Silver Water Wheel Lodge
Lac Seul, Ontario
Friday, September 2, 2022
Tom Dahl 28 and George Noguchi 27.25
This week it felt like the Fall. Cool evenings and cool to downright cold mornings on the water. A lot of North winds, at times heavy, and cool air temps even when the sun was shining. But most tellingly, we had fewer boats on the water.
As always, this time of year, we have staff heading off to other activities and fewer anglers at the lodge. We totalled 55 guided days this week, compared to an average summer week of over 85 days. Those reduced days leave us fewer total hours to try experiments out there and search for the next pattern, just when the fish are likely to be changing their behaviour and shifting between locations and depths. We count on our guides to be aggressive and flexible to identify when the fish switch to fall patterns and back again.
As one of those experiments, as soon as the fall weather started, our guides headed for some of our favourite fall locations – shallower water more isolated from main lake basins. The fish were there and responded well when the weather was right – clouds and wind. A return to summer structures was the way to go when the weather stabilized, but we also noted changes on the summertime structures – key depths varied between extremes day to day, and even over the course of the day. Our guide boats were often jumping between fishing 35-40 feet and 15 feet. That meant more time needed to thoroughly check a structure for fish and fewer spots visited each day. As a result, volume was down from last week – Guide sheets averaged 27 walleyes over 18 inches per day. The top end was still there – We caught and released 24 Walleye over 27 inches, with 5 – 28’s, one 29, and a 30 incher.
Like last week, very few of our anglers invested any time in hunting for big pike. Only one boat devoted just a few hours of their 3 afternoons on the lake to Pike fishing, with a couple of other boats spending an occasional hour or two here and there. Volume for pike was quite low, but for the few angler-hours spent there was a good return on big fish – 6 Northern over 37 inches with 3 – 41+ inch fish.
Yep, it’s fall.
Friday, August 26
Gabe Vergman 29.25
This week Lac Seul gave us just a hint that fall was coming. Nights and mornings were cool for a short stretch, and when they were we caught walleye in fall locations and depths. Most days those bites were not long lasting, they changed as soon as the weather did – but a couple of our biggest fish were caught in those bites. The weather returned to summer later in the week and we went back to catching walleye on summer structures.
Lots of calm wind days led to guides switching back and forth between presentations – all through the week and the weather changes our production was pretty evenly split between live bait and plastics at speed.
Daily guide sheets averaged 32 walleyes over 18” per day, but volume was highly variable – by day and by location. Interestingly, the variation was not by structure type or depth but by area of the lake. On a day-by-day basis, whole sections of the lake produced high volume regardless of whether they were rock or sand, or deep or shallow. Other sections held low volume regardless of how we fished them. But it’s worth noting that our top end walleye were caught both in the low volume regions as well as mixed in with big numbers. This week we boated 26 walleyes over 27 inches including 7 – 28’s, 3 – 29’s and 1 – 30 incher.
Almost no pike fishing this week, but not for any particular reason. Our guests just chose to focus on walleye. Without much information to go on it’s hard to identify any trends, but for what it’s worth the two boats that spent a couple of hours casting each caught a photo fish. For the week there were 1 – 37, 2 – 38’s, and 1 – 39 incher.
Lac Seul teased us with little bit of fall early in the week, but then went back to summer weather – it’s still T-shirt temperature outside well after dark tonight as I write this report. The walleye may have returned to summer along with the weather, but that brief hint of fall was a good reminder keeping us guides on our toes and ready to change gears and try it all out there.
AUGUST 20, 2022
Brooke Bailey 27
It was a normal summer week of weather and fishing at Silver Water Wheel Lodge. There were a few glass-flat sunny days and a few days of showers and Thunderstorms. We spent most of our time fishing walleyes on main lake sand and rock structures in 20 to 30 ft. of water. There were a few exceptions, both shallower and deeper, but jigs and minnows fished slowly in that zone were responsible for most of the walleyes caught this week.
Volume was good, with guide sheets averaging 30 walleyes over 18 in. per boat per day. We caught and released 32 walleyes over 27 in., including 6 – 28s, and 4 – 29s. A few of the big walleyes were caught using big Gulp, but the majority fell for small jigs and minnows.
Several groups spent a fair amount of time casting for pike this week. The volume of fish in the weeds was good, but the bigger fish were harder to find. For the week, we caught and released 6 over 37 in., including 1 – 38 and 1 – 40. Big spoons were most productive.
The lake level has remained high all summer and continues to be at 1170.
There is still more than a month left of the fishing season, but it is getting very close to time for me to start thinking about packing up and heading back to Iowa for my Fall deer guiding season. Over all it has been an excellent summer. The highlight for me was welcoming all of our old guests and friends back to the lodge. Many were surprised at the changes and improvements we made during the Covid years, but most were just genuinely happy to return to a place they love. Demand for openings has never been higher, but I will do my best to find some spots for guests on the waiting list.
August 13, 2022
Trisha Schmitt 27
It was a solid, summer style week in the south-central basin of Lac Seul. The walleyes are back on the main lake. We have not seen the trend to deeper water yet, but most of our good walleye bites were near deep water. We caught a few walleyes in 35 ft., but the vast majority were caught in 20 – 28 ft.
The bite depended on the mood of the walleyes each day. We had a few days where Gulp at speed was the winner and we had many more where you had to find them with electronics and keep a live minnow in front of their face. I don’t mean to be repetitious, but we really do so much better as a crew by fishing the extremes. After an hour spent pulling big Gulp at speed and another hour spent dead sticking 1/4s or 1/8ths with minnows over arcs, then you are going to have a pretty good idea of how to spend the rest of your day.
Volume was good this week with guide sheets averaging 35 walleyes over 18 in. per boat per day. There were some faster days and there were some slower ones. The hard part of writing the fishing report is disconnecting my personal day of fishing on the last day with what happened for many of the guide boats for most of the week. I fished with my parents today and we had a nice day out, but the lake went flat after lunch under a blazing sun and we had a hard time getting lazy fish to bite. I spend time reviewing the guide sheets before I write the weekly report and I was pleasantly surprised by how many great guided days we had this week.
The totals – for the week we had 33 walleyes over 27 in., including 4 – 28s, 2 – 29s, and 1 – 30. Most of the big ones were caught one level deeper than the average bite. It was an even split between plastics at speed and dead sticking minnows with light jigs.
The surprise for the week was a tough, big pike bite. Several boats spent time chasing gators and the results were marginal at best. For the week, just 2 over 37 in. with one 39.
Missy, the kids, and Arya are back home in Iowa. School starts soon and football practice is already under way. The summer goes by so much faster when we are non-stop busy.
I did have some terrible news this week. The first guy to hire me as a guide in Northwest Ontario was John Grace, the owner of the Old Post and Village on Lake St. Joe. He died in a boating accident this past week. I hadn’t seen him in several years, but the tragedy of Wendy and the boys left behind is heart breaking. We didn’t always see eye to eye, but we had some great times. The news of his loss hit me harder than I expected. He was a huge part of how I began my professional career and I will always have great memories of him and my early years learning to guide on Lake St. Joe.
August 6, 2022
Will Armstrong 27
The trend is still headed in the direction of a more normal summer bite, but day to day results are still hit and miss.
If we did well one day on summer sand, that did not mean that we won there again the next day. Main lake rock was good for several days this week, but also got quiet again when the weather changed. For walleyes, the over all trend is heading towards deeper water. If I had to pick a depth range that was consistently mentioned most of the time at nightly round table meetings, I would have to go with 25 – 30 ft. There were some days that shallower was better and other days that deeper was the key, but overall, that was the best starting range for the day’s experiments.
If I tell you that the guide sheets averaged 35 walleyes over 18 in. per day, you have to understand that many times on the same day, we had guides with close to 60 fish on and others with only 20. The guys that put numbers on were the ones that found a pod or found a bite and stuck with it. I always like to run and gun and I can tell you with great certainty, that was not the most favored path to success this week.
For the week, we caught and released 28 walleyes over 27 including, 5 – 28s. The super top end was missing this week and it was not for lack of trying. Often, this time of year, the big ones are one level deeper than the nice fish and our guide crew knows how to work that angle. It was not the case this week. The deeper edge was much quieter. Jigs and minnows worked well on some days. Gulp worked well on other days. You had to fish both every day to figure it out. There were some schizophrenic round tables where one boat smashed them at speed with Gulp, another racked up good numbers and size dead sticking minnows, and then several others couldn’t put a pattern together after trying both in multiple locations.
The big pike bite has still been pretty good. If the Fall cools off well and the big girls come back up, this could be one of our best seasons ever for big pike. The goofy part is that there are weeds everywhere this year. Deep water and bigger baits made the difference. For the week we caught and released 11 pike over 37 in., including 2 – 40s, 1 – 41, and 1 – 43. Double bladed in-line spinners turned some of the biggest fish.
The Take Away: I cannot help that I am a stats, numbers, and details guy. Some of that focus has attracted a specific type of angler to the Wheel. The numbers and big fish may have been the initial attraction, but the guests in camp this week are simply thrilled to be back and spend more time talking about the guides, the staff, and the improvements. This week just had a good feel and a nice vibe.
July 30, 2022
We are not quite back to a normal summer bite yet, but it is close. This week began the way last week ended – with challenging fishing. Walleye volume was up, but the big fish were few and far between. As the week wrapped up, we found more and more walleyes on both main lake rock and sand and the big ones were finally there as well.
Surprisingly, the weather that broke the tough pattern was big storms, rain, cold fronts, and wind.
The Gulp bite improved as the week progressed. Most of the guides are on big ¾ oz. jigs now when fishing plastics and it is a toss up between the 6 in. Nemesis and the 5 in. crazy legs. At the same time, there were many times when we marked fish down deep that would only respond to finesse presentations. Light jigs and minnows or in some cases, drop shots with minnows were the only way to turn neutral to negative walleyes in 20 – 30 ft. of water.
Walleye volume for the week averaged 35 walleyes over 18 in. per guide sheet per day. What that stat fails to show is that there was a huge difference between Sunday and Friday. The back half of the week was much better walleye fishing. For the week, we caught and released 22 walleyes over 27 in., including 5 – 28s, 1 – 29, and 3 – 30s.
There was some effort made chasing pike this week and the results were mixed. In previous weeks, the pike bite saved many guiding days. There were quite a few more quiet piking results for this time period. For the week, we caught and released 8 over 37 in., including 1 – 38, 1 – 39, and 1 – 40. Big spoons were still top producers. Deep weed edges were still the key location.
The Take Away: Almost all of our groups now are returning guests. Most have been away for 3 years and they are just excited to be back. The guide crew felt the impact of the tough bite more than guests. We were reminded by our guests that it is still fishing. The weather is always a factor and a “tough” day on Lac Seul still crushes compared to walleye fishing anywhere else.
July 23, 2022
David Salo 28
It was a difficult week for walleye hunters. The guide crew works very hard to try to figure out where the walleyes are and why. Last week, we could tell you that they were in the weeds. This week, “I don’t know.” Those are my three least favorite words in the English language. I hate it when I don’t know and this week, we don’t. For years, I have preached that the Mayfly hatch made little or no difference for walleye fishing. Or if it did, then you could move to a different region on Lac Seul and fish for walleyes in areas where mayflies were not an issue. Part of my argument was that from the angler’s perspective, mayflies hatch when the weather changes and those weather changes are more important than the hatch. This week, I don’t know.
Here is what we do know. The walleyes are definitely not on main lake sand. Catchable walleyes are mostly in 25 ft. of water or less. Main lake rock is only holding a few walleyes in shallow water. The weed bite has slowed dramatically and most importantly, we aren’t finding the big ones there. We fished from 5 to 35. We fished sand, rock, weeds, flats, transitions, retro, and anything else we could think of and we never came up with a pattern or a solution. We did find plenty of small walleyes in many areas, but we could not pattern the bigger fish, despite all of our efforts.
It is what it is. Guide sheets averaged less than 25 walleyes over 18 in. per boat per day. For the week, we caught and released 20 walleyes over 27 in., including 6 – 28s, and 1 – 29. Results were evenly split between minnows and Gulp.
We did have some groups shift gears and chase pike and they did have relatively good results. For the week, we caught and released 14 Northerns over 37 in., including 5 – 38s, 1 – 39, and 3 – 40s. Big spoons were effective, but double 8 in-lines also turned a few big fish.
The Take Away: I am asked often, what is the best time of year to book at the Wheel. My response is, whenever you can find an opening. Historically, the 3rd week of July has been one of the most productive weeks of the year. It was definitely slow this year, but next year will be another story.
July 16, 2022
Dawn Byers 28
The walleyes are in the weeds. It was another warm, sunny, and mostly windless week on Lac Seul. The mayflies are emerging in many areas of the lake. And the lake level is beginning to slowly fall.
When we talk about the walleyes being in the weeds, there are 2 key concepts to consider. Fishing in the middle of a cabbage weed bed is extremely difficult. We know that there are fish inside the thick stuff, but presenting baits to them in an efficient manner is very difficult. We basically fish jigs with live bait or Gulp on the deep side of the weeds in 9 – 15 ft. of water. You occasionally foul your hook with weeds, but you can still cover water. The other issue is that not all weeds are holding walleyes. In fact, there are far more weedy areas not holding walleyes than are. If you try 2 or 3 weed beds without success and then give up on the pattern, then you are likely going to get your feelings hurt when you hear the reports from your fellow guides at the nightly round table. Further complicating the puzzle is that you can find different results from the same weed bed on different days. Like any other pattern, you have to remain disciplined and focused to find the day’s best bite.
We continue to check and there were a few walleyes out on the main lake summer sand and rock spots, but they were very negative and very difficult to catch. Even with some ups and downs, walleye volume was better this week with guide sheets averaging 35 walleyes over 18 in. per boat per day. 95% of those fish were caught between 8 – 16 ft. There were some big walleyes in the weeds as well. For the week, we caught and released 32 over 27 in., including 5 – 28s and 1 – 30. The lone 30 was caught out on deeper water, main lake sand. It was a 50 / 50 split between minnows and Gulp this week.
The health, depth, and size of the weeds were also a draw for numbers of big pike again this week. We released 24 pike over 37 in., including 2 – 40s, 1 – 41, 1 – 42, and 1 – 44. Big spoons were responsible for more than 90% of pike production this week. The William’s Whitefish was still very difficult to beat.
There were a few smallmouth bass caught this week, but almost all were incidental while fishing for walleyes. We released 2 – 19 in. bass. The environmental indicator for the end of smallmouth bass season for us is the emergence of mayflies and it proved once again to be accurate.
The Take Away: I heard one of my guides wishing that the walleyes would move back out to main lake sand and rock where they are easier to find. I reminded him that it’s a walleye’s world and we have to chase them where they choose to be.
July 9, 2022
Julie Blake 29
All Silver Water Wheel guides are required to record their results from every guiding day. We care about the details and we care about the trends, but the simple act of writing down the data of each day as it happens, helps you do a better job of guiding. We talk about catch rates per hour and time invested in experiments. The primary purpose of this information is to objectively evaluate the fishing results of the week.
In review, it was another very challenging walleye bite. Part of the reason that the big pike results were better, was because our guides wanted a win. Walleyes were difficult, so they shifted gears and focused on gators. With this weird weather year, smallmouth bass were still an option and some of the guys took advantage of the opportunity and targeted bass in the afternoon.
I am not going to sugar coat it. This was a very difficult week of walleye fishing. I don’t care what the stats say, I was out there and I struggled. We teach all of our guides the system. Do your homework, make a plan, make another plan, do your experiments, and be creative until you find what works for that day and then replicate it. I personally got stuck on what works that day.
The weather was the complete opposite of previous weeks. In general, we had many more calm and sunny days. In fact, there were several days of blazing hot sunshine, with no wind. We have done this long enough that we think we know what to expect. When the sun beats down on flat calm water in early July, we are quick to check for a weed bite. And there were some walleyes shallow, but they were tough to catch. If you follow along with this fishing report page, you will remember that the higher lake levels in spring time extended our early season big pike bite. Well, that high water from spring has made every weed bed bigger, growing deeper, and much less fishable. By the end of this week, the entire lodge staff knew that the walleyes were moving shallow, but it was very difficult to do anything about it. We understand neutral, to negative deep-water walleyes. We know how to catch them. But what do you do when the walleyes are shallow, in the weeds, and negative? Our answer was to shift gears and target another species.
For the week, we caught and released 24 walleyes over 27 in., including 4 – 28s, and 2 – 29s. Volume was down, with daily guide sheets averaging fewer than 30 walleyes over 18 in. per day. Gulp, plastics, and speed only worked occasionally. There were many more stories of guys switching back to lighter jigs and minnows to catch reluctant shallow water walleyes. More than 75% of walleyes caught this week were turned with live bait. Minnows were the key.
We almost never talk about bass this time of year, but with a late spring, we were still able to catch the tail end of the season. The reality is that we had very, very few anglers in camp that wanted to chase bass. Those that did, had strong results. For the week, we caught and released 16 over 19, with 3 – 20s. Tubes, cranks, and top water were top producers.
The surprise was the pike bite. I don’t know if it was extra effort put in to get away from walleye fishing, but guests caught big pike this week. We recorded, good volume with 21 over 37 in., including 8 – 38s, 2 – 39s, 1 – 40, and 1 – 43. The cabbage weeds are not quite to the surface, but they are close enough. It was a high speed, weed bite for gators. Spoons were hands down the best producers. The Williams Whitefish and 4.5 in. Cabela’s five of diamonds were hard to beat. We did land a few of the bigger pike on double 8s, but if you had to pick just one bait, it would be the William’s Whitefish spoon.
The Take Away: In the middle of the season, it is always about the weather. Blazing sunshine on flat calm water is just about the worst forecast that you can see for consistent big walleyes. Rather than pound a round peg into a square hole, consider you other options. This week, it was big pike.
July 2, 2022
Jeannine Lindquist 31.75
It is pretty safe to say that the weather this week had a greater effect on the fishermen than it did on the fish. It was an unbelievably windy and cool week. With multiple days of sustained winds over 30 mph along with higher gusts, we simply chose not to fish on the main lake. I can tell you first hand that it was a physically and mentally draining week of guiding.
The big news of the week is that we caught and released 3 walleyes that were 31 in. or over. We get spoiled handling so many big walleyes on Lac Seul that are 25 – 29 in., but fish over 31 in. are in a completely different class. We don’t see them very often, but when we do, it is special.
Even though we caught some really big walleyes this week, it was Not a good walleye bite. With the heavy winds, we expected to find walleyes stacked up, but instead they were scattered. There were just as many walleyes caught out on main lake summer sand as there were caught on wind-blown, dirty-water transition areas. We caught walleyes in 7 ft. and we caught them in 27 ft. We caught them in front of the new weeds and we caught them on main lake rock. Some of the big ones were caught dead sticking 1/8 oz jigs and minnows. Other big ones were caught pulling 3/8 oz. jigs and 6 in. Berkley Nemesis. They were all over the place.
For the week, we caught and released 29 walleyes over 27 in., including 5 – 28s, 1 – 29, and 3 – 31s. Volume was down from last week. Guide sheets averaged 30 walleyes over 18 in. per boat per day.
July 1 is usually a bench mark for our Lac Seul fishing calendar. On most years, the cabbage weeds usually top out on the surface by this time. They are not quite to the top yet and the big pike have not yet moved in. The guides spent very little time targeting pike this week. We caught and released 5 over 37 in., including 2 – 38s and 2 – 39s.
Without the wind, it probably would have been an awesome bass fishing week. With it, very few anglers spent time chasing bass. Those that did had great results, but overall, we likely missed the peak of the smallmouth bass bite for 2022. My best guess is that there was less than 30 hours of angling effort spent chasing bass this week. Even with that minimal effort, guides caught and released 17 smallies over 19 in., including 1 over 20. The most significant observation is that with the high water, most of the bass were caught deeper than usual.
The Take Away: We always want a wind direction to target fish, but be careful what you hope for. The high winds and big waves made it a very difficult week to fish regardless of your target species.
