2007 Huron Wk 1

Walleye 101 "Trophy Hunt Week 1"

November 2-5, 2007

Lake Erie, Huron, Ohio

The 2007 version of the Walleye 101 Trophy Hunt saw the biggest crowd ever to attend a Trophy Hunt and unfortunately the toughest fishing ever for a Lake Erie trip. Warmer than normal water temperatures along with unstable weather held the baitfish in the main lake instead of their usual river haunts and kept the walleye in deeper water and in smaller pods as opposed to the large schools this time of year is known for. Anglers were seeing so much bait on the sonar, that often the sonar would only read 2-3' deep in 40' of water due to the huge concentrations of shad and shiners! Dirty water also helped to make fishing tougher than normal for this time of year but many fish were caught and lots of fun was had by all who attended.

Day 1 dawned with high expectations as 141 anglers headed out from Holiday Harbor on a beautiful fall morning. Sunny skies and fairly calm seas had everyone dreaming of limits of monster walleye, but Mother Nature had other ideas. Fish had not yet found their way to the traditional fall haunts, so the search was on for the new Hot Spot. Some found it, with a few boats getting 10 or more fish, but most boats ended the day with a half dozen or so nice fall walleye. The Lewandowski boys aboard Addiction boated a 3 man limit of 18 fish to lead the way. A total of 376 fish were brought in on day 1 and Big fish honors and $350 went to the "Big Cahoona" and the crew of Gary Kuhn, Jim Stewart and first timer Todd Sidnam with a beautiful 10 lb 7 oz fish.

Day 2 was another great day weather wise and expectations were again high. Lots of water was covered but results were actually lower than day 1. Only 262 walleye were brought to the cleaning station but there were definitely more big fish on Day 2. Seven fish over 10 lbs were weighed in but big fish honors went to Josh Lewandowski with a monster that weighed in at 11 lbs 13 ounces! Dave Mull, editor of Great Lakes Angler magazine barely lost out with his beauty weighing 11 lbs 9 ounces-you just might see that fish in a future issue of Great Lakes Angler magazine!

The fish fry after Day 2 was a huge success as Brian Yergin and the whole fry gang made sure it went off smoothly. Everyone pitched in to be sure that 150 people got fed and no one went away hungry! Stan Glubzinski again provided the world's best cole slaw with some help from Kevin and Russ. It was a joy to watch everyone work together so we could all enjoy the meal and the evening-the true meaning of what these trips are all about-anglers enjoying and helping other anglers! After the fish fry the largest ever raffle was held with over 20 prizes valued from $40-250 raffled off.

Unfortunately Day 3 was cancelled due to poor weather and high winds, but a good 2 days of fishing was had by everyone.

I want to send out a special thanks to all of you who attended, helped and made this trip a huge success. I was a little worried about the number of people, but the trip went off without the slightest problem. Special thanks to Matt Bouza and his helpers for all the work getting the fish cleaning station set up and taking care of the carcasses. A huge addition to this years trip was the presence of some of the best people in the industry who took the time to spend with the Walleye 101 gang. Fishing Systems by Traxstech, Slide Diver, Lowrance, Wolverine Tackle, Precision Angling, Great Lakes Angler Magazine, LakeMaster, Off-Shore Tackle and Freeway Sports Center sent representatives and donated raffle prizes. A special thanks to all of them for helping make this the biggest Trophy Hunt ever!

(click on a picture to see enlarged view)