Google “summer walleye” and you are sure to get links to a lot of articles that focus on fishing off shore or underwater structure. Humps, bars, reefs, sunken islands, and shoals are almost always prominently featured as well. For good reason too – some of my best fishing on our trips has come from finding these types of structures. I remember fishing Miminiska Lake in the middle of July one year when the daily temperatures felt more like Florida than Northern Ontario Miminiska Trip Report. A major pattern for us that week was to pull up to any of the underwater obstacles marked with that familiar bleach bottle and fish. More times that not the area was loaded with walleye.
If this is starting to sound like a fishing tip article fear not, I know I am not qualified for that! No instead this is a story about a magical, mythical unicorn of a spot simply called “The Hump”
The year is 2016 and our group of intrepid traveler’s are just beginning our week at Shekak Lake with White River Air Shekak Lake Trip Report There are 6 of us on the trip and we have broken into designated fishing pairs: Mark and Chad, Dave and Scott and myself and Colin. Our spirits are high and so is our confidence. After a lacklustre first day Colin and I were heading back to the camp for our nightly ritual of tunes, campfire, and cold alcoholic beverages when we stumbled onto the hump. Cruising along in 40 feet of water I noticed that the depth jumped to 14 feet very quickly and dropped right back down. I slowed the boat and Colin asked, “What’s wrong jackass” I said “Son, I am about to change your life for the better” Lol – just kidding. Basically, I swung the boat around, threw out a marker boy and headed back to camp for a rye and diet chased with a Cuban cigar.
The next morning Colin and I knew exactly where we were headed to the “Spot that would eventually be known as The Hump”. We slowly motored around the area to try to get a feel for the structure. Eventually we pulled to one side and then rode the wind to drift the entire length of her (Yes, The Hump identified as female) One pass and we had caught 3 walleye and had started to get a sense of the curves. By the end of the morning we had caught a limit of fish, thrown back many more and caught a nice 25 incher with some shoulders. It was magical. We rode back to camp with s@%T eating grins and cockily showed the other guys our catch.
Where the story get’s interesting (if you are a fishing trip nerd like me) is that “The Hump” was as nuanced as a Dostoevsky novel. Earwig shaped, temperamental and moody this was not a typical milk run spot. The other guys followed us out and didn’t have the same amount of success Colin and I did. We used 3 or 4 marker bouys to try to highlight key area’s but I think the guys tried a few passes and ended up heading to new areas. Colin and I stayed true to her though, we had success in other areas and explored but we always hit The Hump a few times a day. Fishing such a small spot awakened us to her secrets. If the wind was coming from the north the South/East corner seemed to be better, if the was almost no wind or chop we had to sweep out to the very deepest edges. Another weird thing is that we rarely caught any fish off the hump at dusk. Normally the after dinner bite was out best on previous trips but not so on Shekak and not really at all on The Hump.
Like most things with these trips I think my love of the Hump has grown as it fades from a recent experience to a fond memory. Shekak was the first trip Colin came on with us and I had sold it hard. Being able to fish with him on the few occasions that the walleye were thick, hungry and a little desperate was awesome. Both of us also caught some of our biggest walleye ever on that spot – I was able to net Colin’s personal best fish The Angry Net Man. Its been 5 years since that trip but I could still draw that spot and the spot on the spots with my eyes closed.
Personally, I think a lot of the joy these trips bring me are the memories – I mean I have written 80 or so posts on Northern Jacks and I got a million more – lucky you!
Andrew