Another great week here at Jim and Julie’s Wabaskang Camp. We have passed week 9 this season and each week our guests have experienced different conditions as far as the fishing goes. The Mayflies have stopped being the main food source for the perch and walleye so we are finally seeing better numbers of “eaters” coming in, but not even close to what we will see in another week or so. The smaller walleyes are tucked away deep inside the thick weeds in 7′ to 14′ of water and are hard to present a bait to. A jig and minnow do work but right now a jig tipped with a piece of worm works even better. Many of our guests had good success on big walleyes using a spinner rig and minnow combination. Terry Howard released a chunky 26″ walleye and his son Scott released a beautiful 27″ fish. Max Howard was proud of his 23″ walleye, Max Codner skillfully caught and released a 26″ beauty, father and son dynamic duo Craig and Travis Mericke each released 26 1/2″ walleyes but Craig pulled a fast one on the last day and claimed to have caught and release a beautiful 28″ walleye to claim top honors for the week.
Northern fishing made up for the slower walleye fishing this week. Plenty of 23″ -26″ northern were caught each day. Top baits were spinner rigs and minnows along with medium sized crank baits and of course the bigger stick baits in the 6″ to 9″ size. The weeds are getting thick now and reaching towards the surface and the big pike are actively moving from deeper water to the weeds to hunt for an easy meal. Jayce Mericle started the week off by releasing his 37″ beauty, Bill Mincks released a 35 1/2″ and a 36 1/2″ as well on day one, Henry Howard released his chunky 32″ pike, Kady Mericke managed to land and release a very fat 37″ northern. Dorothy Codner released her 32″ brute and her grandson Max also released a trophy 35″ northern. Sue Mincks once again put her husband Bill in his place when she caught and release a 35 1/2” and 37 1/2” northern the same day. The biggest northern of the week was caught by none other than Craig Codner, as strange as it seems he does know a bit about fishing and his trophy 39” monster he caught is back in the lake waiting for Craig to return next season for round two.
Bass fishing was decent this week as well with plenty of action on the weed lines and rocky shorelines. A crank bait or tube jig caught many fish along with a bobber and worm. Bill Mincks only managed a 17” as his biggest of the week but camp regular Larry Dorenkamp always catches big fish and his 19” trophy bass was easily a hat winner this week.
Not much for crappie news this week but Jayce Mericle did bring a giant 13 3/4” crappie in for top honors for the week.
Remember to have clean and dry live wells and boats if you’re heading into Ontario to help prevent the spread of invasive species. We had another week of wet weather so the lake remains higher than normal and the fire danger is low. Blueberry picking is starting to happen so keep that in mind if you would like to try your hand at picking. Julie and I are doing great here, she is finally getting back to her regular routine after managing her duties and mine for the last 7 weeks or so, I’m getting along good now and don’t use the walker much now and I can get around better and doing more and more each day. That’s all for now this is Jim from Wabaskang
