fishing report 7/2-7/16

water temps are now approaching mid/high 70's surface,going over 80 by days end with 1 degree change every 5-10' down to
20' thermocline setting up around 25-28'. projected hot,relativley flat, sunny weather for the week with temps avg.g mid 80's to mid/high 90's so undoubtably water temps will rise some.
last report 6/26 i stated mayfly hatch was/had been sporatic,light,hadn't really affected fishing much,and it looked like it was pretty much done and over. i was wrong. it started again /continued at weeks end into mid week of 7/2 week not so much as surface hatches but a thick 4-8' larve bug line at 12'-15' and fish were gorging on them. walleyes left alot of the deeper humps that had been so good for several weeks and the bite was best on weed edges,thick cabbage, and on tops of shallower bars 12-15'. still plenty of fish caught but guides who were avg.g 70-120 fish per day had to scoot around more to figure things out and find pockets of active fish that spooked easily and catches avg.g 30-50. crawlers and leeches on stand up jigs were as good or better than minnows.
muskys were also affected because everything they eat was up high,fat,lazy,burping and farting,easy to catch,and it appeared most feeding was being done at night during hatches.day time saw lots of big ,lazy follows and those hitting were nipping and slapping resulting in many missed fish.guides were reporting days of 10-25 follows with 2-5 hits boating 1-2 high 30/mid-high 40" fish and the bigger fish on and off or missing baits. by thurs- fri and going into and through 7/9 it ended,things came around quickly and everything was back to normal by mon-tues of the week. walleye catches sky rocketed. they moved back or became very active again on the humps and reefs 17-25' going shallower tom the tops of shallower humps and very aggressive feeding as the water temps rose through the week but there was still a good big fish bite going in the cabbage on weedless jigs and leeches.the wolf group boated over 800 walleyes in 4 days,the winslow group of 12 ate fish twice daily took thier limits home and boated a bunch of fish 25-30.5". doc rick also boated a 30" fish.all groups that were guided or started the week out with guides and got patterns/presentations figured out had an excellent week and caught alot of fish of all sizes. the basin pm trolling bite was given a try late last week and it is happening over 50-80' 8-18' down on crankbaits and with this type of weather will get better and better with ciso rises to the surface 7-10;oopm.
most all big pike came fishing walleyes on bigger chubs and small suckers as the bigger fish have gone to the basin and deeper water for the most part with the occasional wanderer up shallow.
muskys also responded positivley and were much more agressive with some good catches. gary holburg boated 50 and 49's,jeremy 51.5,49.5,46,44,frank 50.5,dave 47,tony 49,44,and a bunch of low-mid 40's with every group having shots at big fish but still alot of on and offs or boatside hits that didn't stick but definatly a step in the right direction,both weeds and rocks but as water temps rise and more sun typically weeds become a dominate pattern. with projected sun,heat,and low winds and rising water temps give early and late alot of attention. blades,topwaters,and jerk baits been moving most fish.
with surface temps where they are we will be encouraging/recomending no fishing lake trout on eagle till water temps drop again as releasing big trout over 10-12 # and especially the jumbos 18-25# will be very difficult and a high % potential mortality. if you're going to fish lakers go to clearwater,buzzard or one of the other nearby numbers trout lakes where eating size fish are the norm.look at 65-70' depths.trolling spoons,minnowbaits,cowbells with a sucker or cisco,and jigging spoons or jigs with sucker meat.
bass are scattered around on rocky points,broken rock shorelines with timber in thick reeds that are intermixed with cabbage though the holburg group spent a day with danny and tore em' up avg 15-19" on leeches.
i'll get a bunch of new pics up on the board shortly so stay tuned and don't forget this ain't a one way street,post reports and tips of your experiences,catches,and patterns found that others may be able to use also.

if you're still thinking of a trip and getting the bug to do so we got a few openings left,
1 july 30-aug 6, 1 aug 13-20,2 aug 20-27,and some scatterd openings sept 10-0ct 8 on fall specials.
give us a call 888 n727 5865 or email info@andymyerslodge.com for details or to talk fishing.
good luck!!!
steve herbeck
AML

Our group can attest to everything Herbie stated in his report. Our group of 12 was at Andy Myers Lodge from July 9 - 16. His latest fishing report is spot on. No fluff or BS. Sometimes lodge owners like to make themselves look good in their reports. The staff at AML does not need to do that. They let the results speak for themselves.

Our group usually goes the first week of August. Due to scheduling conflicts, we had to go earlier in July. The first day we went to our normal humps and fishing spots we have caught fish in the past years. There was not fish there. With the mayfly hatch happening or dragging on, the fish were in the weeds and flats instead of on the humps. With the help of Herbie, Danny, and the staff at AML it took until day 2 to get on the fish. They marked a few maps for us and pointed us in the right direction. When we found fish, they were stacked. There were good numbers of eaters present along with slot fish and over slot fish. A few times we would catch walleyes from 10" to 15", to 19" to 22" to 24" in the same spot. This speaks well for the fishery and the diverse year classes of walleye present in the lake. By days 5-6-7 the mayfly hatch ended and the fish were beginning to show up on the normal summer spots and humps. You had to check a few spots before fishing some days. Fish were here today, gone tomorrow. They were following the forage. Eagle Lake is big lake, with a lot of fish holding spots. Our group only kept walleyes from 15" to less than 18", and we had no problem catching enough to eat and take home our limit. We had to release many of these eating size fish to avoid being over our limit after day 4. All slot fish and bigger were returned to Eagle Lake to fight again another day. We hope they come back and see us again when they are over 30" and 10 pounds. We used 1/8oz jigs and lindy rigs with minnows, crawlers or leeches. The day and location dictated what worked best. We had 3 people to a boat. Someone used one of each and we let the fish tell us what they wanted. After 3 quick fish, the others would adjust.

Our group spent time musky fishing 5 different times during the week. A few times were an hour at a time, and one time was an all day guided trip with Steve Herbeck. I was lucky enough to win the Ice Out Contest last May. A Big Thank you to Steve for the opportunity to fish with you for 8 hours. We fished hard and for being walleye guys, hope we did not disappoint you in our efforts. We had musky action each time out, and saw numerous fish in the upper 40" to over 50" category. We managed to land a few northerns and 2 muskys at 38" and 48" and had plenty of other close calls and follows. When you have Danny saying, that was a big fish following, you know it was big! My best guess is we saw at least 24 different muskys + a couple chasing perch or small walleyes or northerns we had hooked. That is a pretty good average for the hours fished. Again a good sign of the fishery. Bucktails, bulldawgs, and top water got the most action. Fish were using both weeds and rock structure. One musky left a 5 1/4" bite mark on a 24" northern that was hooked. It attacked at boatside, and provided a big splash and a thrill for one of the boats. That was a big fish too. No doubt there are numerous BIG musky swimming in the waters of Eagle Lake. If you are after a 50" + musky. Andy Myers Lodge is the place for you. Steve, Danny and the guides there know where those big fish are. It is just a matter of getting them to bite and getting them in the boat. Take a quick picture and release them to carry on the fishery and provide someone else with the thrill of a lifetime.

Our group is already planning on how to make 2012 bigger and better.
Thanks again to Steve, Danny, and the staff at Andy Myers Lodge.
We had a blast.

Steve Winslow
Darlington WI