30", 9.4 lb. Piggy

[Kevin J Legg]

 I caught my largest eye of the year on the river this morning. Three hits and caught a 9.4 and a 4.3 pounder and lost one at the net about 6 lbs.. The last few outings I have only caught fish deep, so I was running a downrigger, a heavy bottom bouncer and as an afterthought threw out a TD11 on a longline with little expectation. You guessed it. I caught her on the longline, down about 22 feet over 35 fow. The other two fish hit a stick bait off the heavy bottom bouncer. One at 35' and one at 55'.

 It's definately a circus netting them fishing three rods solo in the current but it was a gorgeous morning.

 I've got a batch of jerky in the dehydrator, 18 goose breasts in the smoker with some duck breast to follow. Next I need to veggies from the garden and tonight I am doing a shore dinner for 11 friends and family on their farm. Man I'm busy but I love this time of year and am blessed to be able to have the time to do the things I love.

 

[rnsurfnturf]

Way to go Kevin! Congrats on the pig!

 

Love those taildancers!

[cuttermag]

Nice job Kevin!

[Sk8man]

  Nice going Kev....some great eating there and the other stuff you're going to be doing sounds great too

[Roughrider IV]

Congrats on biggest so far, I'm sure it will fall behind some double digits soon enough! Waiting patiently for an " Orange belly or walleye magic sighting. I've got 15 rods ready to get wet on the 23rd.

[BSmaster]

Kevin, I want to be your friend.

[mhtrapper]

Way to go kevin ,nice hog for this time of year. I still have not been able to get away to try for the eyes in about 3 weeks, did make it down there sat. late morning with the wife and daughter but didn't do much fishing just had a little time so we spent a few hours trying to beat the rain that never came.

[tugger]

Kevin

 

   Very nice fish!!! I don't know if you have a Minn Kota or not but I thought I'd suggest a system that works for me as I solo fish a high %. I troll with the main motor much of the time and leave the Minn Kota in the water (turned sideways to slow the troll a couple tenths). When I hook a fish I put the main motor in neutral then turn the Minn Kota straight forward and hit Auto Pilot to carry enough speed to keep the lines straight and normally around 1.5mph. Its a pretty smooth and seamless operation once you get in the habit. I don't know how strong the current is where you are fishing or if you are in tight quarters but this system can be very effective for keeping things from going crazy when out solo.

Edited July 29, 2014 by tugger

[MeatHunter737]

Nice slob!!!

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[Xxx]

Congrats on the hog, Kevin, you earned it fishing solo it qis an adventure for sure, especially when you hook a monster and don't want to lose em. Keep doing the things you enjoy in life as much as possible also!!

[johnnywalleye]

Congrats

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[justtracytrolling]

Nice fish Kevin!

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[Kevin J Legg]

Tugger,

The current is extremely strong where I'm fishing. I tend to simple slow as much as possible and continue to head into the current. I generally leave the rod in the rod holder and try to clear rods  I release the line and raise the rigger and leave flat lines out or reel in the bottom bouncer. I head out into deeper water and then simply put it in neutral and fight the fish as the boat drifts down river. I often am a couple hundred yards down river by the time I land the fish. I may occasionally kick it in gear to maintain pressure. I'm probably successful landing 90% of fish this way. I don't have auto pilot on my Minn Kota and I don't think it would even hold me in many of the places I fish due to strong current. Even the 60 hp has to be bumped up above idle to make headway when trolling..

[BigMac]

With current that heavy Kevin. How do you manage speed when trolling. Usually I aim for 2mph sog this time of year but how does that translate headed Into the current. I would think the lure action would be working even sitting still?

[tugger]

Kevin

 

  If you have to bump up the idle on the main then I agree 100% that the Minn Kota would probably not be effective in this situation. The current must be about 2-3 mph. Sound like you have devised a way of fighting it effectively. Again, great fish!

[panfisher]

NNNniiiiiiiicceee! And we are blessed to hear from your exploits......oh blessed one....on this blessed LOU forum!    

[Kevin J Legg]

Current is extremely strong in some areas on the river. I troll into the current and my over water speed is extremely slow, sometimes I'm actually moving backward at idle. It's somewhat like hot-shotting with a drift boat in a river. I call it slip trolling and it;s not easy to do. There is a great deal of boat control involve working in and out of current seams. The lure action does change with current changes but I think that only helps trigger bites.When using heavy bottom bouncers I'm constantly slowly pumping the rod to feel the bottom and I believe this also triggers strikes.

Edited July 30, 2014 by Kevin J Legg

[BSmaster]

Back when I was a kid we use to fish the high current areas we would use live bait and drop them with a carolina or drop shot method.  To do this we use to anchor close or into the high current area and throw 90 degrees from the boat in out of the high current area.  The line always ends up in the back of the boat and the swinging  motion usually triggered a bite.  We were targetting smallies (back then) with this method, but I use this same concept in local rivers with less current and depth and I catch eyes this way.

 

I know trolling is the gig for covering water but like Kevin said.  Good luck.  I wish the islands were closer so I could hit them more often.

[Kevin J Legg]

BSmaster,

I use to fish smallies the same way but then went to a 1 oz sinker and drifted similar to drop shot rig. I caught tons of smallies like that in water up to 120' using electric to slow the drift. Now I do the same thing using jigging spoons and bucktails. You can certainly catch walleyes a lot of different ways even in heavy current.

[Wassup8687]

Nice job. You are the walleye slayer!

When is the best time to catch eyes? I know from some of your posts that you've been going out at night. I want to get into some eyes but getting out out night isn't feasible for me now.

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[Kevin J Legg]

You can catch them during the day but you need to fish deeper and boat traffic may be an issue. Many spots I fish are basically not very fishable after 9:30 am when boat traffic increases. I generally seldom see a boat when I'm fishing. If you can't fish at night I'd fish from sunrise till 9:00 or the evening if that's possible.

[gonefishing71]

absolutely awesome fish, congrats

[Kevin J Legg]

You can catch them throughout the day but the bite is not as consistent and they tend to move to deeper water. Also boat traffic makes boat control and fishing much harder.