And another fishing season at South Shore Lodge comes to an end...
2009 started off with a bang, our first guests to make their way down to the dock didn't have to worry about wiping boat seats down, because the dock hands had already shoveled out the boats. That's right we woke up to about two inches of snow. Now some folks would ask “why would you want to put yourself through that”. Well the sun did come out and the snow disappeared and you know what they say... a picture is worth a thousand words.
What we battled most this spring was weather, although this wasn’t our latest ice out I would have to say that this was one of our coolest springs in a long time. Throughout May, and June our weather just wouldn't stabilize and the fishing was so up and down we thought we were riding a roller coaster. One day you're searching our favorite haunts and the bite is spotty, the next day the first hole you hit is non stop action and your running out of bait.
As we got closer and closer to our summer patterns the fishing did stabilize. We experienced some awesome weeks with numerous Walleye in the slot and over the slot caught just minutes from camp, and no matter what the bite was like there was always enough for shore lunch. Now not every day or week is harvest week and there were a few periods where good old Mother Nature threw us more than one curve ball, like going from average daytime temperatures of seventyish, to highs in the upper 80’s over night. The other wild phenomenon on the lake this summer was the wind. Now we know our part of the lake remains fishable when some other parts of the lake are “big” when the wind comes up, what was different this summer was the wind direction was so erratic, there wasn’t any steady pattern where those Walleye stack up on the shore lines and under water shoals. A wind direction change of 180 degrees overnight was not uncommon.
Water levels on Eagle started and remained fairly consistent at good levels, never really getting to high but for a short stint in June and staying slightly higher than normal just the way we like it.
Even though some would say the “really big” Northern Pike fishing on Eagle has been tough the last couple years you would have a hard time convincing these guests of that. We had some great Pike caught in 2009.
With cold spring water temps comes great shallow Lake trout action. We had many nice trout caught right out front of the lodge again this spring.
For the experienced Muskie fisherman Eagle lake is definitely a favorite destination. With numerous 50 plus inch fish boated each year it is only a matter of time before someone catches another world record class fish. We had many beautiful fish boated this year only minutes from camp.
I want to thank every one who visited with us in 2009, we look forward to seeing you on the dock again… Who knows what 2010 has in store for us, come on up and find out...
