First trophies of the year!
May 20, 2010
We have been very busy here at Aikens getting things open. However, we do take some time to get out on the lake every couple of days. The weather has been so unbelievable (it was 30 degrees celcius here today... 90 farenheit!) The water temps are going through the roof. The main lake is at 55 degrees, while many of the bays are above 60. The hottest water we've found was in Stange Bay - 72 degrees!
The walleye spawn is over now and everything appeared to go well on that front. The timing couldn't be better with our first guests arriving this weekend, the walleyes will be voraciously recharging their bodies after the exhausting week of spawning. It appears that many of the pike have re-ingested their eggs so their spawn was not as successful . Pike normally spawn as the ice is breaking off the lake, but with the very early spring it may be that they got caught off guard. The news that many pike didn't spawn, along with the low water, actually means very good things for the fishing this year! The decreased forage available for the larger fish means that they will have that much more of an interest in the lures and baits that we throw at them this year!
We caught our first trophy of the season on Monday! Andrina was in charge of catching a few walleyes for appetizers for Monday's dinner. She went out to the Honeyhole to accomplish this task by herself. She was able to do that easily enough, but the icing on the cake was when she used up the last minnow in the tub... it yielded her the first trophy of the 2010 season at Aikens! It was her first trophy pike here since her first summer at Aikens when she was 7 years old. Her self-portrait turned out pretty well too!
The second trophy of the year was netted the following afternoon. Paul Turenne had always wanted to catch a trophy Whitefish, but he was never able to find one. Well, this year he did find one! A 23.5" Master Angler at the Fastwaters. The entire volunteer crew was out that afternoon for some fun on the water and a fantastic shore-supper at GGO. The weather couldn't have been more perfect, and it was a great mid-week break from the rigors of opening up the camp. We look forward to greeting our first guests this Saturday!
The walleye spawn is over now and everything appeared to go well on that front. The timing couldn't be better with our first guests arriving this weekend, the walleyes will be voraciously recharging their bodies after the exhausting week of spawning. It appears that many of the pike have re-ingested their eggs so their spawn was not as successful . Pike normally spawn as the ice is breaking off the lake, but with the very early spring it may be that they got caught off guard. The news that many pike didn't spawn, along with the low water, actually means very good things for the fishing this year! The decreased forage available for the larger fish means that they will have that much more of an interest in the lures and baits that we throw at them this year!
We caught our first trophy of the season on Monday! Andrina was in charge of catching a few walleyes for appetizers for Monday's dinner. She went out to the Honeyhole to accomplish this task by herself. She was able to do that easily enough, but the icing on the cake was when she used up the last minnow in the tub... it yielded her the first trophy of the 2010 season at Aikens! It was her first trophy pike here since her first summer at Aikens when she was 7 years old. Her self-portrait turned out pretty well too!
The second trophy of the year was netted the following afternoon. Paul Turenne had always wanted to catch a trophy Whitefish, but he was never able to find one. Well, this year he did find one! A 23.5" Master Angler at the Fastwaters. The entire volunteer crew was out that afternoon for some fun on the water and a fantastic shore-supper at GGO. The weather couldn't have been more perfect, and it was a great mid-week break from the rigors of opening up the camp. We look forward to greeting our first guests this Saturday!