It never ceases to amaze me how fast a season can pass. The lodge will still be full for another month of fishing, but it is time for me to pack up and head south to prepare for my fall whitetail deer guiding season. The nights are cooler, the days are shorter, and the first hints of color are showing up in the bush. The air is different and it isn’t quite fall yet, but you can feel it coming.
The walleye bite this past week could best be described as sporadic. There were some nice fish caught and there were days when the bite was ok, but there were also many afternoons that were extremely slow. There was a dramatic increase in the number of small to extremely small walleyes found on both main lake rock and sand structure. There really wasn’t a weather event that you could point to as an indirect cause of the spotty activity, but there are several indications of the presence of a massive amount of forage available. Most shorelunch walleyes I filleted last week had stomachs packed full of perch and smelt. We are also finding massive clouds of baitfish on the graphs while fishing areas adjacent to the main lake basin. At times, the schools are more than 15 ft in depth.
For the week, there were 18 walleyes over 27 in., including 4 – 28s. Overall volume was down a bit for the week. Daily guide reports averaged 35 walleyes over 18 in. and the highest daily total was 60.
Almost all walleyes this week were caught with 1/4 – 3/8 oz. jigs tipped with minnows. A few guides ran bouncers with crawlers with moderate success, but most days, you really had to go slow to get your bites. Average productive depths were 25-35 ft. though there were some good mediums caught from as shallow as 15 ft.
Bass and Pike were basically ignored this past week
My staff will try to keep up with the weekly postings, but it may be a challenge with the busy schedule and reduced staff. Until next year, good fishing!
