4 close friends and I are staying at a resort on Garden Lake this week and we are really struggling to catch walleye or smallmouth. Fish finder shows a lot of fish suspended 8 to 16 foot down in 20 to 24 foot of water. We have tried points and rock humps with leeches and sucker minnows and have only caught a few slot Northerns. Tried slip bobbers rigs and jigs. Also tried rocky shore lines with no results assorted lures Any advice to help us would be greatly appreciated.

You can't even catch smallies? Just try to fish for walleyes. You will then catch a bunch. QueticoMike will help you out with his articles.

Pretty much been fishing in walleye spots with live bait and jigs but also tried rocky shore lines and breaks with lures and no luck. Might be the fish are inactive due to weather changes

Mr. Raid, whenever I've fished waters where fish see a lot of lures and bait, I've done best with the lightest possible line, the thinnest hooks, and smallest sinkers. For example, I've fished the Mississippi with four-pound test while surrounded by boats that weren't catching fish while I caught fish after fish, from crappie to walleye to white bass to smallmouth bass.

Also, don't hesitate to ask the lodge owners for very specific tips.

On White Iron, run down to where the South Kawishiwi flows into it. I've done well there before. Also, there's a slight narrows area just before you get to Ring Rock, with a couple of rock piles on the left as you head south, typically with a seagull sitting on them. If the wind is right that area can be good for walleye fishing the structure and the drop offs. See if you can find the mid lake hump in Farm and also try the narrows right where Farm and Garden come together. Fishing just above and below Silver Rapids is sometimes good, however with this year's water levels being so low there's not much current. There's also a shallow bay directly north of the Silver Rapids docks, be EXTREMELY careful getting in there with your boat, but it's a fun place to cast topwaters and spoons for pike.

JD

jdevries: "On White Iron, run down to where the South Kawishiwi flows into it. I've done well there before. Also, there's a slight narrows area just before you get to Ring Rock, with a couple of rock piles on the left as you head south, typically with a seagull sitting on them. If the wind is right that area can be good for walleye fishing the structure and the drop offs. See if you can find the mid lake hump in Farm and also try the narrows right where Farm and Garden come together. Fishing just above and below Silver Rapids is sometimes good, however with this year's water levels being so low there's not much current. There's also a shallow bay directly north of the Silver Rapids docks, be EXTREMELY careful getting in there with your boat, but it's a fun place to cast topwaters and spoons for pike.


JD"

I'll second just about all of this. We stayed on White Iron for a week around Labor day a few years ago. We'd never been on any of the lakes...had some fish in all of those spots. Minnow under slip bobber worked when all else wouldn't.

Thank you all for the advice. We have started catching some eater walleyes using the TGO method but they are still fairly tight lipped