Last week our guests continued to enjoy success catching and releasing smallmouth bass. So far this season we have had 23 smallmouths caught and released on Parker Lake. Last year we had 25 recorded for the entire season. We are only 1/3 of the way through the year, putting us on pace to nearly triple last season’s record.
Not only that, but we saw three of the top five sizes ever recorded at the lodge….in one week! Two 20″ bass and one 19″ bass! I still have not caught a 20″ smallmouth in my life, but now I know where to look.
Deano’s 12″ Smallmouth
Peg’s 20″ Smallmouth!
We are seeing a good spread in sizes indicating that the small population in the lake is reproducing. Locals don’t care for smallmouths and there is even a small minority of guests that don’t like them either. This seems to stem from a myth that perpetuates that smallmouth bass will outcompete walleye and hurt walleye populations. Several studies have explored this exact issue and they either find that to not be true or cannot find evidence to support the notion that smallmouth bass hurt walleye especially when there are sufficient amounts of bait and feeder fish in the lake such as in Parker Lake. The biologists we have worked with concur as well. But, we now have a study unfolding right in our backyard so we can see if the smallmouth bass population has an impact on the walleye.
If you catch a smallmouth on your trip to Eagle Falls Lodge you will find they fight harder than any other fish in the lake – diving deep like a walleye, making runs like a northern, and then tail-walking across the top of the water. We know you will enjoy catching them as much as we do!