Wabaskang Lake Fishing Report 

Please scroll the entire page for reports on walleye, northern and smallmouth. 

Walleye

Weeks of September 3 and September 10

Wow, didn't even realize I never got a report posted for two weeks ago so this will be a brief combination of the two weeks ending September 17th. Walleye fishing has been excellent during the period. Temps are cooling down FINALLY. Although it did hit 86 degrees on September 8th here and six days later it snowed.  Water temperatures have finally just dipped below 60 degrees. Despite the weather rollercoaster, the walleye have been biting at a torrid pace, although Steve Schulte, a long-time guest of camp remarked that he may not return if it continues to take him 2 1/2 hours to boat 40 walleyes. I agree Steve, the fishing isn't what it used to be....it's BETTER! This includes some of the BEST fishing for jumbo perch we have had all season.

Although some walleye were being taken in shallow depths (15-18 fow), vertical jigging over deeper structure and drop offs seemed to be the best for big numbers and quality fish. Continuing to have a number of guests reporting releases of 27, 25, 24, 23 inch walleye in addition to decent numbers of very fat, healthy fish in the 19-21" range too.

Week of August 27-September 3

Ok, let's try this again. Apparently I forgot to hit save on Sunday when I wrote up this weeks report, so here is Take 2. Special thanks to first time guest and fish report reading junkie Gary Robinson for emailing me the heads up!

This weeks question: What does a $487.50 minnow bill for the week get you? Answer: In the case of Don Thompson's annual crew (this year 10 guys) about 1,200 walleye. Doing the math (I still haven't beat the last of the CPA out of me-HA!) that equates to a live bait bill of $48.75 per man for an average of 120 fish each for the week. As Don stated, not their best year by far, but at the same time enough fish (and certainly some good quality fish) to keep everyone happy.

Phil and Lori were with us for their second season and this time invited Lori's sister Lisa and her husband Mike. They put together another very good trip for "relative rookies", and had several pretty impressive walleye stringers throughout the week. When not fishing, they were great company in camp and a lot of fun too.

The Augustine's wrapped up their extended visit with us and in addition to some pretty good BIG pike action, had some good walleye fishing too. Included in the day that Andy Augustine released a HUGE northern measuring 44" (and several other mid 30's), Keith, Andy and mom Esther also had 62 walleyes for the day. All three released walleyes 21", but Esther won top honors for the week with a 23" release.The first week of the Augustine's stay they were joined by the Strasser family, Matt, Jessica, Reece and Tyler. Reece released walleye's 23" and 20" and Jessica released a 21" walleye.

Jim Moore caught the big walleye of the week a brutish 27 1/2 incher that came from the depths (40 feet). Cabin mate Pat Pucelik also released a 24 5/8" walleye, although from the picture I really think it was 24 9/16" but who's measuring, right Pat?

Overall another very good week of walleye angling with guests reporting catches from many of our good spots with water depths ranging from 15 feet to 35 feet. Jigs and minnows were (as always) good, and crawlers with water temps remaining in the upper 60's continue to produce too. 

Week of August 20-27

How good is the August walleye fishing? Well a 100% rebook rate for the week indicates pretty darn good! Guests ranging in experience from 3 to 35 years in camp comprised most of the guests this week and their experience showed as they boated a lot of walleyes. Not to be outdone Stan Schambach joined us for the first time this year with his wife Norma and sister Carol. Self-proclaimed "not really fishermen" they proceeded to POUND the water morning, noon and night, rain or shine etc. to put together a very solid trip for "rookies" on a new body of water. Word has it they'll be back next year in an effort to build upon their 15-30 fish per day outings they had this year while learning the lake.

Some of our veteran guests noted that overall numbers were not as good as in some years past, however, quality was excellent as many fish in the 16-24" range were caught and many released. Earl Gransee's crew from the Twin Cities were with us for their third year and continue to learn more and more places to catch fish every year. They commented on Friday that this was their best year yet for both numbers and size as Gary DeGrote released a nice 21 1/2" walleye and their group released a number of others over 18" including Tom Holtman's 20" eye.

The migration of fish that I noted last week from weeds to structure was disproven to a large extent this week by guests intent on pounding weed edges in 10-15 fow and still reporting very good numbers of fish caught. Jigs and minnows were best this week although crawlers took some fish also. 

Week of August 13-20

A mostly veteran crew this week found the walleye fishing to be steady, if not spectacular. We actually "lost" a couple of days this week (or the better parts thereof) to storms (Tues) and high winds (Weds) resulting in some lost time on the water. Fortunately the narrows, as they so often do, produced some good fishing without having to stray more than 3 minutes from camp. Noticed a significant migration this week from the weeds to a deeper structure bite, with many guests reporting good to excellent fishing in 25-30 fow. In fact, by Thursday and Friday guests were throwing around terms like "stacked like cord wood" and "they were thick in X feet of water". Jigs and spinners tipped with minnows worked best, although crawlers are still producing fish too. In addition to the abundant 15-18" eaters, many guests reported releasing fish between 19-25" including just a few noted below:

Al Musch's 25 1/2" walleye
Todd Pinegar 23", 19", 19", 19" and an 18"
Jordan Pinegar 19 1/2", 19" and 18"
James Steenhoek 19 1/2", 18 1/2"

Week of August 6-13

 Top to bottom another very solid week of walleye fishing here on Wabaskang with everyone in camp reporting decent successes throughout the week. Of course for our new folks the week started a little slower as they learned the lake and the spots, but then it quickly transitioned into many limits about every time out.

Ken Ruttledge was back in camp this year after about a 3 year absence (while getting kids married off) and brought his wife Yolanda for the first time to Canada. They had a great week of fishing and Ken told me they caught "too many fish to count". Included in their totals were walleye releases for Ken of 21", 19" and (2) 18". Yolanda also released an 18".

Terry Frick's crew from the Elkhart, IN area were with us for their second year and put together another very solid trip easily limiting out on walleye and northern despite an early departure for personal reasons.

David Covey from Illinois was another first timer with his crew and they were very impressed with the clean camp and although it took them a couple of days to figure out the lake, he and his boat partner Ray finished very strong on Friday boating 33 walleyes.

Bruce Balisterri's crew from Wisconsin finally made it to camp this year after having to reschedule from prior years due to health reasons. They had a good week of multi-species fishing and Bruce released walleye's of 22", 21"X 2, 20" and 19".

Gary Robinson brought a great group of guys to camp for the first time and had a solid trip for first timers and are planning to return with us next season. 

Walt Pellow from South Bend had his annual trip here and despite finding the pike fishing to be a little slower than they are accustomed to, commented that the walleye fishing was "better than they have ever had". From looking at a couple of their evening stringers, I would have to agree as they had some real nice fish.

Harry DeLeeuw was here in the two man cabin with his son Paul and although not overwhelmed with the size of the cabin, they did find out it makes a very affordable fishing trip for two and as the week wore on the fishing got better and better for them. They hope to return to camp sometime soon.

Warren Daun's party was another first time group that took a couple of days to figure out a pattern that worked but ended up having great success bottom bouncing crawler harnesses on mid-lake humps. They too plan to return next year.

Overall, it was another week with varying patterns and presentations taking fish. I look for the structure bite to start producing more and more fish as the season progresses into September although the dying weedbeds will most certainly continue to hold fish too.

Week of July 30-August 6

The walleye bite remained in the "very good" category this week. Many spots across the north end continue to consistently produce fish albeit in some places only 3-4 at a time. It took a little hopping around some days, but there were cooperative fish throughout the day in almost all our spots with plenty of eater fish for everyone in camp and enough 20-25 inchers to release to keep folks happy too. Only three cabins with "newbies" this week and it didn't take them long to figure out the pattern here on Wabby. The shallow weed edge bite continued to produce fish and on sunnier days or mid-day the bite transitioned to deeper water structure from 16-24 fow.

Some of the bigger released fish for the week were:

Tim Beatrice's 24, 22, and 22"
Steve Raveling's 23"
Kevin Coughlin's 24 and 21"
Kat Coughlin's 21"
Craig Coughlin's 23 and 22"
Griffin Scott's 21"
Owen Thompson's 21"

Week of July 23-30

Even better yet! Maybe not "steamrolling" quite yet, but let me tell you there were a BUNCH of walleye brought into camp again this week, and many of them by first timers to camp and Canada. Let's start with the first timers. Mark Buchanan's family and friend Dan joined us for the first time and had consistently good fishing throughout the week including Mark's 25" walleye caught right in front of camp. "Best fishing I have had in Canada" was his comment as we checked out on Friday.

Norm Krupp's crew of four from the Edwardsburg, Mi area (excluding Lenny from Tx) were with us for the first time and had some excellent fishing during their stay. At one point commenting that "we could have caught as many as we wanted to out there today". Not a bad testimonial to how the week went. These guys also had two very good days of perch fishing, see below.

Nate and Russ Jacobsen (son and father) from Omaha, NE were here for their first time and also had a great trip, caught a lot of fish every day and was one of many groups this week that had excellent fishing on Wabby and a killer trip to Lost Lake.

Carl Chupp, grandson Matthew and friends from the Goshen/Nappanee, IN area had four self-proclaimed non-fishermen with them and they quickly turned into "experts" catching a bunch of walleyes throughout the week.

Tom Cellentani from St. Joseph, MI was here with 10 year old son Anthony in the little cabin and found out how great a fishing trip you can have for very little money. They too had an unforgettable trip to Lost Lake catching fish at will in addition to some great fishing here on Wabby.

Finally Marty Kistler's family was here with us for the first time and easily caught plenty of fish to feed their family of four (including two teenage boys) and take home fish too. They loved the remote nature of our setting and the quality fishing.

Bob Broome's crew was here for the first time since 1998 from the Strongville, OH area (they were regular guests in the 1980's too) and found that the fishing was just as they had left it 13 years ago. Same spots/same results= lot's of fish. They decided thirteen years between trips was WAY too long and plan to return next year too.

Dave Getsfried was here for his third season with us and this year brought along 8 year old daughter Katrina. When Katrina wasn't swimming or playing with our girls they had some very good fishing and joined Tom and Anthony on a combined outing to Lost Lake for both some adventure and incredible fishing.

Gary Peske's crew from Wisconsin also had another very good trip with us and caught plenty of walleye during the week.

The patterns remained consistent with last week. Jigs/minnows, jigs/crawlers and spinners took many fish around weed beds in 13 fow while deeper rock structure also produced a lot of fish anywhere from 8-24 fow.

Week of July 16-23

Well I am very happy to report that the walleye fishing during week 117 of our ownership was significantly better than week 116! They didn't quite jump in the boat, but at the same time every group who targeted walleye seemed to have plenty to eat and take home if they wanted to. Dennis and Ray Springman from South Bend joined us for their first ever trip to Canada and did very well for first timers on all species. The Ericson family was also fishing with us for the first time this week and had a very good experience and caught quite a few fish including 11 year old Tony, who while back at Lost Lake, caught a 24" walleye and a 31" northern pike within 50 feet of each other. Not a bad way to hook a kid on fishing! They also had an incredible day smallmouth fishing (see report below).

Tom Bauters family was with us for their third year and had another excellent trip taking home a lot of fish including over 100 perch and ate a bunch of fish while in camp too. When you bring four teenage boys you better catch a lot of fish to feed them! Jerry Stutzman's crew from the Syracuse, IN area was also here for their first time and put together a solid trip of multi-species fishing. John Hill's party of four from Chesapeake, OH joined us for their first time and threw mostly crankbaits to catch some decent walleye.

Weed edge fishing in about 12-13 fow with jigs and crawler harnesses were the best for numbers of fish with crankbaits taking bigger fish. The secondary bite was on rocky structure in 10-24 fow. Weeds seemed best for numbers, structure produced better quality fish.

Week of July 9-16

This will be a combined report for all species as the bite was very similar for all species.

Well in our 116th week of operating the camp, it finally happened. The fishing was the most challenging I have seen. Now don't get me wrong we have had down weeks before in the average, to below-average fishing category, but never have we had a week that I would pick the adjective "challenging" to describe the fishing here....until this week. Camp guests had a few other adjectives they were throwing around too for that matter, but let's keep this family oriented. What made it such a challenging week of fishing (in my opinion) on Wabaskang was the collaboration of a  perfect storm of conditions. Not making any excuses (and Milissa says I don't have to anyway as one very challenging week in 7 years according to her estimation is still "acceptable") but here are a few anyway.

1. An enormous (worst I have seen in our seven years of ownership) mayfly hatch that started two weeks ago and by this week the walleye were well fed.
2. This was our FIFTH consecutive WEEK of bright sunshine, hot temperatures, very little to no rain and HEAT. An absolutely incredible run of high pressure here in NW Ontario that I know we have never seen in our seven years.
3. Do to the lack of rain/wind etc. we have ULTRA clear water right now, which combined with a quickly falling lake level also contributed to the storm.

Combine the above with ALL new guests (except one cabin) fishing the lake for the very first time and VIOLA: a perfect storm resulting in challenging fishing. Also, it has been a long time since we only sold 53 dozen minnows out of this camp during a week (in fact probably never), and for the single most productive bait on the lake it's too bad that more guests didn't fish them. Also note, that some moderate successes were reported by guests who were fishing crawler harnesses. The additional flash of the blade was triggering fish that perhaps otherwise were reluctant to bite.

To test just how challenging the waters were (so to speak) this week, I went out on three different occasions. One morning, rigged with a trusty 1/8 oz. jig and of course a minnow, I ventured to BR/LR and fished for 40 minutes from 7:45-8:25 am and stringered three eater walleye in the 16" range. Not great, but then again 3 fish in 40 minutes isn't really BAD either. The next outing was a 2:00 pm, HEAT of the day, bright sunshine, slight chop on the water trip to the humps in Mean Lake. This time Ray rode along and armed with 1/8 oz jigs and minnows we caught 3 more walleye between 15-17" inches in just under two hours fishing. Poor fishing in general, but given the time of day and conditions it did prove to me that walleye were still catchable even in the mid afternoon heat and sun. Finally on Thursday night, Milissa and I headed out with four other boats from camp to fish our evening "hotspot".  Again fishing jigs and minnows we put 7 eaters on the stringer from 8:00-9:45 pm, released 4-5 other smallish walleye and lost two other nice eaters at the side of the boat. The other four boats caught an additional 15 walleye between them fishing a combination of minnows and crawlers. Challenging yes--but armed with the right knowledge, attitude and bait, walleye were still very catchable.

The week will certainly be remembered as the most challenging fishing we have had to date, but we have a new group of guests in this week determined not to let it happen again! Let's hope the fish are willing to cooperate more this week too.

Week of July 2-9

Wow what a great week of weather we had this past week! SUNNY, HOT, and not very windy. Add in a moderate to heavy mayfly hatch and you know where this is going. BUT WAIT, incredibly fishing held up very well during the week. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't quite like the first week of June here, but given the weather and other uncontrollable variables (bug hatch) it was actually a good to very good week of walleye fishing. 

Big fish for the week was Steve Morgan's 28" walleye.

Bob Skalla was here for his second week and although it did slow down some from last week, his family (daughter Jenny, son-in-law Matt and three grandaughters Audrey, Annie and Abbie) still caught a bunch of fish and had an excellent stay in camp. I think we've hooked some first timers on the beauty, peacefulness and decent fishing Canada offers! Wayne and Andrea Bohlmann brought a couple of their neighbor kids with them for their second year with us and had another very solid trip catching a lot of fish including a couple of great adventures to Lost Lake.

Michael Jordan (not that MJ) and his son Marcus were also back for their second year and after a couple of days fretting over the mayfly hatch found that you may have to fish a little harder, but there are still plenty of willing walleye to bite.

Steve Morgan, wife Julie and friends Darryl and Mary Lee also had a very solid week of walleye fishing. A veteran of many boundary waters trips, Darryl really enjoyed his first experience here and plans to return in 2013.

It was a special treat to have Bob Gatton back in camp with us after a 5 year hiatus. Bob turned 85 during the week, but sure didn't skip a beat when it came to catching the walleyes. Bob had been a fairly regular guest of camp since the early 1980's so it was great to have him back with us again.

Jerry Trapp and his family (Deb, Chad, Jake, Josh and Matthew) were with us for their first time also this week and it didn't take very long for them to be consistently putting walleye in their boats.

Finally the "Grangerites". Ken Sherry's crew, Scott Kinney along with wife Debbie and daughter Haley, and Chris and Rita Szweda composed the three cabin contingent from Granger, IN and showed that Hoosiers know a little about how to catch fish too. (Check out some of Scott's pics from their first ever Canadian fishing trip on our Facebook Group).

Week of June 25-July 2

The hot bite from last week continued for many guests in camp. Some more than others as is usually the case, but overall everyone did pretty well. Topping the week had to be Gar Holcomb's group from the Madison, Wi area. Don't even begin to try to tell these guys that anything is going to outfish a jig/minnow on Wabby. One hundred and thirteen dozen (yes thats 113 dozen) minnows for a group of six produced over 1,200 fish for these guys with around 500 of them walleye, by far their best year ever on Wabaskang. Big fish for the week was Steve Garrette's 28 1/2 beauty.

Bob Skalla's crew from Oklahoma including two newbies had a great week also, by far the best Bob told me since he has been coming here. He even mentioned they probably caught more 18-20" walleye this week than in the past couple of years combined.

In Wally Gutzmer's absence this year, Steve Garrette and John Rand took the reigns of leadership for their annual group and led portages to just about every water reachable from camp. They caught a lot of fish and had some incredible adventure in doing so.

Rusty Slater was back with us this year after a few years absence and along with his father and four others also had an excellent week of fishing from camp noting that it was significantly better than their last trip about 5 years ago. Always a good sign when guest comments are indicating your fishery is getting better and better.

Bill Visel and Fred Bournay from SW Michigan made this years trip a family affair bringing the wives, kids, girlfriends (their sons girlfriends not theirs, duh) and so they probably didn't fish as hard as previous years, but still did well overall.

Best bite for walleye remains in 8-14 fow with 10-12 being best of the best. As mentioned jigs/minnows were extremely productive, but many guests this week pulled crawler harnesses and also boated a bunch of fish.

Week of June 18-25

Best week of the season! As good as it has been overall this season, last week was even better. East winds pretty much all week did NOTHING to damper an incredible walleye bite until Friday when the winds died and the walleye bite slowed with it. Warren Tester and his son Brett were joined by friend Ed Hendricks and had another very solid trip this year releasing walleye as follows:

Week of June 11-18

Another very good week of walleye fishing. Better for some than others as is usually the case, but overall plenty of fish to go around with many for the fry pan while in camp and limits to take home. For those familiar with our Blog http://peffleyscamp.blogspot.com/ you may remember a feature blog last season about Bob Stromberg's crew from Seneca, SC. Well it was "Stromberg Week" again at Peffley's Camp and his crew of four after a paltry (and might I go so far as to say embarassing) 33 fish on Saturday for their two boats, they rallied to catch another 960 fish over the next 5 1/2 days comprised mostly of walleye, then northern with a few perch and smallies thrown in for good measure. Included in this were 34 walleye (all released) over 18" and all the fishing was within 15 minutes of camp. Not a record year for this crew, but they seemed happy when they left camp!

Every crew that portaged to Lost Lake also had some excellent fishing with most groups reporting catches for the day of 100-150 walleye with the majority of them in excess of 18".

 Although some excellent walleye fishing was found in places as shallow as 6-8 fow, the most consistent action trended towards 10-14 fow. Jigs, spinner rigs and plastic tails all were productive. Minnows and crawlers were also effective live bait choices.

Week of June 4-11

Walleye fishing was very good again this week despite some pretty crummy weather (especially early in the week). The water has warmed again into the low 60's and the walleye bite is becoming more aggressive almost daily. Just a couple new groups in camp this week and after a short learning curve, they were into the walleye pretty good. Big fish for the week was a beautiful 29 1/2" walleye caught by Ed Flynn, with several more for the week between 22-26". The spinner rig bite and artificials are starting to become more effective with the warming water, although jig/minnow combos did best.

Week of May 28-June 4

The weather tried its very best to make life miserable for guests this week with LOTS of rain, wind and generally very cool temperatures. Whereas surface water temps were almost 60 degrees by the end of opening week, they had cooled considerably to 52-55 degrees by weeks end this week. Walleye fishing was a little mixed this week for some guests but for most guests who fished minnows combined with small jigs and slow presentations they did very well. With cooler water, small and slow remained the best ticket. Several walleye this week over 23" to a seasons best (so far) of 28".

Opening Week

The 2011 season opened a little slower (at first) than hoped for despite relatively warm water temperatures in the upper 50's. Even though the water was warmer, the walleye remained "sluggish" early in the week with very slow presentations being most effective. Up until Tuesday, it was hunt and peck with smaller catches falling into the "plenty to eat" category. On Tuesday, the switch flipped and it was lights out walleye fishing for the balance of the week. First timers to Canada, Mark Fitzsimons and Jerid Ostrom joined the fraternity of fishing brothers that have previously discovered that until you have fished Canada, you have never really fished. The serenity, the wildlife, the wilderness and of course the fishing continue to make it an experience that anyone who loves the outdoors should try.

Spike Gross's group from the Omaha, NE area were also first timers to camp (not Canada) and had a wonderful trip while catching many fish. They plan to be with us again next year. Rick Langford and daughter Kelsie were first timers also that enjoyed their experience here.

Overall it was an excellent opening week with pretty good weather (nights are still cool), and very good fishing overall. Best walleye fishing was shallow 4-12 fow with 8-12 fow being best. Jigs and slow presentations as mentioned were the ticket.

^{Northern Pike}

^{Weeks of September 3 and September 10}

The excellent big pike bite that we had the past couple of weeks has slowed, although in reality it probably has more to do with fewer hours spent pike fishing while guests take advantage of the excellent walleye fishing. Nothing real huge over the past couple of weeks, but several pike in the 33-36" range were caught while walleye fishing.

^{Week of August 27-September 3}

The only dedicated pike fishermen in this week was, you guessed it Keith and Andy Augustine, with Andy managing to break away from work for an incredible 10 day stay with us. Good job Andy! Speaking of a good job, how do you top releasing a 44" MONSTER northern (as Andy did early in the week)? Easy, go out a couple of days later, hook up and release a 44 1/2" BRUTE. Now there is two fish that will definitely make your week! When they weren't catching the "big ones", Andy and Keith spent their afternoons casting for small fish and also released the following:

Andy-39", 36", 35", 2-34", 33", 2-32", 31" and 2-30" pike
Keith-2-36", 34", 33", 3-32", and 6-30" pike

A total of 26 pike 30 inches or better--again not their best year but with the two HUGE fish over 44" they say they want to come back! 

^{Week of August 20-27}

Pike fishing definitely made a dramatic turn for the better this week as many guests reported finally getting STRIKES from northern whereas in previous weeks we were reporting lots of FOLLOWS from the big boys. Eater size fish under slot were back on the rise from the week previous and more trophy fish over 30" were reported too including: Earl Gransee's 34", Brenda Janssen 36" and 30". This was the Augustine's second week (of three) with us and I will report their pike catches for their entire stay next week.

^{Week of June 25-July 2}

^{Pike fishing took a couple of days "off" during the week this week, but the days they were "on" resulted in some fantastic angling for them. Throwing crankbaits to reedy shorelines and emerging cabbage was good and bouncing jigs/minnows on bottom accounted for a lot of eater pike too. Brian Gensinger and John Beard both had 35" pike along with Gar Holcomb who released two 31" pike and a 30".}

^{Week of June 18-25}

^{Pike were plentiful again this week as weedbed growth comes into full swing now with water temps in the upper 60's. Joel Kraemer caught a trophy 38 1/2" pike this week for top honors. Dave Shride released a 33" pike and James Kuehl and Matt Miller each had 30 1/2" pike released.}

^{Week of June 11-18}

^{Pike fishing, like the walleye fishing was very good this week too. They did take a day or so off during the week (almost surprisingly) as guests reported a couple of days of slower action. That however did not last very long and they finished the week extremely aggressive including a number of fish for the week over 30". Greg and Perry Tonn from the Green Bay area, had northern of 34" and 31" respectively. Bob Stromberg released a 35" northern and Tom Greene released a 32".}

^{Week of June 4-11}

^{Pike fishing remained excellent again this week with many caught and released over 30", including big fish for the week a fat 39". Mostly incidental pressure on the pike this week as the walleye and tremendous smallmouth fishing kept many guests busy.}

^{Week of May 28-June 4}

^{Another excellent week for pike fishermen with a lot of fish over 30" again this week including several caught over 40" on jigs and minnows. Pike were for the most part unaffected by the decline in the weather this week and remained very aggressive. Larry Megal Jr. had a 43" northern, Harley Frank had a 42" northern and Tony Burant and Corky Branda each had 41" pike with several more for the week caught and released between 35-40" also.}

^{Opening Week}

^{A very good kick off for pike too, as we saw many pike this week over 30". Jason Myers family had a Wabaskang fishing reunion after about a 15 year absence. It was a pleasure to host them and to hear their many stories of regular trips to Wabby years ago. They certainly led the way with bigger pike this week with their party landing northern as follows:}

^{Stu Myers 34"
Steve Myers 38" and 31"
Jason Myers 2- 37" pike
Tom Myers 39"
Clark Herring 33"}

^{In addition to loads of eater pike caught by guests, some additional trophies included:}

^{Gary Kell 36"
Jerid Ostrom 38"
CJ Widmer 39 1/2" (if you want to see a great fishing picture check this one out in the gallery)
Cotten Prescott 34 1/2"}

Smallmouth Bass

Weeks of September 3 and September 10

Much like the perch fishing, the smallies have sort of gone back on a binge again with guests reporting catching footballs from many areas around camp in the 17-19" range.

Week of August 20-27

No dedicated fishing pressure this week although guests did report some incidental smallmouth catches including Greg Murphy's 17 1/2" beauty. 

Week of August 6-13

Only a few folks fishing for smallies this week but a few very nice fish caught including the seasons biggest fish to date a 21" hog caught by first timer Harry DeLeeuw. Several others in the 16-18" range were caught this week too. 

 Week of July 30-August 6

Week of June 25-July 2

Bill Visel released a huge 20" smallie this week and also had a 16" fish. Greg Gensinger released an 18" smallie and Hugh Cowen released a 16" fish too otherwise not a lot of action on the post spawn smallie front.

Week of June 11-18

No smallmouth pressure from camp guests during the week. A couple of incidental fish in the 16-18" range were caught while fishing for walleye and pike, including Dave Garrison's 19 and 17" beauties, Tom Greene had a nice 18" release and Larry Madden a 17 incher. 

Week of June 4-11

Smallmouth began to set up on beds more consistently this week and a couple of groups in camp teed off on them pretty good. Scott VandeGriends party after missing last year was anxious to get back on some good smallie action and they did catching many footballs around 18". Same can be said for Bob Cuskaden's crew from Granger, IN and northern Indiana area. After wondering the first couple of days if there were really smallmouth in Wabaskang they found them later in the week and ended up with 51 smallies over 16", including a good number of 18" fish and reports of a couple of doubleheaders with fish over 18".

Smallmouth remain pre-spawn staging near bedding areas and becoming increasing aggressive. Several cabins this week reported good to excellent action on smallies including a new group from Illinois and Texas that reported catching about 30 of them on Friday alone most of those over 16".

Opening Week

As usual most of the smallies caught this week were "hoggish", mostly over 16" and fat. These of course were released as they are size protected until July 1. They weren't heavily pressured this week but a dozen or so were caught in limited time spent fishing for them.

Lake Trout and Perch

Weeks of September 3 and September 10

The week of September 3rd was a great week for jumbo perch fishing as two Wisconsin groups did very well targeting these slabs. Dennis Pahl's group of five went home with their 250 fish limit and there were not very many (if any) "dinks" among them. One of the most impressive weeks catches we have seen in a while. Similar results for Mark DeByls crew of five, who, while not targeting perch as much as the other group--still managed to take home 150 great big ones too. 

Week of July 16-23

The perch bite seems to be getting better and better with each passing week although you still have to work to find which weed bed the big ones are hiding in. Tom Bauters family had good success taking home over 100 perch for the week and several other groups in camp who spent time targeting them reported catches from 10-40 fish per outing.

Week of June 18-June 25

Very little fishing time spent pursuing perch this week. Warren Tester's crew did get a couple dozen BIG perch in the 12-13" range pulling crawler harnesses for walleye. Brian Lux, the camp lake trout pro, was able to get his group of six their 12 lake trout to take home this week.

Week of June 11-June 18

Perch were still a little scattered along the northern shores of the lake. The Tonn group did pursue them a couple of days and ended up going home with about 75 of them all over 10". Small jigs tipped with crawler bits were best.

Week of June 4-June 11

No fishing pressure this week on these species, although Devon Sherer from Rochester, IN did catch a nice 22" eater lake trout by accident while walleye fishing.

Week of May 28-June 4

Lake trout fishing pressure diminished significantly this week with only one group reporting any success on lakers by catching four during the one day they targeted them.

Perch fishing, despite the variable weather, also improved significantly with a couple of groups reported good success in catching some jumbo perch in excess of 10". Small jigs and crawler bit or minnow chunks worked well in shallow water.

Opening Week

Lake trout fishing, almost surprisingly with relatively warm water, remained very good shallow with about a dozen lakers being caught this week. See Don Strafford's picture of three nice eaters in the gallery and I hope soon to have the picture of Chuck Casper's beautiful 34" laker taken this week.

Perch fishing was tough with only one group fishing for them on a limited basis.