We wanted to see if the fish were stacked up in the drawn-down lake. Normally this time of year the walleye bite is pretty good on Banks, so we thought that the skinnier water would increase our odds. For 5 hours of trolling, three guys, we ended up with 1 walleye, 16 perch kept (released probably 20), released 2 real nice smallies in the 2-3 pound range, and kept one brown bullhead. Water temps were in the mid to high 60's, mostly cloudy with a rain shower and a little breezy. It was very impressive to see the water 20-25 feet below full pool. In many places it was like being in the Dunes at Potholes. Having a GPS made things much easier. The Northrup launch is closed; we walked down and looked around and could see that someone got stuck. We launched at Coulee Playland and it was pretty easy.

---