Last week of May was ON FIRE!
I had 2 checkouts tonight before I started to write the Fishing Report. As a lodge owner with a very high customer return rate, it is important for me to manage expectations for guests that plan to come back. Tonight, I told them straight up, this week was a one in 100 for weather and for fishing production. If and when you rebook, do not expect to see 7 days of beautiful sunshine, warm weather, and smash up fishing like this again. This week was an unexpected outlier for both weather and top end production for all key species.
I finished last week’s report with the comment that the fish were on the move. I did not realize how far that meant. In 7 days, the pike and walleye spawn is finished and the Bass are close to moving shallow in force.
The WHY is the weather.
It has been warm with sunshine and no rain for the past 2 weeks. The west is burning up, we are on fire ban here, and we really need rain to keep the lake level rising and to crush the fire potential. The weather conditions that have created the fire issues in Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, and British Columbia have heated up our fishing production to an extreme level as well.
For the week, we caught and released 64 walleyes over 27 in., including 13 – 28s, 6 – 29s, and 2 –30s. The volume was ridiculous. The average guide sheet reported more than 40 walleyes over 18 in. per day.
What is even more difficult is to explain where we caught them. We found big walleyes on traditional main lake spawning structure, we found them in back water heat sinks, we caught them on main lake transition spots that are heavily affected by current, we caught them in areas that we don’t usually fish until mid-June and continue catching eyes on spots that we fish at ice out.
Surface temps are averaging in the 60s. You can still find a cool spot in the 50s, but you can also find water that has been over 70 for a week. When we see 60, we think plastics and speed. We tried it, and we caught a few, but that bite was not on this week.
Most of the walleye production this week was with lighter jigs (1/8 and ¼ ) with minnows. One of the common trends is that the guys pitching up shallow caught more fish, but the guys dragging jigs in 10 – 12 caught bigger fish.
We had several groups chasing big pike and they were very successful. For the week, we caught and released 63 pike over 37 in., including 11 – 39s, 8 – 40s, 1 – 41, 2 – 42s, and 2 – 43s. The guides were aggressive and found several new areas that produced numbers of big fish. William’s Whitefish are the guide’s favorite.
The bass are already moving shallow. For the week, we caught and released 15, bass over 19, including 3 over 20. We caught them on a pitch bite chasing walleyes, but this coming week will catch them with intent.
Off the charts. As a guide manager and lodge owner, I want success. We want return guests. As a guide, I know that this will be a tough week to live up to.
