind was a little lighter than last night and more out of the South.  Basically setting up perfect conditions for the North Corner to be hot and hot it was. I put on the Tomato and they were all over it.  I caught 3 fish (19.5,18,19.5) in about 15 minutes.  I then took off the Tomato and briefly tried the beat up Crackle Jerk Shad with a feathered treble.  Didn't get a bite.  I put the Tomato back on and they were even more all over it than before.  I caught 5 (20,19,18,22,17.5) fish and had 3 more pull off shortly after hooking up.  I forgot to weigh the 22-incher, doh!  I ended the night with an 18-incher on the Rage Shad.

9 Eyes (Not bad for a night I thought I might get skunked)

Slow Bite

5.29lbs/25+" Rage Swimmer (GS)

Heavier than he/she looked, had stuff in the belly

18.5" Jerk Shad (Tomato)

6:40-10:00PM Center Standing Rock and Harbor Mouth North Jetty
40-35℉, Cloudy to Clear, Calm to 7mph East

I had been fishing for more than an hour before I got the first fish (18.5) on the Tomato Jerk Shad off of the Center Standing Rock.  A little before 8:30PM the wind picked up to about 4-7mph coming straight at the Jetty. It took about 25 minutes for rollers to start coming in.  The casting was proving to be difficult, so I picked up the Rage Swimmer. I quickly caught an 18.5-incher and the big one at the Harbor Mouth.  Then nothing. At 9:50PM I picked up the 6'8" Avid Rod with the Crackle Jerk Shad on it.  For whatever reason, I haven't thrown the Crackle the past few nights.  I won't be throwing that particular Crackle lure anymore because on the first cast my line cut at the spool.  I was dumbfounded.  That was the lure that caught the most walleye's in October and it was gone, not to a pike, but to a backlash. COULD NOT BELIEVE IT!

I did catch a 16-incher on the Stinger Hook of the Rage Swimmer as the clock struck 10PM.

4 Eyes (Twas a tough night)

Good Morning, OK Evening at the Jetty

3.17lb/24" Rage Swimmer (Ghost Shad)

24" Raileye

20.5" Rage Swimmer

Caught the same fish later in the day

All fish were caught in the first hour

6:00-8:00AM Harbor Mouth, CSR and North Corner Eddy's Jetty
41℉, Cloudy some light rain, Wave action but no wind
It rained during the overnight hours.  I was awake and it was warm so I thought I'd give the Jetty a try even though my morning trips have been pretty lackluster.  This trip didn't disappoint.  There was still wave action even though it was pretty much calm.  Just like last night, they were on the Rage Swimmer; That is what I caught all 6 fish on.  Unlike last night, I caught fish at the Harbor Mouth.  They were done biting by 7AM.  I caught the fish that I would catch tonight first fish at the Harbor Mouth.
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3.79lbs/22" Jerk Shad (Tomato)

Same fish as in the morning

Lost a very good fish trying to bring it over the two center big rocks

6:30-10:00PM All my spots produced fish tonight.
41℉, Partly Cloudy, No wind to speak of.

When I arrived at the Jetty tonight there was guy rigging up at his car just to the North of my parking spot.  I was thankful to see he went to the North Jetty.  I remarked as he went by that I expected it might be slow tonight because of the calm win.  Fortunately, the action was consistent and made for a good night.  I hooked into the first fish (17.75) of the night on the Ghost Shad Jerk Shad within my first 5 casts off of the North Corner Standing Rock. The other guy caught a fish about 5 minutes later.  There was a boat fishing about two cast lengths out front of the North Jetty.  I was fishing at the Center Standing Rock when a big center console boat came in hot passing the boat to the North then swerving quickly back south right into the north harbor while coming off plane.  I was just thinking maybe that maneuver might get the fish moving and active when I caught my second fish, another 17-incher on the same Jerk Shad as the first fish.  About 10 minutes later the other guy stopped by to compare notes as he left.  He had gotten two 20 plus inch fish and was surprised to hear both of mine were only 17-inchers.

My next three fish (20.5,17.5,20) were all on the Rage Swimmer.  The 17.5" was the same fish with cancer that I caught this morning, but this time I got it at the NC Standing Rock.  My last 5 bites (18.7,19,?,20.7,22) of the night all came on the Tomato Jerk Shad.  I was fishing off of the Center Standing Rock with the Jerk Shad paused when a big fish just steamrolled it.  As I was pulling it over the two big guard rocks the fish pulled off and was gone.  I didn't get a real good look at it, but I would say it was probably over 26-inches and may have been my biggest Jetty fish ever.  I should have been more careful with it.  Lesson learned the hard way. Oh well, no use crying over a fish that I'm not sure how big it was.  I think I'm going to try and move one of those guard rocks to make a spot for landing fish.

19.81lbs for the evening trip

16 Eyes for the day.

Good Night at the Jetty

4.96lbs/25" Jerk Shad (Ghost Shad)

(Same Fish)

6:35-10:00PM North Corner, NCSR, CSR Eddy's Jetty North
41℉, Partly Cloudy, 3-6mph SE

5..15lbs/24.75" Jerk Shad (Ghost Shad)

Ghost Shad H2O Xpress Ultimate Jerk Shad

Since I arrived at the Jetty at 6:30PM I decided to put on a Ghost Shad Jerk Shad, a color I don't throw very often.  It paid off with my two biggest fish (24.75,25) of the night when I got down to the North Corner.  After not getting another bite after 15 minutes I switched up to the Rage Swimmer around 7:15PM and caught a 20-incher when I got to the Center Standing Rock.  The fish was caught by the stinger hook.  I just kept catching them on the Swimmer so I didn't put it down until 9:30 or so when the action finally slowed.  I caught 9 walleye's total (24,22,22,21,21,20,20,18,17) on the Swimmer.  I think it was the 24-incher that had a DNR tag in it.  First tagged fish I've caught this year, which is kind of remarkable because I'm well north of 100 walleye's caught out of Mille Lacs this year.  I caught two fish (20,17.5) on the Crackle Jerk Shad and two fish (20,18) on the Tomato Jerk Shad in the final 20 minutes of fishing.  Remarkably I didn't get a single bite at the Harbor Mouth tonight.

31.08lbs for my Best 8 Eyes tonight

  15 Eyes (Only lost 1 hooked fish, they were really getting Rage Swimmer good tonight)