Decked out in full bug protection wear, went out for walleye tonight (and the odd rock bass).
I love fishing for walleye. They are elusive, and you can talk to old timers who have fished a lake for decades and never caught one, even though the lake may hold a good population of them.
The night sky was clear and blanketed by stars. Frogs, loons, beavers and raccoons could be heard. The air was crisp and cooling. Insects galore. Such is night fishing.
You put up with spiders using you to make their webs for a shot at some gold.
This guy was chillin' very close to me, waiting to ambush some unsuspecting prey. I tossed my white twister tail grub on a size 1 hook in front of him, with no weight (so basically a topwater presentation), and a few small jolts later I heard the splash I wanted and a fun fight on 6lb test line ensued.
22"
He was held up in the net for a while, and quite strangely, didn't move or flinch at all, until removed from the net. Mouth wide open - he remained flexed in that exact position for minutes after being netted. There's partly an explanation for this (see if anyone can guess), but really it was just strange, and goes along with the whole "walleye come in like logs".
I dispatched him with a knife, and after filleting, a pulsing could be felt from the fillet (freaky stuff!).
As a reminder, if you're keeping walleye in zone 16 and 15:
