Red River (North) - Wednesday, October 19, 2011

The Story of Willy the One Eye'd Walleye: Red River Walleye Adventure 8

January 25th, .....wait......no, October 18th?

There are few things that I love more than getting bundled up in my bibs, jacket, boots, and hat. However I do NOT love snot freezing to my nose! My buddies Robby and Steph met me at my house already suited up for the day. I wasn't sure if we were going ice fishing or open-water fishing?

I advise extreme caution while navigating the river right now. The good thing is, you pretty much have to go idle speed due to the cold weather. It's another windy day, but I have a few tricks up my sleeve. I like how the bottom is looking on a straight-away in the middle of the river. Nice and "humpy", 10 FOW, marking a few fish, lets throw anchor.

Luckily, there are signs of sauger, and Steph pulls in a nice 20 inch walleye. A quick change in presentation and we are 2 fish short of a 2 man limit. So why did we decide to move? Because all 3 of us want to see fish #5 and #6 go over the coveted ND 8 pound Whopper class.

Well our luck begins to run out, as they boated catfish after catfish. Not just little ones either, bigguns! The action for Walleye and Sauger begins to slow down. The water temps at 49-50 and I'm confused why these cats are still biting. Normally they'll shut off or at least begin to get "picky" once the water is at 50.

I call this spot "the Boat-lift". The roots from a tree that fell in the water are exposed slightly on the shoreline, and a sandbar had developed there. Right downstream is a nice gravel flat, and I like the depth. I run the boat on the sandbar and it feels like I'm on a MN lake, on a boat lift, ready to call it a weekend with the boat safely out of water.

I like Steph's intensity, as her rod is in the beginning stage of a nice hit. She hops over to it, perched on the stern, ready to grab it. BAM, a perfect hookset produces a nice pike. Fun! I'm not scared yet, and neither are they. Robby doesn't have to do ANY guess-work on this next hit, the rod is bent in half!

I'm really excited as I watch the head-shakes, we don't see any "death-rolls" and I think "hey,.......we're about due for a nice walleye, it's been a good 4 hours of moving around". I wait to get a good look at it, but I'm holding the net and I am just so looking forward to seeing a while belly and a green back. The second we see it I scoop it up, and we both have to calm down a second, it's a catfish and we were SO sure it'd be a 13 pound Walleye instead of a 13 pound Channel.

Now I start to not get so technical. I think back to "old school" days, where I'd just pick random spots to fish that look "walleye-ish". Sometimes the sun shines on a dog's butt, (or however that saying goes.) Steph's rod starts to dance. By now she knows exactly when to pick it up and when to set the hook. I was really impressed/proud. On the other end of her line is a perfectly selected sucker minnow out of the bucket. We were saving it for "the big one". 

The battle is on, she set the hook with authority, and Rob and I look at each other with a smile. I was afraid I'd jinx us by doing the "nudging each other with the elbow" thing but the way she was reeling it in and the way the fish was fighting we just knew, it couldn't be a Cat. I had a relaxed feeling, I knew the fish wouldn't come off, and that she would stop reeling if the fish was fighting, let him fight, and continue reeling in any slack line. 

Well we got what we were after, I see the Sumo Walleye and after a perfect net job scream at the top of my lungs "YEAAAHH!!!!!!!!!!!!" Hugs, handshakes, smiles, and then a quote from Steph "get that thing in the boat NOW"

First, before I close, I just want to say that there's no doubt this fish has the head of a 14 pound, yes I said 14 pound Walleye. The body however, not so much. Not taking anything away from the fish, which has the most unique body I've ever seen. I see he's missing his right eye and I thought we hurt him, but it's just glazed over. Possibly a battle scar, or maybe he was hooked in the eye long ago and released, or the fisherman wasn't as lucky as we were. 

8 pounds, 4 ounces, and 27 (yes, 27) inches. Well that's all fine and dandy, but we still have to search for fish #6! I have my work cut out for me, and thankfully I have hand warmer packs, 3 pairs of gloves for various purposes, and we are all toughing the cold and wind pretty good.

Then next few moves produce fish within 1 minute of letting the bait "marinate" on the bottom. 16 pound catfish, 8 pound catfish, it's not looking good and my heart sinks. I remain confident though, despite all things. With the sun going down, the wind showing no signs of stopping, we are all in agreement that we will wave the white flag, after the next move. 

Robby's rod tip TOUCHES THE WATER in a matter of minutes. Looks like a Tarpon and I'm waiting for this 20 pound plus catfish to jump out of the water. It comes close to the boat and the hook ricochets off the side console of the boat. She came unhooked. Time to start reeling in the other rods. Wait! Wait! Steph's rod is now doubled and she doesn't even have to set the hook. Same old same old, monster death-rolls, the fish almost coming to the surface about 20 yards downstream, not a good sign, but a fun battle and another 16-17 pound catfish.

Again, I stress, despite all odds I would give this day a 9/10. We didn't give up (well, we had to at dusk) and we had tons of fun! I have a few battle scars, sprains, and cuts, and it's worth it. I woke up this morning with a smile on my face, like just completed a 3 hour training/workout session. I feel accomplished and I hope you guys do too, and I would really like to see "Willy the One Eyed Walleye" on a name plate under that fish on your wall.

Thank you for choosing me, and see you on the water

Josh Burgett

Tags: walleye, river, october, red, north, 0, wednesday, one, willy, things

Region: Red River (North)

Categories: Fishing