Discovery Channel has Shark Week, and Silver Water Wheel Lodge has Bass week. And this was It! Almost every group fished bass for part of their stay and the results were impressive. There were 242 bass over 18 in. released this week, including 59 – 19s, 10 – 20s, and the new lodge record at 21 in. was caught and released by John Ivie.
Plastics and tubes were the preferred presentation for smallmouth, but top waters and cranks also produced at times. The first mayfly hatches started showing up at the end of the week and that usually marks the beginning of the end of Bass season on Lac Seul. It was fun while it lasted.
It was another week of almost no wind. Even though there was less time spent walleye fishing than usual, the flat-water conditions did not help with the top end walleye numbers. For the week, we caught and released 37 walleyes over 27 in., including 11 – 28s, and 3 – 29s. Volume was actually pretty good with guide sheets averaging 35 walleyes over 18 in. per boat each day. Production was evenly split between Gulp and minnows. There were walleyes caught from 2 – 32 ft., but key depths were 8 – 15 ft.
There was little time spent pike fishing. We closed the week with 9 over 37 in., including 1 – 38, and 2 – 39s. The main lake weeds have not topped out yet, but they are on their way. The first groups of pike are just starting to show up in the new growth.
The Take Away: It feels like there are more and more bass on Lac Seul every year. There is a significant increase in the number of places that we now target for big bass. And this year the weather lined up perfect for the groups that planned to target them. But, overall, there are more and bigger smallmouth everywhere.
