Bprice - 6/4/2008 8:09 AM
I'd PM Nickajack Angler... he has spent some time in that general area. He's also very knowledgable and should be able to help!
Wow! Thanks for the compliment Brandon. I guess now, I have to respond with some tips.... although I fished MN, WI, Canada. But MI has the same species. Get to the great lakes and throw plastics for smallies or plugs for walleyes.... big ones. Shaky heads, senkos and bitsy jigs with trailers are best for smallies. But my secret lure up there was the original rapala in 4in, shad color. Buy one before you go, you won't find a shad colored rapala 800 mi from the midwest!!! LOL
If you are going Walleye fishing, just take the same spinning rod you use for bass and use anywhere from 8lb to 12lb mono. Use VERY small jigs for the walleyes, but rigging up some slip bobbers with the string to stop is best from shore, yes live bait rigs. You'll be hard pressed to catch walleyes with artificial unless you've done it for years and/or have a boat. For bait use LEECHES and take a small cooler, they die quickly in heat, but can live days in a cooler. Yes, you'll be able to find them, if not, use minnows or nightcrawlers. In that order. Lindy rigs are also a good option for walleyes from shore. They are prerigged and a staple rig up there. You'll also catch all species on that rig.
Also, a rapala (Shad color) medium diver works well. We went to Lake Erie to see an uncle and all we did is ride around on idle in his ski boat with rapala's thrown out and caught trophy walleyes and smallmouth just using this bait. And I do mean BIG ones.
This all can be done from shore or a boat. Look for breaks on points or humps. Usually rocks or edges of mudflats work best - any transition - they come shallow to feed in the AM and PM. You can catch walleyes in the middle of the day, but you'll need a boat and some damn good electronics.... or a knowledgeable partner. Go at first light and late in the afternoon, say 6pm to about 2 hrs past dark. Walleyes have about a 4 hr window of opportunity each AM and PM.
If you fish a river, use black hair jigs tipped with a minnow or leech and hop it along the bottom. Walleyes and smallies love leeches as well as do any species. Get jumbos. The bigger the better.
Otherwise, go and fish for bass just as you do here! They have some great bassin' up there, especially if you have a lake to fish. But watch out for the northern pike and muskies. They have TEETH and SIZE, so if you get a top water bite, spinnerbait or rattletrap you may want to use a 4 in steel leader. You'll figure that out after you lose a few lures/baits.
I have no idea what to use for salmon and if you go salmon fishing, you'll need a whole other set of gear, downriggers and stuff that us TN boys just don't have, unless you have saltwater gear. I would suggest making up your mind to either fish the lake that you have suggested for LM, SM, northerns and walleye... there probably are good crappie fishing there too, or go salmon fishing. One or the other. It's hard not to get over zealous in your hopes of fishing. Take one baitcaster and one spinning, your tackle box and give it a ride. The only two worm colors I used in the last 15 yrs up there was Pumpkin and Tequila Sunrise, Powerworm, 7in ribbontail. Everything else was a waste of time. My .02
