Kevin Nelson
08-18-2013, 10:42 PM
A cooler than normal last half of July and early August had dropped the lake temps some.. to the lower 60's. A recent warm front is pushing them back to near 70. The Fishing has been pretty solid late summer fishing.
Lake Trout - biting well most of the time with a few anglers having pretty good streaks of catching Lake Trout 5,6 & 7 days in a row. Best boat day recently was a group who caught 12 one morning while trolling. Lots of small under 22" Lake Trout being caught, which is a good sign for the overall Lake Trout population and those will be the very sought after fish come September, when the limit is only one over 22". Catching quite a few of the 10 pound + Lake Trout. Biggest Lake Trout recent was my 16 pounder...very nice fish, but I'll be working for something bigger and hoping a few of you will also :)
Jigging tips - #1) If you are not seeing fish everywhere 80' and deeper it's likely your depthfinder and the lower end depthfinders will make for a challenge. Pay close attention to see the fish holding tight to bottom. Even on the lower end units watch for the rising fish and get your lure ahead of it as they are very catchable and if it is a school of baitfish rising they are often being chased.... get your lure in that mix! :)
#2) When the Lake Trout are not very active. During the drop, stop and try holding your lure flat for a minute. I use roughly 10' increments up from the bottom for flat periods and I roll the rod back and forth in calmer water to keep some movement on the lure (which I can see the movement on the depthfinder). Watch for the curious fish to start coming up slowly from the bottom, drop lure to about 10'-15' above the fish and try to stay 5'-15' ahead of the fish... odds are not good if the fish starts to turn back down... if so reel up and try the next one at same depth.
Muskie - most groups only fishing Muskies casually or after the accidental Muskie bite... several of the 30-45 inch Muskie caught recently, but bigger Muskie sighting have been fairly common. Rick in the campgrounds was reeling in a 30"ish Northern Pike and had something large enough to make his knees shake come in behind the Northern Pike... Rick said it had to be near 60" and one of those fish that will haunt him all winter!
Walleye - Cedartree has been good Walleye bites with nice mix of size. Shore fishing below the Falls in Nestor Falls has been great fun for quantity of Walleye, but mostly small Walleyes. Miles and Stevens Bay have been ok... better fish usually further out, but not always.
Northern Pike - some being caught, but not fished hard much recently. A 38" Northern Pike from Jessie Lake was biggest Northern Pike in last few weeks.
Bass - Almost everyone after Bass has been doing well in quantity and a few 3-5 pound Smallies also being found. Casting, trolling, live bait rigs are all working well... if struggling with Bass, spend a day on Jessie Lake to cure it. :)
After a pretty long run of having very few cabins available, we should have good availability on cabins the next several weeks.
Cheers,
Lake Trout - biting well most of the time with a few anglers having pretty good streaks of catching Lake Trout 5,6 & 7 days in a row. Best boat day recently was a group who caught 12 one morning while trolling. Lots of small under 22" Lake Trout being caught, which is a good sign for the overall Lake Trout population and those will be the very sought after fish come September, when the limit is only one over 22". Catching quite a few of the 10 pound + Lake Trout. Biggest Lake Trout recent was my 16 pounder...very nice fish, but I'll be working for something bigger and hoping a few of you will also :)
Jigging tips - #1) If you are not seeing fish everywhere 80' and deeper it's likely your depthfinder and the lower end depthfinders will make for a challenge. Pay close attention to see the fish holding tight to bottom. Even on the lower end units watch for the rising fish and get your lure ahead of it as they are very catchable and if it is a school of baitfish rising they are often being chased.... get your lure in that mix! :)
#2) When the Lake Trout are not very active. During the drop, stop and try holding your lure flat for a minute. I use roughly 10' increments up from the bottom for flat periods and I roll the rod back and forth in calmer water to keep some movement on the lure (which I can see the movement on the depthfinder). Watch for the curious fish to start coming up slowly from the bottom, drop lure to about 10'-15' above the fish and try to stay 5'-15' ahead of the fish... odds are not good if the fish starts to turn back down... if so reel up and try the next one at same depth.
Muskie - most groups only fishing Muskies casually or after the accidental Muskie bite... several of the 30-45 inch Muskie caught recently, but bigger Muskie sighting have been fairly common. Rick in the campgrounds was reeling in a 30"ish Northern Pike and had something large enough to make his knees shake come in behind the Northern Pike... Rick said it had to be near 60" and one of those fish that will haunt him all winter!
Walleye - Cedartree has been good Walleye bites with nice mix of size. Shore fishing below the Falls in Nestor Falls has been great fun for quantity of Walleye, but mostly small Walleyes. Miles and Stevens Bay have been ok... better fish usually further out, but not always.
Northern Pike - some being caught, but not fished hard much recently. A 38" Northern Pike from Jessie Lake was biggest Northern Pike in last few weeks.
Bass - Almost everyone after Bass has been doing well in quantity and a few 3-5 pound Smallies also being found. Casting, trolling, live bait rigs are all working well... if struggling with Bass, spend a day on Jessie Lake to cure it. :)
After a pretty long run of having very few cabins available, we should have good availability on cabins the next several weeks.
Cheers,