SAGINAW BAY WALLEYE fishing remains exceptional. The reason? All the west and west-southwest winds have concentrated the fish all along the eastern side of the bay. The water out of Augres all last week was 51 degrees all the way across the bay to 13-14 feet of water near the islands on the eastern side where it suddenly turned to 68-70 degrees. Anglers essentially have the majority of the bay’s walleye population concentrated in 13 feet of water or less, and it’s providing incredible fishing from south of Big Charity Island all the way down south of Essexville. The action is non-stop!
What’s working? Just about everything. Hot ‘N Tots, Flicker Shads and Flicker Minnows, Husky Jerks, and Little Rippers are some of the more common crank baits. Crawler’s harnesses are deadly as well pulled behind one-ounce in-line weights or bottom bouncers. A few boats were drifting using one-ounce jigs tipped with Mister Twisters or Berkley “Gulp” Worms. It just didn’t seem to matter what an angler used.
These are also some of the nicest walleye we have seen all summer, the average fish weighing 2-3 pounds. Also, we rarely caught any undersized fish last week.
How long this will last is anyone’s guess. But until major storms or wind changes occur, anglers should continue to enjoy the finest walleye fishing in several years.
Anglers running from the western side across the bay need to have a “Plan B”. A couple boats have already had to be towed back because they ran out of gas. Secondly, always know where you can take shelter if a sudden storm blows up. In extreme situations in years past, anglers have beached their boats on an island and spent the night there.
Capt. Terry R. Walsh
TerMar Charters
(989) 450-5365
captwalsh@gmail.com