Wow ! What a week ! At no point in the last 7 days did we fish any closer then 20 miles or further offshore. A very long way out there ! What that means is that at a minimum, "The Trophy" logged at least 50 miles or more of travel each day. 20 miles out, at least 10 miles of trolling around out there figuring about 5 hours at 2 to 2.2 mph and the 20 miles or more back home. A lot of tough, expensive and fatiguing miles each day just to keep my guys on the very best bite that is available to us. There simply is not anything worth stopping for unless you make the long run out to this promised land at this present time. I am not all that impressed.
And to make matters worst, it was a incredibly brutal week this past week weather wise. Lake conditions 4 out of the 7 days were incredibly rough including Wednesday where it was flat out just too rough to go no matter who you were or how big your boat was. And the days that we did make that long trip out towards the Canadian line and got our day in amongst all of that crap, it took a toll on my group with some getting sea sick and everyone getting beat around pretty good. Sadly enough, the forecasted conditions everyday except for the Wednesday that we did not go did not call for waves like that. I have never seen so many daily blown forecasts as this summer and especially this past week with the National Weather Service calling for 2 foot or less waves as we struggled to get back in amongst 3 to 5's and a couple of days, 4 to 6's ! They should flat out not be permitted to put out a product as they do and be completely wrong so many more times then not ! And not held accountable ! What a job.
We even had a dazzling display of waterspouts on 3 different days ! They were everywhere ! My El Cheapo camera does OK on up close fish pictures but just does not do these water spout pictures any justice. It's times like this that I wish I had a really good camera with a really good zoom. It was amazing and a bit unnerving to see these natures strange phenomena so close to the boat at so many times. And yet after we made the long run out and put up with everything that Mother Nature thru at us this past week, the fishing out there was pretty amazing. There is still a very nice school of fish out there if you want to take the beating to get out there and are willing to spend so much more in fuel just to go fishing. Many times I ask myself at this time of year, is this really all worth it ? And then we land a few monster Walleyes back to back, and it's like, oh yeah ! Lol !
So what does this upcoming week hold in store for us ? Who knows. Certainly not the weather guessers that forecast our wave heights. I think the fishing itself will continue to be good as long as we can get out there to them. There is simply too many fish out there right now for things to go sour any time soon. I am just hoping that some of them decide to drift south a bit. Even a few miles would be a big help. This 20 miles out crap is really starting to get old and it certainly is not doing my bottom line any good by having to put most of it back in the gas tank. Perhaps with a bit better lake conditions where we don't have to plow all the way out there and back in super heavy seas, my fuel bills might come down some. I can only hope. Right now, I just have no choice. I always say I go wherever the fish are. And this past week, I proved it ! Pray for good weather ! And a little southerly movement on the Walleyes part wouldn't hurt either !
Capt. Walt
OK, It's that time of year where we have to start rolling our departure time back a little bit because the days are staying dark so much longer. Rather then leave right at 5:00am, I am now telling everyone that we are pulling out at 5:30am. You still should be at the marina by 5:15 to get loaded up so we can be ready to roll by the desired time. I myself will still continue to be at the boat right around 5ish for now as always. And for those that still don't know it, there are no fishing licenses at the marina. You need to get those ahead of time. Call me if you have any questions or concerns.
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