Fishing Update

Hey Guys & Gals,

A quick update as promised in the last post....

Late June / early July saw some good fishing....

Jeff & Judy Welch were uop for the 1st time & did terrific bass fishing...good numbers / good sizes etc.....they did very well despite the weather, which was pretty much crappy through their whole stay...High winds have been a standard this summer....yes it has been rainy at times, and it has been unseasonably cold, but the strong winds seem to be the most consistent weather feature this summer.

The Haulotte / Hardin group was up again from Milwaukee.....the guys, like the Welch's had bad weather....the inclement, inconsistent weather seemed to produce smaller walleye for the guys, but Gerry & Scott in particular switched it up & worked the shoreline & had a great time with smallies.

Both Brian & Larry Killeaney were up again with their respective groups....as usual they did very well walleye fishing...which is a niice reward when you're out in the cold, wet conditions.

The McNabb family was up during thsi time period and, as always did great with whatever they seemed to go after. The bulk of the group like the bass and did really well with those (am I starting to sound like a broken record?).....Mike did manage to get some out jigging for walleye & a couple of times & they had no trouble at all catching them. BTW - David got a few nice bass on his fly rod late in the week (around the 3rd of July)....the mayflies started & it was just what was needed to get some smallie action on the fly!

Another thing that happened really quick in early July is that the weeds took off. I've never seen them "pop up" that quickly - it seemed almost overnight. Needless to say, all thos bays that were free & clear of weeds a couple of weeks ago are now loaded with them, so you may wish to keep a few weedless lures in the tackle box...especially if you're throwing for pike.

We weren't quite as busy in early July as usual, but it's starting to gear up again now...

The Klocksien's have been doing great with walleye numbers....again, wind is a hallmark, but they are making it work. Thanks to Dale Stus for some great guiding this week.

A few check ins today should bring some new things to report later this week. We have some new groups checking in, some old guests of ours, and some groups that are new to us but veterans of the Atikokan area, so it should be fun!

If you're coming in the next few weeks, be prepared for virtually any kind of weather.....

Water is average....not too high, not real low.....for those of you who guage it by the rock in our back bay, it's maybe 3" - 4" above the surface right now.

The 'eyes seem to be anywhere between 15' or so feet to 25' give or take. Good old jigs, Lindy Rigs / Little Joes as always, plus some Thundersticks, Raps, Wally Divers that'll give you 15' - 18' depths should be good.

Smallies still hitting topwater, but many will be moving deeper soon....some of our biggest smallies last year were in August off of 25' ledges (guys jigging live bait for walleyes).

I always like using buzz baits for pike in the weeds this time of year....I never go pike fishing without my 1 oz red & white daredevil though....plus trolling with big Raps can usually produce some nice ones this time of year.

Like clothes, prepare for any type of fishing.....topwater, shallow, deep water....live bait & all kinds of artificial....As much as there are rules and consistencies in fishing there are tons of inconsistencies & the so called "rules" are blown apart every day ....whatever works for you. Stuff that I can't buy a bite with, others hammer 'em with. You never know...when it comes down to it, there really aren't any rules...go out, try different things & have fun. The only thing I can really say with certainty is that the fish are in the lake. After that, the ball's in your court (& we're in your corner to help any way we can)!

Talk to y'all soon!

Stats From The Mitchells!

Hi Guys & Gals,


I have a few things to report....nothing earth shattering - just conditions etc....will do so in the next few days.....


I just received an email from Steve Mitchell - he & his wife Debra just spent a couple weeks bass fishing here....their 2nd trip after being here last August as well.


If my memory serves me correctly, the first few days of angling for Steve & Deb this year were a little slower as they figured out where the smallies were in the earlier part of the season....after that though, they did awesome as you'll see.


As promised, Steve kept stats on their fishing & tackle used.....I love reading this stuff. It helps with tackle selection for others plus it's just darn interesting....anyway, here's Steve's email....

Hey quent, sorry I have not got you the results yet,but here we go. we caught 500 total fish,358 bass,135 pike,and 7 walleye, a big bonus for us. by the way they tasted great. we had a great time and look forward to coming back next year.
stats:
12" under 75
12 1/2" 5
13"-14" 41
14"-15" 53
15"-16" 97
16 1/2" 8
17"-18" 49
18" up 30
79 bass over 18" is really great fishing in any book.
the largest bass was 20 1/2"
the largest pike was 32"
the largest walleye was 22"
top water was the most productive as we caught 229 on a chug bug,devil horse, and jitterbug. sure paid off getting up at 3:30 each morning.
next was the zoom super fluke in bumble gum, white,smoke and silver
last was a variety of soft plastics creatures,paca craws and tubes in white, and black blue tails.
again we had a great time and look forward to doing it next year. if you have any questions, email and I will help anyway I can. Talk to you later. Steve and Deb


There ya have it....great stuff eh? Steve & Deb worked very hard, but it paid off big time....they found those early mornings before the sun got real high & hot gave the best action...a time of day that many people don't fish anymore.


A note that all the bass & pike were released....just a few 'eyes were kept for a meal.


Like I said, I'll post some other current info soon, but I just wanted to pass this along....part bragging them up, but also some great info for any new anglers coming up bass fishing...


BTW Steve - pretty nice catching 7 walleye on topwater and or shallow conditions.....wish I was that lucky....


Here's a couple of pics...will post the rest on the main web page soon....