Boreal Bay - Fishing Report - Oct 18th

[Kevin Nelson]

Last week was mostly cool and cloudy weather that has our trees in fall colors. Kakagi (Crow) Lake has dropped to 50 degree water temperatures and rumored that Lake of the Woods was at 44 degrees last week.

If we get some reasonable weather, I will likely try spending a few hours on LOTW this week.

On Kakagi the Lake Trout are up spawning this week, which means the Whitefish should follow soon. I watched the Trout for a while and did not see any Muskies bothering, chasing or lurking around. I can safely say I didn't catch the last of the big Lake Trout because when I was watching a 25 pound plus Lake Trout swam along side of my boat.

The Whitefish coming up to spawn seems to be the main trigger to bring the Kakagi Muskies and Northern Pike up from the deep.

Lots of ducks are flying about and should be feeding up on the LOTW rice this week.

Looking like we should see the cold weather the Deer hunters were after for next week.

Regards,

[Rob Nielsen]

Kevin, justed looked at your Oct 18th report and I agree with your assesment that the big Muskies & Northerns that stay deep on Crow most of the year come shallow in the fall with the Whitefish/Cisco spawning migration and not so much with the Trout spawn. Do you see Trout on most of the rock Reefs or just a few? if so what type of Reefs (Big or Small, near deep water, Ect) tend to be the best for the Trout spawn? lastly, what type of structure (Rocks or Sand)do the Whitefish and Cisco's prefer to spawn on and have you seen them on the structure like you can see the Trout stacked on? My Brother Paul and I want to come up next year late Fall to target Big Muskies and we are trying to get a good handle as to when to come up. Thanx Rob

[Kevin Nelson]

Hello Rob,

I don't have the dates figured for the Whitefish/Cisco spawns yet :) so I'm trying to keep watch for the structures that attract the Trout and thinking the others are likely coming to some of the same.

Based on what I'm seeing the Trout are spawning in 50 degree waters very shallow in 2 or less feet of water on gravel and rock (the size easy to throw more then 10 feet) - not big boulder or sand. They seem to instinctively favor locations with more then 180 degrees of exit into 100+ foot deep waters within a few hundred feet of the spawning area - no bays or small coves. Most of shallow topped spawning areas are no more then 50 feet wide. The trout like to school and stage in 12-25 foot pockets near the spawning area and I have seen a few pop the surface just off spawning area. Reefs, points and saddles with the previously mentioned structures seem to hold the bigger schools of fish and they would be my first choice to look for the Whitefish/Ciscos when the lake cools off more.

A few of the late season Muskie hunters have said the Whitefish will visit the same locations as the Lake Trout, typically early to mid November. So I'm trying to keep an eye on them and really figure out the late fall Muskie bite. Trolling has produced some Muskies the last couple Octobers and the early October Muskie bite on LOTW was incredible at times in 2007. I very much understand, if your coming to fish some nasty weather - your not just coming to visit me and you want a good chance at finding a BIG Muskie and a half dozen between 42"-48" during your trip.

Regards,