The weather has been comfortable for quite awhile now with one day of rain last week but we are into a trend of changing weather with some more rain in the forecast.  Fishing has been outstanding!  Walleyes are getting a beating on every lake.  Numbers have been phenomenal and the big females are being caught and released more frequently every week on all the lakes.  Many 27- 28 inch walleyes were caught last week, some in 3 feet of water.  Some fishermen called it fishing in a bathtub.  Drifted up against the weeds, your line 3 feet below you, lifting fish after fish almost out of the water when you set the hook!  For the most part walleyes are in 8 feet of water or less right now, on windy shorelines and sometimes in the shallow bays up against the weedy shoreline.  The thing about fishing walleye at this time of year is that your biggest pike will most likely be caught on your jig and light tackle!  Big pike have been everywhere, caught at the bottom of the rapids, on top of the rapids and in the walleye holes.  The action has been fast and furious if you want it to be.

Here are some highlights from the past week.

The Holland party has been fishing on Findlay lake for a lot of years.  They have seen many different weather patterns and water temperatures in their time spent on Findlay.  This year was one of the rare ones where the sun shined everyday and didn’t need rain gear until their last afternoon.  Their experience on the lake proves to be a huge benefit every year.  They know where the big fish hang out, and they provide us with the pictures to prove these are not just fish stories!   The fish this year were larger than normal with the group catching more 24-25 inch walleyes than they ever have before!  Chuck had the biggest one measuring 27  inches.  The pike were on this year as well.  Lots of thick healthy trophy pike were caught and returned to the water.  Brian had the biggest catching a 40 inch pike!

The McConnell party made their return to Blackbirch Lake last week.  They had a great time as usual and again they said they had the best fishing ever!  When you are in such an awesome environment with good friends it is easy to have the best time ever, over and over again. 🙂  Here is Marty with a thick 38 inch trophy pike.

Shorelunch.  Fresh out of the lake and into the pan!

The Plummer crew came from far and wide to meet up on Jeanette Lake, Pennsylvania, North Carolina and even Hungary.  These guys have been doing flyin trips for a long time and seem to have found a home with us.  They really enjoyed Jeanette lake.  The northern pike were crazy this week.  They caught lots of 30 plus inch pike, 12 above 35 inches a fat 38 inch, 2 at 39.5 inches and the biggest one for the week was a 41.5 inch pike.  Walleye were numerous all week and the size increased daily.  The biggest ones were caught late in the week up to 27 inches.

The caribou still like to hang around the cabin at Jeanette.  They are so quiet and peaceful.

The Olsen party were back for their every other year trip to Shearstone Lake.  This is their 4th trip to Shearstone and they love it.  I heard rumblings as they were leaving that they may have to start doing it every year.  Lots of nice fish were caught on Shearstone Dave had a 40 inch pike and a 25 inch walleye, John also caught a 25 inch walleye, Larry had a fat 38 inch pike and the leader Alan caught a 24 inch walleye.  They enjoy the silence of the north and this year had quite a bit of wildlife around.  They saw a moose swim across the lake, saw 2 eagles fighting, although when they toss and turn through the air, that is more of an intimate moment when they are mating 🙂  They also heard some wolves ands saw some otters.  Another great trip to Shearstone Lake!

The Sanders family went back to Darkwater Lake last week for the 2nd time.  They also brought a new guy along named John.  I am pretty sure this is the first time that someone other than family has been on a trip with them.  Adam, the youngest, had an opportunity to move up from leech boy with new blood in the group for the first time in 20 years but missed his opportunity and did it out of routine.  They had a great time and caught over 1000 walleye during their stay at Darkwater.  A number of walleyes up to 24 inches were caught and released.

The moose population around Darkwater is high.  Almost every group sees moose while they are there.

The pike on Darkwater are very aggressive!  2 times during the week they had walleye attacked on the way to the boat.  That is always exciting!  Same time next year, same lake!

These are some of the highlights from last week.  There are many more stories as they are happening everyday at our 12 outpost cabins.  What will yours be?