Big Walleye on the Fly

Eric LaChapelle came into the fly shop the other day to pick up some streamers for Walleye. He said he and a friend were headed out in their float tubes that evening. A few days later I got the full story! Enjoy!

“A friend of mine found a hot walleye bite (a lake with some agressivally feeding fish) and invited me out to his honeyhole. I had never fished for walleye with a flyrod, but growing up in the Midwest I have taken my fair share on spinning gear. We got our tubes on the water around 5pm and I rigged up my newly acquired $20 St.Croix 7wt that I purchased from a guy on Craigslist (I broke my 6wt on the North Platte over Memorial Day). I hooked up a Clouser Minnow and a smaller #4 Bellyache Minnow in tandem on my full sink line and let her rip in 12-15ft of water along some submerged brush piles. I never really felt the strike, but suddenly I felt weight and set the hook into what I figured was a big stick. A solid headshake and a doubled over rod got my heart beating and at that point I knew I had a good fish. I grabbed my small trout net thinking I had a 20-24" fish. Then I got the fish to the surface and saw the head. I put my net away knowing there was no way in hell the fish was going to fit! I grabbed her behind the head and got a good grip on her tail while my friend brought over the Boga grip. We took a quick measurement with tape and the Walleye measured at 29.5"! She had eaten the Bellyache Minnow! Not bad for a first walleye on the fly with a $20 secondhand rod, right?”

— Eric LaChapelle