Hello again from Jim and Julie’s Wabaskang Camp. Week number 8 of the 2017 season was a struggle for many of our walleye fishermen but was a great week for our guests who were targeting the northern in the lake. The warm summer days have finally arrived and with them the thickening of the cabbage weeds and a more stable and predictable fishing pattern. The water levels in the lake have been decent all season and with the rain we had this week should remain that way well into August. The walleye bite has been tough for the smaller eater sized fish, our guests are catching a few walleyes on weed lines and rocky points but not the numbers we usually see this time of year. There are still a few may fly on the water and everywhere you go the lake is loaded with huge schools of bait fish, my guess is there is so much food in the lake that the walleye just isn’t interested in our guest’s offerings but all that will change as the food source gets reduced and the fish become more aggressive during the middle of the day and not just mornings and evenings. Once again, the best bait seems to be a jig and minnow combination or a spinner rig and minnow or worm. Yellow or orange seems to be the preferred color this week. Another technique used by many of our Missouri guests is simply casting crank baits or big plugs over the weed tops and enticing some of the bigger walleyes to strike. Don Yarger started things off this week when he landed a 23” walleye, Jeremy Bowers caught a 24” walleye but the biggest walleye of the week was caught by Mitch Goodchild, he managed to land a nice 25” walleye that was good enough to win him the fee hat for the week.
Our bass fishing remains solid this week with plenty of the fish coming each day from rocky points and weedy shore lines, a crank bait or tube jig worked best in a brown or silver color. Jason Comer caught a 17 1/2” bass only to see Mitch and Lucas Goodchild move him from the leader board with their 17 1/2” and 18” bass, both fish are going home to hang on the wall. The biggest bass of the week was caught by Gill Nack, he caught and released a mammoth 19” bass to easily win top honors for the week.
Our northern fishing has really taken off now with plenty of big fish being released this week. A Sandcat or spinner bait seemed to work best along with large crank baits and silver spoons. Randy Adams started things off this week when he released a chunky 29” northern, Don Yarger released a 36 1/2” fish, Corey Katzung managed to land and release a chunky 35” northern that even impressed his wife Lil, Drew Hanafin is taking a 36 1/2” trophy home to hang on the wall, Dave Vestal caught a beautiful 37’ norrthern on his last cast of the week, he is also taking his fish home to hang on the wall. Bill Comer released a nice 34” fish that put a smile on his face. Bob Comer really had a great week here at camp, he released a 36 1/2” northern and decided to mount the beautiful 37 1/2” brute he also caught, finally after all these years he lands a fish that impressed the grandkids.
Next week looks like more warm weather but still not hot or humid so our guests will have comfortable conditions to enjoy while out on the water. To everyone heading north to camp be aware there is road construction along hwy 502 and along 17 to Vermilion Bay, also road work on hwy 105 headed to our camp so take your time and drive safe, a better route might be to go north through Nester Falls and then turn east on 17 to get to Vermilion Bay.
There will be some students from Wabaskang First Nation taking a survey on fish catches and also taking water samples from different areas of the lake so if you are approached by the students please be helpful and courteous at all times. For now, this has been Jim from Wabaskang.
