Seems like I am always jumping the gun this winter. I remembered the great fishing I had last winter on Banks Lake for walleye, and I wanted to see if I could catch some in December. I called Brian Neilson, of BJs Guide Service, to see if he wanted to go along, and he bit. He and his friend Fred met me at the Northrup launch last Thursday, and away we went. We started near the first big island you run into on the way to Barker Flats. We marked some fish at 40 feet, and I actually got a hit on a Slow Death Hook with a silver Smile Blade. We then ran further up to Barker Flats proper and started trolling in 25 feet of water. Wow. There were a lot of fish here. The screen showed fish all over, but they just weren’t in the mood. We got one whopper perch. We tried off Steamboat with no success, and then ran around the corner and into Devils Punchbowl. Nielson swore there was an old road bed loaded with walleye in here, and while we were looking, his rod went off. When he got it up to the boat we were surprised to see that it was a burbot. He had never caught one before, so we called trip a success and went home. I haven’t given up on Banks, but I wait a while before I go back.