fishing Lake Gogebic

I've been fishing Lake Gogebic in the upper peninsula of Michigan going on now for 38 years. I've fished the Walleye Jamborees in September for many a year, from 1999 to 2008 and won my share of moneys. It doesn't matter what section of the lake I fish, the results are usually the same. You could say that I'm consistent as I usually catch more fish than most. Yes, probably more than the locals.

My method is much different than everyone else's from June to late September. I've fished the lake when it was snowing in September with 2-3 inches of snow on the ground and the consistency is still the same. I've fished it the same way when there were 2-3 foot waves and the winds were howling and caught plenty of fish. I've caught small mouth bass, northern, crappie and yes walleye to boot all using the same method.

Trolling or using live bait is okay if you're looking for onesies and twosies, but I like to get my limit when I'm fishing rather than getting bored quickly. Okay already then, so what do I do that's different? Well, I'm not going to tell you the entire story because next time I'm out there, everyone is going to be on my spots. But, I will tell you this; start tossing crank-baits and blade baits in weeds at 4-8 feet of water. The colors you're going to have to figure out yourselves and same goes for the contour and points.

Summer times, it's going to be a bit tougher to catch walleye because of the bright intense light conditions. I usually use a jig or a Lindy-rig with a crawler and work a little deeper, 8-12' with rocky or rubble bottom. Be sure to attach a small treble trailer hook to the crawler because walleye during summer bite very light and most of the time you won't feel it. Keep moving. There has been times where I've just fished deep 18-23' and let the wind move me in which ever direction it was blowing. I'll go back to my cranks later in the evening after 7:00 P.M and work the weeds until dark.

Use dark colors at night. They're easier for walleye to see in the tea stained water especially if the moon is out. I prefer black with a little white on it. I carry a white marker and add a couple of white dots just behind the eyes of the lure. I like sinking lures like Rapala's count downs and often carry several. Before going up to the U.P. I will usually paint a few of them black and leave a bit of white or light grey behind the eyes if I plan on fishing late. I prep them at home so that the paint has enough time to dry and the paint odors disappear. Before throwing them out in the water I might spray the lure with a fish scent if they still smell of paint.  Unless the moon is out, it gets pretty dark out there and seeing anything is difficult especially on a cloudy night. You need a spot light to move around with, other wise it's easy enough to get lost on the vast lake.

My buddy and I were out there last week and fished the lake from Wednesday to this weeks Monday and I got my daily limit every day, even after the cold front moved in cranking the weeds. Boat control is a must especially in wind. I like to keep moving rather than dropping an anchor. The method is much like fishing for Large Mouth Bass. I like using six and eight pound mono on a light rod. The lures are 3/8 and 1/2 oz. I let the lure sink for 5 seconds, use a steady retrieve and stopping for a second or two. Fish will often hit on the drop. I've even caught walleye right at the boat. I'm talking about keepers like 17-20 inch walleye and 4-51/2 lb bronze-backs. My buddy was using the same lures and color as I and I out fished him 2-1. He was using 10 lb braided line and later changed to 14 lb mono on a medium weight pole. He didn't want to lose his lures and the fish and was overly cautious. Let's face it, 14 lb mono on a medium rod is not going to give you the same lure action and feel as a 6 or 8lb mono will on a light weight rod and reel. As for losing many lures? Very seldom do I lose a lure because of the line weight. If I do, it's because the tie failed. I've made it a habit to re-tie often and especially after catching a fish.

By our last day on the lake, we've filleted more fish than we expected and frankly we just didn't feel like dealing with them any more. Not only that but our freezer couldn't handle any more fillets so we threw what we had in our live well (3 walleyes between 16"-18"), back to fight another day. I wanted to give them to another fisherman not as lucky as we were, but there weren't any other fishermen around.

Below are some pix to show you what your results could be.

a typical bronze-back

caught this giant crappie in the weed

a 41/2 and 51/2 lb bronze-backs

a typical days catch of a mix of walleye and small mouth bass

my fishing buddy and I holding a double limit