 |
| An exhausting pace in exhausting heat. What a week! After not the warmest starts to June of this year, this past week we soared on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday straight into the 90’s with very high humidity to boot. I was very thankful that my groups on those days complied with my wishes for a bright and early departure. I think all three of those super hot days we were off the dock by 4:30am. So we managed to at least get a few hours of comfortable fishing in before the heat index kicked in. It might not have been as bad if you could just hang out under the hardtop and jump in the back of the boat and occasionally reel in a big fish. But that was not the case. We were all glued to the back of the boat constantly shooting out lines only for a 14 incher to grab it just about as fast as we could get it out there. Reel it in, throw the fish back and try it again. Every once in a while a keeper would beat the the little stinkers to the bait and we would actually box one. But it was nonstop action from the moment the lines went into the water till the final keeper of the limit catches was fortunately finally caught. |
 |
| Still no sign of any big schools of big fish anywhere. Just millions of the two year old throwbacks and the occasional 3 year old keeper. Nearly everyday we’ve managed to get a couple of real big ones however just to keep things interesting and for that I am thankful. Maybe not quite what everybody is used to catching but perhaps the new normal till some larger numbers of bigger fish either show up or these 2 year olds start making the grade by later this summer and become the “good eaters” that we are struggling to even get right now. But I was reminded this past week of the simple joys of just going fishing and catching lots of fish this past week when I had a group of youngsters for a charter! These kids had the most fun I think of anybody that I’ve had onboard so far this year. It mattered little whether the Walleye was a keeper or not. It was just fast paced action and everybody was very excited to reel in lots of fish. Even though it was about as fast as I could go, it was precious to see the kids fighting over the next fish calling it “my fish, my fish!” Lol! Rachel if you’re reading this you’re a heck of a great Mom! That was a awesome thing you did to take the kids fishing all by yourself! I think they will remember this trip for the rest of their lives! I’ve run thousands of charters in 31 years of doing this and most become a blur after a while but I will remember this one myself for a long time. It was a fun day! |
 |
| So as I mentioned, the potential of getting a real monster is still there even though we are inundated with the smaller Walleyes right now. On Monday, we captured our third 31”incher of this summer. What a magnificent fish it was! I think handling so many smaller Walleyes each day made this monster look even bigger than it was! Lol! We had several others in the 28 –29” inch class as well this past week. It felt really good to be netting a really big fish again from time to time. I was beginning to forget how bad those heavy fish make my shoulders and back ache as I reach out as far as I can with the net and scoop them up! Makes me think. Man I hope I’m finally retired when all these 14 inchers all become 8 to 10 pounders! Holy Moly! |
 |
| June is flying by. There are a lot of boats fishing now. It’s a lot easier to get a good read on what is going on out there. So far, everybody is doing about the same thing. Sorting thru lots of fish to come up with a batch of keepers. One thing I learned a long time ago. The lake is a level playing field and plays no favorites. When it’s buggy out there, everybody has them. When it’s rough, it’s rough for everyone. Same thing with what’s going on right now with this unprecedented crop of young fish. Everybody is going through the same exact thing. And everybody's catches look pretty similar at the end of the day. It is what it is. Maybe we all need to take a lesson from those kids that I had onboard. Just enjoy the moment and be thankful just to be able to go fishing. Be thankful to be having lots of action instead of sitting around for hours on end hoping for just a bite. The real upside of all this is all these fish will grow up and this lake will be more amazing then it’s ever been before! Now if I can only convince myself of all that! Lol! Capt. Walt Trophy Charters |
(166.137.14.59)