Lyle, Stan and Greg: Rufus Woods - 9/11

Since Rufus Woods is so close to Coulee Playland, a group of us headed over to the Seatons Grove launch on Monday. There were 5 other boat trailers at the launch. It appeared that one or two of those boats were fishing for triploid rainbows. We struggled in the morning and for much of the afternoon. The current was swift leading to lots of snags and tangled gear. At 530 pm, we only had one trout in the live well, but the evening bite allowed us to end on a good note. We finished the day with 6 walleyes and 6 trout. The walleyes were 22, 21, 21, 19, 17 and 16 inches. The trout were fat with beautiful pink meat.

More info for club members: All of our walleyes were caught trolling 2 to 3 ounce bottom bouncers with the current. Boat control was vital! Troll too slowly and snags or tangled gear is the result. The walleyes we caught were between 25 and 35 feet along channel edges relatively close to the boat ramp. It was not unusual to be trolling 3 to 4 miles per hour to keep your spinners turning and out of the rocks.

We talked to a local at the launch as we loaded up to leave. He said that the fall walleye bite has not arrived yet since the weather has been so hot.