One of the best seasons of fishing I've been a part of at lake Sakakawea is officially over. The number of 17-21 inch walleyes caught this season is almost mind-boggling, especially considering the initial concerns over low water levels back in the spring. The flooding of the Yellowstone River was devastating in many ways, but it was also a boon to walleye fishing (and lake access) on the big lake. It was a little tougher to catch trophy walleyes this year, but we still had plenty of big ones in the mix as well.
Speaking of big fish, I'm happy to announce that the winner of the 2022 Wall Hangers competition is Andy Sha with a 28 1/8 inch gorgeous fall walleye caught in October, and he will be taking home a replica mount from Jackson Taxidermy Studio based in Garrison, North Dakota! I have always said that fall is one of the best times to win this competition, and that certainly held true this year.
If there was a lowlight to fishing this year, it was the fact that we never really got a hot post-turnover fall bite due to the warm weather we had in late October. The pre-turnover bite was relatively strong, and the rest of the season was incredible, so it's still pretty hard to complain about anything from 2022.
I would like to thank everyone who came out and fished with me this year, everyone who watched and supported the YouTube channel which continues to grow, and the super generous folks who supported my business further this year through Patreon which includes more detailed, frequent, and in-depth fishing reports. I'm glad to hear that people got a lot of value out of that this, and I plan to continue it next year. I also plan to do some things through Patreon over the winter, educational videos and further tips for fishing Lake Sakakawea, so if that is something you are interested in, you can check that out here (Patreon link).
I've also been fortunate enough to land affiliate relationships with some businesses and products that I trust and believe in, one of them being Plusinno, so if you're interested in any of their products, you can use the link below and the code BRETTFISH to get 10% off any order and help support my business a little bit in the process. The good and bad thing about growing a YouTube channel is that I have started to get contacted by more of these product companies, and the gut instinct is to throw all of them up on the channel and try to make some money, but I want to be picky and selective and only choose ones that I think actually offer good value to the audience that I care about, and I think I've done that so far with this one.
I hope to see as many of you as possible on the water next year, and until then, I hope you have a great winter ahead of you. And, as always, I will wrap up with some of the last videos of the open water season. Also make sure that if you want some of the prime dates for next year (June and July), you think about booking soon as I already have eleven dates spoken for in June and a few in July!