It was a tough, tough week on Lac Seul. The weather got hotter and the lake was flatter and the walleyes moved shallower. The most dramatic change this week is that everything shut right down in deep water. It was a hot water shallow bite or nothing. We continually checked the deep water (25- 35 ft.) for big fish and blanked every time. Rarely have I seen such a dramatic departure from what we consider the norm.
At times, the volume was good, and we caught lots of 23 – 25 in. walleyes in 10 – 16 ft., but the big fish were more than scarce. The shallow water fish were often aggressive and could be caught on straight plastic, but the next hour or day could be extremely finicky. The trick was to monitor the bite and the level of activity and adjust the speed of your presentation accordingly.
We caught some fish with bouncers and spinners with minnows, but during that time, we were really just hunting for fish. Once you marked them, you caught many more on jigs with minnows, at a much slower pace.
Volume remained inconsistent, with about 30 walleyes per guide boat per day over 18 inches. The highest daily total was 67. For the week, there were only 10 walleyes over 27 in., including 2-28s
The weather pattern broke today. After a few showers and some huge northwest winds, the surface temps dropped over 10 degrees. Immediately, we marked and caught fish in the 25 -35 ft. zone that had been barren for the last week. It is difficult to comprehend how the weather can affect the system so dramatically in such a short time. The only lesson to take home from this past week is how fast the fish can move in response to weather.
Pike and Bass weren’t even a consideration. We caught a few, but none on purpose or worth mentioning.
