'Walleye time' is fast approaching - finally

The days are getting shorter and the temperatures are cooling down, which means a lot to me: It's time to focus on the elusive walleyes, to start shooting the bow and to start planning for the winter (sorry).

For fishing guides, it's our job to make the customer happy, and depending on what the customer is looking for, we can usually make that happen.

Most of our customers will let us make the call as far as what species we should go after on a given day, but as we move into September, it's "walleye time," and it's pretty much a given that we will give those walleyes everything we've got.

This summer has not been a great one for folks looking for Gull Lake walleyes, but we are starting to see some improvements and things could get really good really soon.

The Whitefish Chain has been producing some nice walleyes, and now we should see Pelican, North Long and the rest of the area lakes fire up, too.

The lakes have been quiet, almost eerily quiet. It's great for the fisherman, but if you look at the whole picture, it's not so great. A quiet Gull Lake is not normal, but I think we all realize things have been a wee bit different in this world as of late. So I guess if you can get out on the lakes and there aren't many people, you need to just be thankful and just try to get another bite.

I am sitting on the porch typing this column and the chickadees are hitting the bird-feeder pretty hard. My guess is that the fish are going to be hitting hard tonight, too. Better get out there.

WALLEYEDAN Eigen may be reached at (218) 839-5598, walleyedan@brainerd.com or www.walleyedan.com.