Rock Island

[bruce47]

Thinking of going to Rock Island this wk end ,any one been out there in the last few days?

[Safety D]

This time of year it will be dead. Wait for the hardwater

[bark284]

It was really gross this summer

[Billy2017]

Was out there about 3 weeks ago and it was pretty slow for the Walleye but the pike were active. About 1/4 of the lake had a bunch of algae on the surface that was thick like paint and smelled bad. I would hope that it has cleared up by now.

[fishunter77]

Agreed for slow time of year. Wait for the hard water, not far away.

Had a lot of Algae this year.

[Warmbreeze]

I am hoping to make it out there in the next couple of days...
I have never fished it this late but don't know why it would be slow? If someone could explain that... I have fished it into the middle of October with great success for walleye (not huge numbers but nice size).
If I make it out I will let you know!

[yetiseeker]

Both this year and last year, I noticed was noticing massive schools of bait fish on Rock Island. My sonar screen would show "clouds" of some form of debris that literally filled the entire screen. I turned down the sensitivity, and still showed these clouds. They were not constant, but quite a few going along the ledge. I even used my structure scan, and sure enough, still were showing up.

So, I threw on a small perch jig trying to figure out what the heck was going on. I ended up catching a fat 3 inch minnow. I caught a few more and watched closer as I brought the minnows up. Many other minnows were following the ones on my hook.

So, my belief is that there has been a massive minnow bloom there in the past couple of years. The Walleye bite has been tough there - very hit and miss. I think the Walleyes are feasting on this bloom. We still caught Pike as they always seem more willing to bite than the eyes.

Good news / bad news - I think the Walleyes are feasting and will be getting fatter as we speak. Bad news is, with so much forage, the bites going to be tough until the lake gains back some equilibrium.

Hopefully it will moderate in the next few years as I love the campground there and is usually a nice and quiet get away (no power = less crowds).

[Pencilweed]

I noticed this at Fawcett lake last winter as I caught many spot tail shiners while perch fishing.

[Mayhem]

Unfortunately, there is no scale for reference but this is what I found in the stomach of a large eye I caught there back in 2013. They were between 3 and 4 inches long and he still took my bait.

http://www.outdoorsmenforum.ca/picture.php?albumid=2147&pictureid=9591

[yetiseeker]

Unfortunately, there is no scale for reference but this is what I found in the stomach of a large eye I caught there back in 2013. They were between 3 and 4 inches long and he still took my bait.

http://www.outdoorsmenforum.ca/picture.php?albumid=2147&pictureid=9591

Mayhem - no picture attached. Could you PM me or post.

Thanks

[Mayhem]

Mayhem - no picture attached. Could you PM me or post.

Thanks

Sorry about that. Here ya go.

[finner-duramax]

Any word on the fishing?
Heading up that way tomorrow