Fishing Report Mid September 9/15/2013

It has been awhile since I made a post. Been a busy guy with lots of irons in the fire. I own a bowling center also. Our customers at the motel and guide service have been having some excellent fishing trips. We have had some days in the last month that were tougher, but still getting our fish most days. I personally had 2 days that I either changed boat ramps or reservoirs to get my fish caught. Burning 80 to 100 plus dollars in fuel is not uncommon. So when someone asks where we are at, I give them a wide area, because in truth we are fishing that. One day we had our guide boats scattered in 75 plus miles of water on both reservoirs. All got limits. We also have learned, this year especially, that putting 2 or more boats on a spot during a tougher bite will spook the fish. We do not do ourselves a service by fishing together. Better off chasing the small schools of nicer walleyes on our own.

Before I put on my report for the month I have 2 notes. We have 3 more high quality guides on our staff. Glen Eimers, Lee Pulse, and Scott Handel. We welcome them in. They bring more fishing knowledge to the table. The more knowledge our service adds, the better the experience for our customers. One note on Scott, Lee, and Glen. They are 3 of the best walleye tournament fishermen in the state of South Dakota. Along with being great people to work with. Now our staff is Garry Allen, Mike Allen, Curt Nepple, Eric Steichen, Brian Ward, Glen Eimers, Lee Pulse, and Scott Handel. They have been guiding for us on a part time basis for over 15 years, now they are on our full time staff.

2nd thing. Our guide service will do whatever it takes to get you into the best fishing possible. If it takes driving 65 to 70 miles to the boat ramp, we will do it. Customers first. For all the people (Hutch) it is not true that all the Chamberlain Guides (Allen's) are fishing up there. We are the leaders in the industry for a reason. People will always try to imitate, but cannot duplicate what we do. Our guides are on the water everyday, which means we try to stay on top of what the fish are doing. We are not looking for other boats or other guides to find out where the fish are. Usually they are looking for us. Common is (I wonder where the Allen's Guides are?) There is a reason for that. We spend a lot of extra money and time to keep looking for active fish. Fishing for tomorrow is what we call it.

Fishing has been fair to good on the lower (Lower Brule to Iron Nation) and upper end (Antelope and Stoney Point)of Sharpe. Also the same on Francis Case from Chamberlain to the Dam. You have to turn higher numbers on Case, but there are some over 15 inch fish to be caught.Minnows, Crawlers, and trolling cranks has all worked. Fishing right now is not for everyone. It is a tough bite and most non guide boats are having a tough time getting there limits caught. Remember we have an advantage of being on the water every day, along with great communication between our staff to help gather information.

Here is my report. Starting August 14th. I am going to not list any numbers on this report staring Sept 1, because some days we were chasing bigger fish and will make the day seem slow when actually they were very good days.

Aug 14th. I had a group out from Montevideo, MN. We were fishing the West Bend area and caught 30 to 35 fish.

Aug 15th I had a group out from Rochester, MN. We caught 30 to 35 fish along with some smallies in the Pumphouse area.

Aug 16th off.

Aug 17th I had a family out from Sioux Falls and Fosston, MN. We had a great day with some very nice fish, fishing in the West Bend and Iron Nation, area. Caught 40 to 45 fish.

Aug 18th and 19th I had a father/son out from Ringsted, IA. On the 18th We caught 40 to 45 fish. We fished the North Bend and Grain Bens area. Remember earlier part of post on covering a lot of water some days. Also caught a dandy limit of smallies. 19th our numbers down a little for day 2, but was flat calm. Caught 25 to 30 fish.

Aug 20th. Very interesting day with a great group from Yankton, SD. Started fishing the whole West Bend area, loaded the boat and ended up at Crow Creek. Caught our limit(20). With a total of 35 fish. We put In a long day, but it was a good one. We had 13 of the 20 fish over 15 inches.

Aug 21-22 off done a little extra fishing to find something better.

Aug 23 I had a group out from Emmittsburgh, IA and Brandon, SD area. We caught 60 to 65 fish fishing the White River area. Very dandy stringer of walleyes. Another great trip for this group.

Aug 24th I had a group out from Owatanna, MN for the 2nd time this year. We had a short day. Fished from 9:00 to 1:00 ish. Caught 40 to 45 fish in the White River area. Another dandy stringer of walleyes with a great group.

Aug 25th We had a company group of 4 boats with Aspinwall, IA. We caught 40 to 45 fish in the White River area.

August 26th with the same group we made a change of venue. 2 of our other guide boats (Eric and Brian) did some scouting the day before knowing the white river area could not handle the traffic. We caught 40 to 45 fish in the Crow Creek area.

On the 27th and 28th we had a group out from Harlan, IA. We quit fishing both days by 10:30 a.m. Catching 30 to 35 fish each day in the Crow Creek area.

August 30th and 31st I had a family out from Lake City, IA We caught 100 to 110 fish in the Crow Creek area.

September 1. I had a group out from Courtland, NE. We caught a dandy stringer of walleyes.

Sept 2 off

Sept 3-5 I had a group out from Lone Star, IA. We had 2 excellent days with very nice fish. We had 2 put in our time but nice fish. Day 3 we caught enough to fill out possession covering the fish they ate while dodging lightening bolts. Spent as much time on shore as we did fishing. Another excellent trip.

On Sept 6th I had a group out from Corning, IA. Made a change in Venue. Ended up catching 11 dandy walleyes (needed 12). We put in our time and caught some dandy 17 to 20 inch fish.

Sept 7th made another change in venue with same group. Caught limit by noon (16). Also had lots of smally action.

Sept 8th and 9th had a company group from Aspinwall, IA. Very good day 1 with limit of walleye and 8 smallies. Made 2 bad decisions on day 2 to end up with 6 walleyes. The boys got to see a lot of ground water that is for sure.

Sept 10th thru 12th I had a couple out from Pella, IA. Walleye fished for the first 2 days with excellent fishing. On day 3 we went smally fishing and caught 35 smallies with 4 over 18. Also caught a 19.5 incher that we released on day 1.

Sept 13th off.

Sept 14th I had a group out from Blue Earth, MN. This is 3rd trip this year. Very nice day with a very nice stringer of walleyes. First fishing trip without Harold. I am sure he was looking down on us, thinking he would have caught all the big fish.

Until next time
Mike Allen