Greg Clusiau, "Greg's Guidlines" October 18, 2016 - Points to Ponder

It was a guide trip a few weeks ago, when a little bird (not sure what kind) landed on one of my clients fishing rods. It sat there for a second or two and took off. We laughed. I have never had this happen before. Yes, fishing was a little slow at the time but it was still better than having cobwebs on the rod.
Sharing a cabin with the legendary Steve Fellegy for the weekend, we had plenty of time to tell stories and just plain visit. Here’s another interesting tidbit that came up. Steve has caught walleyes in 42 states and if I’m not mistaken those are the only ones in the nation that have walleye.
You know it’s cold out when the water temperature drops two degrees throughout the day, which is what happened on a Leech Lake guide trip. We started out fishing in the morning when it was 57º and finished at 55º. Normally, it’s just the opposite. I should mention that the air temperature was hovering around 32º in the morning. Yes, it was cool, to say the least.
I don’t know what it is but doesn’t it always feel a whole lot colder fishing in the boat during late fall than it does when ice fishing? Maybe it’s the dampness but this phenomenon has always puzzled me, as I am wearing the same super-warm ice fishing clothes and boots and am never cold on the ice. Hmm.
I keep a log of my fall crappie fishing outings. Looking back, it can help me in determining which lake to fish (and why). Now sometimes I fish two, maybe three, lakes in a day but as of this writing, last Monday, October 17, 2016, I have had 46 outings and that’s in a matter of six weeks! It’s what I do.
Fishing takes priority for me, when compared to hunting, and that’s why I declare myself an average deer hunter, at best, as I fish in the boat until it’s too cold to take and by then it’s usually time for the whitetail season. Think about it. There are 52 weeks in a year and two of them are spent hunting. Most all other weeks are spent fishing in some manner.
GPS waypoints make it so nice to find your favorite fishing holes but when it comes to staying “on the spot” I prefer the old fashioned method of tossing out a marker buoy. It’s a whole lot easier staying on fish when you have something visual, a reference point, to relate to. Trying to stay on a GPS waypoint is sometimes difficult and can have you practically going in circles, not good.
I finally found a large school of crappies and to make things easier (very windy out) I tossed out a bright orange marker buoy. No one else was on the lake so I didn’t worry about anyone moving in on me, which is always a problem when there happens to be an inconsiderate angler nearby. That’s the downside of using a marker.
Calling it a day, I headed back to the access to find three anglers just heading out. I thought “good luck in finding crappies”, as I fish this body of water more than anyone in the fall and at times it can be very tough. It was also 3:30 pm and on many lakes, especially this one, fall crappie start slowing up, preferring to bite better during the mid-day hours.
It wasn’t until the next day, on a different lake, when I went to toss out my marker, that I realized I had left it out on the lake. I just laughed and wondered if the anglers spotted my marker and if so, did they catch any fish (it was a tough bite), and if they did see it, did they leave it? To be honest, I hope they saw the marker, caught a bunch of crappie, and left the marker.
Before I realized just where I left my marker, I spotted an orange marker on another lake I was fishing and thought “oh, there it is”, as I had been on this lake a couple days prior. I fish so many different lakes that it’s hard to keep track of things (hence, the fall crappie fishing log). I motored over to it and began reeling it up, while watching some activity at a nearby cabin. When I got to the anchor weight, I then realized it wasn’t mine, as it was affixed with a huge snap-swivel. Oops. I quickly tossed it back where I found it.
Back in the day, before GPS availability, I used to use a lot of marker buoys and even painted some of them black, for those high-traffic days. They are extremely hard to see, especially when it’s windy and wavy. I can’t begin to tell you how many I plumb forgot or just couldn’t find.
Tackle Tamer, made in Keewatin, makes a mini size marker buoy for those discreet, secret little spots. I have some and they are small. They work well but keep your eyes on where they are, as they are hard to see, which is exactly what you want when other boats are around. They even make them in black! 

Greg Clusiau, "Greg's Guidlines" October 11, 2016 - Leech Lake Fishing Report

Mother Nature was downright nasty last weekend. Oh, it may have been just fine if you were hunting a secluded and protected trail for grouse but if fishing on the waters of a larger lake like Leech, it was challenging to say the least, as high winds made it miserable, especially on Friday, when they reached 20 mph.
However, if you were able to position your boat as close to the rocky shores as possible and keep it there without incident, walleye fishing was pretty darn good.
Leech Lake is alive and well my friends and the quality of fish caught during this group guide event was mighty impressive. Limits of fat, healthy fish came back to our base camp at Trapper’s Landing Resort and several big fish were released as well.
If you’re thinking of doing a little more fishing before ice covers the lake, Leech Lake would be a good choice. The limit is four fish under 20” and a lot of our fish were in the 18-19 ½” range. It just doesn’t get much better when comparing the quality of fish. They were nice indeed.
Tucked up near windy, rocky points and shorelines, they positioned themselves anywhere from 3-7’ of water and were “on the bite” when found.
Most anglers were using jigs and minnows but a few, like famed fisherman Steve Fellegy, used slip bobbers to fill the live well. He’s one of the best bobber fishermen I know, if not the best.
Steve and I shared a cabin at Trapper’s Landing and I think we were the two oldest guides in the bunch so naturally we had more than enough stories to share.
Fellegy has been in the fishing business his entire life, starting out as a fishing guide at his parents resort on Mille Lacs Lake when he was in his early teens. From there, he went on to own the resort and competed in several major walleye tournaments.
As a member of the media, I was an observer in a PWT (Pro Walleye Trail) championship on Lake of the Woods many years ago and saw him win the thing and there’s a bit of a story behind it.
Steve was a good friend of the late ex-Minnesota Viking linebacker, Wally Hilgenberg, and they fished many tournaments together. Taking Hilgenberg’s advice, he used a famed Bud Grant strategy and played a mind game on his competitors.
Even on the coldest of days, Grant had his players pretty much standing at attention on the sidelines, taking in the bitter cold with not a heater in sight. I remember it well and was duly impressed, thinking “wow, those guys are tough. The cold weather doesn’t bother them at all!”
Fellegy used the same strategy on this bitter championship in October. As I said, I was an observer and got to ride along with a different pro for each of the three days and let me tell you “it was cold!”

Greg Clusiau, "Greg's Guidlines" September 13, 2016 - Fishing Report

"Looking back at things, I’m amazed at the large waters I have fished. Yes, Big Winnibigoshish, Leech Lake, Mille Lacs, and Upper Red Lake are all on the list but I’m talking really big, something that makes you want to sit back and say “wow.”
Lake of the Woods, a couple weeks ago, is definitely on the list, weighing in at over 1,000,000 acres. And How could I forget a trip to Lake Nipigon for lake trout. “Nip” covers 1,872 square miles and is considered by some to be a “sixth Great Lake.”
Of course, at the top of the list is Lake Superior, the largest freshwater lake in the world. Named “gichi-gami” by the Ojibwe, it has the meaning “be a great sea” and great it is with its massive size of nearly 32,000 square miles.
I try to make it to Lake Superior at least once a year and that happened, once again, last week, when three of us gathered together to hop aboard a charter boat, owned and operated by Capt. Lorin LeMire.
Lorin and I have been internet “friends” for several years. Similar fishing interests had us planning to get together several times but it just never happened, as one thing or another would come up. One trip I couldn’t make was a late-ice northern pike expedition on Rainy Lake, where Lorin and his group caught several trophy class fish.
This time, it was going to happen. Only the weather could stop us now and that didn’t look to be a problem.
Arriving at McQuade safe harbor in the dark, 6 am, pleasantries were exchanged and out to sea we went. Joining me on this trip was guide partner Justin Bailey and longtime tournament competitor and friend Jim Carpenter.
The weather was about as nice as one could expect, with comfortable air temps and only a wisp of a wind.
Lorin, originally from White Bear Lake, moved to Duluth fifteen years ago and for the first five had no interest whatsoever in the big lake. He finally started to fish Lake Superior, summer and winter, and quickly fell in love with it.
Fishing out of a 23’ Grady White in prior years, he upgraded this spring to a 27’ Pro Line and began his “Fish of the Gitch” Lake Superior Chartering service and things have been going well. As a matter-of-fact, his books are filled for the remainder of this season.
With eight lines set, two per person, it didn’t take long to put the first fish in the boat, a small lake trout. Another was boated a short while later and then there was a lull. You have to be flexible when fishing, especially when it’s big water. You know fish are somewhere and it’s up to you to find them, something that can be hard to do at times.
Heading out to deeper water, keeping a keen eye on water temperature changes, Lorin was finally satisfied with his findings and rods were once again set. Again, with a quick fish.
Also key in locating fish is the ability to find baitfish and in this case we’re talking smelt. By the looks of it, the Lake Superior smelt population must be thriving, as huge “bait balls” were spotted continuously. It was also in this area that several more fish were caught.
We went on to finish the day with nine fish boated and a handful of them shaking the hook. The old adage “the big fish always gets away” held true for us, when a nice, fat laker shook off as it neared the boat.
The day prior, Lorin did well on the bigger fish, with a 5 pound coho salmon among them. Now that’s a big coho for Lake Superior. LeMire said he hasn’t hit twenty yet but many trips have had catch rates in the high teens. His best Lake Superior lake trout came this season, when a 30 pounder latched onto his lure. Then there was the time when he had five lines “pop” at the same time and each one was the recipient of a king salmon. He said things went smooth and they caught each one of them but it sounds like organized mayhem to me!
It was nice to finally meet and fish with Lorin and plans are set for future outings. He’ll even be heading north to do a little ice fishing with Justin and I.
For more information on Lorin LeMire and “Fish of the Gitch” charter fishing, phone (218) 260-6404."

Greg Clusiau, "Greg's Guidlines" September 4, 2016 - Greg's Guidelines; Clusiau Fishing Report

My, what a difference a lake makes. In anxious anticipation of finding a few fall, deep-water crappie, I started my search with a little, hidden gem in northern Itasca county. This Lake, which I’ll call “Lake #1”, is small in size, slightly under 90 acres, and is basically shallow, except for a small portion. These characteristics make it fairly easy to find fish and it’s one that I make productive, annual fall visits to. I normally never give this lake a go this early but figured “maybe?”
I was wrong. After scouring the little fishery, shallow and deep, all I could come up with were a handful of small largemouth bass, a couple northern pike, and one lone sunfish. I’d like to know where the crappies were hiding out, as I tried in the weeds and all the way out to the deeper depths, nothing. Maybe this is why I never try this lake early in the fall season. It should have been easy enough to figure out but that wasn’t the case.
With air temperatures dipping into the low-40’s overnight, I hoped lake temperatures would be dropping right along with them. However, the water temp on “Lake 1” ranged from 68º to 71º, still way to warm in my opinion. Hmm, what to do?
When it comes to fishing, or most any sport dealing with Mother Nature, you can’t just figure it out on paper. It doesn’t work that way. You have to document your outings, over a long period of time, and go from there.
Lakes have a history of producing at different times, no matter the size. A prime example is “Lake #2”, which I visited the very next day after being shut out.
Practically doing a “180”, I then did an about-face and went to check out a lake of much larger proportions, measuring almost 11,000 acres. The only obvious common trait between the two bodies of water was the fact that they both had the majority of the lake being somewhat shallow and only one major deeper hole in which fish would migrate to, in preparation of the winter months ahead. This lake also had a history of producing fall crappie well in advance and most others.
Arriving early, I zipped out to the “crappie hole” and starting looking around. As expected, fish were all over and the very first crappie caught was pushing the 13” mark, very nice. I went on to catch thirty fish or so, going home with a nice limit of slab crappie. “Lake #2” had lived up to its expectations as an early fall producer.
I just can’t see myself going back there, as I usually only make one or two trips to the lake each fall, mainly out of curiosity, and it never lets me down. I prefer to check it off the list and move on to see what else is happening.
There’s another local lake that is always the first to produce each fall but I haven’t gone there yet. Although I’ll be making a visit very soon, just to see, just to say “hello, I’m back, did you miss me? I’ll see you next fall”. That’s pretty much the way it goes. The fish are smaller but usually very active. Never-the-less, I get bored quite easily and will move on to other waters. That’s the fun part for me. I wonder how many different lakes I’ll fish this fall? It will be interesting.
Part of my fall fishing arsenal isn’t only for deep-water crappie. The lead core rods and crank baits are always along and the reason being is that I’m fishing for “deep fish”, crappie and whatever else is down there, hopefully walleyes.
However, most of my experimental trolling in the depths has resulted in only northern pike. Sometimes a slab crappie latches onto a #5 Shad Rap. That’s always exciting.
I’ll keep at it, looking over the deep water. Some lakes have walleye moving shallow in the fall but then again, certain lakes have them deeper and that’s what I’m all about during the fall season.
I should mention that I’m not incognito anymore, as I have a “Greg’s Guide Lines” sticker on each side of my boat. White lettering, it stands out pretty good and can be seen for a long way off. A big “thank you” goes out to Silvertip Graphic Signs and Designs in Grand Rapids for the excellent work.
With that being said, if you see me out on the water, or on the highway, etc., and have a good story, photograph, or just plain want to talk fishing, feel free to flag me down. I’ll share with you what I’m doing to catch fish and maybe even pick up a tip or two from you!

Greg Clusiau, "Greg's Guidlines" August 9, 2016 - Fishing Report

"My brother, Joel, and I were making a day-trip into Ontario for a little crappie and walleye action and were just nearing International Falls when Joel spotted “something” walking at a quick pace on a railroad track.
Pointing it out, he said “what is that? It looks like a wolverine.” I was driving but had enough time to get a good look as well and it did indeed look like a wolverine, something I had never seen “in real life” before.
Fairly large, looking to be about 30-40 pounds or more, it had short legs and was brownish in color. Having spent our entire lives in the northern Minnesota outdoors, we’re positive of our sighting. It was a first for the both of us and we were both thrilled with the opportunity.
Once into Canada and catching fish, I had a small walleye take my bait and while reeling it in, a larger fish decided it would be a great meal. Usually, about 99% of the time, it’s a northern pike that will try to steal your catch but this time it was a big walleye. That was another first for me, as I watched it swim around with it at boatside before giving up and disappearing into the heavy weedline.
I can’t say enough about the vinyl flooring in my boat. No matter how careful one is, fish are dropped, every once in a while, or sometimes slime and/or blood is dripped on the floor. All I do is wet one of my fishing towels and swab it up before it has a chance to dry. The clean-up is so easy that I doubt I’ll ever have another boat with carpet.
I’ve strayed a bit, as of late, fishing for practically all species (musky, smallmouth, largemouth, crappie, & bluegill) but will be focusing on walleye for the next couple of weeks. The AIM Pro Walleye championship will be held on Lake of the Woods, August 26-27, and I want to be sure that fishing partner, Andy Walsh, and I have all in order for a good showing.

Greg Clusiau, "Greg's Guidlines" August 2, 2016 - Fishing Report

"Fishing success definitely has its ups and downs and I’ve experienced a sampling of it as of late.
My brother, Joel, and I made a trip across the border last Friday and did very well on crappie and walleye. This was an outstanding trip, where we focused on crappie by trolling artificial lures, with no live bait being used.
Searching a large flat, we knew fish were located on it somewhere but the area was huge so trolling for them is always done to pinpoint location. Once found, a fan-casting presentation is often used.
In search mode, we started by making a long cast behind the boat and trolling with Salmo “Hornets” and Northland Tackle “Thumper Jigs.” Both baits work well, especially when dealing with stained water, which we were.
The Hornet has a tight wiggling action to it that fish can “hear” coming from a long way off. Using braided line allows you to “feel the wiggle”, no matter how far back the bait is. A #3 or #4 Hornet runs shallow and can effectively cover the upper level of the water column, which is where these fish are usually located.
The Thumper works well too, as it has a spinner added to the jig, which once again attracts fish from quite a distance. Brighter colors seemed to work the best with both baits.
It didn’t take long to find the crappie and once we did a little fan-casting was in order. Fish came fast.
I got to thinking “hmmm, what if I used a large crankbait in this heavily stained water? Would it be as effective? Would it possibly catch even larger fish than we were already catching?”
Digging through some of my bass baits, I picked out a new one made by Berkley, called “Wild Thang” and gave it several casts. I was actually puzzled when not a strike was had but then it dawned on me. This lure was designed to run 8 ½’ deep and I was possibly pulling the lure beneath the fish. Switching to another new Berkley bait that would only dive to 5 ½’, I gave the “Pit Bull” a try and caught one on my first retrieve. As a matter-of-fact, I caught three large crappie in a row with this technique, along with several more afterward.
We finished the day by catching a bunch of walleye. Again, no live bait was used, even though we brought along some nightcrawlers “just in case.” The walleyes were caught by slowly trolling Thumper Jigs along various weedlines.
Saturday had me staying home, resting up from the previous days marathon outing. While home, I stayed in contact with fishing partners Andy Walsh and Justin Bailey, who were on different lakes and really struggling. Both on guide trips, Justin was in the Park Rapids area and Andy on Leech. Maybe it was the weather? I wondered.
Sunday had Justin heading to Mille Lacs Lake and I was invited to go along. Still somewhat dragging from the Ontario trip, I declined, as I know Justin and that means he’ll fish from first light until the sun drops and it’s just too much for me.
Andy and I discussed various Sunday options, ranging from Rainy Lake to Lake Kabetogama, but decided to fish somewhere local. I had the perfect lakes picked out, or so I thought.

Greg Clusiau, "Greg's Guidlines" July 19, 2016 - Fishing Report; Grand Rapids Walleye Shootout

Another GRAHA Walleye Shootout tournament, on lovely Pokegama Lake, is now in the books and what a day it was. Tournament partner, Andy Walsh, and I struggled to catch fish during the pre-fishing days but still managed to boat a few fish, very few.
My first day of pre-fishing, going solo, had me going home, scratching my head, with nary a walleye caught. The second day, with both Andy and I working over the big lake, gifted us with two nice fish. The third day was only slightly better, with three fish, but at least we had somewhat of a pattern put together.
The areas where we found walleyes were only fished a short while, as to not beat up on the fish or show others just where we were. It was good enough to give us a feeling of confidence.
The pre-tournament meeting had us laughing, as we drew boat number 100 out of 100 boats entered. That meant that, going in order, we would be the last boat heading out to our best spot found during pre-fishing. Would anyone else be on “our” spot? Would there be too many already there to even fish it?
Also, was it a bad luck omen that we drew the last number? The year prior, with Walsh fishing with a different partner, he drew boat 101, which was last as well. The year prior that, he won the event. Now that’s the old “sophomore jinx” if there ever was one.
Finally getting out of the shoot, we scooted across the lake wondering how many were already there. Rounding a point, we could see across the bay and couldn’t believe it but there was absolutely no one there. Unbelievable! We were thrilled.
Slowly moving down a weed line break, we found that the fished had moved. Just how far I wondered. Would we be able to find them again?
Zig-zagging our way, to cover as much area as possible, we eventually found them and they were stacked up big time. It was a fairly large school of fish and more than enough for us to “fill our card.” GRAHA rules allow each team to catch-photo-document-release five fish. There was certainly more than that there.
On the first pass, using bottom bouncers and spinners, we trolled right through the school and never caught a fish. That wasn’t a good sign but Andy did have one “bump” his lure. The next pass, at a slightly different speed, had the same results, with no fish caught, and then they were gone. We scoured the area and were unable to find just where the fish had disappeared to.
We fished it long enough to catch one lone northern pike and then abandoned our little hot spot for our next best option.
This one had a number of boats on it but they weren’t catching anything. Working it over for a couple of hours had us leaving and going for broke, which meant heading out onto the main lake and using large creek chubs, trying to catch a couple of trophy class fish.

Greg Clusiau, "Greg's Guidlines" July 12, 2016 - Fishing Report

"Well, that’s it. Another AIM Walleye Series tournament is in the books. Last Sunday’s event was held on Otter Tail Lake, Otter Tail county, and I must say I’m certainly enjoying learning new waters this season.
Andy Walsh and I had what seems to be our “normal” poor pre-fishing but came off the lake with somewhat respectable results, placing 16th out of 76 teams. Coming up next is the popular GRAHA Walleye Shootout on Pokegama Lake this weekend, followed up by the AIM championship on Lake of the Woods in late August. We’re anxiously looking forward to both.
It was my first visit to the Otter Tail area and I was pleased with my findings. What a beautiful area! I could see myself living in the Battle Lake area. It’s just that cool and has a special flavor to it. Also, did you know that Otter Tail county has more lakes than Itasca county? How nice it is to drive along and see a new lake every few miles or so.
Fairly large, Otter Tail Lake consists of over 14,000 acres, with over half of it being less than 15’ deep. It’s an interesting body of water that has an extensive, shallow flat ringing the entire lake, with most of it being sand. It’s looked to be a great recreational/swimming lake.
Caution, however, as there are rocks that could come up and “grab” your prop if you get a little careless, even though the lake is 120’ deep in places. We weren’t. Thank goodness for today’s gps technology and informative lake charts. They’re life savers, especially for us newcomers.
I wasn’t aware of the lake sturgeon population in Otter Tail. Re-introduced to the lake in 2002, we saw them surfacing and jumping out of the water all weekend and some of them were of the huge variety. Quite a few were accidently hooked up by tournament anglers. That’s always fun but it does rob one of precious minutes when competing in a tournament. They don’t come in very easy at all and takes a bit of time.
Mother Nature was up to her old tricks again, right on cue, as the night before the tournament she treated us to high winds, heavy rains, lighting, and thunder. I was surprised the fish bit as well as they did, with all of that commotion. It usually shuts then off pretty good.
On the way home, we observed several trees blown down, next to highway 200, east of Leech Lake. This had “mini tornado” written all over it, as some of the trees were twisted right around.
Last week’s musky adventure had us in almost the same situation, as we were trying to get home and hot on the heels of the storm the ravaged Deer River and the surrounding area. We had to stop a couple of times to remove trees off the highway but received plenty of “thumbs ups” and horn honking salutes for our efforts. All this was done in a pouring rain.
My goodness. This weather certainly has been trying as of late. Let’s hope it gets it out of its system before the Pokegama GRAHA tournament this Saturday. Some of “the best of the best” walleye anglers will be competing for the $15,000 first place prize, along with bragging rights, of course. Stop by this Saturday at the IRA Arena in Grand Rapids for the weigh-in, which gets underway at 6:30.
Like most all other tournaments, it’s a wonderful way to showcase a lake and community and what I think to be the best of it all is the fact the no fish are kept. All fish are caught, photo’d, and released to be caught again.
A scorecard will be reviewed by contest organizers and prizes awarded accordingly on stage. It’s going to be another big event. Hope to see you there."

Greg Clusiau, "Greg's Guidlines" June 21, 2016 - Fishing Report

I think summer is finally here. Fish are biting well and by that I mean all species. I just may have to go musky fishing a time or two, something I haven’t done in years. Every once in a while, I fall off the wagon and feel the urge to cast my brains out for these big teasers. Actually, I’d rather just sit back, put my feet up, and troll for them. It’s a lot easier but hard to do when fish are hanging tight to or deep in the cabbage weeds. Oh I suppose a few casts can be made for old time’s sake.
I fished for these things quite a bit back in the day and even competed in the pro circuit one year, traveling across Minnesota and Wisconsin. Brian Griffith, formerly of Deer River, was my tournament partner and I couldn’t ask for a better one. This guy can flat out fish and taught me a pile when it comes to musky fishing.
He made it look so easy. I’ll never get over it. As a novice musky fisherman, I shared a boat with him all summer and watched as he would catch one or two on darn near every trip. As a matter of fact, I never caught one that first summer. It became a mind game and I was actually psyching myself out.
Brian offered me the best baits, along with spots and first casts but no. I didn’t happen. Maybe the “fish of 10,000 casts” moniker held true?
Finally, the next year, I latched onto a small one while fishing Elk Lake in Itasca State Park. Only about seven pounds, a baby by musky standards, it was enough to get the monkey (maybe should say musky) off my back and I was on my way. The rest came easy, if there is such a thing. All of a sudden, I had a confidence that allowed me to do quite well and I was expecting to catch one or two myself on every outing. It’s funny what that confidence thing can do to a person and it’s true for anything you do. For me? Well, all I do is fish.
Getting back into the sport of musky fishing has me looking at a myriad of new up-dated rods, reels, and tackle. I can get the job done with what I have but am certainly looking forward to getting some new gear, mainly some longer casting rods made by Tuned Up Custom Rods. Something in the 8’ range would do just fine.
I’ve two musky rods that I’ve used for years and both are outdated and a whole lot shorter than the new trendy rods of today. One is a 6 ½’ and the other a 7’. Also, I have a little 5 ½’ that I used decades ago to catch big northern pike on. How in the world I used that thing is beyond me but hey, back then it was in style!
Musky fishing. It’s bringing back a flood of memories, like the time I caught my first big fish.
Fishing solo, often the norm, I tied into a nice fish on Moose Lake, north of Deer River. Flinging a long cast with one of my favorite bucktails, a #5 Mepps “Giant Killer” with that wonderful prism willow-leaf blade, a strike was felt.

Greg Clusiau, "Greg's Guidlines" June 14, 2016 - Fishing Report

Oh it’s so nice to be back home and sleeping in my own bed! Fishing is indeed fun and I love nearly every second of it but never care to be away from home for very long. Three days is more than enough for me.
Last weekend was dedicated to the AIM Weekend Walleye Series, held on fabulous Leech Lake, one of my favorites. We did a fair amount of pre-fishing and found some excellent spots for the tournament. Two key locations had fish practically jumping into the boat on Saturday, with the tournament being held the next day. One would think it couldn’t get much better.
Our first spot, accidently stumbled across the day before by Justin Bailey, allowed us to catch four fish in fifteen minutes on Saturday morning. It was an area often over-looked by most and one that Bailey had found while on a guide trip.
Trying to put some novice anglers on a good northern pike bite, they started out casting crank baits over the weeds and within minutes has several nice walleyes in the boat, with one of them being a fine 28” fish. Realizing what he had found, they switched to jigs and minnows and went on to catch 16 nice walleyes. Over-looked and no one there. Wow. What a spot.
Andy Walsh and I zipped in, caught a few fish, and left undetected, saving it for Sunday morning. From here, we would go to another prime spot, located further down the lake.
This one was hot as well. Making one pass through the area allowed us to catch a 16” and 27” fish. Not wanting to burn the spot, again, we packed up and left the area. This one too, was highly over-looked. The rest of the day was spent looking over other areas.
Now, it seems that Mother Nature does this to almost every tournament that I fish. The days prior the event are great for fishing and actually comfortable to be out on the lake, especially big waters. However, come tournament morning, she’ll flip the switch, as to say “I’ll fix them.”
An early riser, I woke at 4:00 am on Sunday morning and stepped outside our cabin at Trapper’s Landing on Leech Lake. I almost expected it. The trees were bending with the wind. It was really kicking up. I wondered what this would do to our fishing spots.
It was really picking up speed by the time the event got underway, held out of the Walker City Park. Our first spot would be a much shorter run than the second and we were fine with that. This time, we were boat number 91 out of 100 and would be leaving after nearly everyone else. I wondered if anyone, other than Bailey, would be on the spot.
As Andy and rounded the corner and got a good look at our destination, we were pleased to see only Justin and his partner, Jason Rylander, sitting on it. After all, it was Justin’s spot. He was just kind enough to share it with us. What a guy!
I could see them boating and recording a fish as we pulled up. Casting away, it was obvious that the winds had changed the chemistry of this little-known hot spot, as fish were hard to come by. Finally, Andy latched onto one that measured 20 ½”, which turned out to be our largest of the day. One more small one was caught before we packed it in and headed further out onto the main lake, which was really rough by this time.
Our plans to make a run to one of our big fish spots was halted when the windshield bracket broke loose from all of the hard wave impacts. It’s amazing what a boat can go through and remain in one piece. Also, while trying to make our way there, one of Andy’s graphs broke loose and almost fell in the drink. Yes. It was that rough. I’d say the waves were measured anywhere from 4’–6’ high.
Not being able to reach our destination, we settled for another well-known big fish spot that no one was on. Gee, I wonder why? It was so darn rough. We ended up catching one more small fish, before heading back to where we came from.
We knew Justin was heading to the second spot and really wondered how he was doing, as the day before it was absolutely “lights out” for him.
We finished the day by “filling the card” with smaller fish, ranging from 12 – 15” and ended up in 58th place with a weight of 8.23 pound for five fish. Not good. But that’s fishing. It’s always a gamble, one way or another and I always say “it all depends on what side of the bed you got out of that morning.” (Maybe I should have stayed in bed!)
Justin, by the way, made it to the other spot and only caught one fish there. Lake conditions had mixed things up there too.
The rough waters claimed their fair share of broken equipment on this day. A few windshield frames were broken and equipment lost but the BIG casualty for me was when my famed full-brimmed camo hot blew off my head. We turned around immediately, as if it was a small child, but it couldn’t be recovered before doing the deep six. Now I have to go shopping.

Hats off to those that fought the weather (high winds, heavy rains & lightning) for a full day and a big pat on the backs of first place team Bleeker/Weeda for their first place finish of 32.99 pounds for which they earned $8,000.
Next stop, July 10, Otter Tail Lake.

Greg Clusiau, "Greg's Guidlines" (June 7, 2016) - Leech Lake Walleye Tournament

I’ve spent most of my fishing time chasing walleye this year and that is mainly due to the AIM Pro Walleye Series that Andy Walsh and I are signed up for. We’ve competed in two of them and have that many more to go before the championship on Lake of the Woods in August.
Our next event will be on one of my favorite bodies of water, Leech Lake, this coming Sunday. My brother, Joel, and I did a little pre-fishing last week and found some very nice fish but locating a good school of fish that far in advance of the tournament is usually all for naught, as they more-than-likely will have moved on before next Sunday’s event.
The annual Leech Lake Walleye Tournament (formerly Leech Lake Classic) was held last weekend. I tried to enter but the field was full at 155 boats and although I had a good idea on where to catch a few fish, the weather was miserable and almost made me glad I didn’t enter. I hate battling high winds and heavy rains.
The LLWT was won by the Bemidji team of Curb/Sutton, weighing in 6 fish on each of the two days for a total weight of 28.06 pounds. Bolstering the weight, they were able to weigh in a 6 pounder on Saturday and a 7 on Sunday. The lucky duo went home a first place check, good for $14,200.
Needless-to-say, a fair amount of time will be spent on Leech Lake this week, trying to put together a good pattern for next Sunday.
I have to chuckle when looking back over the last week or so of walleye fishing. It all started when a trip was made to Upper Red Lake. I was guiding and picking up a few fish (40) but not as many as some young Grand Rapids area anglers, of the Hang Loose Outdoors group. Honking the horn, I told them “you’ll have to move over, you’re in my spot.” There were only about 200 boats out there and they were putting on a real walleye catching clinic.
The very next day, again with the same scenario, me guiding and them just having fun, I bumped into them again on Big Bowstring. Again with the friendly banter. “How odd” I thought.
A few days later, when Joel and I were ready to leave our little hotspot on Leech Lake, a boat comes cruising up and wouldn’t you know it. It’s those two again! What in the world. Only this time, I was there first.
They, Colt Anderson and Dylan Maki, were pre-fishing for the Leech Lake Walleye Tournament and evidently did their homework, as they finished in 11th place with 21.23 pounds, good for a $740 check. Congratulations boys! (Now keep your distance!)

Fresh in the door from another AIM Pro Walleye tournament, I’m plum tuckered out. Not only is it a grueling endeavor to be on the water for a full three days (honest), it’s also the five hour ride home when you’re through competing.
Andy Walsh and I struggled during our pre-fishing efforts on Friday and Saturday but finally put something together in the late going. It wasn’t much, in our book, but after catching a couple of larger fish, five and six pounds, figured it was our best chance to do anything at all in the event.
We ended up drawing boat number 52 out of a total field of 66 teams from across the Midwest. That put us in the second flight, which left 15 minutes later from the staging area on the south end of Big Stone Lake. We wondered. How many boats would be fishing on “our spot” by the time we got there?
The big lake was nice traveling on this morning, all 26 miles of it. Long and narrow, Big Stone offers plenty of fishing opportunities and not just for walleye. Throughout the three days there, we ended up catching white bass, sheepshead, perch, sunfish, bullhead, northern pike, and walleye and most all of these species were of trophy caliber.
I was truly impressed with the size of the sunfish, even though we only caught three of them. The smallest was 10” long, with the largest pushing 11”, and all three attacked a crank bait meant for walleye. These fish have some big appetites and their physique shows it. The bullheads looked to be small catfish and the perch were real jumbos. Everything was big and robust, even the white bass and sheepshead. I’d love to go back there for a few days to target these trophy fish.
Big Stone is appropriately named, as there are rocks everywhere. Normally this wouldn’t be of too much concern to me but when the lake is basically 15’ deep, you really have to be on your toes and pay close attention to where you are traveling. This is where a Navionics chip comes in real handy, giving you a good idea of just where it is safe to run wide open.
Finally, it was our turn to take off. Cruising at over 50 mph for ten miles or so, we arrived at our spot to find not a soul there. Now, there are two ways to look at this. One is that everybody else had found something better or two, it was an overlooked area that others had somehow missed. How would we know? We’d have to fish it and find out at day’s end.
Trolling crank baits, I tied into a big fish right away. Fighting much harder and heavier than the six pound caught from the day before, we were excited to start the day with a big fish only to have the hooks pull free right next to the boat. Deflated? no. Angry with myself for losing it? Yes.
Then it was Andy’s turn. A heavy fish was on and off in an instant and we were kicking ourselves but continued on with our pre-planned program.
Finally, a fish pushing 6 pounds was caught and we were on the board. The “catch, photo, and record” format has anglers releasing all fish, which is a great trending way to do tournaments. Put a fish in your live well for any reason and you’re disqualified.
Each boat receives a tournament packet in the morning consisting of the official measuring board with your boat number on it, a card for your camera, and a data sheet for recording the catches. Photos must be taken a certain way to verify the catch. It’s about as fail safe as possible when it comes to someone trying to be dishonest. I like this format and wish other tournaments would follow suit, as all fish are released on the spot, right where you caught them.
We kept pecking away but the big fish, from then on, eluded us. We’d have to “fill the card” with whatever we happened to catch. Anglers can catch and record as many fish as possible but only the largest five will be counted for your total weight. A formula is used to configure just how much a fish would weigh, breaking it down to ¼” increments.
Catching was slow and steady but came to a screeching halt when we became bombarded with green algae slime that was loosened up by the day’s high winds. It was almost impossible to fish without everything becoming covered with the slippery stuff. At the end of the day, my greenish fingers made it look like I was working on the lawn all day.
Andy and I went on to catch seven fish, recording five, for a total weight of 13.46 pounds. The weight placed us in 17th place and left us wondering “what if?”
Next up? Leech Lake.

Greg Clusiau, "Greg's Guidlines" (May 3, 2016) - AIM Walleye Tournament Report

Now that was interesting and fun as well but I’m glad it’s over and done with. What I speak of is the first of four AIM Pro Walleye weekend series events to be held in the Minnesota division.
It was definitely a learning experience and I’ll be the first to say I was out of my element. When speaking rivers, I’ve done a lot of fishing on the Rainy River but comparing Pools 3 and 4 of the Mississippi River to the Rainy is like the comparison of apples to oranges. They are so different it’s not even funny.
The Rainy is basically straight, with somewhat defined river banks or shorelines. There is nowhere else to go. The Mississippi, however, offers all of that and then some, in the form of wing dams, locks, and an unlimited backwater area. Once off the beaten track, you’d think you were in the Florida everglades and sometimes that’s where you need to go.
Many factors come forth when considering where to fish and they are:
1) “High or Low” – Is the water high or low? River waters can fluctuate in a hurry. Find fish one day and go back the next to find the water has risen 6-8’. Are the fish still in this area or are they frolicking around the backwaters in 2’ of water? Good luck.
2) “Cold or Warm” – Fluctuating water temperatures of spring can throw a wrench into things as well. A key here is to search out the warmer waters, which definitely can help in certain situations. We were at a loss in this category, as Andy’s graph got a little stubborn and wouldn’t reveal any water temps. However, pull the boat out of the water and it worked just fine, 46º air temp.
3) “Fast or Slow” - Another factor is current. You might have things figured out but when they open the dams and water is surging like a mini tidal wave, it can call for a change of plans.
4) “Murky or Less Murky” – Water clarity just doesn’t happen. It’s usually murky and muddy but the fish are used to this. This situation calls for some thought when selecting lure colors. You want it to stand out and get a little attention. Our best baits were chartreuse jigs tipped with orange or white.
5) “Sunny or Overcast” – Some thought should be given to this when selecting lure color, especially when trolling crank baits, bright on bright days and duller or tuned down colors when overcast.
6) Windy or Calm” – Not a huge factor, but can be, on the river but if you had a good pattern going further down river on Lake Pepin it could make or break you, as the lake is big and can get pretty nasty when windy.
Seventy-eight teams entered the event, based out of Evert’s Resort, on the Wisconsin side of the river. Names were “drawn out of a hat” to determine the order of take-off and Andy and I drew #9. Partners Justin Bailey and Jason Rylander drew #73.

Greg Clusiau, "Greg's Guidlines" (April 26th) -

I’ve been bouncing around the country, as of late, fishing for walleye and panfish. For walleye, I’ve been visiting Pools 3 and 4 of the Mississippi River, near Red Wing, where my first AIM walleye tournament will be taking place this Sunday. If there’s any problem with this quest, it’s the fact that it’s so darn far away, which makes effective pre-fishing efforts a bit difficult.
My last trip there was a one-day shot with Justin Bailey, which involved driving eight hours to make the 400 mile round trip and ten hours on the water. This makes for a long day but it’s what we do. I’m certainly glad Justin did the driving. That guy is going non-stop and it was probably like a walk in the park for him. For me, however, I was totally wiped out the next day and never left the house.
We were honored to have Jim Carpenter hop in the boat with us, to show us around this magnificent river system. It’s a bit intimidating, as we are out of our element, for now, but plan on learning as much as possible before this coming weekend. Actually, as I write this week’s column, on a Monday morning, Justin is back down there.
Long-distance pre-fishing has us teamed up, even though we will have different partners in the event and actually be competing against one another. I’ll be fishing with Andy Walsh, while Justin is partnered with famed Bemidji fishing guide Jason Rylander. You see, Andy and Jason have jobs and less time off. However, for Justin and I, every day is Saturday! You gotta love that.
Initially, I imagined this part of the Mississippi to be nothing more than a large river like the Rainy but it’s so much more than that. While the Rainy has miles and miles of defined shorelines and riverbanks, the Mississippi has countless “cuts” and backwaters, creating an absolute maze of fishing opportunities. Not to mention, wing dams, barges, and locks.
Going through one of the locks was worth the trip alone, as Justin and I had never been through one before. On this mid-week day, we were the only boat involved, which was nice for us newcomers. Carpenter said that during tournaments it can be shoulder-to-shoulder inside the lock.
One thing to consider in pre-fishing is just how long it takes to travel from take-off to your pre-planned fishing hole and if it’s through a lock, you better account for the time it takes to travel through it. Just a few boats? Well, that’s easy but a whole fleet of boats could slow things up a good deal. It’s always a chance that you take.
We tried several of Jim’s tried and true spots, along with proven presentations that have won him a tournament or two on these waters. We were in good hands, to say the least.
I’ll be running back down there early Friday morning for two days of pre-fishing with Andy before Sunday’s event. It should be fun and I’ll have a report for you coming up shortly.
As far as panfish, the local waters warmed up to where they started to bite pretty good but wouldn’t you know it, as soon as I gave it a try, the temps dropped and the fish moved back out into deeper water.
My nephew, Jesse Clusiau, got in touch with me, saying he did well on the big sunfish. They were in 1’ of water and several big fish were caught. It was on one of the first warm, almost hot, days we’ve had this spring.
Overnight, it cooled down considerably so we made plans to go after the Twins game, which would end around 3:30 pm. We’d give the water all day to warm back up.

Greg Clusiau, "Greg's Guidlines" (April 4, 2016) - Greg's Guidelines

I prefer to give up-to-date outdoor reports but this transition time is killing me. The only open water fishing available to me, at this time, is river fishing the Mississippi near St. Paul or the northern state boundary of the Rainy. Been there, done that.
Oh, of course I could always go to the popular warm water discharge, aka the “hot pond”, but I’ve tired of that scenario, as I used to fish it quite a bit back in the day.
The Rainy, which is a preferred spring fishery for most of us on the iron range, is still taking some time to get straightened away, as far as a good bite happening there. I’m sure that before it closes at mid-month it’ll be just fine. But here too, I’ve somewhat tired of that particular early season walleye and sturgeon pursuit, as I used to be up there every spring. Looking back on it, I started fishing the Rainy River for early spring walleyes over thirty years ago.
I thought of doing a little “shed hunting” but figured I’d leave that up to my daughter. I’ve never been very successful at it but she seems to stumble across them with ease. Go figure.
I did manage to stop in at Ray’s Sport & Marine to look over the new boats and found myself putting down a deposit on a 1750 Lund Rebel XS tiller. I recall not too many years ago when the Rebel was pretty much an “entry level” rig. Nowadays, however, it is much more than that. I’ll have more on the new rig when it arrives. A big thank you goes out to Eric Koenig for all of the knowledgeable assistance.