Wonderful greetings from Jim and Julie’s Wabaskang Camp. Our 5th week of the season has come and gone with mixed results in the fishing reports. Our walleye fishing wasn’t as good as previous weeks mainly due to a few super-hot days that seemed to move the fish a bit deeper and changed their feeding habits to morning and evening bites. Most of our guests used minnows and worms again on spinner rigs or jigs. Early in the week the bite was still right next to shore in about 9’ of water but by mid-week many fish were taken while trolling the shoreline in water 12’ to 15 ‘deep. Steve Sterns gang and Michael Jones group all had good catches of walleyes with many around 20” but the bite was sporadic and one night was great and the next was a bust, probably the mid-nineties in temperatures we saw had a lot to do with things. Ann Peterson was our big fish of the week winner when she caught and released a chunky 25 1/2” walleye, she seems to always catch a nice walleye whenever she is in camp. The northern fishing has improved each week and like previous weeks the brutes are very shallow and feeding in schools of perch and minnows. A crank bait or Mepps Spinner caught many nice fish this week. Alan Weber made his first trip to camp and with the expert guidance from long time camp guest Brian Luecke he managed to catch and release a chunky 29 3/4” northern. Casey Jones released a 32” brute, so called fishing expert Larry Brabazon was proud of his 32 1/4” northern but the big northern of the week was caught and released by Dylan Whaley, he managed to land a beautiful 36” northern that impressed his entire group. Bass fishing was great this week with many fish being caught in the same areas as the northern and walleyes. Live bait worked great but a soft bodied bait like a twister tail or grub really tore the fish up, brown or purple were two great colors to try. Dave Steffen and Tom Pirner, we’re our bass experts this week, they come from Missouri and really know how to work the shorelines for the big fish. They each released fish each day with the biggest being 19” for both, no competition in the boat just fun. Crappie fishing was once again phenomenal for many of our guests. A slip bobber and minnow worked close to ricks and reeds seemed to find the fish and once you found them a simple tiny jig and small twister was the ticket. Many limits of crappie were caught but the biggest was caught by Luke Harden, he landed a beautiful 13 1/2” crappie. Next week we are expecting cooler weather and more rain. I was able to remove the temporary ramp to the dock yesterday and hopefully won’t have to use it again this season. I plan on trying to install the small floating dock on the north end of camp this week if we get some calm weather. We really appreciate all our guests making the trip this season in spite of the border procedures and also the increasing price of fuel and groceries. We also miss seeing many of our guests that cannot enter Canada due to the vaccine requirement, hopefully we will eventually find a way to see all our camp regulars again soon. Remember to get your licenses before you arrive in camp and no live bait or poultry products allowed into Canada so pick up what you need after you cross the border. Check out Dutchies General Store or Rainbow Store for your tackle, souvenir or grocery and beverage needs. Also, Dutchies has gas and diesel if you need to fill up before your trip home. The Whiskey Jack Restaurant is open Wednesday through Sunday so stop in and let Graham and Laura do the cooking. You can also make a dinner reservation at Manotak Lodge and take the night off from cooking. Hwy 105 is now open to two lane traffic so no detour to worry about. That’s all for now this is Jim from Wabaskang.
