FIRST ANNUAL "MAY ON THE BAY " MAY 17-20, 2007 FISH POINT LODGE
Our first springtime venture to Saginaw Bay turned out to be a very successful trip. A small group of only 17 anglers joined us and many of them were new comers to a Walleye 101 Trophy Hunt. Several of our fishermen came from the Alpena area and 1 boat held 3 generations of anglers! Few of us had fished the east side of the Bay this early in the year, but our host, Captain Doug Deming, got us onto some good fishing close to the launch.
Day 1 was just about perfect weather with a slight westerly breeze and sunny skies. The fish were cooperating for those boats paying attention to small details such as location, boat speed, lure depth and trolling direction. A total of 140 fish were caught with some boats catching 35-50 fish and others struggling to find the right combination.
At the after dinner seminar Lance, Mark and Doug emphasized how important little details were. Everyone must have listened as everyone caught plenty of fish on day 2. The day was breezier and a little rougher, making trolling direction and boat speed more critical than day 1. With a little bit of hard work, all the boats increased their catch from day 1, with a total of 175 walleye caught, and learned some valuable lessons on trolling! Joe Zanotti and John Reeseman caught the big fish of the weekend-a 6lb plus beauty.
Lures of choice both day 1 and 2 were spinners ran behind either a single large split shot (20-25' back) or 1 ounce inline weights (ran 15-20') back. Bottom bouncers and leadcore also took some bottom hugging fish and gold blades seemed to be the number one choice.
Day 3 dawned with high winds from the Northeast and large waves visible from the lodge, so nobody went out fishing instead spending the morning relaxing in the lodge and enjoying an extra plate of breakfast!
As always the food on this trip was the best on any trip to date. My good friends Doug and Chris Deming, who own Fish Point Lodge, rolled out the red carpet for us and Doug held up his reputation as a world class fish camp cook with the spreads set out for us each morning and evening. Many of the attendees commented on the "hominess" of the Lodge and we are planning on returning here for many years to come.
Thanks again to all of you who made this trip possible, and for your patience as we battled tough conditions. If you have any pictures of the trip, please e-mail them to me so I can add them here.
(click on a picture to see an enlarged view)
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