December 21, 2012
By Matt Straw
We interrupt this stream of steelhead consciousness to bring you pig walleyes of the far north. Check this animal out. Taken from Last Mountain Lake in Saskatchewan by Clayton Schick. He and his friend Manoly Milas, below, display a couple monster 'eyes in the 14-pound range.
"Manoly was out with Shick this past Sunday, chasing some big Saskatchewan goldens," said walleye pro Tim Geni. "Neither fish could resist a 3/8-ounce PK Spoon . Manoly marked that beauty on his Humminbird Ice 55 and shouted, 'I've got a big red mark on me and I'm going to pound bottom and see if it will eat.' Five seconds later it was, 'Whoopee — she feels heavy .' We can't wait to see what the rest of the winter has to offer."
Geni said they already have 14 inches of ice on Last Mountain. Here in Minnesota, guide Tony Roach tells me Mille Lacs has 7 inches in some spots and 1 inch in others, due to the back-and-forth temperatures we've had. But we're predicted to have several nights in the single digits over the next week. That should firm thngs up.
"The temperature was -6°C last week when I was out," Geni said. "We were hitting fish with 3/8- and 1/2-ounce PK Spoons in the red-dot glow and pearl-chartreuse patterns. We were on a fast break into deep water on the edge of a flat. Fish were hitting in about 24 feet of water."
Would it be redundant to say the go-to spot for walleyes in 2013 is Last Mountain? Yes, Lake Winnipeg produces the occasional 16 pounder, and plenty in double digits. Tobin is still kickin' out walleyes the size of fawns. Which brings us to the Porcine Pike report...
