Smokey:
It was a warm week, but the smoke from fires near and far kept the day time highs from being too unbearable. Highs this week averaged in the 80s with a few days in the low 90s. Lack of wind and variable winds were the biggest weather complaint from the guide crew.
There were reports of walleyes caught in the weeds by pike anglers, but for the most part, we fished fairly deep this week. Key depths for numbers and size were 25 – 30 ft. Volume did improve over last week with guide sheets averaging 30 walleyes over 18 in. per boat per day. For the week, we caught and released 32 walleyes over 27 in., including 5 – 28s and 3 – 29s.
We continue to be split 2/3 light jigs and minnows vs. 1/3 – ¾ oz jigs and Gulp for production. There was less discussion of rock spots vs. sand spots and more talk about fishing the rock to sand transition on deeper water spots.
The addition of the Humminbird Helix’s to our arsenal of electronics has been a game changer. For those of you that don’t know, there is no depth contour map of Lac Seul with any accuracy. Auto-chart live on the Humminbirds has been the feature that has allowed us to make our own lake maps and discover spot on spots and new hotspots, even in our own back yard. If you are a fishing geek and fish water that does not have a good lake map, I am certain that you will love this feature.
Groups spent more time fishing pike this past week and the results improved. The regular spots were top producers and main lake weeds adjacent to deep water were the key. For the week, we caught and released 10 over 37 in., including 2 – 38s, 1 – 39, and 2 – 41s.
I tend to stay focused on the fishing, but it was a busy family week at the lodge with many generations. In the evenings we had kids of all ages tubing, boarding, pitching bean bags, and playing Kubb in the yard. I know my kids had a blast.
