Very good fishing! We saw a little bit of everything this past week aboard “The Trophy”. On a couple of days we managed to put together some of our heaviest catches to date so far this year with some very nice Walleyes being boxed. Limits happened every day but on some of the other days we were back to the bulk of the keepers being just “good eaters”. And on all days that we fished, the throwbacks that we handled was just plain sick. To say that we’ve been very busy is a understatement! |
Weather the first half of the week was tough. On Monday we started out on a flat lake that quickly deteriorated as a strong cold front swept down across the lake. We went from a clear and calm lake to 3 to 5 footers in a matter of minutes. A perfect example of how someone in a much smaller boat could get in big trouble. On top of the quick change in wave height, a dense thick cold fog settled in as well bringing visibility down to almost zero. Very creepy conditions. And of all days, I had a rare 5 man charter onboard and we needed 30 keepers! Ugh! With radar guidance from my trustworthy Raymarine electronics, we toughed it out and persevered to capture a truly awesome box of ‘eyes! |
The cold front that sat down upon us deepened and sadly Tuesday and Wednesday turned out to be “no fishing” blow days. With a crew in town eager to go, their wasn’t much we could do but throw in the towel. Originally the NWS only called for 1 to 3 ft. waves on the one day and 2 to 4 foot the following day. They weren't even close. With wind gusts nearing 40 mph on both days, the lake was a serious mess of mean white water! And just that fast, on Thursday the lake went from violent to flatter than flat with hardly a breath of air moving. And along with that, a whole different set of hardships emerged with a bug hatch out on the flat water to rival any that I have ever seen. That on top of the fact that that we just had a massive bug hatch just days earlier. Man was the boat and our clothes trashed! But the Walleyes didn’t seem to mind and again we did good that day and the next several to come. |
So everybody is doing quite well now albeit that everyone's catch is much lighter on most days then anyone ever remembers it being for around here. It makes me wonder what we all would be doing each day if these recent years hatches hadn't come along. My guess is a whole lot of nothing! Mother nature threw us a bone just in the nick of time! I guess it will be interesting to see how fast this crop of 14 inchers grow. Call me crazy, but I swear I already see a difference in the bulk of the throwbacks that we are putting back as compared to even just a month ago! Man, so many are now soooooo very close to making it! Also this past week we started to see a fair share of even smaller cigar sized Walleyes showing up. Those would be one year olds. Could it be that we had a good hatch again last year? That would be 3 consecutive back to back years! If so, this lake is going to be UNBELIEVABLE for many years to come. It all seems too good to be true! Time will tell I guess! Capt. Walt Trophy Charters |
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