Experience Oahe Weblog

Skeeter's Cleaners by Larsen Sales

2010-06-15T22:47:00.010-05:00

"Martin, Hey, I like the before and after pics. Good job and I appreciate it very much. I'd like to offer the fine people that frequent your site a deal. If they order 3 or more bottles of any of our products and mention your name and site I will give them a buck off per bottle. Call in orders and my website is fine. Follow the directions and let's make this offer until the end of the boating season....say October 2010. :) Keep those boats clean and catch lot of fish." Skeeter

Before "Wonderfoam cleaner"

If you own a boat you are definitely aware of how hard it is to keep it clean. I shammy mine down every time I pull it out of the water. But there's parts that just don't seem to stay clean, no matter how much effort I put into it.

I've read a lot about Skeeter's cleaners on Walleye Central and decided to give them a try. They work great. I'm a believer.

They can be ordered at http://www.larsensales.com/
and tell Nels that Marty sent you.

After "Wonderfoam cleaner"

2009 Kurle short video

2010-01-11T18:17:00.002-06:00

Corrigan 2009 Pics

2010-01-05T12:30:00.002-06:00

Reef Runner Crankbaits

2009-04-05T10:57:00.005-05:00

A long time ago I saw an add for Reef Runner..."the envy of lure makers on both sides of the Pacific". Catchy catch phrase I thought. It was a while before I picked up a few of these crankbaits. I often read about them and figured anything that helps me catch a fish is worth having in the tackle box. As I used them I caught some fish on them; they worked well. But what really hooked me on them was a tournament that I fished 8 years ago. The first day, my partner and I fished with live bait and really struggled. In fact it was so bad that a friend of mine said to me before take-off on day two, "Don't quite you day job Marty." Ouch...I remember it like it was yesterday.

Day two started very slow with the live bait again, so shortly into the day a major switch in presentation was in order. We dug out the trolling rods/line counter reels with 10# fireline and put down the crankbaits. We experimented with some different lures and success came with Reef Runner Deep Little Rippers back from 200 to 260 feet - perch color was best. That day we came in with the 2nd heaviest weight. Because of the poor day one, we finished out of the money. But we did move up about 30 spots and saved face. This was an important, memorable fishing day for me; no $ won, but oh what a "Lesson learned!"

Reef Runner lures have two reputations: #1 - have to be tuned alot and #2 -walleye catching machines. #1 is easily dealt with. Reef Runner makes a little device called a Tune-a-Fish. It's used by slipping over the eye attachment on the nose of the lure, not on the split ring, the eye itself. When the lure is put in the water and the lure wants to run to one side, slip the Tune-a-Fish over the eye and lean it to the other side. Don't twist the eye, lean it. It's better to just tweek it a little bit, don't move it too much. The Reef Runner website has a link that describes tuning crankbaits, click here. It may take a few attempts, but when it's running straight the lure will stay down and not venture to one side consistently. I check every lure, any brand, every time I drop it in the water to make sure it's running straight, even after catching a fish. It doesn't do any good to drag around an out-of-tune lure. Reef Runners' triggering action involves the lure darting to one side or the other, sporadically. When they are tuned, they will dart to one side, then the other, and then track straight for a moment. That random, darting action is what makes them so effective. This leads to #2 - when Reef Runners are tuned, it is very difficult to find a more effective walleye crankbait. This is especially true here on Oahe where smelt are a common forage. I will easily put up with the tuning in exchange for bent fishing rods. I should add that every brand of crankbait I put in the water I check and see if it is running straight. Almost all require some tuning.

Reef Runners come in a huge variety of colors. The Rippers and Ripsticks are banana shaped minnow baits and the RipShads are a shad shaped bait. Check them out at http://www.reefrunner.com/

Good Links I've Found

2009-02-01T14:48:00.005-06:00

Animated fishing knots...great site for learning knots.
http://www.animatedknots.com/indexfishing.php?LogoImage=LogoGrog.jpg&Website=www.animatedknots.com

For GPS users....converts minutes, degrees, seconds to decimal and vice versa
http://www.fcc.gov/mb/audio/bickel/DDDMMSS-decimal.html
http://www.jeepreviews.com/wireless-gps-coordinates/

A few venison recipes for the grill
http://www.bowhunting.net/susieq/grill.htm

Ice auger blade exchange - send in your old ones and get sharpened ones in return
http://www.fish307.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWCATS&Category=698

Gizzard shad pic
http://www.wayneswords.com/images/gshand.jpg

Walleye weight calculator
http://www.walleyesforever.com/info/fishweight.html

Boat cleaning products
http://www.larsensales.com/

Trolling Spoons

2009-01-26T18:57:00.003-06:00

Ever wonder why trolling spoons work so well on the Great Lakes but don't work out here? Well, I have - alot. I've read article after article on the web. Peered through many a magazine discussing the topic, yet I've never really delved into the trolling spoon arena. But, times they do a change.

A friend of mine, John Czismadia (JCFishing.com), used trolling spoons to finish 2nd in a big tourney on Lake Erie. When I spoke to him about trolling spoons he said that he couldn't see why they wouldn't work out here on Oahe. He offered some great suggestions on trolling speed, various presentations for bottom oriented fish, and techniques used for Great Lakes suspended fish.

To make a long story short, I will be doing my best to catch some Lake Oahe walleye on trolling spoons this summer. I shall keep you posted.

Update - these things work! This past summer, whenever we trolled, I always pulled a spoon or two. Some days the cranks were better, but there were other days when I caught many more fish on the spoons. By the end of a few days we had all spoons in the water and no cranks.

Guide Client Comments

2009-01-23T17:40:00.000-06:00

To those who have spent some time on the water with me, either boat or ice, I'd appreciate any comments; good, bad or the other.

Smack Tackle Lures

2009-01-18T13:30:00.000-06:00

I contacted Smack Tackles because of their great looking Gizz 3 and Gizz 4 deep divers. The Gizzard shad is a relatively new baitfish to Lake Oahe and I figure the more realistic the bait, the better the results. After several phone conversations and many emails sent back and forth I received 8 lures in the mail - 4 deep Gizz 4, 2 deep Gizz 3, and 2 Gizz 3. Last summer I gave them several honest towings around the lake, under a lot of different conditions. Where they really worked for me was trolling deeper water. When guiding I often pull 4 leadcore rods, each with a different lure until a preferred bait is established. Many times the deep Gizz 4 outfished the other lures over the deeper structure. I'm talking 25' plus. This was especially true when there was a tough bite and a few times the only bait to get hit was the deep Gizz 4. The redhead seemed to be the best, but the blue pearl was also good. I believe that the shallow diving Gizz 3 and Gizz 4 would be outstanding baits trolled at slow speeds behind planer boards through the shad schools, or fan casted while trolling with an electric. But I seldom do those things, although I know I should. I usually continue to do what works for me, so I don't experiment too often. One would think a science teacher would be more investigative. It's the old "too many lures, too little time" thing.

Here's a link to their site - http://smacktackle.com/catalog/gizz.html. Their internet price is a little high, but they've informed me that they've set this price so they do not undersell their outlets. Here's a link to their retailers - http://smacktackle.com/retailers.html. You'll notice that there are no outlets in the upper midwest....however, they are hoping. If you want to try some, give one of the outlets a call. I'm guessing they'd gladly ship you some.

Good fishing and tight lines.
Martin