Any News or Wrap-Up?

[Dave B]

Gail, Dick, Russ, or the rest -- Any news on how the season is going/ended and any chance of a year-end wrap up on what you saw going on with the LOTW fishery and stuff like that?

[Dave B]

I hate posting a reply to my own message. It's kind of like talking to myself. I did get a message from Gail who said Kevin, one of the die-hard muskie nuts is/was fishing this week or last week, and the fishing has been good this fall. I think Gail or Kevin will be posting a report before long. I only get to LOTW and Witch Bay for a week a year, and it always seems like the lake is doing something different everytime I'm there. So, the challenge for me is to quickly figure out what's going on so I can get into a pattern. This year, I was in camp in late July, and there was already an active bloom going on, and the weed beds weren't lush and full like they usually are at that time of year -- not sure if due to the fluctuating water levels, the early ice out, or what. It seemed like there were lots of smaller walleyes -- under 18" -- on the shallower structures. That probably means a great hatch a couple of years ago, and bodes well for continued excellent walleye fishing as that year class or classes moves through the system. We spent almost zero time targetting smallmouth, but still managed to catch quite a few mixed in with the walleyes. We found the bass mainly on the higher portion of the strucutre (15-20 feet) when most of the walleye were a little deeper. And interestingly enough, even when the bass were 15-20' deep and there was a fair amount of algae in the water, the bass would turn on when the wind was blowing onto the structure. The muskie fishing in and around Witch Bay seems to be getting better and better each year. It seems like the average size we are catching and seeing has made a leap from the mid to upper 30" range to the low to mid 40" range in just the past few years. Part of that might be that we are getting better at what we are doing, but I still think a lot of it is the fishery just keeps improving. No doubt in my mind the conservation and catch and release efforts are paying off. A few general observations on the muskie fishing/tactics. Figure 8's were key for us this year. I think we caught only 1 fish that wasn't in the figure 8, and it hit on a throw back after going round and round in the figure 8 3 or 4 times and missing the bait. The double bladed bucktail rage seems to be maintaining itself. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I didn't use a Mepps Musky Killer once on my last trip. I had a double bladed buck on one of my rods the entire time. Despite that trend, one of the old stand-bys -- the suick -- still accounts for a lot of fish for us. Something about that motion the fish like. The last 2 trips (2009 and 2010) the topraider bite has been off. Granted, we are there only 1 week, but in the past that was one of our "have to have in the water" baits. Typically, we would have 1 guy throwing a bucktail and 1 guy throwing a topraider (or something very similar). The past 2 trips, topraiders have been generating lots of follows, but not many hits, and few hookups. In 2009 the jackpot was effective. My last trip, the fish just weren't that hot on top -- maybe the bloom, maybe the water temps or weather???? I guess that's enough ramblings. I better get some work done.