Kim “Chief” Papineau will not be competing in the Wal-Mart RCL Walleye League Finals out of Escanaba Harbor on Lake Michigan, but if he were, the local fishing guide and Bays de Noc expert said he would spend the majority of his time trolling crankbaits and crawler harnesses around main-lake structure as deep as 40 feet.
“There are 10,000 ways to catch them out there, but my guess is the guy who wins it will be the one who uses his sonar to locate groups of big walleyes along deep-water drop-offs, points and underwater reefs south of Escanaba,” Papineau said. “The deep fish are virtually untapped, and if somebody gets a trolling bite going out there, they are going to blow everybody away.”
Papineau said anglers will be able to utilize an assortment of artificials to collect respectable limits, but he predicts the heavier sacks will come on deep-jointed Thundersticks, Husky Jerks and Reef Runners rigged with snap weights or fished on Dipsy Divers or downriggers. The best color patterns are black/gold, chrome/blue, perch and Tennessee Shad.
“The key is going to be finding those transition lines where points dump into deeper water,” Papineau said. “There are well-defined drops in 12 to 20 feet of water and in 20 to 42 feet of water.”
Papineau said the Bays de Noc quadrant of Lake Michigan harbors some giant walleyes up to 11 pounds, but a 15- to 23-inch slot limit that restricts anglers to one fish over 23 inches per day could keep tournament weights in check.
“We could see a few 26- or 27-pound sacks, but I don’t think anybody will be able to catch that kind of weight each day,” Papineau said.
Papineau’s Call: 30 pounds to make the first cut, 34 pounds to win.