This has been a walleye season that will never be forgotten, unfortunately it won’t be because it was so awesome. Thanks to the Covid-19 pandemic, and the the fact that Michigan was hit hard, a Stay at Home order was issued mid March. Shortly after that certain outdoor activities, like golf and motorized boating, were banned as well. As one can imagine it pissed off a lot of people. So much so that I cut ties with a lot of people I knew. This ban on boating showed the true colors of some people and just how selfish they are. I have friends and relatives that are Doctors, Nurses and Pharmacists that are going into work every day to fight this pandemic. Their lives have been turned upside down more than most and some fishermen have the audacity to cry like a little boy who had his ball taken away. Like our Governor or not there is no reason to compare her to Hitler, you know, that mass murderer who was responsible for the deaths of tens of millions of people. All this because they couldn’t go walleye fishing for a couple of weeks. Their selfishness made me re-think my association with a lot of fishing groups and I basically cut ties with all of them. They may say I am over reacting but a lot of these same people were behind the stay safe stay home order until their fishing was taken away.
Needless to say it only lasted a couple of weeks so once the ban was lifted I got my boat ready and headed out last Saturday night. Most people were off the water by the time I started (7:00 pm) so I had a clear shot to my usual spot. I set lines and a couple of minutes later I had my first fist of the 2020 season. For the next hour and a half I picked away at them and by 8:30 pm I was done and headed for home. My friend Dave was out as well and he was on his 5th fish waiting for #6. Because of the great hatches we have had the last few years the DNR raised the daily limit to 6 per day. Currently the population is estimated to be around 116 million walleye. Next year the estimate is expected to be around 150 million walleye. I’m going to have a lot of easy fishing for many years to come.
A couple of things of note is that the water was gin clear. So clear I didn’t expect to catch anything until after dark. It was overcast though so that helped. Water temp was around 49 degrees and none of those unmentionable fish were caught. Only downside was the NE wind that started to pick up as the sun set. The rest of the week is looking questionable for wind direction and rain so I probably won’t get out again until the weekend. The way the weather is going I figure I have about two weeks before those other fish show up. Hopefully by then the local river temps will be up enough to get the carp active. One can only hope. The Covid 19 pandemic has thrown our whole lives into dis-array but I’m not going to freak out about not being able to go fishing because of it. I know people who have been infected and died. If me staying home can save one life then I will gladly give up fishing for awhile to help prevent the spread.
1st limit of the year.
Muskrat Adventures 