fishing report 7/30

[Steve Herbeck]

with return to normal weather/temps,a couple good blows mixing the water column up,and a few cooler nights water temps have returned to the low 70's which is normal and optimum for late july thru mid aug. air temps have been pleasent avging 70's low 80's.
had an excellent week of fishing this past week.
walleyes have really patterned themselves into the reef ,point,hump bite.17-28',still mostly minnows,some crawlers,and some good fish caught on leeches also.lindy rigs and jigs though as fish start to slide at times to the flats off the bases of the bars bottom bouncers with spinner rigs/crawlers,minnowbaits,or a big chub are good for covering the bigger areas.the pawskill group caught some bigger fish slip bobbering leeches over the top of smaller deeper bars.portage,viking,deadmans,walleye rock areas,and the humps/bars in VB and west arm all producing fish.some days pods of fish located shallower will produce 6-10 fish then they spook/scatter,so if you find fish under 15' keep moving once bite slows and return later.the more consistant,deeper bites below 17-20' don't seem to be as spooky and big thick schools can be pounded on for some time before the bite slows and a move needs to be made.though last week didn't produce many fish over 29" the sheer numbers of eater sized fish earlier in the week transformed into plenty of eaters but more really nice fish avg 20-25" and up tues on.some 32-40" pike being caught in same areas though if actually targeting drop a bit deeper and use bigger bait like 4-6" suckers with a 20# floro leader.
a few big bass being caught on eagle while fishing walleyes but there is always a population using some of the thick reed beds with mixed rocks and cabbage this time of the season and nobody targeting them, gorilla type of fishing, need to use heavy line and try skipping fluke style baits rigged texas style real fast .the grassels and market groups had banner days 60-100 fish avg 15-19" with danny and travis on a drive to lake on leeches.
muskys are gearing up and becoming much more active with positive aggressive attitudes, coming in hotter and more serious and over all it was a good week and sign of things up and coming. dan rodelli,donny granato,and dave kasmiski all recorded 53"ers,the stevens group had 16 fish for the week up to 49.5",rob 50",the granato 's had a bunch of fish 8 or so low/mid 40's-49" besides donnys 53,luchissi's had 6 fish to 48",kasmiski group had a 48 besides the 53,jimmy and paul ea had a couple mid 40's fish,rodellis had 3 fish 44-47 besides the 53 and everyone had chances or fish on hooks daily with some jumbos showing up legal size 54" and up. mostly blades 9's,and 10's but thats what most are throwing right now. mix of weeds and rocks especially earlier in the week when it was hot and sunnier but most big fish activity from mid week on came off rocks.activity and predictablity appears to be increasing weekly so we are really looking forward to aug thru sept into oct for a big peak.
the fly-ins and especially the 4wd lakes have still been excellent and one system has been particularly hot for combo walleye/musky trips. easily boat 40-60 walleyes by noon and have a shot at a good musky in the afternoon or do one or the other.
all in all it looks like we may be approching some of the best all round fishing of the season coming up.
still got 2 openings for aug 20-27 week which typically is an excellent week/time of the season and going into the new moon,1 accom available sept 3-10 as well as scattered availablity through sept 10 and the 1st week of oct. for our trophy musky/walleye hunts. sept 10-17 we have 4 accom remaining so there is an additional disc off offered that week for incentive to fill it up. inquire 888 727 5865 or info@andymyerslodge.com
give us a call would be great to have you aboard!!
got over a months worth of tons of big fish pics to get up,promise soon!!! just so much else to get done taking care of a camp full with wonderful friends and guests.
till next report,tight lines!!
herbie
AML

[DanR]

Great week/trip again Steve. I think you hit the nail on the head with the report on the Muskies. There were big fish to be had and they were moving pretty well even though winds were switching from day-to-day, except for the last day. We saw a big fish or two almost every day. And of course, on Wednesday we saw a "for sure legal".

While we can always catch more fish, as we are bound to blow a few here and there, the fact remains that my group wound up with 4 up to 53". By my count, we could have easily caught another 5-6 fish for sure (1 got off, and we quite frankly blew the other 4 or 5). Mike got his PB with a 48", and Shane got his second biggest ever at 46". Where else can you go where one guy comes home with a PB, and the other two come home with their second biggest fish ever? Certainly, the bar continues to go up every year as the lake keeps getting better & better. Lest I also forget, Mike had on and lost a trophy pike as well.

One thing people also might want to know is that when a big fish follows, you gotta catch it then and there. We went back on big fish at prime times (sunset, moonset, etc), and never saw those same fish again. By mid-week, we were going right back on following fish, and STILL could not get them back up. I think you are 100% right, the fish are moving around a lot right now. You go there and pull them off the structure, and they keep moving. Even more evidence is that Cal and I crossed paths out on the lake one day. He fished some spots after me, and vice versa, and I saw fish where he didnt, and he caught fish where I didn't see any. So the moral of the story is to keep hitting good spots, hit em fast as you can, and move. When you get into a window of activity, hit the "spot on the spot" and move. We had some times where we would see nothing, and then move/hook fish on 3 or 4 spots in a row.

Pepper the spots with well placed casts too. Don't think a fish isn't there if people near the front haven't seen a fish. My 53" came casting back into a weed bed as I was moving the boat out to hit the rocks on the point. We had casted through there about 5 or so times already. I'll never know why I decided to cast back in that little gap in the weeds, but I am glad I did! ;)

See ya in three weeks, buddy!

-Dan