Opening Week - The Summary
Travis Frank
Opening week of the 2010 season has officially come and gone. As I sit down to write about it, I believe I am going to consider this the best metro start that I have ever had. Not exactly for the numbers of fish caught, but rather the quality of fish in the net. At times I would have thought that I was fishing Mille Lacs, Leech or Lake of the Woods. Certainly not the metro waters. During the last 5 days out, I have not left my home territory of Lake Minnetonka or Waconia, and yet I find myself with another album full of big walleye pictures. I think it is safe to say that I am one lucky fishin' dude.
The average walleye in the boat since the start of the season has been about 24 inches. As I wrote about in the previous couple of journal entries, it has been far more common to see a big walleye than a small one. The biggest of the season thus far is still just under 8 pounds. A hefty mark that we have now tickled several times. In fact, I snuck out last friday for a solo mission and I found a school of "swine," that went in this order. 25, 26, 27 and 25 respectively. What made it all the more special for me was the fact that I told myself that I was "NOT" going to fish any spot that I have fished before. I was on a mission to find new territory, and that is just what I did. I started out cold, but after about 3 hours I finally got dialed in. Before the day was through I found myself with 10 fish over 22 inches. To say that I was happy with the results would be a total understatement. Just ask my fishing buddies. They are still hearing about it. I now have even more goodies in my bag of tricks, and that makes me happy.
As fast as this all started out, I am now left to wonder. The pattern that has been working for me is in jeopardy of changing, if it hasn't already. With a water temp that started out at 53 degrees on opening day, we are now hovering over 70. Last night we plucked 5 dandy eye's, and this morning they had all but dissappeared. Sadly, my guests were left wondering what could have been. I'm sure the 90 degree sunshine didn't help matters, but it's all part of the game I guess. Will this streak of big walleyes start up again? Will the summer of 2010 be the best walleye season yet? Who knows. One thing is for certain. Musky season is only a couple short weeks away. Then I'll have to decide if I want to catch 5 lb walleyes or 50 inch muskies? Hmmm... I think that's an easy choice, and a good problem to have. As always, you can see more pictures in the walleye photo album. Until next time, keep on livin' the dream!