Here we are at the tail end of our 26th season and our guests continue to enjoy good fishing and now some beautiful September scenery. We are still very dry here with not much rain in the forecast. Water levels are falling each week, but we will be fine throughout the rest of the season. Most of the weeds are starting to soften and die now but are still holding good populations of perch and other bait fish so the walleyes, northern, and bass are still moving from deep to shallow depending on the wind and cloud cover.
The walleye bite this week was particularly good for 16″ and 17″ fish in the weeds and rock piles. A jig and minnow were by far the most popular bait to use and white or pink was the color of choice. Our guests also enjoyed catching and releasing bigger walleyes in deep water on gravel humps and rock piles. Scott Pingel released a 24″ walleye, Kevin Luhring released his 25″ trophy. Brian Luecke released the top walleye of the week; his 27″ beauty was caught just a stone’s throw from camp.
Northern fishing was good this week as well, we had plenty of guests that love to cast big baits for the toothy critters, and they had plenty of action. A few big northern were caught by our guests while they were jig fishing for walleyes. Rick Zender started things off when he released his chunky 32″ pike, Chance Comer came all the way from Missouri to catch pike and he released a beautiful 35 1/2″ fish, Trace Comer did one better than his brother Chance when he caught and released a 36″ monster pike. Kevin Luhring released a chunky 34 3/4″ northern, Dave Vestal is a casting machine and the 36 1/2″ pike he released was just a warm-up for the musky action he saw this week. Rick Carlson caught and released a chunky 38 1/2″ northern he hooked while walleye fishing. Cody Menzies is always cheerful and optimistic about his day on the water, and he released a giant 39 1/2″ northern that impressed the entire Missouri gang. Scott Pingel caught the biggest pike of the week; his 42″ trophy was hooked while trolling for walleyes just across the lake.
Bass fishing kept our guests busy this week with plenty of action on crank baits and tube baits. The fish are shallow in the mornings and evenings and move down to about 24′ on top of Rick pikes during the mid-day period. David Vestal released his 18″ trophy and Charlie Zender finally won a hat for a bass when he released his 18″ trophy, he caught his before David did so too bad so sad David the hat goes to Charlie. We had a few trout caught this week on tube baits in about 35′ of water, the biggest was 30″ caught by Roger Burjes.
Plenty of crappies caught but mainly right as the sun was setting each night. Tube baits were the best bait, and shallow water was the spot as the sun set. Rick Carlson caught the biggest crappie of the week, a beautiful 15″ fish.
David Vestal is the official “Musky Man” of Wabaskang Camp this season. He released not one but two muskies this week, a 38″ and 40″ trophy to easily take home the free hat for the week.
If you are bringing a boat to Canada be sure it is clean and all the plugs are pulled to help prevent the spread of invasive species, the border agents are asking our guests when they last used their boat and if they cleaned it afterwards. Please get your license before arriving in camp and bring us a copy or we can copy yours when you arrive. Clark’s Bait and Tackle in Dryden or Vermilion Bay sell licenses as well as Dutchies General Store just up the road, both places sell souvenirs and food/ beverage items as well. The Whiskey Jack Restaurant just 200 yards north of our driveway is the place to go for a great meal when you are tired of your pan cooking, plenty of great meals to choose from plus adult beverages as well.
That’s all for now, this is Jim from Wabaskang.
