Fishing report for the week of April 14, 2013.: , ,
Fishing Report Posted: April 14, 2013

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Posted by Capt. Walt Ermansons on April 14, 2013 at 22:19:22:

The kiss of death... The week before early on the weather forecasters all were saying “we have turned the corner” when they predicted 60’s for a few days and that it should be the last of our really cold weather. And as I studied the marine forecasts last weekend for the upcoming week, this past week gone by at no point did they call for any heavy weather. They were actually calling for 2 foot or less for most all of the week at that point. And I bought into it. In fact in last weeks fishing report I went on to say “ So it looks like we should be in store for a great week” based on what they were saying. We turned the corner alright. After a day or two of half way decent weather, this turned out to be one of the coldest, windiest and roughest weeks in recent memory. Why do I even look and listen to all of their worthless babbling forecasts. “Turned the corner” Yeah, right.

It started out OK. Last Monday I took my boys right back to where we fished last Sunday in close because of the strong south winds and we did even better having 5 limits of Walleyes before 11am. Nice! Tuesday with me knowing that the Walleyes were biting and the weather still being nice, sadly I had no trip. All along now the forecasts started slowly changing with hints of impending deteriorating weather to come. Wednesday was the beginning of the end. Inland they were calling for 70’s. On the lake we were greeted with very raw stiff northeast winds, cold rain and thunder storms. It’s a good thing I had a good group of very talented jig fisherman onboard because it was not pretty out there. Still they went on to pull 6 limits of Walleyes before the conditions went from bad to worst. Nice work guys !

Then came Thursday and it was all over. By now small craft advisories had been posted and in reality I think it should have been gale warnings. My group in for two days ended up sitting in the hotel hoping for the following day. It didn’t happen. The wind changed directions overnight to the west and once again began to howl ending any hopes of getting out. So on Saturday with a slightly better then the forecasted marine forecast, we stuck our noses back out there to find a fine muddy mess of the lake in the heels of the passing weather. With still rough seas, cold and rain and sleet the fishing was dramatically tougher. We caught a couple of handfuls of Walleyes before finally cold and wet we got chased off the lake early with the wind and waves once again building even further. A tough day but somehow we got it in. Sunday was the gem of the week. Overnight the winds calmed and we were greeted with a surprisingly flat lake. After a bit of searching I found a patch of clean water and we went on to catch another 6 limits of nice Walleyes once again. Awesome!

OK, a couple of things that need to be addressed if you have an upcoming trip with me or anyone else for that matter as some of my guys this past week found out. If you are getting a one day license, make sure to get the “charter fishing license”. It only goes into effect if you actually get to go fishing when you then go ahead and sign it. This way you at least are not out the license money if the weather is a no go and can still use it some other time. Also for those of you planning on staying at the Commodore Perry Inn close to my boat which by the way is a very good choice, keep in mind that they have a (unreasonable if you ask me) 72 hour cancellation policy should you make reservations. I personally would not worry about reservations Sunday night thru Thursday. Or if you do, keep their policy in mind because some of my guys have been stuck with a bill in years past when I find it necessary to cancel the night or day before. Well hopefully this week we can indeed “turn the corner” and finally put this cold weather behind us once and for all. Stay tuned...

Capt. Walt





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