Sorry for the delayed report! Been a busy couple days.....
All parties have arrived safe, w/ Freshwater & The Merlot Kid pulling into camp a couple hours ago. Very nice couple days so far.
Ok, now for the fishing!
Saturday - Day 1: (Only 3-4 hours on the lake for all but Tom & Matt)
Tom & Matt: 4 Walleyes, 4 Smallies & 1 Cat
Brian, Chris & Tom: 3 Walleyes & 3 Smallies
Joe & Dick: 2 Smallies
Bill & LLL: 2 Smallies
Sunday - Day 2:
Tom & Matt: 6 Walleye
Brian, Chris & Tom: 18 Walleye, 4 Smallies & 2 Blue Gill
Joe & Dick: 1 Walleye & 1 very nice Smallie
Bill & LLL: 8 Walleye, 3 Blue Gill & 1 Smallie
Almost all Walleye were caught with bottom bouncers & crawler harnesses anywhere from 20 to 60 feet of water. Small Mouths were shallower.
Tom hosted a community BBQ last night at his campsite with the killer view of the lake from top of a hill top. At his place again tonight for an outstanding supper enjoying the sunset views of the lake!
Will attempt to post pics but Internet service is pretty slow......... More to follow!
LLL
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Nice work up there. No wonder Tom was raving about that spot.
My wife and I fished April 25-27; a bit around milepost 119 in Good Hope Bay, and quite bit between Trachyte and Farley. We did a good bit of trolling deep diving crankbaits in 20-30 feet of water, and caught a pile of walleye between 18"-22". The walleye were everywhere, but we had the most luck trolling steep banks with large rocks.
saw this on waynes word fishing report area, if you guys have interenet service there is several reports of great fishing up lake for walleyes
have fun
Another warm but gorgeous day on the lake! Here's today's count:
Tom & Matt: 14 Walleye & 2 Cats
Brian, Chris & Tom: 9 Walleye & 10 SM
Dick & Tim: 1 Walleye & 1 SM
Joe* & LLL: 12 Walleye
All Walleye caught between 25 - 60 feet of water mostly on bottom bouncers w/ crawler rigs.
*Billy Ho was a bit under the weather late afternoon yesterday & again today so Joe & I fished together today. Think Bill had a bad hop in his fancy Whole Foods Hop Knot brew..... :headbang:
Another wonderful supper tonight! Freshwater & The Merlot Kid fed the crew a terrific meal at their campsite. Most, if not all, we're asleep 30 min later....... :greengrin: Thanks guys!
So tomorrow the weather forecast calls for a wind advisory w/ winds 10-20 mph & gusts to 50 :o. :sad3: from 10am until 10pm. Some of the crew will try the early am bite not venturing very far from the ramp.
I'm still having w/ photobucket issues up here so not able to post pics. Guess they'll have to wait until I get home........ I'll keep trying though
LLL
Shortened day today due to strong winds. Guys that did fished only spent 4-5 hours on the lake before the wind chased us off the lake. Nobody vemtured very far, we all just poached Tom 's close by spot!
Today's count:
Tom & Matt: 6 Walleye
Brian & Tom: 2 Walleye & 2 SM
Freshwater & The Merlot Kid: 4 very nice Stripere
Bill (I'm back in the game!) & LLL: 8 Walleye
Joe, Dick & Tim didn't fish today as did Chris.
All are back at camp either resting up for tomorrow, tying much needed new rigs or hanging out telling lies. Brian, Chris & Tom have supper duty tonight - can't wait!
These reports are killing me! I'm happy for you guys, hope you keep nailin' em! :fish::violent1:
Agreed, considering I was supposed to go. Thanks LLL for the nightly updates.
OK, I'm very jealous! Great going..........Art
Thanks for the updates Larry. It makes it tough knowing I was suppose to be there but I love hearing everyone is having some success out there. Job job everyone.
Another windy day today making it difficult for the crew. Peak winds were overnight - if you recall seeing the pics of Tom's camp on the bluff overlooking the lake - seems that sometime overnight during the peak winds a strong gust blew Tom's tent down off the bluff taking Tom & the rats with it spiraling out of control to the water's edge below! :greengrin: Ok, so I made some of that up but Tom did have issues with his tent in the middle of the night due to the wind & ended up sleeping in Matt's Suburban that was thankfully parked close by.
Wind made boat control interesting today both for trolling & even for motoring around the lake. But the fishing was still pretty good given today's tally:
Brian, Chris & Tom: 14 Walleye, 3 Stripers & 2 Cats
Bill & LLL: 14 Walleye & 1 SM
Joe, Dick & Tim: 12 Walleye, 5 Blue Gills & 1 SM
Matt & Tom: 8 Walleye, 1 Striper, 1 Blue Gill & 1 SM
Freshwater & The Merlot Kid: 3 Walleye
Most Walleye were caught, as usual, using bottom bouncers, nightcrawlers & your favorite spinner rig. Special shout out to Matt for helping Freshwater & The Merlot Kid with gear suggestions & putting them on fish.
More wind forecasted for tomorrow but plenty of places to hide. It'll just makes things a bit more interesting!
LLL
Hopefully the last day of wind! Wasn't as bad as yesterday & was certainly manageable but we're all tired of it!
Story of the day - Go down lake!! Everybody who went downstream from Hall's did good today. Bill & I decided to go upstream & didn't have that good of a day. We hit all our proven spots with little success.
So here's today's totals:
Joe, Dick & Tim: 22 Walleye & 1 Striper
Matt & Tom: 12 Walleye, 3 Stripers & 3 Cats
Brian, Chris & Tom: 8 Walleye, 15 Stripers, 2 SM & 1 LM
Bill & LLL: 7 Walleye, 2 SM, 2 Blue Gills & 1 Cat
Jerry & Lois: 4 Walleye & 1 SM
So tomorrow, our last day on the lake, the wind is suppose to die down. Some guys are Walleye fishing in the morning & then meeting up in a spot that Brian has around noon to chase Stripers. As you can see from above, Brian & crew was able to spoon up some nice Stripers so we'll circle the wagons to put some additional meat in the freezer.
For our last night here, it'll be fish fry time so if anybody wants to join us suppers on at 8pm. You'd better get an early start though & we'll leave a light on for you........ :headbang:
Final day for this year's trip is in the books!
Bill & I went south both literally & figuratively!! Yes, we went south to fish down lake in attempts to fish for "fish x" but in reality our day ended up going south on us. Boy, if there was any chance we could get a "do over" for today........
Ok, final day totals:
Brian, Chris & Tom: 28 Walleye & 3 Stripers
Joe, Dick & Tim: 15 Walleye & 2 Cats
Matt & Tom: 13 Walleye, 2 Cats & 1 SM
Jerry & Lois: 10 Walleye, 5 Cats & 4 Stripers
Bill & LLL: Don't want to talk about it........ :glasses9: :dontknow: Ok, 1 Walleye, 2 SM & 1 Blue Gill
Really good final day for most! Bill & I made some tactical errors which lead to a frustrating day. But oh well - that's fishing for you. I'll figure out the trip grand totals later but we're for sure over +250 Walleye caught by the AZCA Crew. It was interesting that we caught Walleye in water depths ranging from 15 to 70 feet of water. The majority were caught bottom bouncing between 25 to 60 feet of water.
To top off the evening, we had our last night community fish fry where everybody contributed a little of their weeks catch to share with the group. Once again, we had another outstanding meal!! We certainly did not go hungry on this trip.
Good times, good friends & a whole lot of fun! Until next year.....
Congrats guys, looks like the wind laying down helped the final day totals. Drive careful and congrats everyone for a successful trip. Larry as always thanks for the updates!
Thanks for posting reports Larry, I did not want to come home. What an awesome lake! I just got back so am pretty tired. Will try to send some pics if I remember how.
Hey AZ Crappie brothers sisters and friends. Twas an awsome trip. The Merlot Kid and I had a lot of learning to do but I think our last days totals show we were catching on. Thanks a lot to Matt for getting on with us on a really windy day and helping with the tecknique (sp). Next Year look out Thanks to everybody for the fabulous food. Thanks to Cousin for the reports and getting all the crawlers. The Kid and I are in Spanish Forks, Utah as I wright this fully hooked up to all services in a camp ground. Should be home tomorrow evening as we don't bonnzi (55) It's about 425 home. THANKS AGAIN :blob1: :3some: :bootyshake:
Thanks everyone for a great time. I'm sold - will be back next year for sure. Thanks everyone for all the tips and pointers on what to bring up there, fishing gear, Tom for letting me on your boat, Bill/Larry for sharing the trailer, all of the group meal preparers, etc. The crappie club came through again for me on on this one.
Again, group meal preparers -- all meals were excellent and appreciate the time and $$ you put in to allow us to meet together each night for meals and fun. Poker night was excellent too - at least the first night :-)
Have to throw in my 2 cents worth... Thanks to all for a wonderful trip... This will be an annual event that will rival spring Crappie Fest and the Fall Classic...
The group was top notch... Everyone shared info in the friendly traditions of the AZCA... All took turns and sacrificed a little time on one evening so others could stay out a little later, and return to a fantastic meal... LLL, you did a fantastic job of putting this all together...
The people running the facilities at Halls Crossing were great... Very accommodating to all our needs...
Anyone interested in next years event should start planning now, as this trip is more difficult than a weekender, but man, is it worth it... :headbang:
:sign0098: from start, the mogi dugi on a full moon, to finish, passed out with my mouth hanging open in matts passenger seat, it was a marvelous fishing trip. on the water the fishing was beauty and my partner matt was the walleye slayer. the dude was handling two rods like they were extensions of his own limbs. I must say we made an excellent fishing crew. you basterds are in for a brutal beat down from us at bhc.
the camping was perfect except for the 40-50 mph winds tues eve that sent the rats and I scurrying for cover in the suburban in the middle of the night. wow nylon can make some noise when its flapping to the beat of a fifty mph wind. I spent a windy Wednesday morning recycling the dirt out of the camp. wed pm also in the burb and the wind finally dropped thurs pm.
the crestliner and the burb made an awesome platform for the trip and both performed flawlessy. thanks again to my mechs at superstition marine didn't get to test the boat after engine work and straight to powell. ran like a top. one other nervous moment when we were in a small canyon some 15 miles from camp on tues pm catchin eyes in 15ft of water. gusts were coming up all later pm. when we left we had a big wave hopping trip back, 40 minutes of banging and hard listening for any pitch change in the engine.
thx to all for putting up with the rats they had a great time with yall. I did notice they left a pasta stain right as you go into larry bills and matts place if you guys get a bill send it on, maybe I should at least feed them outside. otherwise they were the best of company and hopefully brought comfort to all including their new buddy matt.
second best of company was everyone there. it was a beauty crew. dinners were all tasty. timing was perfect, off the water about 5-6 happy hour and setup till 8 and dinner and crash. sweet.
all in all one of my best fishing vacations ever. next year more time less gear same peeps plus those that can join us. ILL BE BACK!
thanks everybody. I had a great time on your trip.
Maybe next time I'll get to go.
Anybody remember what the water temps averaged? Updating my records.....
Thx
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