Aug. 22, 2008

August 21st, 2008 by Silver Water Wheel Lodge

Another week of summer that ended with a big Blow and put the walleyes on the move:

It was another strong week for volume as walleyes continued to bite well on the 10 -20 ft. main lake sand structures. The weather remained warm, humid and sunny. We finally made it over 85 degrees. For most of the week, the shallower sand bite was the only game in town. We tried everything, but time and again we finished the day with an aggressive bite on shallow sand and the deeper water main lake trophy spots remained empty. Jigs in 1/4 – 3/8 with minnows were top producers, but on hot bites, there were also a lot of fish caught on jigs with Gulp alive 4” minnows.

The weather broke today after another day of strong winds that ended with the passing of a front. The result was instantaneous. Areas that had been barren for weeks, were once again packed with walleyes. The normal big fish spots were loaded, except for the big fish. Hydraulic is a term I don’t use lightly, but that is how fast we caught walleyes on some of these spots today. The only problem for a spoiled walleye guide was that 9 out of 10 were under slot (18 in.). It was just one more “I can’t Believe it!” day and for me the conclusion of a truly wacky fishing season. We spent the entire year doing the “I can’t waits.”

I can’t wait for the ice to go out…
I can’t wait for the lake to warm up…
I can’t wait for the rain to stop…
I can’t wait for the big fish to move onto their summer spots…

And the next thing you know, the season is almost over. It feels like we are just getting started. Volume is just getting into high gear with daily guide sheets averaging over 40 walleyes above the slot. The highest daily total was 84. For the week we had 18 over 27 in., including 1 – 28.

The crew will remain on the lake for another month, but the calendar says that it is time for me to pack up, head south, and get ready for another busy deer guiding season in Iowa.