Kentucky Walleye

[kc]

Just curious how you would characterize the walleyes as "coming on strong" in the Ohio river. While it's true that the Ohio has great late-fall to spring sauger fishing the number of walleyes comparitively is low. I have fished below the dam at Louisville all my days and I would characterize the increase in walleyes over the past 10 - 15 years as modest. 20 years ago you rarely heard of catching walleyes below the dam. Then over the last 10 years or so there has been a gradual increase in numbers. I don't fish out there frequently these days but this fall I went 3 times and caught several hundred sauger and maybe 6 walleye. Am I missing something? Are you catching the walleye in a different pattern than the sauger? I think it is great to see the walleyes coming on in the river and I hope most are releasing them to let their numbers grow but I haven't seen big numbers out there myself.

kc

[jfw]

Like I stated ...the past few seasons or winters on the Ohio I might catch 3 0r 4 walleye all winter ,This fall we got an eye on almost every trip when sauger fishing ,

I live in old Clarksville a few blocks from the Harrison ave ramp ,I fish the River 4 to 5 times a week .We started catching sauger in Early Sept this year when fishing for Stripes on big stick baits ,I knew this was gonna be a better sauger year than the past few winters

KC shoot me an e-mail sometime and we will try them ,of course the river is almost in flood stage now soo it will be a couple of weeks

[kc]

It sounds like the walleye numbers have improved a bit. That number of 6 I stated we actually caught all of them on one of the 3 trips where the fishing was incredible. That is by far the most walleye I have caught out there at one time (there were 4 of us in the boat) but all of the 'eyes were small. There sure was some good sauger fishing out there this fall -- shame the rains took it away for a while.

When things settle down I would like to take you up on giving it a try out there. I live in southern Jefferson Co and it is only a 20 minute drive or so for me over to the dam. I have enjoyed chasing after the river fish that stack up behind the dam through the years. I used to do a lot of striper fishing some years back but haven't done much on them these days. Back in the late 80s they were thick as flies out below the dam.

kc

[MASBASS]

The 7.5 lb Walleye at Nolin came from near Wax. Another guy and his fishing partner caught 9 or 10 keepers in late Decemeber nothing super large but that is a lot of keepers.

[kc]

That sounds about right to me. In early-to-mid winter the occasional walleyes I have caught tend to be from Wax and down a bit. Later in February into March I have caught them more up in the river. I just wondered with these warm rains that we have had if they were moving up earlier this year.

kc

[birdstrike]

Boy oh boy, I feel like I'm missing the boat with these walleye! I study up on their habits, buy all the right gear, scout out all the likely spots and finally spend all the time I can steal out towing crankbaits, drowning worms, and sinking minnows. All this to catch a handful of walleye each year. Then some guy bass fishing lands a lunker walleye or runs across a school of active fish and catches more walleye by accident then my tired, broke, cold butt catches all year.

I went to Bacon creek yesterday and spent 5 hours battling the current for nodda. I should have gone somewhere else after all that rain we had, but where? The fish could be anywhere right now. Everything I've learned about walleye tells me they are in their pre-spawn phase right now. They are slowly migrating toward the areas where they will make their spawning efforts. The fish caught near Wax were likely making their way up the lake towards the Bacon Creek area from where they've spent the summer in the deeper/ cooler water around the dam. Now remember, this assumption comes from a guy who only has moderate success at catching fish, despite all my efforts. So while us dedicated walleye fishermen are scratching our heads trying to figure out the fish, some lucky guy fishing for crappie lands a big un. These southern walleye are truly frustrating fish.

[steve604]

I live about 12 miles from Bacon creek. If you'r planing another trip give me a shout. I don't mind running down and checking the river for you. Might save you a long drive to end up fishing in a 20 mile per hour mud hole like Sunday was.

Steve

[Rowdy]

I caught a 6" wally at Conollaway Last week , Was that last years hatch?
Rowdy