Big Walleye

I had a chance to hit Potholes Reservoir on Monday and Tuesday.  After getting a call from YakTrap that he and Ray had been doing well catching these toothy critters, I packed up and drove east.  YakTrap and I have covered most of the reservoir over the past couple of years.  Our previous trip take homes were great "eater walleye" that were 15 to 20".  These fish are the best table fair *IMHO.  There's always the occasional bi-catch of yellow perch, crappie, and small/largemouth bass.  It's a lot of fun targeting them from a kayak.

This trip was a little different.  We worked just as hard to catch fish as previous outings.  I guess I just got lucky.  I landed a 33" female on a bottom walker / spinner comb on Monday.  My personal best.  Day two was a bit slower.  I decided to throw on a crank bait and fish it deep behind lead core picking up a 29" walleye that we released in shore.  All in all a great trip.  The weather this week is pretty amazing with temperatures in the 70's.

Tune into The Outdoorline on ESPN 710AM this Saturday at 6:30am. I'll be talking about targeting walleye from a kayak.

Great looking eyes.  Was the whole reservoir green like the last pic?

Does ESPN stream the radio show?

Great looking eyes.  Was the whole reservoir green like the last pic?

Does ESPN stream the radio show?

The plankton bloom developed over a period of about 4 to 5 hours on a sunny calm day. The day before was windy about 15 knots, just enough to turn the water and bring up nutrients. I did my graduate work on plankton growth rates but I've never witnessed a bloom develop that fast. Cool stuff for science geeks.

These pics show the water before the bloom (clear) and during the development (streaky). By 2 pm the lake looked like the Chicago River on Saint Patrick's Day.

Great looking eyes.  Was the whole reservoir green like the last pic?

Does ESPN stream the radio show?

Yes. The podcast is typically available later in the day after the broadcast.  Site is www.theoutdoorline.com

Those fish are IMHO some of the best tasting fish here. Yummm!

Those fish are IMHO some of the best tasting fish here. Yummm!

I couldn't agree more!