Tess Taylor with WJJY 106.7 Radio and husband Derrick experiences Leech Lake Walleye Fishing

Being a fishing guide I get to experience many ups and downs as the pressure of success that comes with the fishing day lays in my decision making.  There are many variables that we can control but many that we can't like the weather.  The past few days we have had cloudy windy conditions, which usually means the fish bite and they have, but each fishing trip is a new day fishing as the fish are on the move from spring locations to there summer spots.  Making our decisions on the water even that more important to a successful day of fishing.

Well the pressure was on today!  I had a great opportunity to share the Leisure Outdoor boat with Tess Taylor of WJJY 106.7 Radio and her husband Derrick.  To add to the pressure Tess was talking about how excited they were to go fishing to the listeners and holy buckets if we had a tough day of fishing it was all on me the, "fishing guide".  Well today was one of those days we were greeted with awesome weather fir a day at the beach.  It was flat calm and Sunny not your ideal conditions to put boat loads of fish in the net.  Nervous?  Yes I was to say the least!

I arrived at the Chase on the Lake docks and met up with Tess and Derrick excited to spend the morning fishing but secretively a little apprehensive as I knew that one of the uncontrollable variables was not in our favor, the weather!  Not showing my apprehension I told myself, "The fish are always biting somewhere!" so off we went on the flat calm water of Leech Lake.  Toby, my fishing partner, had found a school of walleyes the day before where we had caught several fish that day.  We pulled up next to him as he was also out fishing.  Toby had been there for an hour and said he had a caught a few but nothing like the day before.  Crap!  Not what I wanted to hear.  After a really good motivational talk to our bait we dropped down to the walleyes I was marking with my graph but they were deeper then the day before.  They wouldn't bite!  So I slid up a little shallower and found another school of fish and boom a bite.  Tess did battle with the fish and to our disappointment a little northern pike came to the surface.  The ice was broken and it didn't take long and I heard Derrick set the hook.  Fish on and Derrick did battle with the first big walleye of the day and then it was Tess's turn with another big walleye.  We were on the board and a little relief was lifted as we had two nice walleyes in the boat but that was it.  The others decided to put their little fin up and say, "not today!" to our bait.  Off to the next spot!

As the fish move deeper a key piece to a walleye fisherman's success is trusting your fish locator.  We drove over a deeper hump and marked a few fish so we made a pass marking more fish but again they said, "Not Today!".  The relief I felt was thrown out the window as I thought they aren't going to bite today but remember, "They are always biting somewhere!"  I had three other spots on my mind, where we had caught fish the day before, but they were about a 5 to 10 minute boat ride, which isn't much, but then I thought to myself, "Let me check one more spot."  This was only about 150 yard area from where we were so we drove over.  This was a small spot that has been so good in the past but the fish haven't used it all year so I was just going there hoping they moved in.  I pulled up to Waypoint 165 and BadaBoom there they were.  I looked at Tess and said, "If we can't catch a fish here, we suck!"  It didn't take but three minutes and Derrick was feeding line to what ended up being a perfect 17 3/4 incher and after that it was GAME ON.  The fish were on a feeding frenzy and it was big fish after big fish!  When we started I had a line down but it got to the point where I didn't even put a line in as Tess and Derrick was putting the hurt bag on em'.  I took some photos and a few video clips of the action which you can view below.  Oh and we stopped back on the fish we marked earlier for one last chance at a big one.  Well again they wouldn't bite so I went out a little deeper marked a large fish and said, "Lets end it on a big one!".  Just when I said lets pack it up Derrick sets the hook and did battle.  Check out the video below!

All I can say is what a day.  Tess and Derrick are some of the funniest people to share a boat with and we found a school of fish that turned what seemed like it was going to be a tough day into an amazing memory!

Remember "The fish are always biting somewhere!"  Sometimes you find that spot and sometimes you don't but as a fishing guide those spots are what we try and find each and ever trip!

If you would like to share a boat with us please click here www.leisureoutdooradventures.com.

"Make a Memory"
Jeff Andersen

*Click on photo for larger view*

(Derek with the first walleye of the day)

(Tess's first walleye for the day)

(Tess caught a good double)

(Tess and Derek with a team effort)

(Picture from the video above)