Saturday Starvation

[ddaley]

Just got back from Starvation, meant to stay for Sunday fishing too but unfortunately the catching was a bit too slow to justify it. As promised, a full report:

Launched around 8am in our pontoons at Rabbit Gulch water temp 40 degrees. Headed out to the middle trolling a shad scatter rap with no luck. Trolled west in about 30 feet of water until I picked up a group of fish hanging on the bottom on the sonar. Tossed a 3 inch smelt Gulp! to them and hooked up with a fat 16-17 inch rainbow. Continued trolling and caught football shaped 12ish inch rainbow about 15 minutes later. Headed west trolling with nothing until I decided to switch back to bottom bouncing gulp minnows. Not long after I felt a little tap which turned into the best fight of the day to which I landed a FAT 20 inch rainbow. Love a fish like that on light tackle, my forearm was sore by the time I landed him as he kept running away as soon as he'd see the 'toon.

Not much action for the next hour or two until I again landed a 16-17 inch bow on a gulp. Shortly thereafter while chatting with my buddy on the water I watched him land a decent walleye bouncing a tube sweetened with crawler.

Head back to shore to go grab some lunch and then get back at it. Around 3:30 we were back on the water and I was jigging gulps again since it was the only thing that seemed to slightly work. Within the first hour of being back out on the water (3:30-4:30) I had landed 2 walleye and one of the biggest rainbows I've ever caught. Unfortunately didn't get a picture of the rainbow because he was too anxious to get back in the water while I was trying to make him pose for a picture but he was roughly 20-22 inches and FAT, FAT, FAT (Have I mentioned that all the fish were FAT?) . Taking a picture from a pontoon, by yourself, when you can't even get your hand around the fish is quite difficult I continued fishing thinking it was only going to get hotter but I was wrong, not so much as a nibble after about 4:30 therefore I decided to head home.

Amazing day on the lake, fishing was slow but caught some quality fish, including my first walleye! Pontoon boat is still loaded so I guess I have to go somewhere tomorrow morning too
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[albinotrout]

Good on you to get some fish. Water seems a little cold still.
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[ddaley]

Max I saw it hit was 43 degrees so yeah it's still cold. At one point it was reading 39 when I was a bit more East towards the main lake...
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[albinotrout]

I have plans to hit Huntington north on Monday. Nice warm day.
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[akammerman]

Thanks for the report and glad you had a great time. My brother recently purchased property up near Starvation and I can't wait to go fish there this summer.
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[TubeDude]

[#0000FF]Glad you had decent weather and that a few fish wanted to play. Usually pretty slow in the colder water...after the series of fronts we have had.

Those feisty rainbows can make it interesting. I usually go for walleyes and perch but never turn down a smallie or a rainbow if they wanna join the party. Walleye and perch action usually gets much better after the spawn and after the water warms above 60 degrees.

Always good scenery at Bunny Gulch. The downside is that the past couple of years the power squadron has discovered it for summer recreation and even during the week it is almost unbearable if you are there for a quiet time in a tube or toon. I now treat it almost like Pineview...fish it early and late in the year and leave it to the rowdies during the summer.
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[ddaley]

Good to know about the power squadron and thanks for the information prior to leaving. I'm going to plan on hitting it again in a few weeks to hopefully get in on some more walleye and perch. Those rainbows were a riot, haven't targeted trout too often lately unless I'm taking the fly rod out to the river but man the ones I caught there were sure fun from the pontoon on light tackle.

Question for the group, how big of walleye is worth keeping and eating? Or based on the management of the lake or the greater good, what is the ideal size to keep? I hear they are delicious, already have plans to take a couple home along with a some bows I might catch next time but being primarily a catch and release guy if I'm going to take some home I'd like to take the right ones.

Also, suggestions on filleting a walleye? Is it the same as you would do other fish?
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[TubeDude]

[#0000FF]Walleyes are widely considered to be the epitome of fishy table fare. Firm and mild. Delicious.

Everybody has their own standards about what size to keep. No problem with population control in Starvation. Usually plenty of all sizes. But there are some year classes that are more prevalent than others. In an "average" year...with a good mix of sizes...there is no need to keep fish too small to produce a good fillet. But anything "teen incher" or better will generally be large enough to provide a couple of decent fillets.

Most seasoned wally whackers have a policy of releasing everything over about 24 inches. Since that is about the largest size attained by the males they are essentially releasing all spawning age females. But...contrary to what some will tell you...even the big ones are fine eating. They do not decline in quality with age. A matter of personal principal. And once you have experienced how good they are on the table you will have trouble releasing a biggun...especially if that is the only walleye you have caught all day.

Perch and walleye are closely related and have the same skeletal structure. They are among the easiest fish to fillet. Simple skeleton and the ribs are not too large and thick to block a good sharp fillet blade...although I use an electric and it just sails through those fillets with ease. Use the standard cut behind the head, cut toward the tail, flip the fillet over to the skin side and run the knife between flesh and skin to remove the skin. Larger fillets can be cut into smaller pieces for easier cooking.

There is no bad way to cook walleyes. You can coat and deep fry them, saute them uncoated in garlic butter, blacken sear them, oven broil them or even grill them. However, their flesh is flaky so be sure to use a grill basket or some other means of holding the fillets together as they cook.

If you keep a few of the smaller ones, try using them in your favorite fish taco recipe. Yum.
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