Well . . . as Bert has already mentioned, it was the walleye getting the best of us on this day. The "massacre" was them getting the best of us. However, the time out on Wheeler Branch was great. It started out very cold. I was there first early in the AM and my thermometer read 30 degrees around 6:30. By the time the gates opened, a little light was developing, no wind at all and no clouds. So, what always appears to be the perfect day for fishing to the uninformed, but usually a tough day for fishing in reality. Add to this that there was a decent amount of new water in the lake and that always seems to be a negative factor at Wheeler.

Still a great day to be out and tons of shared information on fishing (and anything else we could think of!).

I have attached photos of: Christopher in his first kayak, a Feelfree Lure. Then, there is one of D.L. in his PA 14, and finally one of Bert showing him in a sort of silhouetted shot in his kayak.

Take a look! Brad

Never been but have wanted to give Wheeler a try I hear it's a great lake for the yak

Good job, Brad, keeping our secret Walleye hole a secret. No one could read what you or Bert reported and be any the wiser! Must have been quite a job sorting through all those pics and find the only ones where we WERE'NT in a tackle-testing struggle with those toothy, tasty white fillets of the deep! Those pics look like after we were plumb wore out! I'm pretty sure that there were at least 6...no 7 times that I was bottom bouncing my minnow spinner rig and my slow death rig that the walleyes were...interested! ..well ... not interested enough. OK, next time! As Brad said, beautiful day on the water. We'll let the walleyes grow a bit bigger. Bert and I were marking structure and what appeared to be walleyes right on the bottom, 20 FOW off the island point early. I varied my trolling speed from 0.5 to 0.9 mph throughout the morning. Trolled around island, underwater point to SW, rip-rap at dam, along shallow ledges that extend to island and in front of conference center. Trolling depth varied 15-37 FOW, always on bottom. Stuck with bottom bouncer minnow spinner rig off one side of the kayak, and alternated the other side with slow death rig night crawler or Helin flatfish w/pumpkinseed grub trailing about 3'. Only one LM bass early, right at bottom, 20 FOW. Water temp 53 per Bert, I was showing 55. Water visibility 10-12'.

D.L.

If you can post that pic of the giant 7 or 8 . . well, I mean 2 pound bass I caught, I need an "on the water" shot of my Native Propel 10.

Several things for sure about the walleyes in Wheeler:

1) they have stocked a lot of them in there;
2) the fry, if nothing else, likely make great high protein snacks for the LMBs;
3) but those that do survive and mature (I have seen them) HAVE TO EAT!

My guess is the fishing patterns were correct, that it is just a matter of a few trips to the lake, at the right time and conditions, and the walleye can be figured out. All lakes have nuances.

You and Bert have sold me on electronics. I pulled up next to Bert's yak and I was really amazed at what he could see. It just looks like it'd make fishing a lot more fun.

There was a video over on Facebook someone posted last summer showing a short clip of a SCUBA diving outing at Wheeler Branch and, sure enough, a few fish could be seen including a nice walleye that seemed unfazed by the camera-wielding diver. Pretty cool.

Cheers! Brad

He shot that pic as I was graphing the structure off the island looking for fish and I was focused on the depth finder. The wind kicked up before we found anything cooperating. My thoughts, with the light winds and sunlight they were buried in the vegetation and we were fishing techniques that would not reach them. I was about to switch to the jig and see if I could get it down in the veg and do some good when we called it.

I think if we can work out a cloudy day with manageable wind we should be able to pull some fish but with that clear water any other conditions will be hit or miss. The other option would be the deep water but after marking all the hooks that looked like catfish on a brush pile in 55 feet I doubt we could get it to them through the cats. The only way to know is to keep trying.

Bert, that would be my guess, too, that it will take a few trips to pick up on what it takes on Wheeler, to find a pattern, presentation, even a preferred lure and/or bait.

Brad

Brad, Bert - OK, I have ordered an overcast, spittin' rain day, steady pressure, cool water. Light walleye chop. Let's line this up for "round 2". OK, what day is it that our stars will align? I liked Bert's jig w/stinger - did you fish that thing much, Bert? Really appreciate the after-fishing LM bass pointers you guys gave me. Maybe I'll target them someday. Really fish for everything, BUT LM bass, they just seem to find me anyways whether I'm walleye, crappie, catfish or sand bass fishing.

D.L.

I never got it wet on Saturday, was about to remove the stinger and put a minnow on to see if I could do anything with it when we paddled in. The stinger is usually there when I am fishing crawlers on it or big minnows or if the walleye are lite biting and I want a quicker hook up because they are being line shy. I still had it tied on from my Canada trip in Sept where we had some monster minnows we were using so we would get the bigger fish to bite.

Don't forget your deep diving rapalas! Good luck

I have them, I did not take them on this trip due to the abundance of grass but may try them in open water around brush piles on the next attempt.

somebody give me a heads up when you are going again and I would like to join in if you don't mind.

At least you guys made it out there Brad...