Sometimes you have to be careful what you hope for. This past week could generally be described as stable, but more accurately, it was Hot and Flat. With bright sunshine and very little wind, high temps soared into the mid 90s. This weather trend further intensified a separation between the shallow water weed bite and the deep water fish. There was an increase in size of walleyes found shallow and there were times when the bite was quite strong.
There were lots of 20-25 in. fish caught from the deep side of the weedbeds along with walleyes up to 27. Bouncers and spinners were useful tools to locate fish, but many were in a neutral to negative mood and required much slower presentations with jigs.
Most of the big fish were found deep and required a great deal of patience and discipline. Usually, there are 18-23 in. fish mixed in the bunch that keep you busy as you work the 25-35 ft. main lake structure. This past week, It was basically big or nothing. The main lake rock zone in 20 – 35 ft. is basically devoid of medium sized walleye.
The deep water fish were almost all caught on 1/4 – 3/8 oz. jigs with minnows. Most shallow water walleyes were caught with jigs and minnows or jigs and plastics when the bite was on. Volume for the week was again quite variable, but still averaged out at around 30 walleyes over 18 in. per guide boat per day. The highest daily total was 67. For the week we caught and released 34 walleyes over 27 in., including 3 – 28s and 4 – 29s. Pike and smallmouth were limited and showed up in light numbers as incidental catch.
We have seen this pattern a few times in years past and the only thing that can make a dramatic change is a massive change in weather. The 5 Day forecast looks like more of the same, so we will plan to bounce back and forth for at least the next week.
