Trophy ‘Eyes of Deerhorn Lodge
By Bob Riege
Deerhorn
Lodge is nestled on the shores of Attiti Lake in Saskatchewan. It is owned
and operated by Curt and Juanita Enns. The Enns also own and operate Kississing
Lake Lodge in Manitoba. Attiti Lake and Deerhorn Lodge are just a short
30 minute flight from Flin Flon, Manitoba and the scenery is magnificent.
My wife, Ginny and I ventured back to Deerhorn Lodge this year to see if
we could catch some trophy walleyes.
Trophy walleyes are hard to come by, but if you remember some specifics about these fish you will find them in my of the adjacent lakes. We targeted one small “undiscovered” lake off of Belcher Lake. Walleyes are a structure-oriented fish, most of the time. These walleyes will be tight to the bottom, lying in the holes between rock and cuts in the bottom. They may be feeding, or waiting in ambush to find an easy meal that comes their way. When fishing structure, you have to be able to stay tight to the structure or your lure presentation will not be in the strike zone of the fish. Move just a boat length away and you will be out of luck.
One of the very first places I look and concentrate my efforts on is the flats. Flats are the least interesting types of structure in a lake. There are no breaks, holes, edges, just flat bottom. But seemingly featureless flats hold most of the active walleyes during most yearly periods.
On the flats, the weather has less of an impact than it does in shallow water. Fish favor stability. Relatively constant water temperature, water quality, weather, and abundance of prey, let fish live predictably. Good fishing often accompanies stable conditions, but sometimes when weather is poor fishing is the best on the flats. Flats are the major food-producing regions of most lakes. Walleyes forage over flats. Therefore, the flats are the home of walleyes.
It's easy to identify productive flats. Some prime flats drop off steeply into the deepest areas of the lake. Walleyes that use flats typically move shallower at night to feed on a variety of prey species. Baitfish such as cisco and shad move shallower at dusk. The depth of a good flat can very from only a few feet to over 20, depending upon the lake and the season. Flats with a fairly soft or sandy bottom carpeted with low weeds, with patches of coontail or cabbage rising above the carpet, attract walleyes. Submerged weeds develop as the water warms in the summer. Weedy flats hold baitfish that attract walleyes at night.
Walleyes can feed in dim light. They have a feeding advantage over most prey species after dark. When fishing these flats I rely on my Vexilar Boundary Water depthfinder to tell me if anyone is home on these flats. I usually like to look for a good shelf that comes out from an island that has boulders on it. This is the structure that many walleye key in on, to rest and ambush their prey as they slide back and forth from the flat to deep water. These are transition areas where the fish come to feed. These flats provide a structure for baitfish that have moved out into deep water as schools, and are looking for a place to rest. Naturally, what attracts the baitfish also attracts the walleye. The other thing that my depthfinder unit allows me to see is how active these fish are. Many times you can go over the flat and you will see that the walleyes are moving up to the top portion of the flat, this signifies that they are in a positive mood and within minutes you should be landing a nice plump walleye in your boat.
During daylight, if you can't fish during perfect conditions, it is usually better to concentrate on deep fish, moving into the shallows or in a transitional edge. You should look for fish holding areas where wind crashes against a barrier or where the wind churns up the water rather than fishing where it is calm. Sometimes in dark mucky waters, high bright sun filled days trigger a feeding frenzy because the sunlight gets all the tiny critters moving and in the cycle of fishing the end of the food chain will be the bigger fish.
Constant bottom contact is essential even though it increases the potential for snags. Use a small jig head, like a Lindy Timber Rock Jig with a wide hook gap to deliver the bait in wavy conditions. Leeches are an outstanding rock bait because they can take the pounding.
Holding on top of a flat on a windy day is a way to catch trophy walleyes. The tackle is simple and the methods are easy to learn. First, use jigs tipped with a crawler, leech or minnow. The size of the jig should be just enough so you have contact with the bottom.
Whenever you must fish in adverse conditions, being either bright sunny days or changing weather conditions, there should be a two step approach. One way is to slow down your presentation. Maybe even put on a single hook with split shot rather than a walking sinker and vibrating blades.
Believe me, the fishing is excellent at Deerhorn Lodge and
the food and accommodations are second to none. This lodge is a sportsman’s
paradise and if you want to book a reservation at this pristine wilderness
spot contact: Curt & Juanita Enns 1-800-230-5519 E-mail: info@kississinglodge.com
or at their winter address: Box 21281, Steinbach, Manitoba R5G 1S5 Canada
Telephone (Office): 1 (204) 326-4037 Telephone (Res.): 1 (204) 346-0941
Fax: 1 (204) 326-5736
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