Walleye in the slot

My trip is a couple weeks away. How has the walleye catch been for the slot limits? Have you had luck in putting a couple fish on the dinner table?

I've been heading out to 20ft+ recently which is pretty far out on this side but it's been a really good year just dragging a worm harness on bottom.

This lake can change very fast even when it looks nice out so keep a close eye on that wind report and have a plan to get back safe before it hits the fan.

My brother and I were on the Upper French River, leading into Nipissing for 5 days last week.
Walleye in the slot were not plentiful that's for sure. We scrapped enough for 1 meal, that's it.
We caught a good number of Walleye under the slot though... a good sign.

Good Luck,

I haven't had any trouble if I'm catching. There's apparently a very strong year class that is in the slot right now. Lots of "cookie cutter" fish, but they're legal.

That said, I'm on the west end. And it's been an "off" year for me this year.

It's a big lake.

I'd argue that a 22 inch pike tastes even better.

And I would agree as the pike is caught near deep water and not totally surrounded by shallow water , especially a mud bottom.

Arnie

I'd agree with you Arnie....but, the reason most guys don't keep them - the damn bones!...lol.
I do know how to take them out, but usually put them back.
That said, Pike Fish Tacos are fantastic.

When in doubt pressure cook’em. That’ll take care of the bone issue I find.

Btw. Is there a good public launch near the mouth of the French river?

Eating a pike right now with not one bone in it…..come see me and I will show you how to clean out the pesky y bones. I love pike. When I have a fish fry people ask…..why can’t I get fish like that in a restaurant and they all come back for seconds. When they ask what kind of fish they are eating they drop their jaw that it is pike. Unfortunately through the years pike have gotten a bad rap and it is due to the bones……certainly not taste or texture. Educate yourself folks and have the patience to clean out the bones. When you get used to how those bones run they are removed in seconds with a sharp knife.

Arnie

Fishing seemed slower than normal since a severe cold front moved thru last Sunday and extended itself basically into Tuesday. It started to pick up Thursday and has been improving each day now.
Longer periods of steady, consistent and similar weather will generally produce decent walleye fishing.
They’re certainly deeper than earlier this summer. We’re getting ok numbers right now in the 35-40’ range on main lake structure. Close to 30% are in or over the slot.
Walleye fishing is still outstanding on the lake.

It’s been a great season, lots of decent keepers caught!

35-40 feet down ??? are you dragging a worm harness that far down or some other technique ??? ROOK

The bite was on last night and they were chunky! It was a jigging adventure because the boat was full.
26ft was the magic number.

Thanks everyone. We did well on the trip with worms and leeches fishing the bottom. We weren't overwhelmed with fish, but avoided the skunk each day. Depths were very different in our catch. Caught a bunch, to our surprise, in 11ft of water from a hole we typically expect bass, and when one in our party wanted to go deeper we scoffed at the idea, but gave in and were plenty surprised by the bite at 30 ft deep. Our largest that was released, 47cm, came in at 25 ft deep. A good year for us! Keep trying your different spots as the fish seem scattered, prepping for the colder season.