Fishing Reports 2002

FIRST REPORT 2002...April 27, 2002...It was quite a winter at Wildewood. It all started with a phone call from Canada in late January. Weather in late October, early November, brought a big bang to camp! Lots of ice and snow on the trees coupled with 50+ mile an hour winds knocked down 100's of trees, both on the trail and in camp. Needless to say, Richard headed back up in February to get a fix on things and start getting things cleaned up for opening week. After snowmobiling into camp via Cliff and Roma's and the lake, it took several hours just to cut their way into the lodge back door. The trail had so many trees across it, it took several weeks and some outside help to get it open. 4+ feet of snow hindered things a bit too. Hardest hit in camp was behind the lodge between cabin three and four. Plus the radio tower came down, electrical wiring, damage to roofs, etc. Not a pretty "welcome back" picture, to say the least. The good news is, the lake is in tact! The boats and motors survived! Business will be as usual...minus trees. Wildewood has taken on a new look. The snow has melted, though ice isn't off yet, but is starting to melt around the shoreline. We'll keep you posted...and see everyone soon!

In memory...Molson died March 6, 2002. She was truly loved and will be missed by her family and friends.

May 9, 2002...It's snowing, it's accumulating, and we are still waiting for the ice to go off. Richard says it's not "good" ice, a bit slushy, 8 or so inches thick. But it's still there! Not looking too promising for opening week to happen...but we'll keep you posted!

May 19, 2002...Well, had to cancel opening week. The ice just never left. Weather has been so-so. Had a day of rain, temps averaging freezing, below freezing nights, 40's during the day. Some sun here and there. Needless to say, we have all our fingers crossed for this week coming. The good news is, the bay in front of camp opened yesterday!! (With a bit of help breaking up the ice...makes waves with the boat where it is open...breaks it up a bit...). We even went and got the plane in! Yippee! Gave Richard a chance to fly over the lake and see what things look like. It's looks fairly thin in areas, thicker in others. Parts of Stella Bay are open and various other small areas. Problem is getting to them. The boats are going in now, so we will be ready if the lake is ready. So keep your fingers crossed, say a prayer, we'll keep you updated in a few days. Think WALLEYE!

May 29, 2002, Wed...Seems the first week is going very good in the fishing department! Plenty of big northerns and lots of walleyes! Weather has stabilized, been in the 60's, 70's for past three days. Had a bit (about 15 minutes worth) of hail early in the week...a few snowmen were reported seen on the lake. The pea-sized pellets were sticking to the guys clothing, but the downpour that followed (oh yuk!) took care of that scenario. Getting many reports of 100+ catch and release walleyes/day! KC Apple caught 15+ in the 24"+ range with his dad Charlie. A big northern tried to get away with one of them, turned the trepple hook into a bent up wire mess, a "superfish," said Charlie. With his doctor spoons, he caught 9 of the those northern guys 39" and over. KC was super happy when he landed his 40.5" northern with an imitation sucker! Guy Erdmann got himself a 7#, 26.5" and 6#, 24.5" walleye with minnows. Lee Parks used a sassy shad to catch his 7#, 26"er. Lee also mentioned the walleye he was getting ready to put on the stringer when he noticed a big northern tugging at the day's catch...he managed to grad it by the back of the neck but it got away just before he got it into the boat. The Jones group reports lots of 36" (average) northerns being caught by everyone, everywhere! Rex and Matt Jones did a bit of trout fishing too, landing a 30", 10-12# lake trout with a sutton spoon in the "honey hole." More in the morning...including two 25# northerns!

May 30, 2002, Thur...Back again...got a few more reports in. Wondering about the big northerns? After 22 years, Tom Manning got his first 25# pike! Then caught another! He caught 7 pike over 45" and 2 in the 48-50" range on yo-zuris. "The best pike fishing in 22 years. Catch and release counts...and it works!" Don Ladig caught a 41.5", 20#er on a yo-zuri and a 10#, 31" lake trout with a little joe and minnow. Bonnie Slagel got a 39" pike on a mister twister. Ben and Fred Slagel used a jig and minnow to catch 26", 7# & 27", 8# walleyes. Walleyes were in the pre-spawn period, some caught numbers, some did not, depending where they fished. We did have a request to change the length limit back to 19" because so many caught were in that range. Chris Migut was the walleye master as voted by the Chmill group this week. He wasn't telling much, but reported a 5#er on a pink tinsel tail jig. Jon Magnusson used the same and caught a 6#er. Chris also caught an 8#, 28" lake trout in 6' of water with a jig and minnow. Ron Chmill got a 6#, 26"er the same. With a blue rapala, Ron Chmill II caught a 10#, 38" northern. Ron's son, Ron, missed a week of school to fish with dad, grandpa, and uncle Jon this week...but had a bit of homework from his science teacher, Mr. Stefanus. His project...catch 5 fish, weigh, measure, age them, and see what they eat. His report...the walleyes were 2 1/2-3 years old, 16"-19" long, and were eating may flies and minnows. The trout were eating crayfish and small perch. Had a great time at Wildewood and looking forward to coming back. It was also reported three rods were broken this week, all by Chet Dow, who sat on them! Way to go Chet...and how was your week?

June 3, 2002, Mon...Phone has been down since Saturday...again! They are suppose to fix it by Tues or Wed. Please bear with us. There is a message on the phone when you try to call...to call Rusty Myers for the time being. If you are scheduled to come in this Friday and need anything, please call them and leave the message, otherwise hopefully we'll be back up and running later this week. Thanks for all your patience...we are losing ours....(with the phone company.)

June 6, 2002, Thur...A bit slower than last week, but all in all, a pretty good week. Two major cold fronts hindered things, the weather seems to be turning around the last few days. Rod Pevytoe found himself reeling in a 25# 42" lake trout with dead bait on the bottom! Denny Bedish and Todd Budde both caught a 37", 11.5# & 12# northern pike with jigs and minnows. Todd also caught a 25" walleye with a jig and minnow. Joe Small used a rapala and caught himself a 10.5#, 31.5" lake trout. Mike Malinowski used a pro-king spoon and landed a 9 1/2#er that was 32". He also caught a 37.5", 10# northern with a red eye. Nick Macht caught a 6#, 25" walleye on the infamous jig and minnow. The Sarnowski group reported fishing was a bit slower than usual but caught a fair number of walleyes in the 20#-24# range. Bob Melloway caught a 27" walleye and a 39" pike, Dennis Morrisey a 40" northern, all on jig and minnows. The group, overall, caught quite a few walleye and lake trout. Many guests reporting catching slot-size fish this week. Jim Bultman and Lowell McClain stopped and fished the Narrows during the day and caught 7# walleyes, one on a spoon and one on a cisco. Kay Kramer reported another fine year at Wildewood, deciding it was difficult to establish new plateaus after 24 great years on Savant Lake (philosopher-izing again Kay?), but two new fisherman (Art and Art) in the group mentioned their experience has been outstanding.

Rod Pevytoe had fun with the northerns this week...just as he got a nice walleye up to the boat, he reached over to pull the impressive fish in when a 45" northern came from the deep dark depths and sank his razor sharp teeth into the mid-section of the walleye. Refusing to let go, the battle was on to see you would win the fish. With one big heft from Rod, and one teeth-ripping yank from the northern, the walleye flew into the boat and the northern sank back into the deep dark depths to fight another day. Best part...it happened twice! Bob Melloway had a few fish stories too...caught a one-eyed pike! And when he released a 27" walleye, a loon tried to grab it but was unsuccessful. Pike was just as unlucky as it tried to get their stringer of fish, plus one off the line. And a hungry gull snatched bait out of the air as Jim Bultman threw out his line. Actually had lots of reports of northerns trying to steal fish...lots of misdemeanors goings-on.

June 13, 2002, Thur...Oh the rain...we've had lots this week. The lake is about as high as it has ever been (more room for fish?). In spite of the weather, the, fishermen have taken to the "seas" and enjoyed a shore lunch or two. Lewis Rusch, 13, is enjoying his first trip up with dad Scott. First day out, his very first fish was a 32" 12# lake trout, caught with a cowbell and cisco. Way to go Lewis! His 26" walleye and 37"+ northern caught on a fuzzee grub and minnow, just might bring him back for more? Dad Scott used a jig and minnow to even things out in the walleye department with another 26"er. Jim and J.R. Rickard, father and son team, each grabbed a 24" walleye on a jig and minnow. Bob Lois and Gene Rueter started out with what seemed to be a good week on Saturday, reeling in walleyes up to the mid-20" range. Unfortunately, Bob, who probably should have stayed home, but couldn't help the fisherman in himself, had to leave early. We hope you're feeling better every day Bob, and congratulations on your new baby (just three weeks ago)! Maybe the "fishing gene" has been passed on? The rest of the group wishes you well too...they continued on their quest (despite the rain...) to catch fish with minnows and crawlers...Rod Lindemann and Barry Gertschen caught 9#-11#, 29"-36" northerns. And along with Rich Lois and Dale Ketterhagen they also reeled in 3# to 4#, 21"-26" walleyes, as well as the 17"-19"ers. (It was heard they were eating well too!) The Marti group was spotted catching 21"-23" walleyes with many in the 18"-19" range with lead heads, power grubs, minnows, and night crawlers. A swimming moose and a caribou were spotted this week on the lake, and the weather seems to be giving us a break from the rain...the sun is shining!

June 15, 2002, Sat...A late report from the Marti group as they departed. Reported catching lots of walleye, northerns, and trout on jigs. Weather was hard first part of the week, made the northerns scarce. When the rain stopped and the wind pushed through, the fish finder marked fish like crazy and Chad Marti hooked into a trout? that ran with the line..caught up it but it never came off the bottom. When Paul Marti was getting a tired arm from casting for walleye in the "honey hole," little did he know but a "slob" of a northern would latch on to his next walleye he was netting at the boat. In his eyes, catching a 17" walleye and a 35" northern on one jig head will be a story to remember for years to come. Two boat lengths away Rick Marti and Paul Sr. watched the action as they hooked into a 34" northern. "Man, those northern are feeding big time!"

June 20, 2002, Thur...Still a bit of rain this week, but the warmth is finally coming here and there. And the fishing has been pretty good to the fishermen. Bucky Shafer caught the biggest northern of the week, coming in at 42", 18#s on a jig and minnow, along with a 6#, 22" trout. Bucky and his partner Mike Vavra reported averaging 60 fish in the boat daily. "Great trip, just like always!" Ron Hays caught the big walleye of the week at 6#s, 26". Joe Patterson caught the runner-up northern at 15.9#, 41" on a red eye. Adam Maxey used dare devils, releasing fifteen 32"-38", 10#-15# northerns, all in one day. The pike are slamming 2" red eyes and green tornado spinner bait. The Vavra group caught 24 walleye over 3#s, 20 pike from 33"-35", and headed out today to fish lake trout. Walleyes were reported being pretty thick this week in several popular spots.

June 27, 2002, Thur...The Boehlke group reports very good fishing (first time on Lake Savant) and are having a good time at Wildewood. Caught numerous 23" to 25" walleye on glow walleye assassins, pink jigs, and pink curly tails. Gene Boehlke reeled in a 25"er on the jig and assassin, Eric Dickerson a 26.5"er, and Joe Keeley a 27" and 28" all on the same! Using a reef runner, Gene caught a 38" pike. Jim Keeley netted a 35" northern after it attacked a 14" walleye caught by Joe Keeley. Said the walleye looked as if it would survive though it was a bit marked. Without their Garman GPS with mapping, said the lake was so big they'd be lost. Mark Esposito and Paul Tinaglia reported catching 90 walleye in a popular spot this time of year. Joseph Esposito used a chunk of polish sausage? and caught himself 37", 10# northern. Hmmm...those Italians...those northerns...go figure. the rest of the group used the tried and true jig and minnow...Joey Esposito caught a 6#, 26.75" walleye and Richard Tinaglia a 5# 11oz, 26.5" walleye, Michael Tinaglia a 5# 3oz, 28" lake trout, and Tony Dagostino landed a half pound, 8" perch. Paul Tinaglia, professional chef, graced us with huge platters of walleye sushi Tuesday evening. That's right, sushi in the bush! Makimotos on Savant? Stayed tuned, we will hopefully get a few more reports before day's end and we'll have a few of those sushi photos too.

June 28, 2002, Fri...Just before departure this morning, received another fishing report...John Sorenson Sr. & Jr. fished a popular spot and caught 35 walleye in an hour and half on curly tail grubs on 1/4 oz jig heads! They also landed a 5#, 27"around a 37"northern on a 1/4 oz. jig and minnow. While fishing they watched a duck get attacked by (probably) a northern - the "lucky" duck escaped after a huge ruckus. And as promised...check out the sushi pics on the scrapbook page...

July 6, 2002, Sat...Being the slowest week of the season in the fishing resort industry...we had a mini-vacation last week. Hope everyone had a great 4th of July...let freedom ring! Neil got a bit of fishing in, caught walleyes late afternoons right out in the bay in front of camp. The weather is somewhat stable, though the fishermen may have gotten rained on this morning a bit. Watch next Thursday for their fishing reports!

July 11, 2002, Thur...A good week had by all, including Cody Helmer who managed to catch and release a trophy seagull on a ripplen red fin on 12# test line. "You had to see it to believe it!" Cody also got some wily water wolf (northern) lessons from his fishing partners, Tom and Devon Barrix, who said they passed up their own opportunities for the joy of observing the progress of Cody's growth and development in their pike techniques. Reported excellent walleye action with good success on jig and minnows and trolling red fins. The three also fished trout, bringing in about nine in the 3#-9# range. Lance Beehler caught himself a 35" northern and 27.5" walleye with some good action on the walleyes. Reported losing his biggest walleye ever through a "hole?" in his net? Todd Buchanan and JD Hartshorn both caught 26" walleye on glow jighead/minnows and black jighead/leeches. Spent a couple hours in the infamous "night" spot one evening, catching & releasing 40+ walleyes in the 22' range! It was JD's first time up and his first time catching a walleye, trout, and northern. Roger Utter's and sons, Keith (1st timer) & Kyle with their buddy Logan Groll (1st timer), all have "sore arms" from catching "tons" of walleyes. Roger brought in approx. 75 one day, with the largest of the catch in the 4-5#, 25"-26" range. Says Prescott spinners and leeches worked well trolling and seemed to bring in the bigger fish. Keith caught a 6#, 27.5"er and Logan caught a 4#, 24"er on jigs and minnows. Roger caught but couldn't land "the biggest pike I ever saw in my 25+ years fishing Canada! Felt as if I was hung, nothing moved. Finally, he came to the top like a submarine and just stared at our boat. He was 48+", maybe bigger...he was lo-o-ong and stout. Just opened his head, shook it calmly, threw my burnt orange prescott out of his mouth and slowly submerged...in complete control of the situation." Everyone in the group caught a fish for 8-year old brother Kammy too! It was also noted that Roger needs to remember to tie the anchor rope to the boat before throwing the anchor (which Kyle managed to retrieve). Neil and Richard went out in the far end of the bay to try for lake trout for an hour or so two afternoons...came back quite happy. Used ciscos and sucker minnows to land nine, four the following day (averaging 7-10#s), plus the few that "got away." (Watch next week for infamous Wildewood fish recipes...by popular demand!)

July 18, 2002, Thur...Despite the warmest week yet, the fishing remained good, with the favorite evening spot picking up on the walleyes! John & Linda Danforth had lots of action all week...caught about 50 walleyes one day the beginning of the week, the largest being 26" (so far), another day fished trout, John caught a 10# and 13# on a jointed rapala and sutton spoon (Linda 4, John 8). The last day was their challenge day...after spending about three hours trying to locate fish, the action turned and the fish started biting..."We caught lots of walleyes (Linda caught a 7.5#, 28"er) and some nice pike. It was a great day, worth the time spent." Shane Houdek released a 7#, 28" walleye, caught on a hook and crawler. Shane, his dad Marc, and friend Ed Hoffman, fished lake trout for a couple days, catching nine the first day, smallest 6#, largest 10# (kept one), day two was even better, bringing in 13, smallest 10#, largest 15# (kept 4). The group fished one of the boat caches, catching and releasing 30+walleyes. The Brockmeier group (Earl, Marvin McIntyre, Andy and Don Schreiber) had some super evening action catching walleyes, "They were hitting anything on the surface. It was great fun!" Don caught a 26.5"er on a twister and minnow, along with a 36.5" northern with a minnow on 6# test line. His son, Andy (first time in Canada, says he'll be back!) caught a 17# lake trout on a sutton spoon (promised to send pics when they get home). Verena Straubauer, fishing with hubby, Willy, had one of her "famous" snags on a good sized lake trout, and noted "the fishing was really good because the walleyes are so big!" Jerry Hildebrand (celebrated his 75th b-day and many years at Wildewood...way to go Jerry!) and was happy to see a 37", 11# northern on the end of his line, then a 32" 8#er...both caught with red eye 5 of diamond. Fishing with son Rob they saw lots of action here in the bay. Rob caught a 25" walleye, adding 4 6'-8' perch to the mix. Don Lenick and John Hamilton both caught 25" walleyes on jig and minnows, and Phil Lytle caught "very large" northerns! Reported no big numbers, but released a lot of fish over the slot size. When asked if anyone in the group did anything exceptional, they reported "John got us back from SE Bay after we went in circles for awhile. And we really had a great time..we'll see you next year!" And as promised last week, Wildewood recipes....

July 25, 2002, Thur...Cooled off a bit early in the week, comfortable fishing weather, aside from a rain shower and overcast skies today. Fishing seems to be staying pretty good from week to week this summer! Jerry Radue had action on the walleyes, bringing in a 25" and 24.5"er on jigs, minnows, and leeches. He and his fishing partner Cecil Woods caught several in the in the 20"-22" range. Cecil also brought in am 11# 31" lake trout on a J-plug. They spotted a blonde wolf swimming the south end of Girard, and another the following day. The Laity group reported great action catching 100 walleyes their first evening in camp (at that favorite spot) with ten coming in over 23". Later in the week, Bill Laity caught a 6# 25.5"er on a 6" diver, partner Ron Johnson used a rapala #9 to catch his 24" 4.5#er. Sons, Jordan Johnson caught a 35" 10# pike and Ryne Laity a 33" 9# pike on dare devils. Bill and Ryne were trolling for northerns when Bill got a strike, started reeling it in, it bit him off, then Ryne got a strike...hauled it in...lo and behold...Bill's lure was in his mouth and Ryne's was in the jaw. That's what you could call real partner fishing! Tim Beck and Greg Seymour reported great action on the walleyes and northerns...had a harder time catching the under 18"ers, most were in the low 20's! Greg brought in 5.1#, 25" on a jig and minnow, Tim topped him off with a 26"er. Greg topped Tim (35" on Yozuri) off on the northerns with a 40" and 36"er on b/w daredevils. Said they took many pike on trolling crankbaits in 10'-15' of water. Greg also managed to bring in a gull (18" with a wing span of 36"!) on a musky invader. The Siksnus group reported lots of night action on the walleyes with Jake Kleinfeldt catching his first walleye, pike, and lake trout ever!

August 1, 2002, Thur...Weather was pretty much stable most of the week, had one day of heavy rain with a bit of wind coming in earlier today. Most are reporting bigger fish this year overall and a few slow days this week for some. The Bell and Charlier groups discovered some new hot pockets with lots of action catching 20-25 walleyes in about 40 minutes two days in a row! Bob Bell caught the largest walleye in his group at 5#, 26", Dave Bell coming in with a 4.5#, 25", both on jigs and minnows. Dave caught a 32" northern on an orange spoon, Mike Bell used a jighead and minnow to reel in a 13# lake trout. Cindy Charlier fished with dad Everett, and found a new love for lake trout fishing, her biggest ones at 8# and 10#. "Dad discovered the bottom of the lake on many occasions...many jigs remain in the lake, but had a fun and relaxing week, as usual!" The Grunewald group had a great time...Dewey caught a 13" walleye, while bringing it in a 26" northern hit it, wouldn't let go, so he got both of them. Janet caught a 24" northern, lost it. Husband Larry caught a 24" northern, lost it. Brother Dewey caught a 24" northern, kept it. While cleaning the fish they found Janet's and Larry's jigs in his stomach...had Grunewald written on that one! Larry had a good laugh when brother Brian snapped a rod one evening, till he found out he'd borrowed his rod! Dewey caught the largest walleye in the group, at 24", on a lego and night crawler. Janet a 27" northern, Brian a 19" trout, and Larry a 9" perch. The Crea group reported the largest walleyes in 18 years fishing at Wildewood, "Wow, great fishing!" 80-year old dad, Rocco, once again caught the largest walleye in the group, coming in at 5#s. Richard Holb matched him with his 5#er. Mark Crea hauled in a 38" 15# northern on a red eye wiggler. Larry Crea reeled in a 15# 38" lake trout on a sutton spoon, Richard Holub caught the big one of the week coming in at 20#s! They also reported some northern thievery goings on while netting walleye. Gary Pullen's group is still out fishing, but we did send an e-mail for him earlier in the week..."caught two 24", one 25", one 26", and one 28" walleye, lots of 24"-25"...good time...pass it on!"

August 8, 2002, Thur...It's been the slowest week of fishing all season..cold front came in last Thursday afternoon, slowing the fishing down for the good part of the first few days. Some of the portage lakes produced some pretty good fish and Savant is picking up again...Barry Echols caught a 27" and 30" walleye on grub and leech, about 20 same day. Bob Hale and Brandon Price (rookies) had some good action, catching 25-30 fish daily, several in the 20"-22" range. Bob also caught about 20 in a portage lake. Best catch? was his fishing partners rod after he dropped it in the lake. Brandon (14 years old) also caught his first pike and lake trout. Watched one pike swim by the boat with his lure in mouth. Greg Baldwin used a jig and minnow to reel in a 36" northern. Eric Brown also reeled in a 30" and 31" northern on 6" rapalas. Curt Schoob caught his 24"er on a dare devil. Bob Claus used a red eye to catch a 72cm northern. Let's see, how big is that in inches? Night fishing spot was reportedly slow, though one group found a good water football site at a beach nearby. A big bull moose was spotted...had a very large basket rack. Oh...and last week we had some northern lights!

August 15, 2002, Thur...Lots of rain this week, but the fishing had some pretty good days. Still waiting on a few reports, so check back tomorrow and we'll hopefully have them. Chris Babbit caught a 27" 6#, 12 oz. walleye on a jig and minnow in the favorite night spot. Don Babbit used a white airplane jig to reel in a 13#, 8 oz. 32" lake trout in over 110' of water. Don and Chris both caught a number of northerns on spoons! Pat Ireland and Warren Huebner had a few laughs (along with a few of their fellow fishermen) and lots of action reeling in 4" perch on jigs and minnows. The perch never had it so good! The Babbitts reported 70+ walleye, 40+ northern, saying night crawlers and rapalas worked very well for big walleye at sunset...and said they'd be back. Steve Meyer trolled for lake trout and brought up a 22" walleye at 60', a 24"er at 90', and a 21"er at 75'. He did manage to land a 30" lake trout on a cisco too. Tim Meyer got himself a 32" lake trout on a cow bell. Ken Cartier got the biggest walleye in his group, coming in at 27", Ely Sprenkle a 25.5" on a shad rap, Casey Schoenebeck a 25" on a minnow, and Bob Meyer a 24.75" on big blue rapala. The group averaged 25 walleye each per day. On one particular day, they also average 3 broken rods, calling themsleves clumsy woodpeckers. "We miss our wives and loved ones, though we're not certain we're being missed!" Don't forget to check back tomorrow...I know there's lots more out there (hard to get the reports sometimes...everyone doing too much fishing and having too much fun..to do paperwork!!

A bit more (Fri morn departure)...Barry Christian reported using an alligator spoon to reel in a 13# lake trout and Jack Ellse fished with an airplane jig and caught himself a 27" 5# walleye. The group said they caught walleye 60' down fishing for trout and caught trout while fishing for pike in 4' of water. Bob MacGregor and his son Rob, reported catching a consistent number of big walleye nightly (and they didn't fish the favorite night spot either). Fishing catch and release for lake trout, the largest was caught by Bob at 22# 31" adding to that a 17#er, and Rob landed himself a 12#er. They saw several moose, a big bull and separate cows.

August 22, 2002, Thur...Not a bad week in terms of weather...started out a bit rainy but the days turned sunny with pretty good temps, not to hot. Even had a few Northern Light nights! Jack Manning (age 11) made his first wilderness trip with dad, Tom, and as beginner's luck would have it...he caught a 28" 8# walleye his first night out! Dad came in with a 26"er on jig and sucker minnow, but Jack maintained the big walleye of the week. He also saw some good action on the northerns, hauling in a 40"er on a rapala, also the big one of the week. Tom came in a close second at 39" with a yozuri. Reported walleyes ranging in the 21" to 28" size consistently, reeling in over 40 in this range. "All I can say is big bait, big fish!" Richard and Neil joined the group one evening and Richard reeled in a 29.5"er. All the photos (proof positive) have been promised to be sent up in the next few weeks, so stay tuned for those. Tony Guido used a frenzy to reel in a 26" walleye. Ray Seduit had a grand ol time with the alien trolling the favorite night spot. It was reported he glowed under the full moon! During the day and alone with the group, he caught a 10# lake trout on a hot-n-tot, making it the largest trout this week. Reports of catching 5# walleyes all week.

And while I have your attention, would like to ask for some input from everyone. We are planning to do some marketing on the internet this winter and would like to know what your favorite web sites are, maybe even search words you use to find info/sites. (We know this one is your absolute favorite :-) Any input/ideas would be appreciated. Just e-mail a quick note. And thanks!

August 29, 2002, Thur...The Korpanai group came in with a bang...all 21 of them. Most days enjoyed a big shore lunch, setting up lunch camp on the lake and meeting every day in the same spot. Mid-week they moved the shore lunch camp up to the North end, had a blast, and caught lunch in 20 minutes! Most reported walleyes well above slot size all week, catching "tons," many in the 22" - 27" range, 5-6#s. Largest one caught was 30" weighing in a 7.5#s by Bodo Nemec on a minnow. Gene Gestwicki landed himself a couple 25" 5#ers on 1/4 oz blue/white jigs, Vic Gestwicki a couple 4.5# 24"ers on 1/8 oz. white/pink jig, Richard Hill a 23"er on a minnow and jig. The group commented catch and release works, the quality of fish was fantastic!! Also mentioned Don Lindner needed to bring more band-aids because his walleyes seemed to be carrying knives...hmmm. Big northern of the week was caught by Bill Gapko on a meps spoon, coming in at 20#'s 45". Bill, his partner, Gary Kirschbaum, and another boat reported catching 9 northerns that afternoon with smallest being 31", a 32", (4) 33", a 34", and 35", and the 45"er. Gary had hoped for some 26"-27"ers for pickling. Don Lindner caught a 39", 11.5#er, Andy Melotick a 38", 10.5#, both on rapalas, and Wayne Gestwicki a 26", 5#er. The Gestwicki's also reported catching a 17" pike on a daredevil, had a larger northern try to steal it, but ended up with the small one in the end. Al Thorpe reeled in a 15# lake trout while fishing for walleyes one evening in the favorite nite spot. Using sutton spoons, Andy reeled in a 10#, 29.5", and Guy Korpanai a 9.5#er. A great week was had by all! We should have some pretty good photos in the next few weeks.

September 15, 2002, Sun...The weather seems to be holding its own with July-like days in September. Lots of large walleyes still being caught. And the Northern Lights were seen early in the week! Bob Kohout landed a 26"er, Mark Kohout a 25.5"er, John Koch a 25"er, and Mick Warren a 24.5"er., all on jigs and minnows. Reported some days there were more in the over 20" than under. Mark also caught himself a 41" pike on a green deat and Bob a 30" lake trout on a thin doctor. The Kohnke group reported no broken rods this year...a first! And they didn't mind that there was no snow yet either. Eric Weinman landed a 27.5" and a 24.5" walleye on jigs and leeches. Fred and Matt Koenke reeled in a 22.5" on a jig and minnow. Fred also caught himself a 36" (lindy rig and minnow) and a 32"( jig and minnow) northern. The group reported at least 10 walleyes over 22". The Bina group reported everyone catching 22"+ walleyes with bottom bouncers, though Steve Bina caught the smallest perch, same setup. And a northern jumped in the boat while they were changing their lure! Joe Stoklosa caught the big walleye of the week coming in at 28". Eric Mickels and Steve Bina reeled in 43" pikes on tri-line spinner and red fin, and Neal Quinn a 40" and 41"er. They also tested a new pike "secret weapon," of which they say will be in everyone's tackle box next year.

All in all a super season on Savant...see everyone next year! And watch for those e-newsletters coming your way beginning in October...we'll have the GPS coordinates, along with some interesting info on all the great spots to fish Savant. If we do not have your email address, please send it so we can add you to the list. Be safe!!

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Fly-In Fishing & Hunting on World Class Lake Savant in Northwest Ontario Canada