Walleyes expected to bite pulled bait during Wal-Mart RCL tourney
BAY CITY, Mich. – There are no secrets when it comes to hooking and catching walleyes out of Saginaw Bay in Michigan during late June. You troll, troll, troll.
The key to unlocking the secrets to this massive bay located on Lake Huron is to find the right pod of actively feeding fish and offer them a tasty morsel, like a Wally Minnow or a spinner tipped with a leech or crawler. As long as the RCL pros can withstand the onslaught of black flies and the aggressive channel catfish population, they can expect to haul in some mighty fine limits of walleyes. They will compete for $50,000 cash and a fully rigged Ranger, Crestliner or Lund boat on June 26-29 at the fourth and final qualifying stop of the Wal-Mart RCL Walleye Circuit 2002 season.
“The walleye fishing on the Bay during the latter part of June can be as hit-and-miss as taking a hit while holding 11 in a game of blackjack,” said local guide captain Dan Manyen of Walleye Express Charters. “Get the right card, and you can’t be beat. Draw a low card, and your next move may put you out of the game. This is exactly what late-June fishing on Saginaw Bay can be like. With the water temperatures still in the mid- to high-60s, we are very close to where things should start popping.”
Ranger pro Julia “Juls” Davis of Port Clinton, Ohio, agrees with captain Dan: “There are some very solid fish available in Saginaw Bay. I caught a nice 8-pounder in practice, and as long as I find active schools of walleye, I think I can do pretty good.”
Longtime walleye angler and Ranger pro Rick LaCourse from Oregon, Ohio, knows where the fish are but needs to fine-tune his approach to win the tournament.
“I came close to winning a big tournament out here last year,” said LaCourse. “I was late to the weigh-in, so I forfeited a bunch of weight that cost me the tournament. I know where the fish are. I just have to figure out what they want to eat.”
Davis suggests pulling Wally Minnows or spinners and bait behind planer boards.
“You can catch walleye out here on either crankbaits, like the Wally Minnow, or on spinners and bait,” said Davis. “If the fish are more active, the Wally Minnow will work very well. Otherwise, a spinner and either a crawler or leech seem to be the best options.”
Local guide Dan Manyen feels strongly about both the crankbait and spinner bites.
“Some of my best success on plastics has come using old Storm crankbaits such as the Flat Wart, Wiggle Wart and ¼-ounce Hot-N-Tot,” said Manyen. “The black and gold, along with the metallic rainbow, trolled short in 10 feet of water from Bresette Beach along the shoreline to the Pencil Buoys near the mouth of Saginaw River channel has been very good to me.
“I then would fish along the east side of the man-made island on a line with the tip of the Callahan Reef. This technique is my late-morning, early afternoon remedy. The early mornings, though, might be better-spent using Keel Sinker and harness rigs off in-line boards in as little as 4 to 6 feet of water near shore,” continued Manyen. “Using the electric trolling motor for power has always worked best when the wind and waves allow. Bottom bouncers and harnesses drifted when larger waves present themselves is also a good idea.
“Other good late-June spots are on the eastern shoreline near Oakhurst, the humps out in front of the Quanicassee River, Sunset Bay Marina, Fish Point and especially out in front of the Sebewaing River, near North and Duck Island. For some reason, the water temperature is always 3 to 5 degrees warmer in that small, bay area,” said Manyen. “Another technique that took off last year was trolling Hot-N-Tot Pygmy’s, with as little as 10 feet back off in-lines, virtually right in and around the emerging weed beds. It takes a while to GPS plot in a trolling pattern between these weed beds, but the guys who dialed into this pattern last year were limiting out sometimes three times a day, while us deep water trollers were catching just half that amount.”
Cats and flies will keep all anglers busy on Saginaw Bay.
“There are tons of black flies and big channel catfish to contend with out there,” said Davis. “While trolling in practice I caught lots of 4- to 10-pound catfish. When the bite slowed down, you would really notice the swarming, and biting black flies everywhere. I mean there are thousands of them.”
With so many fish available in Saginaw Bay, expect the leaders to weigh in at least 15 pounds per day to make the semifinal cut. If the bite turns on like some anglers are predicting, you might see some massive bags of ‘eyes cross the RCL weigh-in stage.
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