Hello again from Jim and Julie’s Wabaskang Camp. Week number 10 has come and gone so let’s find out how the fishing was. First thing that comes to mind is how incredible the northern fishing was for the majority of our guests. The big toothy critters are actively roaming the deep weed edges now and are eager to slam a huge stick bait or mammoth spinner bait. The total of northern pike over 35” released by our guests this week was well over 40 fish. Beau Thompson was new to camp and he was stuck fishing with “Big Mike”, Beau still managed to catch and release a chunky 37” brute, hope to see you again next season Beau. Christine Luhring released a 35” northern that kept her talking all week. Little Mark Kline came all the way from California to catch a trophy northern but his best fish was a measly 38” “hammer handle”, keep trying little guy. Jeff Jutting still has what it takes and his 38” trophy monster pike was his biggest of the week, great job Jeff. Susan Mincks usually catches plenty of big pike and her biggest this week was a respectable 37” pike that easily crushed any of her husband Bill’s fish, so what’s new? Brad and Sid Hancock each landed and released 36” pike, two great guys with two great fish. Dennis Brown is a fishing machine when it comes to pike fishing, his best this week was a nice 38” fish. Mike Weinberg was a newcomer to camp and his 36” pike put a big smile on his face, maybe he could teach Mitch a few things. “Big Mike” was in camp this week but his 40” brute was only good for third placed, seems he has lost his mojo when it comes to catching “hat fish” here at camp, better go out and buy more tackle little brother. Mike Behnke thought his 41” monster pike would be the biggest in camp this week but not with Rhett Lammers in camp, Rhett managed to crush Mike’s hopes of winning the free hat and all the glory that goes with it when he released a 44” monster pike, easily the fish of a lifetime, Rhett was fishing with “Big Mike “when he hooked the fish and of course father and son both enjoyed crushing Mike Behnke’s dream. Our walleye fishing is picking up now and a jig and minnow caught many fish. another great bait was a twister tail and jig combo or a night crawler and slip sinker rig. We also saw plenty of big walleyes being caught on huge stick baits being trolled in deep water over the numerous schools of bait fish in the lake. Ryan Behnke started things off this week when he released a chunky 24” walleye, Beau Thompson made the board when he released a 25” beauty. Larry Luhring has been coming to camp since the ice age and his 26 1/2” walleye was looking pretty good until Bill Mincks found a hungry 27” walleye trolling just in front of camp, finally caught a bigger fish than his wife this week. Sid Hancock caught and released a gigantic 291/4” walleye that had the sparkle back in his eyes until mean old “Big Mike” came along and crushed his dreams by releasing a monster 291/2” walleye, he caught his fish casting rock piles and actually brought the fish back to camp to have a witness when he measured it because his credibility isn’t so good around these parts. Once again, the hat goes to Mike, hope your happy! We had some very nice bass caught this week, most fish are roaming the rocky shorelines and weedy points looking for an easy meal. Crank baits or tube jigs worked well along with a simple bobber and worm set-up. Luke Kline flew in from California with high hopes and his 17” bass was certainly a good fish and some weeks it might be the winner but not this week. Mike Lammers had a chunky 18” bass that was quickly crushed by Garrett Hancock’s 19” brute. Bill Mincks was on cloud nine when he released a 19-1/4” bass, he thought his fish would be the big winner but as luck would have it Beau Thompson came along and released a 19-1/2” monster bass to win the free hat, not bad for the new guy in camp. Next week looks like hot and humid early then cool and mild late in the week so the fishing patterns will be hard to determine but a camp full of seasoned anglers should be able to figure things out. Remember there is road construction on hwy 502 so your best bet is to take the west route through Nester Falls. Let’s chat again soon, this is Jim from Wabaskang.
