Fishing Report by Capt. Walt Ermansons



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Fishing report for the week of August 2, 2009.

August ! Wow, we've flipped the fishing calendar page on yet another month here on the north coast. Last month was just a continuation of a cool and very unlike summer weather pattern that has plagued us since early on this year. It's like I am a broken record each week with the slower then usual fishing reports and me blaming it all on the weather but it is a fact. Never before in 23 years of full time chartering have I seen a summer this lousy. Sure, we've had a handful of really nice days but when you throw out the few really nice days that we've had and the few extremely bad days and look at the big picture of the rest of the days, it just has not been very good overall. And our Walleye fishing around here has reflected this. Limits have been tough to come by and we work very hard for what we do catch. I don't see much changing any time soon. It's just too far into summer now for a big turn around.

On a positive note we are still catching a nice batch of fish each day including some real monsters that are really saving the day. A lot of my guys are going home this summer with more weight in fillets this year with less fish caught then in past years with limit catches ! And not all of these big fish are from the huge Walleye hatch of 2003, the dominant year class that has carried us the past handful of years. They are just too big and too old. These Trophy sized Walleyes that we are catching are from hatches dating back to perhaps 10 years back or even much more ! It makes me wonder in a few years how many 10 to 12 pound Walleyes we will see on a daily basis as the "03's" that will have survived that long reach their final years and maximum weight size. Total numbers may be down by then if we don't get some huge hatches soon but the lake will truly be a World class trophy Walleye producing Mecca. I think I named my boat appropriately !

Things seem to run in series. Last week I mentioned all the "6 packs" (6 people groups) that I got bombarded with after hardly having nor wanting that many people on the boat each day most of the season. Well for whatever crazy coincidence, this past week must have been "kids" week ! We had lots of youngsters on the boat almost each day and they had a blast. Not being spoiled before with easy limits and high expectations these kids were just so excited to be there and guess what ? They were rewarded with not only some of the big Walleyes that I've been talking about but with some of the biggest Walleyes of the entire season aboard "The Trophy" ! The smiles from the kids and the dads more than made up for all the frowns and comments from some of the repeating clientele that have been complaining about the tougher than what they are used to fishing conditions and how they've always "gotten their limits" before. I say just get over it and cherish those past memories. It might be years before it gets that easy again. I see this lake becoming a monster Walleye producing factory. Fewer numbers perhaps but world class size for sure !

As we enter August I am still holding out some hope to get at least a few days of "the dog days of summer". We have not really sweated and sweltered on any of our trips this summer and it seems weird. Normal years find me praying for a rare cooler day just to catch my breath and get rejuvenated if nothing else but for the day. This year I find myself hoping just for the opposite. If for no other reason but for old times sake. Just to remind me and others that summer is supposed to be hot, sticky and sweaty. This weeks forecast does not look to be that week. I am already hearing rumors of rain on several of the upcoming days and yet another cold front dropping through sometime mid week. So what else is new ? Guess we'll just be catching our 10 pounders again this week with long sleeved shirts and jackets on once again. What a summer, what a year !

Capt. Walt



Source: Capt. Walt Ermansons August 02, 2009 at 21:39:09


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