Great comments at the end of the last post. My opinion travels toward a water temperature factor but then back toward flow. In my walleye fishing philosophy the tenant is such that we do not determine when to catch walleye; mother river determines that for us. To delve into the mysteries of The Mighty Maumee is a challenge to the extreme. But she gives us plenty of clues along the way.
Take ice for example. I'm with DBLDIP in that the thickness of ice and date of break-up are critical moments on when the walleye arrive. I'll add that when ice gives the ole river a good cleaning and takes out dead trees, we always see a drastic change in the depth of the bottom and banks. These types of changes are irreversible, so following what happens over time is necessary to figure out where to fish...and if you can get there.
I've never gotten a walleye in February because I start fishing in March. We've gotten them the first week of March, especially about 15 years ago. Lately, the depths have become so extreme in early March that we have no chance to get out till mid-month. The flow is far too strong for boats. But to go out in February? Better watch upstream because ice and debris will still come down from Ft. Wayne.
By the way, I headed into Michigan about 2 hours away to ice fish (planned in advance of course), got there, and found bad stuff. Almost 2" of ice. Too thick to pound through and clear out for a small boat. Too thin for my butt.
Hey DBLDIP: I haven't tried cutting that lead yet. Will let you know how it goes. Eh'hem, I mean, hey when you want to get together and mold some plastic for your floaters, you let me know!
I think we will still see some ice up around the area. I'm not giving up on ice crappies. But whether The Maumee freezes is really up to her.
Dr. Walleye
15 comments:
Just came from the river and by the looks of the river it feels like fishing season! I know it's still to cold but the river looked good. Minimal debrie coming over the dam so I have a feeling they didn't get to hard out west either. Water level at the 475/23 bridge the 3 could be clearly seen so by the conversion chart on another web site says level is at about 579'. I just hope this weather doesn't make the run happen early to whear we miss it or mess it up all together!
Happy fishing!
Bait shop has it at 583' 1/2".I well bet is every bit of that.I walk the River every day ,you could fish the high water spots as long as you don;t step to far out the river has moved a lot of rocks.the guys that fished the lake yesterday had no luck at least the guys I know
Today the River was down about 16 inches from yesterday.It sure dropped fast .must not be any runoff..
Thanks for the updates Graybeard. Hey Anon...great post. How about signing up and giving yourself a name? All the cool guys and gals are doing it!
New to you guys here, But I did read on hear last year. Last year was my first year fishing the maumee and I loved it, But I'm still learning thats for sure!! I managed to bring home 30 eyes all together last year, I wanna bump that to 40 this year... Anyways sounds like the river is looking good, what do you think the odds are of catching a couple this early?
fished the river today. Got my limit of walleyes in about 25 min at meigs. 5/8 ounce with a pink tail. let 5-10 go. Great day
Yeah right...and a monkey just flew out of my butt!
By the way that is not the same anonymous as the first post! But I am wondering if anyone has truly tried anything? I keep checking Maumee tackle for a temp update but nothing yet! Walleyerun.com water level table shows just under 582. hopefully soon they will be here the itch is getting to me!
Gatlin and crudeman...welcome to the site! Thanks for signing up. From what DBLDIP says, he may lean me toward going for some Feb eyes for the first time in my life. Heck...the limit is still 6 till March 1. And it's leap year, so mark down Feb. 29. The Closer is on to something...
I don't know what the water temp is. A few days ago Gary reported 35.9.
Talked To some friends that fished the river with (Jigs with the Maumee Twist) on them,all they were able to get was a few Carp
I'm thinking about trying it saturday depending on what this rain does to help the water temp. I gotta scratch this itch!
bagged me one of the elusive February Walleye today (2/17), got it bouncing a lead head really slow with a white twist, in slow to still water above BW rapids from park on river rd. Its came in at 15 1/2 inches, just made it as a keeper. It was the only thing i got after about 2 hours. It hit just as the sun was setting and the wind died, thought i had a stick, it didnt start fighting until it hit the waters surface....Hear are the links to my photobucket so you guys can see:
http://i777.photobucket.com/albums/yy59/solar7647_album/100_0083.jpg
http://i777.photobucket.com/albums/yy59/solar7647_album/100_0084.jpg
hopin to get the straight scoop here. coming from Columbiana, ohio.
Post a Comment