Jim K: Roosevelt- 8/2/2026

This trip had been scheduled with my son for a couple of months.  He had asked for a day where he could do all the driving, learn to use all of the electronics, do all of the decision making, etc.  This was that day.  Mixed feelings in that so many are suffering from loosing their homes and this was that rare open day for an on the water day with just myself and Seth.  So, with prayers sent to those in need, and my cell phone monitored to help friends if needed, I still took Seth out for his requested day.

We spent 2 hours casting crank baits around the weed beds without success … different sizes, shapes, colors, depths and speeds.  Had zero bites!  While anchor locked casting distance from weed bed edge Seth put on a drop shot with flatnose jerk shad.  Armed with FFS in downscale mode he soon saw many fish investigating his lure.  With patience, he began coaxing several SMB up to 15” into the boat.  We never caught a walleye in the area.  Guessing the wind front and sudden drop in temperature, etc. from the day before had them lock jawed.  We moved from the weed beds to stumps and rock piles.  Using drop shots, we coaxed several more SMB and one 12” walleye from the rock pile, but mostly from the nearby stumps.  Interesting how the bite went from slamming the lure two trips ago to solid bites last Thursday to only being able to coax a bite with finesse tactics today.  We decided to drop the video camera down and scope out the rock pile and nearby stumps.  We found many good sized bass with quite a few walleye mixed in.  The rock pile was also loaded with small minnows!  Walleye were in the area, but their bite had turned off almost completely this day.