Boreal Bay - Fishing Report - 8/1

[Kevin Nelson]

This past week was warm often over 80 degrees and humid with rain every couple days... a bit warmer and a lot wetter then our usual. Kakagi (Crow) Lake is mostly in the mid 70's which makes it very nice for swimming and water play.

The wild Blueberries are still plentiful on the islands and main land. A group of three picked nearly 5 gallons worth in a couple hours! Expecting the blueberries will get tougher to find within a few weeks.

The lake levels are high on both Kakagi and Lake of the Woods. We are advising guests -- NO WAKE IN THE BAY -- this is a good policy for everyone regardless of the lake level or where you are on the water, because the operator of the boat is responsible for any damages caused by the wake of their boat.

In general this week was a decent bite... everyone struggled at times and most everyone found their way into a good bite and some good fish.

Lake Trout were popular with groups often catching 2-5 in a couple hours of fishing. No huge fish this week, but a few in the 8-10 pound range. Jigging has been working well, but some serious trolling groups have just arrived and starting off slowly... but that will change :-) Several groups new to fishing Lake Trout on Kakagi are now successful and enjoying Lake Trout fishing... put simply.. our methods work for catching Lake Trout during our entire Lake Trout season. Some groups take to Lake Trout fishing more quickly then others and sometimes it is a tougher bite... but those tough bites will be followed by a good bite.

Walleye action on Lake of the Woods seemed to be great for some and tough days for others. A group of 4 caught 100 walleyes in one day and 150 the next day.... others fishing the same days reported in with very few walleyes. Best Walleye for week included a 7.5 pound and a 9 pound Walleye from Lake of the Woods.

Northern Pike action included 38" from Lake of the Woods and enough action on smaller fish to keep it entertaining.

Bass fishing included a few 2-3 pound Bass from Kakagi, South Narrows and Lake of the Woods.

No one after Muskies this past week.... if I find the right weather conditions in the coming weeks, I might spend a couple hours seeing what I can find.

For an odd fish this week.... I managed to catch my first ever Lawyer - Eel Pout - Burbot - Ling (you can call them whatever you want). They are not quite as ugly as I expected... but I still don't know if I can bring myself to trying to eat one.

We will have plenty of cabins available starting this weekend and beyond, plenty of options for a late summer trip to enjoy some of the warm weather and good fishing! We have been one of the busiest resorts in the area the past few months and it's ok if we have a slower period.

Regards,

[paul V]

Kevin:

Thanks for updating your Fishing report, I do apprecaite at and look forward to it every week.

the walleyes they have been catching on LOTW, where are they catching them at. I have not fished the area arounf Nestor falls but I am thinking about it and would like to know where they are hitting at on LOTW and the narrows lake that you mention.

Also, the lake trout on Crow, again where and what bait? I have never Fished for them before and would love to catch one once.

You also mentioned last year that a huge big Muskie had been sighted. What area of crow is this on?

I have hope of getting up later this year and looking to see if this may be a better area to fish.

Thanks


paul V

[Kevin Nelson]

Hello Paul,

Walleyes on Lake of the Woods... not exactly sure where as the guests usually don't want to tell me which reef or drop-off... but when they are biting they are usually biting in several locations. Groups did well making the long run out to Miles Bay, others did well staying closer to Stevens and Sabaskong Bay and up in Whitefish Bay. Groups doing well up on Cedartree said during one day they needed to stop at several spots before they found feeding Walleye's. Generally you want to be fishing reefs or drop-offs or wind blown or current areas that act as a funnel.... they will often cause the bait fish to gather and bigger fish will follow the bait fish. Most of the Walleye fishing is still done with live bait.

Lake Trout on Crow - 85' or deeper... ideally look for the schooled fish that are in the middle of the water column. A fishing moving vertically on your graph in the middle of the water column is most always in a feeding mood. I usually skip over anything sitting at the bottom or high in the water column... unless (like this past week) I'm using a smaller boat and then all I'm looking for is 85' or deeper water with the enough wind to keep my boat moving slow enough so that my lures can stay near the cone of the depth finder. The past week plus, I've been going in the smaller boat to the nearest spots... and they have been scattered. With the bigger boat I was usually running a couple miles further to the 135' and finding bigger schools. The most popular spots for Lake Trout are out west and south of gull island, Cameron bay, high cliff and ladder island... no need to go that far if you don't feel like it. Almost all of the year, the Lake Trout will feed well for a about an hour and then be tougher bite for 3 hours. When you find a feeding period... it will be similar the next day most of the time, unless a weather system resets the fish clock.

Lake Trout lures - we sell the River2Sea lures, so we have been fishing them the most and almost all of the first time Lake Trout fishing guests have caught theirs on the River2Sea vibe 80. Colors will make a difference at times, especially when the Lake Trout are on a tougher bite. Buzzbombs and Zingers are the other popular Lake Trout lures for jigging. Cabela's also has a Real Image line that work well and a few guests use them. If you have down riggers - spoons and spinners work.

Muskies on Crow - no one wanting to give up where they have seen the really big ones. The 45" - 50" seem to be showing in many places... along weeds, saddles, spines and reefs. This time of year most are working those adjacent to 50' + waters. Guests have been seeing them as close in as the saddle and reefs along the north side of our bay and occasionally at our docks. Guests are also encountering them in open water while Lake Trout fishing. Finding the pattern that will trigger the bite on any particular day is the bigger challenge... those coming out of weeds may be enticed by a red cowgirl or bucktail. Those coming off rocks may be more after a deep crankbait... some times trolling bucktails. As soon as you pick up the pattern for the particular days you should do well and if the weather is stable the bite pattern should continue for a few days. Lake of the Woods muskies are similar in that they will have a pattern... many people like fishing the shallow weedy areas of Lake of the Woods because the muskies don't have the very deep water options like they have on Crow. Lake of the Woods is the stained, warmer and weedier water while Crow has clear, colder water. For most of our Musky anglers... Crow is the first choice, but having the option of Lake of the Woods, if they are struggling is a pretty good 2nd choice.

On any of our lakes... If after 15-30 minutes of fishing a pattern and no action... change the pattern and location. Makes notes to yourself when you have action... which way was the wind blowing, cloudy/sunny, changing or stable, time of day, where did the fish come from, structure and what might they be feeding on. All of the most successful groups pick-up on the patterns fairly quickly and even the best fishing groups rely on a little luck. If you find the structure part of the pattern on Crow we can point you to 5-10 more spots with similar structure.

Hope that helps.