Camp is alive again. All of our old friends are back and everyone is catching fish. They say you don’t know what you miss until it is gone, but believe me, we knew and we missed it. I was very anxious and concerned for the first groups coming across the border. Now I am not.
We have not had a single group or guest denied entry at the border. As a matter of fact, most of our groups have made a point to tell me that they were surprised at how easy it was to cross. Yes, these are motivated SWWL anglers that were willing to jump through any number of hoops to come up, but at the same time, everyone is here and fishing. If anyone is concerned about the process or documents required to cross, please call us. We will walk you through it and make sure that you can drive up without the anxiety that our first groups had.
I can’t believe I get to talk about the weather. Now I know that we are back to regular fishing reports. It was blazing hot at the Wheel this week. There was always a wind from the south, but daytime highs were at or above 90 for most of the week. It was a little uncomfortable at times, but it was easier to tolerate when the fishing was just as hot. There were one or two average volume days, but most were faster than average by a long shot.
The walleyes were found on classic Lac Seul summertime spots. The prime depth range for both main lake rock and sand was 25 – 35 ft. Gulp was better at producing size at times. Minnows were better at producing numbers. Main lake rock was good and then main lake sand was good. The key was to find a pattern and duplicate it. It helped that I had top guides on staff to put the pieces of the puzzle together every day.
For the week, walleye volume was strong with daily guide sheets averaging over 40 walleyes over 18 in. per boat per day. It was fast. Top end size was also very good. Keep in mind, we had half of the normal guide staff on the water. For the week we caught and released 97 walleyes over 25 in. Included in that number were 32 – 26s, 12 – 27s, 1 – 28, 1 – 29, and 1 – 30. We caught and released a ton of big walleyes.
We only had one or two boats chasing big pike this week. Weed growth was weird for the entire lake this year, but the hot weather with wind is already breaking down many weedbeds. Finding good weeds close to deep water was the absolute bottom line requirement to find big pike. For the week, we caught and released 1 – 37, 1 – 38, 1 – 39, and 1 – 40. The Williams whitefish spoon is a guide favorite, but double 8 in-line spinners also produced.
The Take Away:
The shared experience of every angler that has been to the Wheel this summer is that they were worried about what they would have to deal with at the border. After they crossed, they could not wait to tell others that it was easy. This year we have hosted guests in their mid to late 80s and we have had dads bring up their unvaccinated sons that were under 12. We have this down.
August is fully booked and so is most all of September. I do have 2 cancellations currently open in September. If anyone is interested, please free to call.
