the weekly FISHING REPORT

     We began the week (Sat., Sun., & Mon.) with a massive storm front, lots of rain, and big winds.  Fishing during the storm was challenging and afterward was tough for a day or so.  We rebounded nicely for the last half of the week, but the big change is that the walleyes have moved deep.  Most of our fish this week were caught between 25 – 35 ft.

     We found the bite to be “pulsey” this week.  A spot would be quiet early in the day, would have action for little ones later, and then have a 1 – 2 hour period when the big ones would bite.  We made a habit of spot checking known big fish areas several times a day to capitalize on the daily changes in activity.

     Overall production for big fish remained consistent throughout the year.  Despite having a cancellation and a photo crew in camp this week we still had good numbers for big fish with 24 walleyes over 27 in.,  including 2 – 28s.  Guide sheets averaged 30 walleyes over 18 in. per boat.  The highest daily total was 54.

     Jigs and minnows were top producers, but I saw more 3/8 oz. jigs this week along with 1/4s for the deeper water.

     We continued to have a few guides mix up the day by hunting for big pike.  The biggest surprise for me this year is how consistently successful we have been catching really big pike.  This week was no exception, we had 1 – 40, 2 – 41s, and 1 – 43.


The Kicker:

I can’t believe that my fishing season is over.  I begin packing today and head back to Iowa to get ready for another whitetail deer guiding season.

It was a great season in terms of both weather and fishing.  We will have a new brochure and new website coming out this Fall.

Demand for spots is on the rise.  We will be staying open for an extra week in Sept. for 2011 and the waiting list for cancellations has about a half dozen names already.  If you are thinking about fishing with us in the future, plan to contact us this Fall, as I expect the book to be full by mid Jan. for 2011.

     There were no major changes in patterns from last week.  In fact, almost all the locations and figures remained the same.  There were some really good days and there were some slower days and daily weather trends were always the driving force.

     For the week, we had 21 walleyes over 27 in., including 2 – 28s, and 1 – 29.  Overall volume remained good with an average of more than 30 walleyes over 18 in. per guide sheet per day.  The highest daily total was 62.

     Deep water rock was more productive than deep sand this past week and most of the big ones were found deeper than 25 ft.  There were some pulses of walleyes shallow, but nothing strong enough or sustained to bring the bigger fish up.  Jigs in 1/8 to ¼ tipped with minnows were the go to bait.

     A few guide boats spent some time casting for bass and for pike this week with mixed results for pike and with modest returns for bass.  For the week we had 1 – 37, 1 – 38, and 2 – 40s on spoons, spinnerbaits, and Husky jerks.  Bass were caught off wind blown main lake rock shorelines with X-raps and husky Jerks.  For the week we had 5 – 17s, 5 – 18s, and 1 – 19.
    
    
The Kicker:

Missy, Brooke, and Blake are packing today and leave tomorrow to head back to Iowa.  Brooke is 5 and is starting Kindergarden next week.  “Time Flies.”

 It is always the weather.  Especially the early part of the week, the walleye bite was hit hard by unsettled weather.  We had 4 nights with moderate to strong thunderstorms that resulted in extremely tough morning bites the following day.  Catch rates were lower early in the week, but picked up for both size and volume towards the end.

     There was a definite shift in walleye location with the passing of consecutive storm fronts.  The shallow bite has shut down and deep water rock and deep water sand main lake structure are now key locations.  We did notice a trend for bigger fish from main lake rock although the big fish weren’t as deep as they can be at this time of year.  Most were caught between 20 and 30 ft. with only the occasional fish deeper.  The main lake deep sand was good, but it took a great deal of sorting through little ones to find the mediums.

     For the week we had 21 walleyes over 27 in., including 2 – 28s, and 1 – 29.  Volume was good with an average of 30 walleyes over 18 in. per guide sheet per day.  The highest daily total was 62.

     Jigs and minnows were top producers, but leeches also worked well.

     One guide boat spent time chasing big pike this week and they managed to put a 41 and a 43.5 in. fish in the boat.  Both fish came out of the edge of the cabbage near deep water. 

     The last week of July was an excellent week for big walleyes with 5 over 29 in.  The weather was relatively stable and nice, though we did have several days with almost no wind.  Walleye volume increased dramatically from last week with the onset of more stable conditions.  Surprisingly, we are still catching both numbers and big fish from relatively shallow and deep water.  Guides are successfully dead sticking 1/8 oz jigs in 30 ft. at one spot and rip jigging plastics in 10 ft. of water on another at the exact same time.  The bite is far from consistent and flexibility continues to be the key.

     For the week we had 25 walleyes over 27 in. including 2 – 28s, and 5 – 29s.  Walleye volume was very good with guide sheets averaging 35 walleyes over 18 in. per day.  The highest daily total was 50.  

     Many of the 27 inch walleyes were caught in 10 – 14 ft., but only one of the 29s was caught from shallow water.  Most of the really big fish were deeper than 25 ft. this week.  Deep water sand, deep water rock, shallow water weeds, and shallow water sand all produced well this week at different times.  Once again, the key was to consistently check the spots on spots of each different key area and depth and try to duplicate a hot bite with the same conditions in a different area.

     It is a schizophrenic summer walleye bite, but it is a good one.  I don’t know whether we are trending deeper or shallower, but until we establish a pattern, we will continue to bounce back and forth between both.

     There was some effort put into chasing big pike this week, but aside from a pair of 38’s, it was pretty quiet.

The Kicker:

Guest:  “Mike, how often do you change your jig color?”

MW – “Never!  If I cut off a jig and retie, it is to change jig size, which is far more important than color on Lac Seul.”

Guest:  “OK…    So do you have any 1/8 oz. jigs in ‘raging red’?”

    It was another weather roller coaster week on the south shore of Lac Seul.  We started out with overcast, flat, calm conditions and then thoroughly mixed the lake up with a massive storm that dumped over 3 inches of rain and exited with strong Northwest winds.  The morning before the storm was the fastest bite of the week and the day after was the toughest.  Overall, volume was less than normal, but we still continued to have great numbers for big fish.

     There was no way to consistently catch walleyes this week without religiously checking all of the major spot categories.  We had short lived bites on both deep water rock and sand.  There was good shallow water walleye action just before the storm and 2 days after.  Some were in front of the weeds and some were on sand flats.  Until we get some consistently stable weather, I am going to continue to bounce back and forth between very different types of spots all day long.  Today we caught walleyes in 5, 15, 25, and 35 ft. of water.

    With the fish so spread out, we did see a noticeable drop in volume.  Guide sheets averaged only 20 fish per day over 18 in.  The highest daily total was 56.  Surprisingly, it was the slots and mediums that were missing, as we still caught good numbers of big walleyes.  For the week we had 33 walleyes over 27 in., including 7 – 28s and 1 – 29.  The big fish also came from all types of depths and areas; deep rock, mid lake sand shelves, and shallow water weeds.

   Standard jigs and minnows caught most of the walleyes, but there was a small window before the storm where rip jigging turned some fish on the shallow sand flats.  A few boats tried a little pike fishing in the afternoons.  They caught 5 over 37 in., including 1 – 38, 1 – 39, and 2 – 40s.


The Kicker:

A guest at checkout, “this was our seventh year in a row fishing this week… and it was weird, we caught fewer fish than we usually do, but we also caught more big fish than we ever have!”

There were huge changes in the walleye world this week and as usual, weather was the instigator.  We started the week with bright sunshine and flat water, got banged up with a 2 day storm front, and closed out the week with a big cold northwest blast.  We had big winds, big waves, and big moves.  Despite a few rough days it was still a really good week overall for walleye volume and size.

            Early in the week with nice weather, the deep water sand flats were the go to spots for both size and numbers.  There were a few fish caught from the deep side of the weed beds in 10 – 12, but the big fish were noticeably absent.  Deep sand produced size and numbers.  During the storms, we just did what we could to find a place to fish and took note that the writing was on the wall – “the times they are a changing.”  After the front, with more big winds we found that deep water sand spots were overwhelmed with tiny walleyes.  Shallow water weed spots were empty.  And the best bet for big fish was deeper water main lake rock.  Not all summer deep rock spots were on, but many produced between 20 and 30 ft. towards the end of the week.  Minnows with ¼ oz. jigs were the top producer.

            For the week, we caught 32 walleyes over 27 in., including 12 – 28s.  Guide sheets averaged 35 walleyes over 18 in. per day.  The highest daily total was 64.  Factoring in several tough fishing days, it was still a very good week.

            We did have some anglers chasing pike this week and the results were mixed.  Volume was generally good for smaller pike and there were some big fish landed, but there were also some very slow spells.  For the week we had 2 – 37s, 1 – 38, 1 – 40, and 1 – 42.

The Kicker:

First time guest Wade Hicks fished with us early in the week when the walleye bite was excellent on the deep water sand flats.  He and friend John Randolph caught the highest daily total of the week - 64 walleyes over 18 in. in one day.

Wade – “Mike, I’ve been on a lot of fishing trips – trout, salt water, bass and more – and that was still the best fishing I have ever had.  I don’t think there is any way for 2 guys to catch big fish any faster than we did – it can’t be done!”

   Both the weather and fishing were excellent this week.  We are still fishing several different types of areas each day for walleyes, but the results have been consistently good from both the shallower water, sand, weed transition spots all the way out to the main lake deeper sand breaks.  Surprisingly, there were just as many big walleyes caught in 8 – 12 ft. as there were caught from 22 – 30 ft.

    Earlier in the week we had some warm, sunny days that triggered a shallow water weed bite for walleyes.  At the peak of that bite, we caught many of our biggest fish “rip jigging” plastics on the sand flats in front of the weeds.  You could still catch fish with standard ¼ oz. jig and minnow combos, but the big gulp alive and larger plastics with a 3/8 oz. jig retrieved with a very aggressive popping action consistently triggered the biggest walleyes.  It takes a leap of faith to devote time and effort to this presentation, but as soon as it works one time, guys are hooked.  It is the most exciting way to catch big walleyes that I know.  You will miss some little fish that grab the tail, but when big walleyes commit and hit, it will jar you.

     The shallow water “rip jigging” bite dissipated as the week went on.  With more consistent wind and chop, the bite shifted more heavily to the main lake deep water sand breaks.  Jig and minnow combos worked the best in 20 – 30 ft where the bite pulsed between good to great.

     For the week, we had 39 walleyes over 27 in., including 14 – 28s, and 1 – 29.  Volume was very good with guide sheets averaging 35 walleyes per day over 18 in.  The highest daily total was 57.

     We had a few groups casting for pike this week and they caught a few big ones, but there were also quite a few big incidental fish caught by walleye fisherman.  For the week we had 7 over 38 in., including 1 – 40, 2 – 41s, and 1 – 42.

     The bass were random catches while walleye fishing, but we did add 2 -18s and 1 -19 to the stats.

The Kicker:

Steve Fox – “I know it doesn’t always work, but casting big plastics is the most fun way to catch big walleyes.”

MW – “If a Musky fisherman went walleye fishing, this is how he would want to do it.  It doesn’t always work, but when it does, it is a rush!”

     My wife Missy finally had a chance to go out fishing this week with some friends of ours from Minnesota.  The gals fished with senior guide Brandon Ouellette and caught and released 3 – 26s and 3 – 27s for the day.  “We didn’t catch as many fish as we usually do, but the ones we did catch were nice ones.”  And that was also a good synopsis for our week.  Volume was surprisingly low, but we caught lots of 22 – 25 in. fish with the normal # of big fish.

     Last week’s trend of light winds continued for the first part of this week and there were 2 – 3 days that were much tougher than normal.  The weather broke mid week and the bite improved dramatically for a few days.  We are still bouncing back and forth between 10 ft. and 30 ft. and there was no consensus as to which produced better.  Jigs and minnows were the key, although plastics worked very well for the limited time that the bite was on.  The trick was to correctly evaluate the activity level and to adjust speed and presentation accordingly.

     For the week, we caught and released 25 walleyes over 27in., including 4 – 28s.  Volume was light with guide sheets averaging 25 fish per day over 18 in.  The highest daily total was 47.  I believe that the numbers issue is based on the fact that the fish are still so spread out. 

     At some point in time I am going to have to stop being surprised by big pike.  This week I still was.  In my early guiding years, I worked at a lodge where 37 – 40 in. fish were regular, but we rarely landed bigger fish.  For I don’t know how many weeks in a row, we again have caught and released 7 pike over 37 in., but we had 1 – 42, and 2 – 43s.   I will allow that we now have a few more guides on staff that really love to chase big gators and that may be part of the explanation.

    This is the first year that I can remember that bass season for SWWL was officially over on July 1.  They are gone.  We caught a few down deep and we caught a few pike fishing , but the numbers  and size were not worth talking about.

 The Kicker:

My wife Missy – “We caught big walleyes today and I forgot how much fun that was - the girls  and I  had a blast with Brandon!”

     Lack of wind was the big weather story this week.  At the very most we had a breeze and it tended to switch at least a couple of times a day.  We also had the peak of our mayfly hatch this week as well.  The combination of flat water and a hatch made for some challenging walleye bites.  The guides shifted gears and changed patterns and locations to find the fish, but there were some slower afternoons than we expect for this time of year. The bass bite is winding down quickly, but big pike made another strong showing this week. 

     Walleyes continue to be scattered.  We caught them in 2 feet, in 32 feet, and all depths in between.  We also found fish on deep water summer sand breaks, back in shallow water spring spots, and in transition areas.  Successful guiding strategy this week was to bounce back and forth between different areas and depths until a pattern emerged.  Sometimes it did and sometimes it didn’t. 

     With all of the movement, walleye volume was a little off this week with guide sheets averaging 25 over 18 in. per boat per day.  The highest daily count was 49.  Despite the drop in volume, big fish numbers remained strong with 28 over 27 in., including 5 – 28s, and 1 – 29.

     Surprisingly, we never established a solid shallow pitch bite for plastics that we often see with prolonged, stable calm weather and sunshine.  We found the occasional fish, but never enough action to hold a boat for more than ½ an hour.  Instead we found neutral fish in 10 – 14 ft. of water or lazy negative fish on sand in 16 – 25 ft.  There were some random nice walleyes caught shallow by pike fisherman, but most were caught on light jigs with minnows fished a little slower than normal.

     There was a significant amount of time spent bass fishing this week and that bite is definitely reaching its seasonal end.  We still found bass shallow, but the numbers were lower and the size was smaller.  For the week, we had 82 over 17 in., including 24 – 18s, and 1 – 19.  It was still very good bass fishing, but compared to this week last year, it is clear that the early spring resulted in a quicker conclusion to the bass season.  Tubes were the top presentation.

     There was limited effort spent chasing pike.  The action was variable, but the guides continue to boat some really big fish.  For the week, we had 7 over 37 in., including 2 – 38s, a 43.5 and a 44.25.  Big spoons and big plugs were top producers.

The Kicker:

A guest -  “Can the weather be too nice for great walleye fishing?”

    We weren’t really surprised that the bass bite peaked this week, but we were a bit surprised by a pretty good big pike bite.  The weather had us shifting gears this week.  There wasn’t any real dramatic change in patterns until today, unless you can call the absence of pattern a trend.  On paper, the forecasts looked pretty good; light and variable to calm winds, a little hazy sunshine, not cold, not hot, and no major rain events.  Nothing stood out for the first six days and evidently the walleyes saw it the same way and continued to spread out to all depths between 2 and 32 ft. and all areas between “spring,” “transition,” and “summer.”  Many days were affected only by lake winds.  A south breeze on the south shore turned into a west breeze on the main lake and into flat calm as you travelled to the North shore.  With walleyes scattered, a marginal bite turned into a tough hunt for the guides at times.  Fortunately, a challenging walleye bite also coincided with a red hot bass bite and a surprisingly good Pike pattern for the few boats that spent time chasing them.

     One of the options that I continue to preach to the guide crew is to not just change pace in terms of depth, speed, and seasonal location for walleyes, but to also change up to a different species when the walleyes don’t cooperate.  This week, most every group fished bass for part of their stay as the bite was as hot as it gets.  For the week, we caught and released 320 bass over 17 in., including 99 – 18s, and 14 – 19s.  It was simply outstanding bass fishing.  Jeff Eaton and Art Diehm spent almost one full day on bass and caught and released 121 between 15 and 19.75 in.

     We had a few slower walleye fishing days this week that included 2 days that no one caught a 27 in. fish.  The bite picked up dramatically at the end of the week with the arrival of wind and weather.  Volume remained good with reports averaging 30 per day over 18 in. per boat.  The highest daily walleye total was 56 over 18 in.  Big fish numbers were good with 15 over 27 in., including 6 – 28s.  

     The second week of June is typically very difficult to pattern mature pike, but a few guide boats did stumble on to some good pike action and size this week.  Best locations were shallow sand inside contours with a light wind blowing in.  For the week we had 11 over 37 in., including 3 – 38s, 3 – 39s, 1 – 41, and 1 – 43.  Spoons, Husky Jerks, and big pike plugs were most productive, but when the big fish were turned on, I really feel like it didn’t matter what you threw in front of them.  Location was the key.

The Kicker:

A senior guide’s nightly round table report – “I had one guy pitching jigs in shallow for walleyes and 2 guys dragging jigs and after catching 12 pike and getting 15 bite offs, I asked them if they wanted to try casting for pike along the same shoreline.  They agreed and Big Mo Henman caught 38.5, 38.5, and a 39.75 in. pike within 2 hours.”  

The next day he went back to the same area with a different guide and caught a 41.

     The smallmouth bass schedule was set long before this week’s weather.  They were shallow and biting and most groups spent at least part of their fishing day chasing them.  The walleyes were found in many different types of areas, but it was still another very good week for both size and volume.

            The weather continued to be much more seasonably cool and variable with several days of showers and shifting wind directions.  We didn’t have a pattern that was consistent for more than a day, but the bass didn’t care and the guides adjusted daily to find walleyes.

            In Northwest Ontario, every summer has it’s own extreme nature, and this year it is warm and accelerated.  Usually, we see this type of bass bite the 3^rd week of June.  The guides were booked with groups looking for walleyes, but it was very difficult to drive by areas that they knew they could fill their sheets with bass.  For the week, we had 176 bass over 17 in., including 57 over 18 in., and 12 over 19 in.  It was a fun week to guide for bass.

            Despite the bass distraction, it was another great week for walleye fishing as well.  They didn’t always play by the regular rules and they showed up in very different types of areas, but the guides were successful aggressively checking both deep and shallow - Spring, transition, and summer spots.  Big walleyes were caught this week in 8 ft. of water on spring spots, in 25 ft. of water on main lake summer spots, and on many transition areas in between.  The advantage to being part of an experienced guide crew is that I can count on the fact that my guys are going to be checking just as many extreme spots as I am and they are going to share what they learn.  By the end of the week, everyone was strategically bouncing back and forth between productive shallow/spring spots and deeper/transition summer spots.   

            No seasonal areas held guides for an extended period of time, yet they still managed to boat 25 walleyes over 27 in., including 7 – 28s, 1 – 29, and 1 – 30.   Overall volume was good with average daily guide sheets reporting 35 walleyes over 18 in., and the highest daily total was 66.

            The pike were on the move and the guides know to choose not to chase them during transition.  Effort was minimal and results were as expected.

The Kicker:

Senior guide – “The best part about this pattern is that no matter what direction the wind blows, I only get to fish about 10% of the spots that I want to try each day.”

   The weather cooled to more seasonally average temps this week, but the walleye bite remained hot.  The bite was not as fast during the rainy unsettled weather days, but overall both volume and size were excellent.  The pike and bass were a little less predictable, but still showed up in good numbers.

     The walleyes are on the move.  We are still catching fish back in “spring spots” along with some big ones, but we are also seeing numbers of big fish on “transition spots” and there were even a few fish caught yesterday on “summer locations.”  Best depths changed on a daily basis with walleyes caught as shallow as 2 ft. and as deep as 30ft.  Most of the big ones were caught a little deeper than normal in 10 – 16 ft. of water. 

     Jigs and plastics turned some walleyes, but most were caught on ¼ and 1/8 oz. jigs tipped with minnows.  We didn’t really have 2 sunny days back to back to push fish shallow for a pitch bite.

     Walleye volume remained very good with boats averaging 30 walleyes over 18 in. on the guide’s reports each day.  The highest daily total was 55.  For the week, we had 30 walleyes over 27 in., including 6 – 28s, and 3 – 29s.

     There was limited time spent targeting both smallmouth and pike this week with mixed results.  There were 9 pike over 37 in., including 2 – 40s, and a 41 that were caught and released, but some days were good and others were very quiet for guys casting. 

     The big surprise this week was to find bass already on beds in extremely shallow water.  The lake level is lower this year than last and the early spring warm up and increased water temps have put the bass on an accelerated schedule.  Many of last year’s June hot spots are out of water, so locations are also different this year.  We caught and released 63 over 17 in. this week including 17 over 18 in. and 2 over 19 in.  The warm spring has been great for the walleyes, but it could dramatically shorten our bass fishing season this year.  Time will tell.

The week started out hot and ended a little bit more typical of the last week of May.  Fishing results continue to be very good with better than expected numbers along with many big fish every day.  We were into the upper 80’s earlier this week, but thunderstorms and rain the last few days have cooled air temps down to normal levels.  The rain is welcome as we were beginning to see water levels a little lower than normal.

We found walleyes in both “spring” and “transition” spots this week, but strong numbers were definitely focused in the “spring” spots.  The “transition” areas did produce some of the bigger fish.  Pitching jigs and plastics shallow did produce some fish, but the vast majority of the bite this week came from the 6 – 12 ft. zone with most of the big fish in 10 – 12ft.  Jigs 1/8 to ¼ oz. tipped with minnows caught the most walleyes this week.

Volume for the week was very good with guides reporting an average of 30 walleyes over 18 in. per boat each day.  The highest daily total was 61.  It was a great week for big fish with 38 walleyes over 27 in., including 9 – 28s, and a 30.25 inch giant caught by Mike Bianchet.

The bass are just getting established in their spring areas as water temps creep into the low to mid 60s.  There wasn’t much effort made to target bass this week, but there were still 33 over 17 in., including 6 over 18.  Most were caught with jigs and minnows or jigs and twisters pitching up shallow for walleyes.

There wasn’t a great deal of time spent casting for pike this week, yet results were strong for those that put forth the effort.  We caught and released 12 over 37 in., including 2-40s, 1 – 41, a 44 in. and a 44.5 in. pike.  Most were caught on spoons and HJ14 Husky Jerks.


The Kicker:

A conversation at lunch between an anonymous senior guide and myself –

MW – “How was it out there this morning?”

Senior Guide – “I have a couple 24s, a 26, and a 28 on the board and one of my guys landed a 44.5 in. pike, but it was slow out there.”

MW – “You have got to be kidding me … Say that again and listen to yourself!”

Senior Guide – “I know, I know, it sounds spoiled… But it really was a lot slower than yesterday!”

   After two very cold openers in 2008 and 2009, we pushed the lodge opener back to May 20.  Camp filled up today and this season couldn’t be more different than last year.  Ice out was April 19 and it has been unseasonably warm.  This is the earliest ice out that I have ever heard of for the south basin of Lac Seul.  Main lake temps are all above 50 and many areas are already consistently in the 60s.  As expected, the spawn and spring migrations are well ahead of schedule.

     We are currently fishing areas that we would normally be checking in early to Mid June.  Some spring spots are still holding fish, but many areas that our return guests are expecting fish have already been abandoned.  

     We had one group in early to fish walleye opener and my parents were up as we finished up advanced guide training leading up to season.  With just a few boats on the water, we still managed to put quite a few really nice fish on the board. Volume and Size for walleyes has been excellent.  Boats averaged 30 walleyes over 18” on the guide sheet per day and the highest daily total was 54.  For the week we had 8 over 27”, including 2 – 28s, and 2 – 29s.

     Even though we missed some of the early season action, pike fishing was still very good.  During pre-season we had 22 over 37”;
including 6 – 40s, 1 – 41, and 2 – 43s.  Bass fishing has also been very good this year with the early spring.  To date we have caught and released, 51 bass over 17”; including 17 over 18” and 5 over 19”.

The Kicker -  After shorelunch on a beach with guide Mike Battistoni:

Mike B.  - “This afternoon I’m thinking about fishing little Iowa and Turtle Flats.”

MW – “Mike, it is May 20th.”

Mike B. – “I know … It just feels so much like summer.”

The Beginning of the End

Fall is here and right on schedule.  There is steam on the lake this morning as air temps are right at 45 degrees.  It was a week of wind, rain, and fronts.  We had well over 2 inches of rain this past week spread over most days.  The lake level has risen rapidly and is now at the high point for the season.  I have guided my last fishing group for the year and like a few of my guides, will be packing up and getting ready to head south this weekend.  It is hard to believe that the “summer that wasn’t” is almost over.

The challenging weather conditions put a damper on the walleye bite this past week.  The numbers of fish were good, but the bigger ones were more difficult to trigger.  Guide reports averaged about 40 walleyes over 18 in. per day and the highest daily total was 63.  For the week we had 14 walleyes over 27 in., including 1-28.

We had groups hunting big walleyes, but heavy rains, high winds, or their after affects left us with a “post-front bite.”  We could still catch slot to medium sized walleyes along with tons of little ones on the main lake sand benches, but the big fish that are usually mixed in with them were few and far between.  Main lake rock structures are still virtually empty.  The variable weather effectively shut down the shallow water bite.  Almost all the action was between 18 – 30ft.  Jigs in sizes ¼ - 3/8 oz. tipped with minnows were the presentation of choice.

The weedbeds are just beginning to break up and main lake temps are already (or still) at 63 degrees.  It won’t be long before we see big pike move up into the shallows.  We had just a small effort for pike this week with limited results.  There were a few random bass including a 20 caught while walleye fishing.

Missy and the crew will be here until Sept. 12, but this will be the last fishing report of 2009.  It is time to head to Iowa and get ready to chase whitetails.

The Kicker:

Many different guests:  “Were you able to fill all of the cancellations you had in Spring?”

Mike: 

“We patched in the season pretty well, but I did exhaust my entire waiting list and will probably attend at least one sport show in 2010…  

Between now and then will be the best time in the past 8 years to lock in a great fishing date at Silver Water Wheel… 

After Jan. 15, I expect the book to be packed and to be working on waiting lists again.” 

Somewhat Summer

Summer weather finally arrived with some sunshine, heat, humidity, and thunder storms instead of all day rain.  You couldn’t call the conditions “settled,” but it was a dramatic change from the rest of year.  The walleyes responded positively to the conditions for the most part, but there are still groups of fish scattered across all depth zones. 

It was a very good week overall for walleye numbers and size.  We had 29 walleyes over 27 in., including 6 – 28s, 2 – 29s, and 1 – 30.5.  All but one of the 28+ walleyes were caught in water  20 – 35ft. deep, but many of the 25 – 27 in. walleyes were caught along with good volume, on the front side of main lake cabbage weed beds, in 10 – 14ft.  Walleye volume was excellent with guide reports averaging 45 over 18 in. per day.  The highest daily total was 69.

There were still times during the week when some bites were tough.  The deeper water fish were more temperamental than the shallow ones.  Versatility was always the key to consistent success.  When the deep water walleyes were inactive, the options were to downsize to 1/8 oz jigs and fish very slowly or pack up and spot check other areas, including shallow main lake weedbeds.  Not all cabbage beds were holding fish.  The best ones were exposed to main lake current and were near deeper main lake basins.

There are many traditional summer areas that have just not produced this year.  Many spots that would have had “A” ratings during previous seasons are virtually empty.  Not just no big fish, but no fish.

Big minnows on ¼ oz jigs were the preferred presentation.  There were a couple of fish turned with bouncers and leeches and a few nice fish caught on Gulp Alive minnows, but that accounted for about 2% of the week’s catch.

There were a couple of random bass and big pike caught, but they weren’t targeted or really worth talking about.

The Kicker:

A guest on departure – “Missy, we read Mike’s fishing reports all summer… and he had us really worried…and then we get up here and the weather is good and the fishing is great, we just couldn’t be happier!”

My Wife – “Well the weather did just break, but I will agree that the boys do set pretty high standards, and Mike is a little spoiled and can be overly critical…”

I wasn’t there, but she told me she winked.

Some Surprises!

As Mentioned in last week’s report, the week began with a monster blowout.  One boat tried to fish for part of the day on Saturday, but conceded defeat after a few hours.  We expected the high winds, torrential rains, and cold temps, would throw the bite on Sunday for a loop.  Instead, we caught 11 walleyes over 27 inches along with good volume for medium sized fish.

The weather improved modestly throughout the week and without dramatic changes, we didn’t expect to see too much change for production from the previous weeks.  Instead, we saw not only an increase in the number of large walleyes, but we also had a dramatic increase in the total numbers of walleyes caught.  For the week we had 39 walleyes over 27 in., including 7-28s.  Guide sheets averaged about 40 walleyes over 18 in. per day and the highest daily total was 61.  It was a good week and at round table many guides admitted to being surprised at how many 4-6 lb walleyes they were catching along with the big fish, even though the weather still wasn’t summer-like.

I have talked about it so many times that anyone reading these reports knows that SWWL guides are going to religiously check out all depths and speeds before settling into a groove.  This week, the shallow water bite was not very strong.  There were a few fish caught shallow, but it was never fast and for the most part, the big ones were deeper.  Jigs in sizes ¼ oz. with bigger minnows were the preferred presentation.  Most of the 26 in. plus sized walleyes were caught in 20 – 30 ft. of water on main lake sand.  Main lake rock has been a bust even though guides have been spot checking it for weeks.

There was no effort spent on Bass or Pike, yet we did land another monster pike this week while walleye fishing.  Chuck Warnert caught a massive 43in. pike while fishing on one of our regular summer walleye spots.  His fish is the 5^th over 43 in. for the season.

The Kicker:

We have a photo board in the lodge and we update it regularly so that guests know about the big fish caught during their week.  Yesterday morning I asked the guide table what happened to the photo board.  “Why are there so many photos missing?”

Senior Guide,… “It was a good week….the guests snagged their photos on the way out the door, but I don’t think that we will have too much trouble filling in with new ones.”

Déjà vu All Over Again

The crazy 2009 Anti-summer continues.  The weather was consistently inconsistent all week.  We experienced cool conditions, overcast skies, and off and on showers every day for the past week.  There were a few sunny breaks in between and we did see surface temps creep up into the lower 60s, but the lake feels like Fall.

The weather kept the walleyes scattered and definitely slowed our volume down, but the numbers for big fish were good.  For the week, we had 30 walleyes over 27 in., including            5 – 28s, and 2-29s.  Guide sheets averaged 25 walleyes over 18 in. per day and the highest daily total was 59.

Guides continued to bounce back and forth between main lake deep water sand (20-35ft.) and shallow to mid depth (10 – 16ft.) sand in front of weed beds.  Main lake summer rock patterns have not been effective.  Faster presentations with big jigs and plastics worked occasionally in shallow water, but the deep water fish preferred slower and smaller presentations with lighter jigs (mostly 1/4oz.).  It was common to catch a few fish shallow – move, catch a few fish deep-move, and repeat.  The biggest guiding challenge was to get your guests accustomed to the extreme changes in speed required for the switch from deep to shallow.

There were a few boats that chased pike this week with very limited success for big fish.  There was one 40 boated, but it was caught on a jig out of 30 ft.  It was the same story for bass.  There were a few caught on spinners and topwater, but most were incidental catch.

With lots of things on the go, I was a day late writing the week’s report and can give you a preview for the first week of Aug.  -  Blowout!  It will be a brand new game tomorrow after another Massive weather system hit us today, with high winds, rain, and cold air temps.  What else would you expect for anti-summer 2009?

The Kicker:  After moving my boat from a shallow water weed bite and picking up a few active walleyes on plastics, I changed location and geared my guests down for a slower deep water bite.  I showed my guests walleyes on the graph raising up off the bottom to “check out” our jigs and then refusing them. 

My guest: “I just can’t believe that!  We aren’t more than 200 yds. away from that last spot where those fish were snapping and these walleyes won’t give us the time of day….”

Keeping things in perspective

It rained part of every day but one this week.  But it was showers, not a complete northwest blowout like last week.  Walleye volume was up, but it was not as good as a normal July week at SWWL.  The walleyes are still scattered and temperamental, but we managed to put together good numbers for big fish, despite a challenging bite.  It’s all relative; the weather, the bite, the numbers of big fish.  What we consider OK, most consider great. 

But what is not open for debate by anyone is that this is by far the coldest summer in recent history.  Main lake surface temps are still barely above 60 degrees.  I have talked about the “extreme” weather fluctuations that we have experienced in NW Ontario in recent summers, but even with the effort of making sure of keeping things in perspective, this is the “most extreme” season that I have seen in my guiding career. 

For the week, we had 24 walleyes over 27 in., including 4 – 28s, and 2-29s.  Guide sheets averaged 25 walleyes over 18 in. per boat per day and the highest daily total was 57.  The most important point to note was the extreme variation in depths that produced both numbers and size for walleyes this week.  The majority of big walleyes were caught from 25 – 35 ft., but there were still a significant number that were caught between 12 – 20ft. 

Main lake Mega sand structures produced well, but there was also limited success on deep water rock.  As the week progressed, we found more and more walleyes shallow and the deeper water bite became more and more difficult.  By that I mean, that we caught and marked fewer fish down deep and that there was also a significant difference in how aggressive the bite was between shallow and deep.  Aggressive presentations like big jigs and plastics didn’t work on the shallow water fish, but those walleyes in 12 – 20ft.  were still more ready to bite than most of the deep water fish.

It would be incorrect to list one presentation as better for walleyes than another this week as there were just as many fish caught on 3/8 oz. jigs and minnows in deep water as there were caught on ¼-1/8 oz. jigs in shallow.  The bite was always sporadic and the only way to “win” every day was to fish it all.

Everyone was fishing for walleyes this week, but with the crazy weather, we still ran into some great incidental catch including 2-19 in. bass, 1-40, and one monster 44.5 in. Pike caught and released by Jack Sager out of 35 ft. of water.  They had the catch on video and it was awesome to watch a truly huge fish landed.  After I watched it, I told the guys, “there are not many days that you will all remember for the rest of your lives, but this is one of them.”

The Kicker: 

A guest in my boat bringing a fish in out of 12 ft. of water, “What the Hell is that?” 

MW:  “That is a whitefish.  We sometimes catch them in May or early June while walleye fishing when the water is cold.”  So, even when you are trying to keep things in perspective, that makes this a very weird year!

Ouch!  ….  I concluded last week with something like the new normal isn’t normal.  Well it was that all over again.  If someone put a hood over my head, spun me around and set me on the lake this week, I would have told you that we were fishing in Mid May or Late Sept.  After fishing for a few hours, I would have concluded late Sept., because most, but not all walleyes were deep.

This was not only a tough week because of another massive and cold rain system that settled in and never left, but it once again scrambled the fish. I had guests requesting boots, gloves, and heavy socks to be picked up in town.  Seriously, this storm started on Sat. with high winds and is just about to leave us tonight.  We are talking about sustained north winds over 20mph and air temps hovering between 45 – 60 with rain off and on the entire time.  During my check outs tonight, I apologized for the terrible weather and my guests were gracious enough to accept that this was an off the charts week.

To be very clear and very plain…  “I have never, ever!!!,   seen surface temps of 58 degrees on the main lake going into the  3^rd week of July.  In 2004 we had a cold spring with water temps almost reaching 60, but it was the first day of July, not July 17.  Wood stoves and propane heaters were full on this week.  Guests were wet and cold.  Shore lunches were in camp and the lodge was very quiet.

Fish are still scattered.  Walleyes are mostly deep, but there are many shallow.  All were very reluctant to bite this week.  Despite the deplorable fishing conditions, we still managed to post 12 walleyes over 27in., including 1 – 28 and 2- 29s.  The average daily guide sheet reported 25 walleyes over 18 in. and the highest daily total was 60.

We were confined to the south shore for most of this week and most guides moved quickly and spot checked areas to find fish and then geared down with light jigs and minnows fishing slowly to coerce reluctant bites. 

There was a small effort for pike that resulted in a pair of 38s, but that bite was just as tough as the walleyes.  We are done chasing bass for the year and that is too bad.  There were actually some walleyes caught while casting for pike this week. 

The Kicker:  Guest; “I would like to switch my 1^st week of June dates to July.  The weather this week was awful!”

MW…”I will be happy to switch your dates, but can’t help but to inform you that this is Northwest Ontario and it does not discriminate by month when to provide the worst weather of the year… And that is why I don’t play favorites…Whatever you request for dates is what I try to provide, because your guess is just as good as mine as to when the weather will be perfect to get the bite rolling.”

     Overall, it was a good walleye week on Lac Seul.  The weather is still cool and variable and nothing even closely resembling summer, but in Canadian terms, it wasn’t too bad.  Mornings were often mid 40s to 50 and daytime highs were between mid 60 to 70, but there was enough clouds and wind to prevent surface temps from warming significantly.  In my guiding career, I cannot remember a time when main lake temps were this cold this late in July.  The main lake basins began the week in the high 50s and are still barely at 60.  Cabbage weeds are not to the surface, the mayfly hatch is late, and water temps that are uniform throughout the depths still have walleyes evenly distributed from 10 – 30 ft.  The depth question is a daily challenge for all of our guides, but we have become very comfortable spot checking different areas and depths quickly to figure out the pattern for the day.

    For the week, we had 29 walleyes over 27 in., including 5-28s, and 2-29s.  Guide sheets averaged 35 walleyes over 18 in. per day and the highest daily total was 57.  The big walleyes were evenly split between aggressive, fast shallow presentations and deep and slow.  When the big fish were shallow, Gulp Alive plastics on big jigs would let you know quickly how aggressive they were.  We used fast swimming snap retrieves with 3/8 oz. jigs with bait casting gear on sand breaks in 8 – 14 ft. to find active fish.  I had a 28 about jerk the rod out of my hand, it hit so hard.  Often the active phase of the bite did not last that long, but we would then gear down to smaller lighter presentations to pick up additional fish from the hot spots.

    For every big fish caught shallow, there was at least one caught off main lake mega-sand structures on the 18 – 24 ft. crest that broke off into deep water.  Most of these fish were caught with jig and minnow combos in ¼ - 3/8 oz.  Although, some guides experimented with thumping big jigs deep with Gulp Alive plastics to cover ground quickly.  Results were mixed, but there were days where the fast presentation down deep produced more big fish than the slow drag. 

    Flexibility and versatility were the key.  I was surprised almost every night at round table at the number of different types of areas, depths, and presentations that resulted in big fish.  The new normal is fish it all, every day.

    The cold water temps did stretch out our bass season.  We didn’t spend a great deal of time chasing them, but we did release 52 bass over 17in., including 11-18s, and 2-19s.  Tubes and top water were the top producers.  On sunny days with no wind, topwater was the best bet.  Big tubes were always the answer the rest of the time.

    We stumbled into a few big pike this week, but it wasn’t on purpose, or worth mentioning the details.

The Kicker:     SWWL Guide, “It took a couple of tries, but I found the big ones deep today on the main lake sand…. I marked them in 25, picked up a few on 3/8 then geared down to ¼ and filled the sheet.”  Another SWWL Guide, “It took me a couple of tries as well, but I found them ripping Gulps in 8-10 ft. on a transition sand bar, we didn’t fill the sheet, but I boated 2- 26s, 1 – 27, and 1-28.”         MW…..”Sounds like just another day!”

     This entire week was dominated by a massive 4 day storm.  We occasionally see this type of weather event in spring and fall, but it is extremely rare for the middle of the summer.  We had groups this week that arrived, fished, and departed with their rain gear on.  It was not just the rain, but the wind and the cold.  We had sustained high winds from the North for days along with temps that hovered in and around the mid 40s to low 50s.  It was uncomfortable fishing and when the weather broke, it was extremely difficult fishing.

       To give you an idea of how strong this system was, main lake surface temps had been in the high 60s to mid 70s, but by Thursday, the warmest water you could find in the south basin was 57 degrees.  I explained to my groups that this system put the fish into a blender and pushed Puree.  By midweek, we instantly had walleyes on deep summer water structure and caught some of our best fish out of water 30ft. and deeper.  The bass bite got put on hold until Thursday and the pike bite cratered.

       It was an extremely challenging guiding week.  If you were not firmly committed to checking multiple depths and patterns many times a day, you would crash and burn.  Despite the rough conditions, we still managed to share information and salvage a pretty good week for walleyes.  For the week we had 23 over 27 in., including 2 – 28s and 3 – 29s.  Daily guide sheets averaged 35 walleyes over 18 in. per boat per day.  The highest daily total for the week was 65.

      When the walleyes moved to summer patterns deep, 3/8 oz. jigs and minnows worked the best.  When the storm broke, we had to gear down to ¼ and occasionally 1/8 oz. jigs even in deeper water to get fish to bite.  Thursday and Friday were beautiful weather days, but were very tough for walleyes.  The brilliant sunshine brought some fish back from the depths into normal transition spots, but the bite was lack luster at best.  There are still groups of walleyes scattered from 4 – 34 ft. and all across the lake and until the weather stabilizes, this will be the norm.  For the past 2 days, it has been a run a