Portage - May 17 and 18

The pink jig pictured here
is a must for all fishermen

Hungry little guy

 I spent the weekend visiting my in-laws in Portage.  May is a great time of year to fish the shallow drop-offs and flats on their lake.

The Kalin's Grub strikes
yet again.  Sadly I was
fishing by myself and had
to try to photograph this 25"
walleye without help

This trip showed how important it is to try different techniques when you know the fish are in a certain spot.  Too often fishermen give up and just say "I guess they are not biting."

These fish wanted nothing to do with a bait on the bottom.  It had to be suspended about two feet above their heads to get a strike.

Carly with a 17" eye

 After trying many different presentations, we found that a 1/32 oz jig with a crappie minnow would catch fish in numbers.  Once changing to this, we caught 5 walleyes in about 30 minutes.  These fish ranged from 13" to 16" in size...we caught 5 more then next morning.

The largest fish (posted on lower left) was caught on the 5" Kalin's Grub and a 1/8 oz jig.  

May is one of my favorite times to fish, no matter what species or body of water...however fish are very vulnerable at this time.  I have nothing against keeping fish to eat every now and then, but I strongly encourage all fishermen to practice CPR (catch, photograph, release) on a regular basis.  Limit the fish you consume to species that you know are abundant in the body of water you are fishing, and make sure that they are not still in the process of spawning.  ALL FISH FROM THIS TRIP WERE CPR'ED.