September greetings from Jim and Julie’s Wabaskang Camp. We just finished week 17 of the season and we saw plenty of trophy fish being caught and released. The weather continues be warm and dry but there is rain in the forecast. Walleye fishing picked up last week for the smaller “keeper” sized fish. Our guests caught 16″ to 18″ fish in water around 15′ deep next to weeds and rocks. A jig and minnow were the preferred bait along with twister tails and small crank baits. Some of our guests fished the deep water around 25′ and caught some giant walleyes using a Lindy Rig and large minnow. There was a decent evening bite as well for a few guests that trolled Sandcats or giant crank baits in areas of the lake that had ciscos coming to the surface. Brian Pottenbaum started things off when he released a chunky 22 1/2″ walleye, Chad Duckworth tried his best to impress wife Patty but his best this week was a measly 25″ walleye released. Steve Rathe had a good week; he landed a nice 25 1/2″ walleye. Scott Dewey is learning the lake and he released a chunky 26 1/4″ walleye. Dean Baker was so excited to report his beautiful 27″ walleye he released but his top fish was quickly crushed by fishing phenomenon Tyler Nuehring, he released a 24″, a 25 1/2″, a 26″, and a giant 28″ walleye to be crowned top walleye angler this week.
Northern fishing was once again great for our guests. Some big brutes were caught on a simple jig and minnow rig and many more were caught by our guests casting giant musky baits in open water over humps and rock piles. Rick Zender managed to put up with his brothers all week and he beat them all when he landed and released a beautiful 39″ brute. Chad Duckworth tried his best but his measly 38 1/2″ northern he released was crushed by his wife Patty who was in camp for the first time, she released a 35″, two 36″ brutes and also caught a massive 39 1/2″ monster northern, Chad needs to take some lessons from Patty next season. Kristy Lammers has a real talent at casting and catching huge northerns, she released a 36″, a 36 1/2″, a 37″, a 38” and a massive 40″ trophy this week, she had just one problem, husband “Big Mike” Lammers released a gigantic 43″ northern to take the top spot in camp for the week.
Bass fishing was slow this week with most fish being accidentally caught while our guests were fishing for walleyes and crappies. Charlie Zender released a chunky 18″ bass he caught on a crank bait, Tim Nuehring released a chunky 18 1/2″ bass, the biggest bass of the week was a massive 19″ monster caught by the incredible Larry Pencook, great job Larry.
Crappie fishing really stole the show this week with many limits being caught by our guests. Ruby Lake, Keynote Lake, Aerobus Bay, and numerous rock pikes in the middle lake all produced good numbers of crappies. A jig and minnow worked well but also small spinners or twister tails all caught fish. Chad Duckworth reported a chunky 14 1/4″ crappie, Tim Nuehring is taking home two 14″ crappies and a 14 1/2″ crappie to have mounted. The biggest crappie of the week was caught by Scott Dewey, his 15 1/2″ crappie is one of the biggest of the season.
Next week looks like more warm weather and a chance for storms before a cool down is expected the last week of September. Remember to have a clean and dry boat and live well when you cross the border into Canada to help prevent the spread of invasive species. I’m doing better every day and will make it through the season just fine. Julie is busy cleaning the cabins we are shutting down now and we are also trying to paint a few more buildings before the cold weather comes. That’s all for now this is Jim from Wabaskang.
