September! Well we blew through the month of August like it was nobody's business. And with a flip of the page September is here and symbolically signals the end of summer and for all practical purposes, just about the end of my and many other peoples Walleye trips. Before this month is over, I will for most likely be all done Walleyeing, will for sure be running some final Perch charters and literally be counting down my final few trips of any sorts for the year. Yes, It’s just about the end of the road for me and “The Trophy” for yet another season. A road that started a long six months ago. Thousands of boat hours ago spent aboard “The Trophy’ this season and many more miles then that traveled by water aboard ‘The Trophy” as well since she was first splashed this year way back in March.
And I’m afraid summer is going to end just about the way it started around here. With plenty of Walleyes but with a horrific amount of junk fish pestering us as we try to load up on the “eyes. This past week seen the terribly annoying return of the junk White Bass just like we went through back in June, that along with more Sheep Head then we have seen all summer. Big, fowl hooked Sheep Head that will bring even the strongest of muscle men to their knees trying to winch them in just so we can clear the lines and run them back out in hopes that a big Walleye will grab it before another frustrating junk fish beat the Walleyes to the bait once again. It was very, very bad with White Bass this past week. Just horrible actually.
And the weather was nothing to write home about either this past week. The cycle of good weather one week and crap to work in the next that we have experienced for over a month now on the lake continued on with this past week being another one of those crap weeks. Almost every day was very rough on the big lake. A couple of days to the point where most cancelled their trips and sent their groups packing. I had the right group of tough guys however on those days so we sucked it up, cranked it out and got our days in with very productive results none the less but it was far from easy. Very tiring just trying to stand no less constantly reeling in junk fish after junk fish just to get our Walleyes. But we did get plenty of Walleyes and even a few big Steelhead and after everything was said and done, everyone went home happy. Done for another year. Unlike me, where I have to get up everyday and go do it all over again. All week long, all season long. Choppy water, White Bass and Sheephead invasion or whatever. Day after day. Just like the movie, Ground Hog Day. Get up and do it over, and over and over again.
So we are in the final leg of our Walleye season now. Right now I just am not sure its going to hold up as good as it did last year. It sure seems to be changing out there now in a hurry. We covered a lot of water this past week making very long slides in the rough water and I was shocked at how much bad water we covered without pulling any Walleyes for long stretches. That and the onslaught of junk fish. Not very encouraging. But still, even with the handicaps that we were handed this past week, we still ended up with some incredibly nice catches. We just had to work that much harder then we have had to for a long time now. We’ll see what this coming week has to bring. The end of the season is starting to sound better to me with each passing day now! Happy September everybody!
Capt. Walt
* It is imperative to be setting lines with the very first hint of daylight. And with that said, I would like to have all of my upcoming trips that might be reading this report to take note and PLEASE be at the dock between 4:30 and 5:00am at the VERY latest. Fishing is the very best the first few hours of daylight and we DO NOT want to miss out on that opportunity! Also, please remember that there are no fishing license sales at the marina and that those must be secured else where ahead of time. Any questions, call me 216-387-2656
|