Red Lake Fall Classic Walleye Tournament Recap

Hello!

I'm sure everyone is busy recovering from Labor Day weekend, but at least its already Tuesday - right?

We wanted to share some details about the annual Red Lake Fall Classic Walleye Tournament that took place here over the holiday weekend.  Remember how I was complaining last week about how horribly hot it was here?  Well that can make for some tough tournament pre-fishing.  Especially if there is little wind that is constantly changing direction.  

Just to make it interesting, let's pretend that the night before the tournament (Friday) there was A LOT of lightning and thunder and for the actual days of the tournament the weather was a bit cooler on Saturday and then BAM! 57 degrees on Sunday. 

Except that's what really happened.  

You may or may not recognize that this is pretty much opposite of ideal.  Exact opposite.  A huge pressure and temperature drop in the weather can lead to a drastic drop off in how the fish are biting.  Also, constantly changing wind direction means fish will most be moving around a lot.  And fish definitely don't like thunder - I mean it is loud and scary sounding, right?

As most competitors know you can't predict or control the weather, and it is something that all participants have to deal with.  You can definitely be either more or less prepared to be in a boat all day with varying weather conditions, which can affect your ability to focus and your mood on tournament day.  

I think anyone who has AWESOME tournament jerseys like these handsome fellas below is automatically in a better position come tournament day...

Don't you agree?

Phil and Kyle (pictured above on either side of their especially handsome tournament sponsor - Travis) have been spectators of the Red Lake Fall Classic Walleye Tournament for several years.  This marked their second year of fishing the tournament together.  Phil had fished a few years in the tournament with their dad prior to Kyle jumping in the boat.    These guys are definitely no stranger to fishing in less than ideal weather, and have over 15 years experience of fishing Red Lake.  

So, how did they do?  They finished well in the top half of the field, and came in 62nd out of 140 boats fishing the tournament.  Nice job guys!   I think they would agree that Saturday went better than Sunday (with a higher weigh-in total and better "over-slot" fish) but definitely enjoyed both days out on the lake.

This was the 21st annual Red Lake Fall Classic Walleye Tournament and the winners were Richard Wetelainen and Steve Parenteau.  You can find more information and full results for the tournament on their website.

Congratulations to all tournament participants!  

How to survive a Canadian heatwave...

Hi y'all!

We packed up another good group and they are now headed towards the border.  Would you believe that we have one single week remaining?  That is it.  Every meal we make this coming week will be for the last time in 2013.  I think if Travis was being honest he would say "woohoo!"  When you prepare, serve, and eat the same menu for 15 weeks in the row it can get a little monotonous.  Just a bit.

The guys up this week were troopers in the heat wave.  Good. Ness.  It was HOT.  Everyone stayed in good spirits and we compensated with extra scoops of ice-cream.  I just tried to imagine a blast of cold air coming from the imaginary air-conditioner we don't actually have at the lodge.

Just when I thought I couldn't drink one more sip of water I would grab a precious cherry coke zero brought up from the states (get with the program, Canada!) and plop it in the deep freezer.  That's right.  I said the deep freeze, my friends.  If you haven't tried this before get up right now and do so.

I know what you are thinking:
1. She is a desperate woman.
2. How long can you put a can of soda (or pop depending where you live) in the freezer before it explodes?

Well let me tell ya, because I googled it.  The internet consensus is that you have at least 2 hours before you need to get truly worried about an explosion.  Diet soda will explode faster than regular soda - FYI.  See how informative this blog can be?  You are welcome.  Soda is much more refreshing when it is truly ice-cold.  And anyone who says soda is better in a glass on ice is just nuts in my opinion.  I love it straight from the can.

 Hot, still, and sunny days can make for some tougher fishing for sure - but our guests persevered.  These guys caught some nice fish!

Here is Tim with his 17.75" smallmouth on Parker Lake

2nd biggest smallmouth of the season!

Tim also caught this 13.5" smallmouth on Parker

Here is Kyle with a nice 23" walleye on Red Lake

Kyle also caught and released a 41.75" northern on Red Lake

 AND a 42.5" northern on Red Lake

Kyle is here with his brother, Phil, to fish the Red Lake Fall Classic walleye tournament this weekend.  Too bad its not a northern tournament, eh?  We will try and keep you posted as to how they do this weekend.  Good luck guys!

We had a handful of new guests at Eagle Falls Lodge this past week.  They probably weren't expecting the heat we had the last few days!  

But they still caught fish!

And they enjoyed a nice shore lunch as well.

I love this next picture...

This is how I hope everyone feels when they are out on the lake.  

We had our first guest from Southern California last week.  Talk about a long trip up!  Wayne was super nice and super glad he packed some shorts at the last minute.  Who knew?  

He caught and released this 41" northern pike on Red Lake

Wayne and his fishing partner, Todd, spend the majority of their week casting for northern.  They visited lots of weed beds similar to the one below...

All in all another great week!  

Red Lake Fall Classic

This year two Eagle Falls guests participated in the 2010 Red Lake Fall Classic - a popular walleye catch & release tournament. Don & Phil Krohn finished in 27th place out of a field of 140 boats including several pros. This is especially impressive considering they were in 66th place after the 1st day. A strong 2nd day weight of 12.56 lbs. (5 fish) propelled them up the leaderboard. Congratulations Don & Phil! For more information on the tournament visit - www.redlakefallclassic.com