2008 Trophy Hunt
Saginaw Bay
July 17-20, 2008
Three days of perfect weather and lots of hungry
walleye close to the launch helped to make this one of the most successful Bay
Trophy Hunts ever! 27 anglers left Fish Point Lodge every morning and
headed out to Saginaw Bay to take advantage of the great fishing the Bay has
been giving up the past few summers.
All three days saw light winds and small waves for most of the day. Large schools of 16-20" walleye were located on top of the Callahan Reef in 5-8 fow and in the deeper water surrounding the reef. Productive depth ranges varied from fishing the weeds in 6-8 fow all the way out to 12-13 fow at the south end of the "Slot" on the east side of the Bay. One thing was consistent for most boats-crankbaits trolled around 2 mph were catching most of the fish. Storm 1/4 ounce Hot-N-Tots and Cotton Cordell CD5 Wally Divers seemed to be the hottest lures for the group. Colors varied depending on light conditions, but silver or gold sided lures with some orange or pink on them caught a large percentage of the fish. In the shallow water most anglers found that running the crankbaits 20-40' behind Off-Shore planer boards was the most effective. Some fish were caught in deeper water on lures ran about 60' back, but the 20-30 feet back number produced most of the fish.
The number of fish caught was amazing with most boats boating 20-50 legal walleye each day. Big fish honors on day 1 went to 11 year old Jacob Fillingham with a 3 lb 9 ounce beauty. Jacob's dad Brian caught the big fish of Day 2 that weighed just a few ounces less than Jacob's fish. This was their first trip to Saginaw Bay and they were paired up with Walleye 101 staff member Duncan Wooster who gave them a hands-on seminar in the boat and gave them all the knowledge they need to catch fish themselves in the future.
There were lots of first timers on this trip and it is great to see the Walleye 101 family continue to grow. One of the neat things about the trips at Fish Point Lodge is the small number of anglers who can attend. Due to lodging limitations only 32 anglers can attend a Trophy Hunt on the Bay, and this small number leads to lots of personal time with the instructors and getting to know each other.
A special thanks to Chris and Doug Deming of Fish Point Lodge for all of their hospitality. Chris and Sharon at the lodge put on the best meals you will ever have on a fishing trip and a special thanks to Kirk and Bobbie for helping with the fish fry.
All in all another great trip to the bay! Thanks to all the anglers and staff members who made it so!
Read Roger Beukema's article from the Oakland Press
(click on a picture to enlarge)
For pictures from other Walleye Education Weekends Click Here
For pictures from Walleye 101 charters Click Here
For pictures sent in from Walleye 101 anglers Click Here
 Getting to know everyone night 1 |
 Making new friends |
 Lance goes over good fishing spots |
 Duncan holding a crawler harness tying class |
 Jacob and Brian Fillingham listening to Duncan |
 11 year old Jacob tying harnesses |
 Nick and Stephanie working on tying harnesses |
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 What's going on here? |
 Fish on! |
 In the net! |
 Ray, Jim and Roger look for walleye |
 Heaven's Door with another one |
 Dave and Jim on the hunt |
 Greg Ellison and Lance with some fillets! |
 Nick and Stephanie learned how to do it from Mark Van Kampen |
 Duncan with the Fillingham boys |
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 Ken and Al |
 Cleaning fish |
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 Brian, Jacob and Duncan |
 Al Young, Paul Gjeldum and Mike Pullman |
 Jim Smith, Mark Koch and Bucky Goodyear |
 Les Tharp and Gregg Lamere |
 Jim Hert and John Kalanquin |
 How good do those fillets look? |
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 Wrap up meeting after Day 1 |
 Duncan goes over his successful day |
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 Gregg Lamere always has great information to share |
 Don't ever forget this! |
 The new vertical rod tree by Traxstech! |
 I love it !!! |
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 Roger fights another one |
 Lance removes the planer board |
 In the net! |
 An average Bay eye |
 Come on Roger-Smile! |
 A new crank Lance is testing |
 Ray?? |
 Kirk and Doug at the fryer |
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 Discussing the day |
 The best part of the trip! |
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 King Ray on his throne! |
 The only way to keep fishermen from lying! |
 Kirk, Bobbie, Sharon, Chris and Doug |
 Lance explains how to load waypoint files |
 Lance goes over the days fishing. |
 Paul explains his successful day |
 Jim Hert shares his days success with the rest of the group |
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 Ray Wangler and Jim Coolican |
 Mark Koch |