Archive for October, 2010
Walleye are considered one of the finest tasting fish available. The meat is white, flaky and has a very mild flavor. So, this week’s Set Your Hook article gives you some general fishing techniques for catching walleye.
Do you know where to find walleye in your area? Are you looking for a lake where you can fish from shore or go out in the boat? Find lakes, rivers and streams on EatStayPlay.com
Walleye Description
Walleye are known by their yellow-olive back with a brassy cast. The sides are brassy-yellow with dark mottling, and the belly is white; there is a dark spot at the rear of the spiny dorsal fin. The eyes of a walleye are opaque-silver in color. The fish have moderate canine-like teeth. They range in length from 12 to 29 inches and can weigh between 10 oz. and 12 pounds or greater.
Walleye Location & Habitat
Walleye are a bottom oriented fish, due to their sensitivity to light, preferring to stay in deep water during the day, moving to shallow waters during the night. The walleye prefers moderately deep lakes with gravel, rock or sandy bottoms. It is found primarily in cold water lakes but has proven to survive in some warmer water impoundments. They spawn in spring, in relatively shallow water, over clean gravel or rocky bottoms.
There are eight lakes in Arizona that have walleye, but you can only eat the walleye from 6 of them (mercury issues!) Before you consume ANY fish, be sure to check your local Game & Fish to see if there are any restrictions.
Walleye’s Favorite Foods
Walleye will eat virtually anything they can catch and get in their mouths. They prefer small fish and will eat crayfish, worms and insects.
Angling For Walleye
Because of light-sensitive eyes, walleyes feed more actively early in the morning, late in the evening, or at night. Effective lures and baits include, minnows, night crawlers, jigs, crankbaits, spoons, small spinner baits, and minnow imitating plugs, as well as plastic worms and grubs. (Be sure you can fish with live bait in the lake!)
This fish can be somewhat wary and prefer the safety of deeper, darker water. Try fishing for walleye from sundown to midnight, particularly during the heat of summer.
Fall Fishing For Walleye
Top Baits: Jigs, crankbaits and spoons. Fish shallow to moderate depths in the mornings and evenings. As the sun rises, move deeper and use small spoons or jigs.
Unlike trout and most pan fish, you can’t really use the super easy 4 Step Fish Cleaning Process.
Because catfish have no scales, you usually remove the skin when you’re cleaning them. As I discovered with The Queen Mother’s Cataract Lake catfish, removing the skin is easier said than done.
(Take my word for it on THAT one!)
After trying to ‘intelligently’ write up the process, I found a great 5-step process from Iowa Department of Natural Resources that I’ll share with you. (The pictures are theirs as well!)
Materials needed: a sharp knife, pliers, fillet glove, and firm surface.
Step 1. Grip the head tightly with the pectoral fins tucked between the fingers. Slit the skin along the backbone from just behind the head to the dorsal fin. Cut the skin on either side of the dorsal fin.
Step 2. With a firm hold on the head, grasp the skin with the pliers and pull toward the tail fin to remove.
Step 3. Grasp the head with one hand and the body with the other. Bend the head downward to break the backbone. Remove the head.
Step 4. Slit the belly and remove the internal organs.
Step 5. (Optional) Cut along both sides of the dorsal and anal fins and use the pliers to remove.
Readers Weigh In:
- Is this how YOU clean catfish?
- Do you have a better/easier way to get catfish ready to cook?
As I got ready to write my article this week, it dawned on me that I hadn’t written an article about the best ways to catch catfish!
Catfish Story:
The EatStayPlay.com “Royal” Family was trout fishing at Cataract Lake in Williams, Arizona. The fishing seemed slow but the lake was packed so we had to walk way past our usual spot. When we got to the lake shore, we discovered that ESP Boss hadn’t brought The Queen Mother’s fishing pole. After a, ahem, ugly scene, The Queen Mother agreed to use ESP Boss’ backwards, upside-down, won’t-catch-anything, left-handed pole. She threw in a test cast and pulled out a catfish! It was the only fish we caught all day.
Channel catfish are well-known for their fighting spirit. Because of this, it’s important that you have a quality rod and reel. A medium action 6-7 foot rod with 12 pound test line will land a large channel cat, but be prepared for a lengthy battle. And, you still might end up breaking your tackle and losing the fish. Isn’t that possibility part of the fun?
Catfish have scattered black spots on a silver or gray colored back and sides with a white belly, but large adults have few spots. They have smooth, scale-less skin and 8 barbels or ‘whiskers’. Length is 10 to 39 inches and weight 12 ounces to over 15 pounds or larger (depending on the waterway, area of the country, fishing habits, etc.) Contrary to myth, the “whiskers” are harmless to touch and used only to smell, taste and feel as it forages for food. However, the dorsal fin and pectoral fins have sharp spines which can inflict a painful wound.
Channel catfish are found in most warm water lakes and rivers and they inhabit deeper stretches of rivers and streams with moderate current. Spawns are from April through early June. In Arizona, they are occasionally stocked in some waterways.
Channel catfish will eat almost anything dead or alive, although, they prefer minnows, crayfish, and aquatic insects. Effective baits are waterdogs, liver, blood bait, shad, shrimp, anchovies, homemade stink baits, hot dogs, minnows and worms. Other popular baits are cut baits (pieces of goldeye, tulibee or suckers), raw shrimp, chicken and beef liver and hearts, frogs and nightcrawlers.
(Before using a bait, be sure to check with your local Fish & Game to make sure that it is allowed in the waterway you’ll be fishing!)
All baits work well, but on some days one will work better than another, so it is best to bring more than one type with you. Fresh cut bait works better than frozen. A float rig with a small hook tipped with a piece of nightcrawler and some split shot for weight is an effective way to catch some goldeye.
We usually use the old standby of chicken livers, but another option is turkey or chicken hearts. They stay on the hook really well and cats love them!
Readers Weigh In:
- What are your favorite catfish baits?
There is that point in every beginner’s life where they decide to switch from bank fishing to fishing from a boat. If you’re just getting into boat fishing, the easiest thing to do is to go to a lake that rents row boats and take one out for an afternoon.
Once you’ve mastered the challenge of just DEALING with all your fishing tackle in the boat, then you can try trolling.
Just What Is Trolling?
Put very simply, trolling is drawing a baited fishing line through the water. Trolling can be done with one or more people in the boat. But, if you’re just getting started, I think it’s easier if one person runs the motor and the others fish.
It’s a challenge to try to run the motor
AND fish
AND deal with anything you catch
AND not get the line fouled in the motor.
If you’re trolling for lake trout, then you’ll want to use a lure specifically designed for trout. I’ve tried trolling with worms or Power Bait with no success; the lures are specially designed to get the job done.
My favorite lure for trolling for lake trout is a flatfish lure. I’ve had mine since I was 8 so it actually has a name: Sir Gregory. Go figure!
Sir Gregory has been retired from active fishing (I would hate to lose him after all these years) and just hangs out in my tackle box for luck.
Here are my three biggest tips for getting started with trolling.
1. Troll Slowly
Big fish will not expend any more energy than necessary to catch a meal. Also, most lures will not perform correctly at fast speeds. The best advice is to troll SLOWLY, the slower the better.
When ESP Boss and I troll, sometimes he refuses to use a motor and rows instead. Of course, this may have something to do with a full reel of line being wrapped around a new electric motor and ruining it. (I was 9 but he’s never gotten over it!) A plus of using oars is that the movement of the lure is a bit erratic as it moves quickly and then slowly with the rhythm of the rowing.
Notice that there is very little wake? That's because they're moving slowly as they troll.
However, if you must use a motor, make sure it will throttle down to a crawl, or, better yet, purchase a multi-speed electric motor. You can use the electric motor for trolling and save a larger gas motor for power. Just be sure that your type and size of motor is permitted on the lake!
Most of the lakes listed on EatStayPlay.com have motor information.
2. Vary Your Speed
While slow speeds are critical, this does not mean the same slow speed all the time. A lure running through the water at a constant speed, at a constant depth and giving off the same vibration pattern will not catch many fish. The movement is too regular and there’s nothing to indicate an easy meal or that something (i.e. the lure) is in trouble. Troll slowly, but adjust your speed every few minutes to change the lure’s speed and vibration pattern.
3. Troll In “S” Shaped Curves
The best results mean that you shouldn’t troll back and forth in a straight line. An “S” pattern is great, because every time the lure is on the inside swing of the boat, it will drop deeper and slow down. On an outside turn, the lure will speed up and rise. With each turn, you will impart a different action to the lure, signaling meal time to nearby fish.
As the boat gets closer to shore, it'll swing in a wide curve to pull the lures through the shallows. And to tempt any trout lurking there!
If you know where the fish like to hang out in the lake (EVERY lake has hot spots), then swinging curves to pass the lure through these areas should also get results.
Readers Weigh In:
- Do you prefer to fish from the shore or a boat?
- If fishing from a boat, would you rather troll or bottom fish?
- Do you have any trolling tips to share?
