Hi everyone,

Guided 3 days last week and had a rain out from Sunday. Walleyes have been fairly active most days with the usual lull here and there. Had a lot of smaller fish with enough keepers to provide a fish fry or two. I maintain a strict 15" size limit in my boat and we released many many walleyes in the 14" range and kept crappie, bluegills and perch to add fillets to the pile. My clients understand the importance of releasing those walleyes under 15" as those are walleyes that the LCFRA and the CFAPOA have stocked in the last three years. We have put a lot of effort in this project to bring the walleye population back to prominence. So far, it's working. Please release walleyes under 15". Thank you.

The pattern has been deep wood and the bait of choice has varied from strickly a leech bite to just minnows to one day they hit each equally well. Have both along and experiment. I provide lead-free jigs to my clients and they work well. My newly designed inline jig goes through wood and snags with out snagging up constantly. Try them, you'll be impressed.

On Friday, I volunteered my time to help with the kids bluegill fishing event held at Shues pond in downtown Hayward. The event was sponsored by the DNR and is a big hit with the youngsters. Former DNR biologist Frank Pratt started the project 13 years ago and it has grown to involve a lot of kids trying out their luck. It was a rewarding experience to be able to give back to the community and to see the smiles on the faces of the boys and girls while they caught bluegills and crappies on equipment provided by the DNR and bait was provided by donations. I definitely plan on helping out with this project again next year during the Musky Festival. Have a safe and enjoyable week and good luck fishing everyone.

Walleyemaxx