Post July 2011 Trip Reports Here

[Justin Gaudry]

July is here already. The summer period is beginning with some heat over the 4th of July weekend. All species should soon kick into high gear. Walleyes have been strong all season, while muskie have started off a bit sluggish. Warming trends should push both species towards reefs and get the bite on.

How was your July trip to Lake of the Woods? Let us know. We'd all be glad to hear from you.

[Shorelunch]

Got to fish out of Morson July 1-4. Beautiful weather - and great fishing. Got unpacked about 3:30 on Friday and hit the water at 4:00. We went out to the humps, reefs and sunken points west of Manitou and south of Sunset channel. We trolled spinners with crawlers and minnows and did real well - depth was 16-18'. Biggest was a 26" with a number of 14-16".

Saturday morning the wind was going pretty good, so we went north past Sunset and fished a sunken point. Caught walleyes on spinners in 12-18', and some very nice jumbo perch, til we ran out of bait and then cast crankbaits over the shallows and caught a couple of smallies, northerns and a 24" walleye. Went out for a couple of hours Saturday night and trolled crankbaits around island shorelines and points and caught a couple walleyes, a really nice northern and a few smallies. That was a lot of fun - first time I've done that in a few years.

On Sunday morning, we went out to the reefs out from Dawson channel/east of Gooseneck. Trolled spinners again in 12-20' and caught fish at every stop. Lots of eaters, along with a 22 and 24". Sunday afternoon, we ventured out muskie fishing in Burrows Bay. We threw bucktails and some jerk baits to keep things simple. My 10 yr old had a fish on for about 10 cranks - he was hooked after that. I caught a 36" northern and a couple smaller northerns. Had a nice follow - I'm guessing mid-to-high 40's. Got about an 1 and 1/2" of rain Sunday night. Lots of fun and sun - but no wind, so a boat ride felt good

Ventured west to the reefs west of Manitou and tried jigging with plastics and continued to do well. Fished a few of the bouys and tried a few new spots. Saw fish at every stop. On the way back stopped at an island west of the gap and threw some crank baits trying to catch a few smallies. Caught one smaller smallie, a northern and a Kamikazee perch. Fun weekend and looking forward to getting back up in a few weeks.

Justin, I tried a few times to stop by, but the weekend got away from mee and went too quick. I will definitely get over there and visit.

[JSONDAG]

Hey Justin, we are coming back up on the thursday - We'll see you then. Please don't tell the fish we're coming! :)

[Justin Gaudry]

Sounds good, Jerry. Maybe sneaking up on them is the ticket. Things should be ready to pop here anytime. Good report from the Angle the other day and there are starting to see some fish here. I haven't been out much for a week/10 days.

[rbc]

Just got back from 11 days at our cabin by Mylies. Walleye fishing on the reefs was fantastic, muskie fishing not so fantastic. Caught a 43 and a 38 but put in a ton of time. Hope to get back up in a few weeks. Those muskies cant keep their mouths shut too much longer or they will die of starvation.
Jason

[skihunterpete]

Hit the water at Mylies July-2 thru the 9th. We ended up boating 10 ski's with the largest a 49 1/2" coming on a bucktail and next largest 48 1/4" on a suick. Weather was pretty stable most the week, and had lots of sun which made the water temps rise 4 degrees or better to 76 average in alot of places. Water clarity was good all over, with minnows swiming everywhere.
Bucktails really seemed to be the lure to move the fish; and top water was slow for us. We caught one 38 1/2" a whooper plopper with a few have hearted attempts to react to our top water lures. We change our annual date to two weeks later next year which we hope will be all the better for consistant action. Thanks again to the fine folks at Mylies and your 1st class accomodations and service.

[JSONDAG]

Spent the week up at LOTW. We were pounding the water all week. Ended up with 26, 4 of which were 50 inch class fish. Thanks to Justin for putting us on a couple of those beauties! We lost another dozen or so, but a great trip overall. The weedy bay action was a little disappointing, but the saddles, points, and rock weed complexes were really fishy. Awesome time, watch out for the 2011 DVD release Go Fish II to see the madness!

[s grabow]

we were up staying at a freinds house in the area from the 8th till the 16th fishing was awsome in that part of the lake.our boat had 21 muskies 32 to 46.5 also lost a few.no giants seen but i know their there.many pike and 2 nice smallmouth no walleyes because we did not fish for them.we met you justin when we bought our licenses and sent jerry o your way im glad the baits worked out well for you. the other boat at the cabin got 12 fish 33.5 to 48 thats 33 muskies for 5 fisherman.not bad !

[Nic Satre]

Was up from the 9th to the 16th.
Fishing was good to excellent. Weather was about as good as it gets and the beer was cold. Fished mostly for crappies and walleyes, but did manage a few muskies. I was suprised at how little reef action was going on. I found a few good reefs, but it was mostly shoreline points that produced walleyes for me. Crappie fishing went very well. My first day on the first spot provided easily fourty fish with many over 12". I tried several spots for crappies over the week and depth seemed to vary by spot. Some were in 11-15ft and some were between 22-30ft. The one thing they all had in common was bellies full of 3/4" minnows. Can't wait for September.

[lvilleracer]

Well, headed home with a group of nine guys. Had a rough week fishing for muskie. Had a lot of follows, but most did not seem interested in eating. Smallmouth kept us busy. Last year we had 31 fish over 30 inches this year we were down to 15. Little rough but still a great visit to the lake.

[fastcast2]

Hi Justin
Just got back from last trip.Muskie fishing was definitly different.Saw lots of fish but most were follows.Clear water and varing water temps had them in a different mood.Ended up with 13 fish with a 50 and a 48 as the biggest.All from rock and on the figure eight.Triggered alot on a sledge,but caught them on twitch and spinnerbaits.Will be back up in a week.
Jeff

[Rick W]

Spent a glorious week tenting at Mylie's, last week of July. The dreaded cold front rolled in on Friday night, so the first couple of days were slow with lots of late followers. Had a huge fish follow my cowgirl on Saturday night, and lots of followers for Justin on the neat trip he took me on Sunday evening to the east. They love to chase his phat daddy. I finally caught a couple of fish on Monday, and the rest of the week was slow but steady with lots of followers and one or two making the commitement on the figure 8 each day. The jacks bit as soon as the lure touched down, but the muskies were all caught at boatside with one exception. Saw a couple of other huge fish that went around and around, but eventually drifted off. I guess you're not supposed to hit the side of the boat with your rod.... The revo toro winch paid for itself after the first day - can't imagine cranking those big bucktails all week with my old 6500. As it was, my hands were sore for a week after. Can't wait for next summer Justin!!