Lodge Record Walleye Tied:
The key weather events this week were days of extremely high winds and another cold front. The wind was sustained 25 – 30 mph with stronger gusts for 3 days. Those conditions make ½ of our area unfishable for us and even when you could find fishable water somewhat out of the wind, we were not being efficient.
Both walleye volume and top end size took a hit this week because of the weather. Guide sheets averaged 35 over 18 in. per boat per day. For the week, we caught and released 50 walleyes over 27 in., including 8 – 28s, 3 – 29s, 1 – 31, and 1 – 33 (we will get to that later.)
The walleyes are moving out onto the main lake. Rock structures produced better than sand and the key depths were 14 – 22 ft. We found some shallower and some deeper, but the majority of the over slot sized fish were caught in that zone. Gulp was hit and miss. There were bites where it worked and it did produce some big ones, but there were just as many times where guides reported marking and not catching. The same could be said after the cold front went through for guides fishing 1/4s and minnnows.
The pike fishing was tough this week and we did not have that many groups slinging. For the week, we caught and released 7 pike over 37 in., including 1 – 38, 1 – 39, and 2 – 41s. The cabbage on the main lake should be topping out next week and I expect that those numbers will improve, if the weather stabilizes.
Bass fishing season is pretty much over for us. There are regions where the mayflies are starting to hatch, but this week’s weather also moved things along. For the week, we caught and released 9 smallmouth bass over 19 in.
We don’t usually publicly celebrate when one of our guides catches a big fish, but this week was a little different. For those of you who know us, you know that we are thrilled to have Orrin, Raelene, and their son Sawyer with us this season. This week, Orrin caught a 33 in. walleye that ties the lodge record for length. It also had a 17 in. girth. That catch could not have happened to a better guy or guide.
