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Heidecke 5/22, 5/24, 5/26

2K views 7 replies 6 participants last post by  catchafew 
#1 ·
After having such a great day last Saturday, it really planted the seed to get back out there again. I ended up going Sunday, Tuesday. And Thursday. All evening trips from about 5-8.

Typical of Heidecke, Sunday was slower trolling, Tuesday on fire, and Thursday again slower. The hybrids seemed mostly gone from the area i fished with only 1 good one and few smaller ones landed.

I still can't believe I am catching these fish at 2.8-3 mph, which is as slow as my big motor will go. Sometimes I get them on a turn at lower speed, but most have been caught going fast. I wish I had the option to slow down to 2mph, but using the tm is a PITA, especially in wind.

My daughter came out one night and we also caught some smallie and walleye casting traps right off a large hump which was fun.

Sunday was fun with 1 nice hybrid, some fish casting, and a bunch of eyes trolling. Also a bonus monster crappie.

Hair Water Leg Fish Street fashion


Water Boat Vertebrate Fisherman Outdoor recreation


Tuesday was slow until about 630p, and then it was non stop action until 8p. Lots of eyes, with 2 biggest at 20 and 21, and a bonus muskie.

Water Cloud Sky Smile Vertebrate


Water Smile Sky Fisherman Organism


Last night was slow, only going 4 for 7, all eyes. For the first time no surface activity. It looks like I could pop off my windshields and take boat on north side if I wanted, but I did not risk it with all the storms in the area.

After reading all of Old Salts reports I would love to get out with him a time or two this summer to see how he does it. If your reading this Old Salt, you can even keep my limit, lol.

One more week to go at the school and then I am mostly on vacation with only 9 patrol shifts over the summer. Next big trip is 5 days in Door County early June.
 
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#5 ·
Nice mixed bags!

I was out on Heideke with Kopjo on the Crappie Barge Tuesday from 9AM to about 3PM. We tagged over 90 crappie and 50+ by-catch of walleye, striper, and drum. The bite really slowed when the sun came out, but the overcast morning bite was insane.

I wish more of the lake was open to shore fishing. Being boatless, I would probably spend more evenings out there if I had access to some different spots.
 
#6 ·
After having such a great day last Saturday, it really planted the seed to get back out there again. I ended up going Sunday, Tuesday. And Thursday. All evening trips from about 5-8.

Typical of Heidecke, Sunday was slower trolling, Tuesday on fire, and Thursday again slower. The hybrids seemed mostly gone from the area i fished with only 1 good one and few smaller ones landed.

I still can't believe I am catching these fish at 2.8-3 mph, which is as slow as my big motor will go. Sometimes I get them on a turn at lower speed, but most have been caught going fast. I wish I had the option to slow down to 2mph, but using the tm is a PITA, especially in wind.

My daughter came out one night and we also caught some smallie and walleye casting traps right off a large hump which was fun.

Sunday was fun with 1 nice hybrid, some fish casting, and a bunch of eyes trolling. Also a bonus monster crappie.

View attachment 139941

View attachment 139942

Tuesday was slow until about 630p, and then it was non stop action until 8p. Lots of eyes, with 2 biggest at 20 and 21, and a bonus muskie.

View attachment 139943

View attachment 139944

Last night was slow, only going 4 for 7, all eyes. For the first time no surface activity. It looks like I could pop off my windshields and take boat on north side if I wanted, but I did not risk it with all the storms in the area.

After reading all of Old Salts reports I would love to get out with him a time or two this summer to see how he does it. If your reading this Old Salt, you can even keep my limit, lol.

One more week to go at the school and then I am mostly on vacation with only 9 patrol shifts over the summer. Next big trip is 5 days in Door County early June.
Nice mixed bag Matt. I was out there on Monday and we caught a mixed bag of muskies, walleyes, wipers, crappies, and yellow bass.

Not sure if you've tried it or not(I know you've been running a boat a long time), but I noticed your motor looks trimmed up like when you're running on plane in a lot of these pics. Try to trim your motor down as far as it will go when trolling. This usually gets me about a half mph slower than if I ran her trimmed up like I usually run the boat. With my 70hp trimmed all the way down in my boat, I can keep her at 1.8-2.3mph, depending on the wind. I know you're in a different boat than mine, and your motor may be trimmed all the way down, and it just looks higher because of the difference in boat, but thought I might mention it just in case. It may help you squeak a little closer to that 2mph range you're looking for if it's not already all the way down. All our fish Monday came trolling cranks at 1.9-2.25mph, so the fish have gotten more aggressive, especially if you're catching em at close to 3mph.

Gonna be back out on Heidecke with my daughter tomorrow morning.
 
#7 ·
Thanks guys. I follow the lake a little bit but it was kind of a rediscovery for me as another option instead of going heading north all the time. I have not had the time to put my boat on Delavan or Geneva yet.

Ed, Jim is the man out there for sure!

Nick, I usually have it trimmed down all the way. I tried a little bit trolling way up, like half trim (especially trolling with wind which can put me at like 3.5) but it is too noisy and I lose steering. I know I could troll harnesses with the tm and put a bunch more fish in the boat, but I got addicted to watching those rods snap at 3 mph! I hope you smoke them out there with your daughter. It sounds like you have the bite dialed in.
 
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