Women on Water

Ok, I have to brag a little bit! Saturday was my 1st Anniversary and I was lucky enough to convince my wife that we should fish the tournament. I can't think of a better way to spend an anniversary than fishing with my wife, and now we were lucky enough to actually win the tournament! It is all still surreal. My wife Amy and her friend Liz did an awesome job in the wind, I couldn't be more proud! Now for the fishing details! We were trolling crankbaits on the flats right outside of White Earth Bay. We didn't even get the Warrior up on plane all day. When the flag waved we just let out our lines and stayed there all day in the same 1 mile stretch. We caught our fish in 5-12FOW, with 8 being the best number, they were a little deeper when the wind was switching and it was calm. Then when it picked back up they moved up into 5-6 feet. Our speed really varied depending on the wind and which way we were going. But 2.5mph is where I tried to keep us, but the wind creating surges and lulls helped get more bites!Our best crankbaits were Berkley flicker shads(#5&#6) and the #7 flicker minnows in a variety of colors. We were trolling them on fireline 30-50 feet behind the boat. Another thing that was very nice was Navionics Sonar Charts Live! I was able to update my maps on the water, this allowed me to see the one foot changes in the real shallow water which was keep to keeping the boat in the zone, maximizing our fishing time! The warrior was again awesome in the big wind it tracked great making boat control easier. If you want a look at these warrior fishing machines stop in at Mondak Sports in Williston. We caught 20+ keeper sized walleye but had made the decision to not keep a fish unless it was over 1.5lbs, we had 4 in the livewell within the first 2 hours, then it slowed. But after the wind switched and picked up we quickly had our 6 fish limit, and then within the next hour we were up to 9 fish, we then had a solid 2 hours to look for another upgrade but never found it. I didn't think we had enough to win, my thought was 18lbs, but obviously I was pleasantly surprised! The only thing i would change during the day would be not losing so many crankbaits in the trees! HAHA