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flyndie22

Current river mouth

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flyndie22

Has anyone caught any decent walleye at the mouth it doesnt make any sence how there isnt any big wallies around there. Ive yet to see anyone catch a walleye there 

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Bobber Down

Caught lots there. It is not a place for numbers or eaters. If you catch one under 25 inches that's a small one. From what I have caught most range 28 to 31 inches. They only come in to feed so if your timing is right..........It is a trophy size Walleye location. Put the time in and you will eventually catch. Most people I see there get frustrated after an hour or so and after being snagged on bottom every third cast they leave. I am usually there 7 days a week so if you see me on the dock come say hi

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Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming - WOW - what a ride!!!

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flyndie22

Ive been foing there at dusk the last 2 days with nadda do you ever fish it at night and thats perfect im just looking tk get nice pictures any tips 

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Bobber Down

I have fished it at night. One time I caught........ well you can read about it here http://fishingboard.thunderbayfishing.com/index.php?/topic/17735-red-lights-and-aliens/#comment-109871

 

I also have used cranks and caught a few and seen some nice ones caught. Tough to get a good night time pic. The water is too high and flowing too fast right now. Your presentation just gets blown out of the river. Remember that the river is the drawing card for them and finding any baitfish right now in that current is well there prob isn't much. Even the Cormorants are staying out in the lake aways. When the flow eases the action picks up. Mid summer try dusk to 1am. That's your best chance.

 

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Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming - WOW - what a ride!!!

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mad scientist

Walleye spawn at the mouth of the Current River then disperse, so there is a big aggregation of mature fish there in the spring, not so much at other times of the year.  


I'm going out to fish. - John 21:3

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Bobber Down
On ‎2017‎-‎05‎-‎24 at 8:10 AM, mad scientist said:

Walleye spawn at the mouth of the Current River then disperse, so there is a big aggregation of mature fish there in the spring, not so much at other times of the year.  

 

You are right about the spawn. From my experience over the last 5 years and another avid angler who always fishes there (most days we fish together...sort of) there are a lot of big trophy Walleyes there many with tags and transmitters after the spawn is over.

 

It is not uncommon for us to catch 3 or 4 per day 30 inches and bigger June thru July. Then again sometimes you can go for days without a hit. August and Sept seem to be slower with a better chance of catching dinks (25 in and smaller). My day could consist of 2 hours, maybe 4, maybe 8, maybe split days 6 hrs in the morning 2 in the afternoon, just depends on weather and water flow from Boulevard Lake and the electrical generating plant.

 

When you fish a small area 5 to 7 days a week and with the hours put into it you get to know where they sit and where they seem to always enter the river and where you will always get the bite when they do come in to feed from the big lake or perhaps just to warm up. That being said the earliest I have caught there is May 31st. From the opener to then the Walleye elude me and it doesn't make me happy. Makes me think I'm doing something wrong but I just tell myself it's the water flow lol. I have seen a couple caught around May 20th though. Both on spoons. I think I have a pic of one. If I can find it I will attach it.

 

As flyndie22 has said "Ive yet to see anyone catch a walleye there". That only means he hasn't been there to witness the event. It only takes a few minutes to catch and release and having someone around to take a pic sometimes eludes you. I have had many people wander down the dock and ask "catch anything". I don't think they believe what I tell them. There are a few members on this site who know "exactly" where the bite is. Here's a tip......they are shallower than you may think! I hope to see you at the dock this season.

IMG_4042.JPG

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Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming - WOW - what a ride!!!

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flyndie22

Thats a nice one forsure i thought they would be alot lighter than that prettt cool tho and nice im gonna start heading there at night trt with some raps and crankbaits maybe even float a few smelts down the river 

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mad scientist
3 hours ago, flyndie22 said:

 maybe even float a few smelts down the river 

 

Careful now...dead smelt cannot be used as bait or possessed for use as bait in FMZ 6.  You can use dead smelt for bait in FMZ 9 (which includes the Current River downstream from the Shipyard Drive bridge), but you can't possess them in FMZ 6.  So, unless you live on a boat out on Lake Superior.......


I'm going out to fish. - John 21:3

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flyndie22

I thought you could use smelts in fmz 9 if the system already had smelts in it ? But im still fine using smelts at the mouth where i catch them. 

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mad scientist
2 minutes ago, flyndie22 said:

I thought you could use smelts in fmz 9 if the system already had smelts in it ? But im still fine using smelts at the mouth where i catch them. 

 

So first, you can't use live smelt as bait anywhere in Ontario...they're an invasive species, and they're not included on the list of legal baitfish (page 10 of the fishing regulations summary).

 

Dead smelt may not be used as bait or possessed for use as bait anywhere in FMZ 4 and 5.  Same goes for FMZ 6, with the exception of Lake Nipigon and its tributaries.

 

Dead smelt may be used for bait or possessed for use as bait anywhere in FMZ 9.

 

The catch is the line about "possessed for use as bait".  Since you can't possess dead smelt for use as bait in FMZ 6, you can't store a bunch at home and then bring them down to the Current River to fish.  I guess if you catch some, kill them, and then use them as bait the same day, that would stay within the regulations as I understand them.


I'm going out to fish. - John 21:3

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j.klister

Pretty sure large numbers of people in Thunder Bay have frozen smelts  in their freezer right now and that it's not illegal.  You can even buy bags of them sometimes at the superstore.

 

 

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Some Old Guy

As mad scientist mentioned, that is exactly how I read the reg. If you have smelts frozen to use in FMZ 9 but you possess them in zone 6 then I would guess you would have some explaining to do.

 

And I'm sure many people do have frozen smelts. If they are cleaned and frozen, then they are most likely meant for human consumption. If they are frozen whole, pretty hard to argue that they are not intended as bait.

 

Roger


R.T.R. Respect the resource!

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eddylives

What about those that freeze whole smelts to be used as cat food?

I know of people that do this to keep their yard cats healthy during the winter months???


Have no fear of perfection.....you will never reach it

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mad scientist
On 5/26/2017 at 8:16 PM, Roger Mayer said:

If they are cleaned and frozen, then they are most likely meant for human consumption.

 

On 5/26/2017 at 7:54 PM, j.klister said:

  You can even buy bags of them sometimes at the superstore.

 

 

 

You're correct that the smelt bait regulation has a bit of an interpretive loophole because people catch them for human consumption and they are also targeted commercially in parts of the province.  The pertinent regulations appear on pages 10 and 29 of the 2017 Regulations summary - if a CO checks you, it's up to them to figure out whether you're in compliance or not.

 

The intent of course is to keep potentially fertilized eggs out of the water...I'd tend to agree with Roger, if the smelt are cleaned then the argument that they are intended for human consumption is more valid.  But that's just my opinion, I'm no game warden.


I'm going out to fish. - John 21:3

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pastor norm

Mad Scientist.... Its a little besides the point, but could water bombing of area in Northern Ontario using Lake Superior water (skimmed from the surface) be the real reason we have smelts in our lakes?  I have always been a little skeptical of reproducing smelts from frozen eggs in bait packages.  Perhaps a combination of both ways of "seeding".

 

Tiny smelts often swim near the surface of Superior and could easily scooped by the thousand in one skim of a water bomber... their descend onto the ground near lakes and streams could easily be survivable. 

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mad scientist
2 hours ago, pastor norm said:

Mad Scientist.... Its a little besides the point, but could water bombing of area in Northern Ontario using Lake Superior water (skimmed from the surface) be the real reason we have smelts in our lakes?  I have always been a little skeptical of reproducing smelts from frozen eggs in bait packages.  Perhaps a combination of both ways of "seeding".

 

Tiny smelts often swim near the surface of Superior and could easily scooped by the thousand in one skim of a water bomber... their descend onto the ground near lakes and streams could easily be survivable. 

 

The spread of smelt through eggs fertilized in cleaning buckets is documented in the scientific literature:

 

Introduction by humans appears to be the primary means of invasion and colonization. This is indicated by the strong association of lakes containing rainbow smelt with urban and cottage development. In all cases, introductions have been unofficial and, in many cases, probably unintentional. The majority of these introductions have probably resulted from inadvertent fertilization and release of eggs into the new environment during processing (cleaning) of sexually mature smelt captured elsewhere during spring spawning runs.

- Evans and Loftus 1987

 

I wasn't able to find anything dealing with the spread of smelt via waterbombing.  Actually, I had a hard time finding literature about the spread of any invasive species due to water bombing, though some jurisdictions consider it a possibility.

 

Ultimately, all we can do is control our own behavior - follow the regs and hope for the best.


I'm going out to fish. - John 21:3

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gsambray

I'm going to give it a go Saturday. Caught my personal best northern so far this spring and know it's time for a walleye. Has anyone been recently?  Just wondering if it's picked up at all

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flyndie22

Needa fished it till dark almost last 2 days seen something big jump way out of the current tho

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Clewis
On 5/24/2017 at 10:19 AM, Bobber Down said:

 

You are right about the spawn. From my experience over the last 5 years and another avid angler who always fishes there (most days we fish together...sort of) there are a lot of big trophy Walleyes there many with tags and transmitters after the spawn is over.

 

It is not uncommon for us to catch 3 or 4 per day 30 inches and bigger June thru July. Then again sometimes you can go for days without a hit. August and Sept seem to be slower with a better chance of catching dinks (25 in and smaller). My day could consist of 2 hours, maybe 4, maybe 8, maybe split days 6 hrs in the morning 2 in the afternoon, just depends on weather and water flow from Boulevard Lake and the electrical generating plant.

 

When you fish a small area 5 to 7 days a week and with the hours put into it you get to know where they sit and where they seem to always enter the river and where you will always get the bite when they do come in to feed from the big lake or perhaps just to warm up. That being said the earliest I have caught there is May 31st. From the opener to then the Walleye elude me and it doesn't make me happy. Makes me think I'm doing something wrong but I just tell myself it's the water flow lol. I have seen a couple caught on May 20th though. Both on spoons. I think I have a pic of one. If I can find it I will attach it.

 

As flyndie22 has said "Ive yet to see anyone catch a walleye there". That only means he hasn't been there to witness the event. It only takes a few minutes to catch and release and having someone around to take a pic sometimes eludes you. I have had many people wander down the dock and ask "catch anything". I don't think they believe what I tell them. There are a few members on this site who know "exactly" where the bite is. Here's a tip......they are shallower than you may think! I hope to see you at the dock this season.

IMG_4042.JPG

Tell Cole thats a beaut!

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flyndie22

I'm going full out assault mode tonight bringing everything haha 

 

One question has anyone on here caught a walleye on the opposite side of the river where all the ruts ate in gonna give that a go also

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brookiebuster

Yeah there's walleye there too seem to get more by the docks lots of pike on the other side.


"Whack em' and stack em',kill em' and grill em'" Ted Nugent

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