2009 summary and 2010 predictions

09 season fishing/hunting summary and 2010 predictions.

The 2009 season started off and carried through till Sept generally seasonably cooler and a bit wetter than normal as was the case in most of the US and Canada,then in Sept we experienced our warmest weather stretch and highest water temps of the season in the 70’s.Consequently water levels remained good and water temps avg.d generally cooler in the low to mid 60’s than normal.(locals who have lived here all their life have never experienced quite the season weather wise as 2009 and it was just an abnormal weather pattern and I heard that from guests from all over the US. And Canada about the weather where they were from also . Fishing overall for the season was very,very good,patterns once established remained very consistant and predictable through the season,and to have the kind of fishing we had under abnormal conditions it’s exciting to consider what it will be like when we have normal weather patterns thru the course of a season again.

While Eagle is known as a world class musky fishery as I predicted 4-5 yrs ago the walleye fishing on Eagle has exploded in recent years with not only pure numbers but a very high % of quality fish in the slot of 18-23” and over with one of the best chances at tangling with a trophy 28-32”+ as any in NW Ontario.It is a huge fisheries success story and I must commend the MNR for installing intelligent slots,possession limits,and the guests and fishermen for voluntarily accepting our no intentinal kill over the slot policys releasing fish in the slot and over including trophys in favor of under slot fish for eating and repos for trophys. We now have at least 7-8 consecutive huge and very successful spawns coming up and the fishing will do nothing but even get better than what it is today. The good ole days of walleye fishing on Eagle lake is now and coming not 15 yrs + years ago.We had by best guestimates over 150 walleyes caught and released over that magical 28-30” mark with the largest being 33 ½ “ and 13 ½#’s. The numbers of walleyes reported 18-27” released was incredible and everyone caught plenty of 14-18”ers to eat. It was not uncommon for guides to boat 50-75 fish under tougher conditions/days and 75-150 under normal conditions.The water temps staying below 70 for the most part kept fish a bit shallower and active during the summer months and patterns very predictable throughout the season from spring into late fall.For 2010 we predict a banner year for trophy potential but especially in pure numbers of fish coming up that will be reaching eating size and in the slot.

I was concerned going into the musky opener just how we would fair with the cold spring,cooler summer and water temps as I have seen years through my many years of guiding where years like that were tough and sporatic especially for trophy muskys but my fears were unfounded. Overall it was a very good year with our biggest fish going 55” and numbers boated excellent.There were over 45 fish boated 50”+ .What could have been is only a fish story at this point as the number of really big fish 52-54”+ on and off because of the way the cooler water temps affected their aggressiveness was heart breaking for many but exciting to know what can be and will be under an early spring and a good warm water summer season that Canadian muskys seem to prefer to reach peak activity levels.It is a testament to the quality of our guides and their abilities to adapt to changing conditions,our knowledge and expertise regarding this species,the instructional programs and guest instructors to get guests on fish and understanding the patterns,and of course the quality,fertility, and genetics of the lake system and it’s potential to produce world class fish. Regarding the future,it’s potential, a prediction for 2010 it’s easy. Everything is set for a banner ,record setting season. I have fished the lake now for pushing 30 seasons and while the trophy potential and numbers of fish 50”+ is as outstanding as ever if not even better you can’t even compare the pure numbers of fish 38-48” coming up to 15-20 yrs ago. It is easily double. It is not uncommon for guides to have action on 10-20+ fish in day boating 2-5 losing/missing/close calls on 3-5 more . Then throw in the 50”+ stuff that we are playing around daily,exciting stuff. Of course there will be slower days but even then you never know here when you could get ahold of the fish of a lifetime even on the toughest of days,bottom line,they are here,and in numbers,that’s the key.The last 15 yrs of 54” min size and the near 100% release of fish even over 54” has done it’s job . If it is a typical year and it’s a good warm June, July ,Aug it could reach a peak up to this point and be something very special. Just to get you fired up watch for Musky Hunter TV around the 2nd week of Feb. . I got the chance to spend 3 days fishing/filming with Jimmy after talking about getting together for years.Though we only got to really fish 2 because of a terrible downpour which made filming impossible the 2nd day, in 2 days under first a sunny,cloudless, lite wind day and the 3rd which was cold front 30+mph n wind conditions we had 9 bites boating 4 to 53”.Lots of informative info on Eagle Lake and fishing it goes along with the show. Tune it in,enjoy,and dream about next season.

For pike it was a diff season and not as consistant. I believe because of the water temps remaining colder right after spawning and the resulting slower weed growth that keeps baitfish in most big pike went to the deeper basins shortly after where the food was and were tough to find shallow.Most big pike to 44” were caught June,July and Aug by walleye fishermen off deeper structure and trolling bigger crank baits suspended until fall,then numerous big pike 36-46” started showing up on shallower structure hammering big musky baits.The slot of 27.5-35.5 and voluntary release of over the slot has really helped the avg. size and the potential for trophy pike to go up considerably. We have seen the numbers of pike over 38” increase dramatically also in the past 4-5 years .Again with a normal spring/early summer and the weeds maturing like they should in mid June we will again have excellent casting opportunitys in May,June,July for big pike. Aug and early Sept bigger pike will be found as they were all last season on deeper structure and suspended until mid sept when they come shallow again. There will always be eater sized under the slot pike with the occasional 35-40”r all season in the weeds and shallow structure.

Smallmouth Bass did not go onto their beds until mid june again because of cooler than normal water temps but the pre spawn bite especially for big females was good,you just had to to fish the breaks nearby spawning areas.Once they went onto the beds it lasted much longer than normal years and after we found some good bass staying shallow right through most of the summer which isn’t usually the case.Late fall for those those that pursed them was as good as it can get with a lot of fish 18-20” on the humps. `This another species that is steadily increasing with intelligent regulations specifically the until June 30 c/r season. We have also seen in recent years practically 100% release of bass by guests after the c/r season opens and with Eagles past reputation of quality bass in the 4-6# 18-22” range the future also looks great and again with a normal spring season could also reach a fishing peak not experienced before. During prime times surrounding the spawn in late May through mid/late June and again Sept/Oct it is not uncommon to boat 35-75 bass daily 16-20”+.With numbers increasing yearly it is an exciting bonus fishery enjoyed by many because of their hard fighting ,aggressive nature and with the big avg. size many pure smallmouth fishermen are quietly starting to target Eagle just for big bass.

Lake Trout populations have remained stable. (currently the MNR is doing an extensive transmitter study of this species so any trout caught with a tag please release and report the tag number,size,and location to the resort or MNR) The past 2 cooler seasons we rarely had to go deeper than 65’ even in Aug. It seems when water temps remain cooler overall thru the normally hotter times of the summer the stress factor is lower and the bite is exceptional especially for the bigger 16-25#+ fish. We had fish boated/released to 30+# last season with many ½ day walleye /trout combo guided days boating 8-15 fish ½ or more over 15 #. Trout grow very slow so we ask release of fish over 6# ,keeping under for eating and repos for the wall.During a warmer than normal season if and when surface water temps go above 74 we ask anglers to please refrain from fishing trout on Eagle because potential for hooking up with bigger fish is high and the stress with lower oxygen levels at these temps on the surface makes successful release difficult. A 25-30# trout could be 30-40 yrs old,very hard to replace.There are always still tons of excellent eating sized fish 2-6# available on Clearwater and Buzzard lakes for the grill.
As you can see there is considerable optimisim for the current state and future of this dynamic fishery,especially when populations and also numbers of trophys are steadily increasing and where unlike very many places it can be done with all 5 major game fish species on one body of water. Add to that the numerous other lakes we fish via 4wds and day fly-in trips the diversity,potential,and experience offered is hard to beat and the predictions are a reality. Regardless of conditions there are just so many options we can pull off a good trip for you.

The deer hunts went well though after a cooler summer the fall was warmer than normal. We avg.d close to the same %’s as in the previous past 7-8 seasons around 80% actual kill through all 4 hunts though I would say avg. size overall was down a bit. Muzzleloaders shot 4 for 4,1st rifle hunters 7 for 12 though all 12 hunters have hunted with us for years and have shot some big bucks and were being selective which we appreciate.12 hunters let walk 223 bucks. 2 of the hunters who did not score returned for a couple days later in the season as we were finishing up and scored . 2nd rifle was 8 for 10 and 3rd rifle was 7 for 8.With the warmer weather the sign and rut was slow to materialize and the bigger bucks did not start showing consistently during shooting hrs until later in the hunts and after. We shot a lot of 8,9 and 10’s 120-140 bc with the 3 biggest bucks a 10,12,13 scoring in the 150’s. Of course as is the case it seems every year 3-4 jumbos in the 160+ to booner class were missed or couldn’t get clean shots at while chasing does . There were 2 200 class animals and another in the 190’s reported shot in our immediate area so the potential and genetics is there.
Prediction, as is the case with mother nature everything runs in cycles.We experienced 2 rough winters in a row after long ruts and I figure possibly we lost a few big bucks that rutted to hard but the good numbers of 2 ½ -3 ½ year olds coming up hunters let go and we got on camera, the big boys we did not get, the ones you don’t see,the doe population in better % to buck numbers,a forecasted milder winter, and we’re in good shape for next and upcoming years hunts. In seasons to come we will be stressing more our out past the ears min. and not worrying so much about the kill % as the avg. size shot for the continuation of a quality trophy hunt for many years.

2009 was the first season we offered goose and duck hunts with grouse hunting or fishing mid day.They were run by Danny who has a passion for waterfowling.He is an exceptional caller and pays special attention to small details that make a big difference. Scouting is done well beforehand and daily, blinds built,field layouts,decoys,dog all furnished,and care of your game.It is a very over looked resource in our area with unpressured birds.The daily flights of geese and ducks were awesome to see and experience.The hunts were held on private fields,marshes/ponds/creeks,remote sections of rivers,and were very successful with excellent daily shooting opportunities and high bag/possesion limits. Most a.m. shoots were a box of shells,10-20 geese and 10-15 ducks down.We are booking only 1-4 hunters (1 group)per week to assure as high a quality experience as possible.

So there you have it,under some trying times both economically and weather wise we had a very good season,awesome repeat guests and friends,met many more new ones, and are looking forward to 2010 with great optimism and excitement.
We look forward to you joining in on it!!!
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