TOPIC:

My wife and I went to Saginaw Bay Monday and Tuesday to fish for walleyes from Angler Qwest pontoon boats. We were told the bite was tough when we got on the boat Monday afternoon. We trolled tiny spoons on Jet Divers for a few hours and caught 10 walleyes from barely legal (13-inch) to 21 inches. Three or four throw-backs. The next morning we fished with Lance Valentine on his 'toon. Lance fishes mostly crankbaits - we used all Flicker Shads on Tueday. Our morning trip resulted in 14 keepers - much better average size and we only caught one shorty. One northern pike, as well - about 28 inches.

It was a great experience in a new area. The "fishing" 'toons may be the "family fishing boat" of the future. Very impressive. I'm doing a Great Lakes Angler magazine article on them.

My biggest take away? How can fishing with in-line planer boards be called sport fishing - especially for walleyes?

Sounds like a good trip. I will look forward to the article!

I went out on Erie for Walleye for the first time this spring. In-line planars are not a ton of fun since you are fighting them more than fish but was still fun. I am now running big boards (still working on design of mounts) and it is a much better experience so far (at least with Salmon). Still working the bugs out and other than concerns about fishing the big boards in the spring madness it should be good.

It's not that much an issue. With a good set up you can turn just as sharp with the big boards as with in-lines and a spread is a spread.