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Please scroll the entire page for reports on walleye, northern and smallmouth.
 Walleye
Week of August 21-28th, 2010
Strong winds threatened to put a damper on our guests trips this week early in the week, as the winds blew pretty good Saturday, Sunday and Monday. To our luck the walleye stacked up in the narrows, producing easy limits of fish for many guests who didn't want to travel more than 3 minutes from camp in the wind. Others barreled off to the big lake or Mean Lake and also did very well. Don Thompson's annual crew of six from Indiana and Wisconsin mentioned they "just couldn't get it going consistently this week", right before they handed me their fish count sheet that totalled 789 walleyes for the week. Yea, I hate it when the fishing is that inconsistent too! A few of their releases included Don Thompson's 20 1/2" eye, Mark Rowley 2-18" walleyes, Nick Maier- 20 and 18" walleyes, Dave Thompson a 21 1/2" walleye, Jim Brading an 18" walleye and Mel Rowley an 18" walleye and two 20 1/2" eyes.
Paul Holt's crew from St. Louis, Chicago and North Carolina joined us for the first time and caught a lot of fish and thoroughly enjoyed their stay. Carl Detwiler and Joe Baumgartner (who had visited camp before with their sons) this time brought their wives Evelyn and Brenda along. Brenda started out by catching a nice walleye on her first cast into Canadian waters. You gotta love it when that happens! The Augustine family completed their three week stay with son Andy in for the final week and released some nice walleye as follows: Andy 25, 22", Esther 24, 22, 22, 21, 20" and Keith 23", 21, 21, 21, 21, and a 20".
Second timers from the Minneapolis area were Earl Gransee's crew who learned even more places to catch fish here on Wabby with Gary DeGrote releasing a nice 20" walleye, Earl Gransee a 19" walleye and Tom Holtman an 18" eye.
Paul DeVoe and son Steve were joined by Roger Graham on their first trip to camp and it sure didn't take these guys long to start catching fish. They didn't stop all week either. They had a fantastic trip and caught fish every day and evening except Thursday evening when they took the night off because "their arms were aching" from all the walleye they caught back at Lost Lake. Eighty-eight of them to be exact with Steve posing the question when they returned "does that lake have any small walleye in it?"
Certain areas were consistently producing fish right around 16 fow, while others did well fishing deeper structure from 24-30 fow. Jigs/minnows/crawlers all took fish as well as spinners again this week.
Week of August 14-21st, 2010
With some MORE rain and cooler evenings, surface water temps dropped to around 65 degrees this week and our trend of excellent walleye fishing got even better. Sixteen feet was the magic depth for many guests who were saying if you fished around 16 feet almost anywhere around the north end of the lake you were gonna catch some walleye. Jigs and spinner rigs continued to do most of the damage. All this despite some rainy and windy weather for the first several days of the week--which didn't seem to faze Don and Janet Boyer and John and Betty Ball who on Sunday morning left camp against strong westerly winds to brave the conditions in Mean Lake. These crazy kids (all in their 70's) fought their way across Mean Lake to fish the western shore and returned shortly thereafter with two very impressive stringers of walleye. Tony Schippers and his father Marv with friends Steve Williams and Dale Vos caught a BUNCH of fish this week as they usually do and took home a bunch of 17 3/4" walleye. Terry Fricks crew from northern Indiana took a couple of days (in the rougher weather) to pull the whole "walleye thing" together, but it wasn't long and they were catching 'eyes like a bunch of seasoned pro's. Howard Hlina and his son Dan also were in camp with us for the first time, and by Saturday night had caught more fish than their entire 7 day trip two years ago to a different location. Overall many great stringers of 16-18" walleye again this week with big fish honors going to Rick Janssen who released a 26" beauty.
Week of August 7-14th, 2010
Another excellent week of walleye fishing. Carl Stonoff and wife Bert who have been fixtures at camp for many, many years (usually 2-3 wks a year) had a great week of walleye fishing in Mean Lake and on the big lake. Seems everywhere they went walleye were there. Mark Timm and Gary Schwartzbauer's group of four have been coming to camp about 5 years and left saying as good as their fishing has always been, this was there best year ever, boating about 60 walleyes one evening alone. Keith and Esther Augustine are here for their first of three weeks in camp. Of course this is only Keith's 33rd year here so despite still learning the lake they did manage to catch walleye every time out. Mike Gerwels crew from Elkhart, IN had one of their best years here as did newcomers Chet Chamberlain and his three sons from the Milwaukee area with Chet commenting at one time in camp " I can't believe how many walleyes we are catching in August". Harold Ehrenreich's crew from Wisconsin enjoyed their second visit to camp and picked right up where they left off last year catching even more fish this year. Todd Pinegar, son Jordan and friends gathered for their second trip to camp this year and did excellent. Other "newbies" Brian Kendrick, Sue Martin, Dustin Masters and Stephanie Mullins also enjoyed a great trip to camp this being the first time to Canada for the ladies. Word has it they'll be back!
The walleye bite remains split between rock structure and weed edge bites. Most mornings and evenings produced good walleye catches on and around weedbeds, while mid-day structure fishermen did well fishing a little deeper breaks in 14-26 fow. The structure bite definitely took off more this week for mid-day fishermen. Spinner rigs with twister tails, minnows or crawlers all took fish, as did jig/minnow combos and some crankbaits.
Week of July 31-August 7th, 2010
Very good week for walleye fishermen/women. When you can (like John Maier from St. Joseph, Mi) did and catch four 17 to 17 1/2" walleyes in 20 minutes trolling a crankbait right off the rocks in front of your cabin you know the bite is going pretty darn good. Great numbers of eater fish reported this week including several groups who easily boated from 25 to 50 fish an evening per boat. Weed beds remain the best around 13 fow for numbers of fish with minnows and crawlers both producing fish. Deeper structure also produced fish with better numbers this week. Little Joe spinners tipped with live bait or twister tails were also very productive this week. Mid-day bite continues to get better and better every week although early mornings and evenings were still the very best. More evidence of that changing this week as (Sat and Sun) as guests are bringing in walleye all day long.
Week of July 24-31st, 2010
As much as I would like to say that the walleye bite continued to make improvement in leaps and bounds this week, it didn't. It did however, remain very steady for those who realized that during the heat, sun and calm water conditions the best time for walleyes isn't during "bankers hours." CJ Holbrook (see feature story on our blog) fished with Dave Faeth a 33 year veteran of camp on Friday evening and boated 22 walleyes in short order. I took Megan, Emily and Allison out Friday evening too for about an hour and a half easily putting eight nice eaters on the stringer for us. Ed Rhoades and wife Mildred were joined by friends Richard and Evelyn Morgan for a great trip to camp. Veterans of many Canadian fishing trips, Ed couldn't say enough about how nice and clean everything is kept including the fish house, and was quite pleased with the quality of fishing they had. Coming from Missouri that hadn't had many opportunities to eat yellow perch, but found out very quickly just how tasty this panfish is. Wayne and Andrea Bohlmann from Wisconsin brought their neighbor Doug Mohr along with them on their first trip to camp and had an excellent time, including a couple of great adventures back to Lost Lake. Curt Whitlatch (California) brought his father Rex (Colorado) and son Sean with him to camp this year and had a very nice three generation family trip. Steve Joseph and his father Ed from Wisconsin were first timers who had an excellent trip this week as did Mike Manthe and Ken Gehl's crew from Wisconsin also. Bob and Paul Gilpatrick were a hoot to have in camp and seemed content to catch what they could on a very leisurely vacation pace proving it isn't always the NUMBER of fish you catch that determines how good your trip is. Finally Alan Butrick and Bruce Tucker were great sports in camp, moving to the overflow cabin to accommodate another group in camp. These guys definitely put in their time on the water and with very good results for first timers.
The pattern pretty much stayed on course with last week.
Week of July 17-24th, 2010
Walleye fishing continues to get better and better with this week showing even more signs of consistency in the bite and overall numbers of fish boated. When you walk into the fish house in the morning and all the gut buckets are chock full and heaps of walleye carcasses remain on the cleaning table from the last group in the night before, you know it's been a good day on the water! Guests were reporting morning and evening limits pretty consistently during the week AND the mid-day bite also showed signs of picking up during the week too. Ben Rexing's church crew of eleven from the Kansas City area really stepped up and showed just how easy it is to arrive with many first timers on Wabby and start catching fish. These guys caught quite a few fish during their stay. The same could be said for Jeff Miller's crew from Granger, IN. Six first timers ventured up to camp from northern Indiana and spent little time getting on the walleye and perch. Joe Weiler's family of eight had a fantastic week of fishing and thoroughly enjoyed their visit to camp as did Phil and Kandy Schumaker and Kandy's nephew Matt. Tom Bauter's family from Akron, IN was also in camp with us again this year and despite not fishing real hard, still caught a lot of fish.
Two distinct bites continued from last week. Deep weed edges around 12 fow were producing walleyes for jig/minnow/crawler rigs and little joes. Deeper rock structure also was yielding some walleye. Numbers were better around the weeds, quality was better around the deeper rock structure in 14-20 fow.
Week of July 10-17th, 2010
The morning and evening bite was good again this week for walleye anglers, with mid-day periods of bright sunshine and warmth being a little tougher. The week ended with some wind to help break up the calm surface waters which also helped to create some better conditions for walleye fishing. Several new groups in camp this week, including Michael Jordan and son Marcus from Arena, Wi and Ken Bloomenrader's crew from Owatonna, Mn and Dean Evans' family from Princeton, IL. Fishing varied somewhat for these groups in terms of success, but overall everyone caught plenty to eat and take home. Two bites were best this week- weed edges around 12 fow with jigs/minnows or crawlers and deeper rock structure in the 14-20 fow range. Some fish were also taken by guests casting crankbaits. Jeff Merideth and his father returned to camp after nearly a 30 year absence and had a great time.
Week of July 3-10th, 2010
Overall a pretty solid week of walleye fishing especially for our guests who worked the water a little harder. John Morgan's family and a few friends were up this week (John owned the camp from 1978-1991) and fished all over, portaging to many different lakes and caught a lot of fish everywhere they went including decent numbers of walleyes in the 25-26" range with the biggest being Mark Morgan's 29". A couple of new groups in camp this week also, with the threesome of Jack, Steve and Ben Andersen from the Madison, Wi area putting together a very good trip for "newbies". In fact, Ben (13 years old) started out one morning with a little "pre-fishing" from the dock and cooly fought and landed a nice 20" walleye between the boats. Good job Ben! Setting the bar however, was Ben's father Steve, who started out his trip with a nice 23" walleye from just around the corner of camp in Miller's Bay. My daughter Megan wasn't quite as fortunate as she had an even nicer ( I would estimate about a 22" eye) get off right at the edge of the dock. In any event, great fun for all whether fishing from the dock or out in the boat. One of the best bites remains in shallow water on weed edges or inside weed edges in 8-10 fow. The deeper ridges and humps were also producing as the Morgan crew found some nice 'eyes this week on the ridge by Sally's Island in the 19-21" range. Jig/minnows were by far the best again this week.
Week of June 26-July 3rd, 2010
Sorry for the delay in getting this report done. Spending a little extra quality time with the wife and girls in camp this week! I would say the walleye fishing was just "good" overall this week, with my apologies to Fran and Mary VanHoorweghe who would probably take exception to me just calling the walleye fishing "good". (Refer to the story on our Blog) A little inconsistent day to day and for the most part tougher during the mid-day timeframe. Lot's more rain (really we don't need any more), hampered some time on the water this week too. Remarkably the best bite was in 9 fow this week although some of the structure fishermen reported decent success in water depths of 14-20 feet also. The keys for the groups in camp doing the best this week was "slow and small". Fish the smallest bait you can and fish it as slow as possible. Typical mayfly hatch pattern. The hatch appears to be wrapping up and with a break in the weather from mostly sunny and hot, I suspect things will really start to build steam around here soon.
Week of June 19-26th, 2010
The convergence of three factors did actually dent the awesome walleye fishing we have been having to a degree this week. As mentioned in last weeks report, the mayfly hatch started and continued this week although to be honest the hatch is looking to be pretty moderate this year and unless a second wave happens it appears it might be nearly over. More detrimental in my opinion to the fishing this week was the abundant sunshine, warm weather and almost complete lack of wind. Barely a ripple on the water many days this week. Despite these tougher conditions our guests all did very well, including our brand new group of six from the Minneapolis area that arrived on Saturday and by Sunday afternoon were in my office asking about how they go about rebooking for the 2011 season AND would there be another cabin available so they could expand their party to ten! As much as I would like to attribute that to my charming personality, a quick reality check tells me the answer lies in the beauty of our remote, serene setting and of course the excellent fishing we have so close to camp. Either way, these guys fell in love with the camp and the fishing here and can't wait to come back.
The catches for the week were a nice blend of plenty of eater walleye with a good mix of bigger fish that our guests happily released to fight another day. We continue to be appreciative of our guests who realize that these quality breeder fish really are the future of our fisheries. Best water depths for walleye again this week were around 12 fow. Lost Lake, as it almost always, does left our guests coming back to camp just shaking their heads and saying "unbelievable".
Week of June 12-19th, 2010
The walleye fishing this week remained very good. I don't think as good for sheer numbers as the past several weeks, but realistically you just can't expect the fishing to be THAT good forever. Although numbers were down a little, the quality of fish caught was still excellent. The mayflys started hatching about mid week in moderate numbers on the north end of the lake and not enough to really impact any catches yet. The surface water temps with a couple of warms days ballooned to almost 75 degrees (recent rains again have cooled it back down some.) To put it in perspective, we had one new group in camp this week-Dave LaDuke's family from Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois and Indiana convened for their first trip to camp and caught over 200 walleyes for the week and 300 northern. Sounds like a decent trip for someone's first trip and who is still learning the water. The regulars of course all did very well too with Warren Tester commenting that in the five years they have been coming to camp this was their best year ever, of course Warren also released a 27" walleye which doesn't hurt matters any. Other notable releases for the week:
Aaron Bonk 27" and 23" walleyes
Alex Bonk 23" and 21" walleyes
John Johnson 23" walleye
Marty Bonk 2-23" walleyes, 22", 21" and 2-19"
Wes Zimmerman 23", 2-22"
Ryan Zimmerman 21 1/2"
Bill Weaver 23"
Andy Weaver 23"
Shannon Weaver 21"
Cody Weaver 23 1/2"
Don Moravec 22", 21", 20" 19"
Ron Goodin 24" 22", 21", 2-19"
Don Goodin 21"
Jerry Biernat 22"
Charles LaDuke 26"
Week of June 5-12th, 2010
Pretty darn good. That sums it up for this week. If you haven't already read the blog about the kids from South Carolina check that out, but in the meantime, they weren't the only guys in camp catching fish. The Glime's crew from the Green Bay, Wi area had another great trip this year (second visit to camp) and were telling me early in the week how many consecutive casts they were catching walleyes on. Since it's already been implied once this week that I am a liar--I won't even mention how many walleyes over 18" they caught back at Lost Lake (nobody would believe me anyway-unless you are a guest who has fished it for yourself). We had another guy in camp this week that knows a little bit about fishing Wabaskang too. Jerry Lundy (former camp owner 1992-2004) left on Friday saying this "was the best week of fishing I have ever had here". Pretty decent testimonial for a guy with nearly 20 years experience on Wabaskang. Excellent action still in less than 10 feet of water up to 12 feet. The deep hole around the island out front of camp was really good last week as was the rockpile around the little island south of camp.
Week of May 29-June 5th, 2010
The best week of the year... so far. In fact, pretty much to a man/woman in camp it was one of their best weeks ever, and that includes some of our annual guests who have been coming to camp this same week for 15-20 years. That really says alot. In addition to our normal hotspots, we had several other great spots really turn on this week that had many a guest in camp saying it was one of those "a fish on every cast" places. Always a good sign when you are finding even more spots that are producing good numbers of fish so close to camp. Recent rains have cooled water temps back to the upper 50's to low 60's now and the bite remains very good in around 10 fow. Some fish are being taken deeper also. Minnows, crawlers and twister tails all were good this week. Pete Paruch's family and group from St. Joseph, Michigan fished right out in front of camp ( literally a three minute boat ride from camp) on Sunday which was a terribly windy, cool and rainy miserable type day and caught 89 walleyes in just a few hours. In addition to the excellent numbers of fish reported throughout the week, it was also our best week of the season for big fish with a partial list of the following releases:
Bob Bowen- 30" walleye, 23", 21 1/2", 20"
Sandy Bowen-29", 23", 21" walleyes
Jon Earll-27" walleye
Tom VanHeesbeke-26" walleye
Pete Paruch 25" walleye
Zach Paruch 25" walleye
Bonnie Sparr 25", 21" walleyes
Raphael Lockyer 23" walleye
Cathy Connor 23" 2-21" walleyes
John Connor 21" walleye
Mike Yates 22" walleye
Charlie Sparr 21" walleye
Mary Earll 19 1/2" walleye
Dave Earll 19 1/2" walleye
Week of May 22-29th, 2010
Walleye fishing this week just kept getting better. Despite lot's of sunshine and some pretty hot days, it was another very good week overall. In fact, we woke up Tuesday to light winds and bluebird skies. This after a pretty impressive soaking rain and lightning storm Monday night and overnight. First thought on the dock was "oh boy, passing front gives way to bluebird skies and light winds-gonna be a tougher day". It was. Tougher on the fishermen's arms that is, as guests reported one of the best days fishing the entire week just hammering walleyes all over around camp. Ray and I even got in on the action Sunday night fishing "Peffley's Point" for about an hour and a half catching 25 walleyes including releasing 2-20", 4-19", 1-18 1/2" and an 18" 'eye. Jigs and minnows did most of the damage this week again fished around rock structure in 6-10 fow although about 8 fow was best. Emerging weedbeds (water temps now approaching 70 degrees in main lake areas!) also produced a bunch of walleyes this week. With some more rain in the forecast for early next week and more moderate temps, I would expect things to get even better.
Week of May 15-22, 2010
What a difference a year makes! In the weather that is. Last year opened with snow and cold temps, while this year was an (excuse the pun) polar opposite, with abundant sunshine, highs in the 70's to near 80 all week. I have worn shorts and tank tops more this week in camp than I think I did the entire month of July last year. Ok, enough about the weather and my fashion trends, let's get to the good stuff.
The walleye bite was very good pretty much all week. I think the abundant sunshine, warm temps and light winds certainly provided less than ideal fishing conditions (at least for the fish), but despite that the walleye remained pretty cooperative all week with good catches reported from every group in camp including our first timers in Ken Wieczorek's group. Veterans of many Canadian fishing trips-they were thrilled with their first visit to camp and are already planning an even larger group (this year had 8) for the 2012 season. Jigging and trolling were both very productive this week with most fish concentrated in the 8-12 fow range. One group had some success fishing blade baits and slip bobbers were also productive.
A lot of great eaters this week included in the many limit catches brought into camp. In addition, we had a good number of fish in the 20-23" range that were released by our guests this week.
Water temps rose from about 50 degrees on opening day to a current temp in most main lake areas of around 65 degrees. As I mentioned, we had ALOT of sunshine this week. The next change in this weather pattern should really light things up even more.
 Northern Pike
Week of August 21-28th, 2010
Pike were very aggressive again this week as the cooler water temps have really started to light them up. In addition to the Augustines casting for the big fella's and getting a few: Keith- 41, 38, 34, 5-32's, 3-31's and 3-30's; Andy a 34" and 31" and Esther a 32", other guests reported great pike fishing action too. Greg Murphy released 35" and 31" northerns, Gary DeGrote a 28" northern, Robert Wright a nice 39 1/2" northern and Rodney Wright had a 36 1/2" and 30 1/2" pike. Big crankbaits fished over open water adjacent to the diminishing weed beds were best, in-line spinners were good also and even the walleye anglers found a few big pike on jigs/minnows.
Week of August 14-21st, 2010
The pike really went nuts this week. One of those everywhere on everything kind of weeks for most guests who were impressed on the fast action the pike provided. Two of the new groups in camp reported easily catching 20-30 pike a morning or afternoon with many in the great eating range of 23-27". Big fish for the week COULD HAVE BEEN the monster that decided to eat the 14" walleye I had on out in Mean Lake. This big fella had the whole walleye down except the head and did not want to let go. Got it to the boat three times, before it finally relented and spit the walleye. Always exciting!
Week of August 7-14th, 2010
The really big pike again remained somewhat elusive, although the continued benefit of the slot size on pike was again quite noticeable as good numbers of guests caught and released fish in the 28-35" range. The combination of extremely high water levels and warm surface temps (approx 75 degrees) on Wabaskang this year has really increased the forage options for predator fish (pike obviously included) as baitfish are finding more comfort in deeper, open waters than in weedbeds. Perch fishermen will attest to this as the weed edge bite for perch has been much more sporadic this season. This weeks forecast is for cooler temps and more cloud cover which is sure to spark the northern and walleye fishing even more.
Week of July 31st-August 7th, 2010
Ironically the guests casting for pike this week seemed to struggle catching many pike. Walleye fishermen however, reported excellent action on live bait (minnows) fished on jigs at the edge of cabbage weed beds. Bob Pellow did release a very nice 37" fish this week. Matt Maier released a 36" and 33" fish and Dave Lorman released a 31 1/2" northern. Ryder Zielke also released a 30" fish.
Week of July 24-31st, 2010
Lot's of action again this week on pike including a number of fish over 30". Some caught incidental to walleye fishing others caught by throwing cranks and spinners over deep weed beds.
Week of July 17-24th, 2010
Joe Weiler's family spent a lot of time casting for big northern this week. Joe took top honors for the week with a 41 1/2" beauty and also releasing fish 35 1/4, 33 1/2, 32 1/4, and 31 3/4". Ed Weiler lost a huge northern (estimated at 48") at the boat, but did land a 36" fish and another 30 1/2". Mom Weiler (Arlett) joined the over 30 family club with a 30 1/4" fish as did Joe's nephew Alex Marth who released a 30" northern. Larry Dawson who was with Wynn Henderson on their first trip to camp also released a beautiful 38" northern.
The big fish were definitely lurking on the deep edge of weed beds and were willing to chase, swirl or smack on in-line spinners, big cranks and spoons.
Week of July 10-17th, 2010
Nothing huge this week, although several fish were caught casting cranks and spinners over weed beds in the 35-40" range.
Week of July 3-10th, 2010
Similar to last week in that we really didn't have any guests throwing big hardware at the northern. Jack Mendell and his wife Nancy did however discover that while fishing topwater baits for smallies that the pike would provide a lot of fun and action as they would explode on topwater baits. Numbers were most definitely back on the rise again this week and should only continue to get better as the summer progresses.
Week of June 26-July 3rd, 2010
Nothing huge this week on the northern front. Linn Thoen did release a nice 38" northern and Aubrey Lukas caught her biggest fish ever, a beautiful 34 1/2" northern. For once, I would have to say even the northern seemed to be off the feed slightly this last week. Just like the walleye fishing, expect this to change again soon as these eating machines will soon be turning on again with a ravenous appetite.
Week of June 19-26th, 2010
The pike, as usual, just seemed oblivious to the mayfly hatch, sunshine, warm weather and calm lake. They are gonna eat regardless. Many very good eater pike taken this week along with some good slot fished released as well as several trophies over 40" including the nice 40" caught and released by Nick Roundis. Nick also released a good looking 36" pike this week as well.
Week of June 12-19th, 2010
Numbers of really big pike this week were down, however Jason Howard did release a 42" brute. Most other pike were caught incidentally by walleye fishermen including Caleb LaDuke's 33" pike and twin brother Joshua LaDukes 31" pike. Bill and Andy Weaver both released 30" northern this week also. Incredible numbers again on the great eating 24-27" under slot fish.
Week of June 5-12th, 2010
I think more than ever before we are seeing, in addition to the truly trophy size northern over 40", more and more fish in the 30-34" range. A very good sign that the slot fish are progressing and growing nicely. Joanna Richards caught an enormous 43" pike this week and Tom Greene (one of the South Carolina "kids") had a dandy 41" too. Otherwise, plenty of action on the great eaters although Stoney and Bert did mention that they actually struggled one day getting there last two northerns for shore lunch. Good thing they ended up catching them or it would have been peanut butter & jelly for me for lunch instead of delicious northern in Bert's homemade batter. Yum, yum........
Week of May 29-June 5th, 2010
Pike absolutely everywhere was the consensus again this week amongst camp guests. Average size much better with a lot of great eating 24-27" inchers taken this week. Pike (even the big ones) remained very susceptible to simple jig presentations again this week . Some notable releases for the week were:
Jon Earll (yes, same guy who also released a 27" walleye)- 41" northern (Not a bad week Jon!)
Sandy Bowen (yes same gal who also released a 29" walleye)- 40" pike (Not a bad week either Sandy!)
Bill Smits- 38" northern
James Palen, JR- 34" northern
Eric Wroblewski- 33" and 32" northerns
Dave Earll- 33" northern
Mark Barns- 32" northern
Week of May 22-29th, 2010
Incredible action this week on the green slimers. Very aggressive around the weedbeds we had many very nice fish up to 30" caught casting crankbaits and fishing jigs/minnows. Besides the ever present action fish < 30", the bigger fish also really started to light up more this week with guests catching numerous fish in the 33, 35, 38, and 40" ranges.
Week of May 15-22, 2010
The pike bite (as usual on Wabby) was all over the place as guests reported catching many northern from just about every place they fished on the lake. Casting cranks and spoons over old weed beds and dragging spinner rigs were productive this week. Shoreline trollers were kept busy with lot's of action on pike this week also.
 Smallmouth Bass
Week of August 21-28th, 2010
We saw some really nice smallies caught again this week, not fantastic in terms of numbers of fish, but certainly excellent in terms of the quality of the fish caught and of course the fights they provided. Most fish this week were in the 16 1/2-18" range again-leaving everyone talking about how fat and feisty these smallies are and of course how much fun they were to catch.
Week of August 14-21st, 2010
Jerry Ball released a nice 18" smallie this week and several other guests reported scattered action on fish in the 16-18" range while walleye fishing.
Week of August 7-14th, 2010
Not many guests in camp fishing smallies this week. Mike Gerwels did cast throughout the week and had several fish on, but the fish won the battles this year.
Week of July 31st-August 7th, 2010
Dave and Ron Lorman both released very nice 17" smallies and Dave Getsfried's crew had good success on smallies this week landing several over 18". Smallies are starting to relate to drop offs in a little deeper water, but once found they are susceptible to medium/deep running cranks and soft plastics.
Week of July 24-31st, 2010
Not many guests in camp terrorizing the smallies again this week, but CJ Holbrook and little brother Ben along with their Dad, did manage to teach a few of them a lesson this week including CJ's real nice 18 1/2" fish.
Week of July 17-24th, 2010
The smallies were not heavily targeted this week, but just about every group in camp reported some success with catching a few. Of course the few that were caught were all of the chunky, mean-spirited variety ranging in size from 16-20". Several guests reported catching a smallie only to look down and see 5-6 more trailing that fish on the way to the net as smallies are known to do. Almost as exciting as a big northern following a bait to the boat.
Week of July 10-17th, 2010
Probably the best week for numbers of smallies since the very early (pre-spawn) part of the season. Many fish caught this week and lots of those in the 16-21" range, including Raphael's beauty caught Thursday night that was just short of 21".
Week of July 3-10th, 2010
Rumor has it the smallies are biting in places accessible by boat also, but the dock bite continued to also provide a lot of thrills for guests in camp this week including our girls who had a blast fighting a few more of these bruisers. Jack and Nancy Mendell also had some decent success on smallies throwing a lot of topwater baits this week for them.
Week of June 26-July 3rd, 2010
Still a little scattered post-spawn, the smallies pattern should start to gain consistency in the next couple of weeks. Even the dock bite has been a little inconsistent so far, although I was down with the girls the other night and six consecutive times we put a bobber in the water it went under in less than 15 seconds with another 15-17" smallie. Great fun to fight and release them all for other guests to wrestle with.
Week of June 19-26th, 2010
The first of the smallies have moved in under the docks now. Allison my eight year old daughter got the first one and lost another while perch fishing from the dock the other night. Otherwise there wasn't a lot of pressure on smallies this week from our guests, but almost everything caught was over size limit (until July 1) including Ben Bournay's dandy 19 1/2" brute.
Week of June 12-19th, 2010
As the smallmouth continue their post-spawn recovery and start setting up more consistently in their mid-summer spots-numbers overall remained down this week. But as usual, what was lacking in numbers was made up for in quality with some really healthy smallies caught this week, none more impressive than Fran LaDuke's 21" bronzeback. Be sure to check out the photo gallery for a glimpse of this beauty! Shannon and Andy Weaver both released 18 1/2" bruisers this week too.
Week of June 5-12th, 2010
Some real pigs caught this week despite fairly limited pressure on them. Most of the fish were easily in the 17-20" range this week. Bob Roose from Mishawaka, IN had a real dandy as did fishing companions Ken Fozo (Bristol) and Jason Cauffman (New Carlisle)
Week of May 29-June 5th, 2010
With the incredible action this week on walleye and pike, the smallmouth were sort of a forgotten species. The Bowen party did land a handful of big smallies as did a couple of other groups in camp this week. Today as the Bowen, Connor and Sparr parties are shopping for merchandise they informed me of catching 19 smallies on spinnerbaits including some brutes in the 18-21" range. Notable releases for the week:
Bob Bowen- 21", 20" 3-19", 5-18", 5- 17 1/2" and 6-17"
Cathy Connor- 17 1/2"
Sandy Bowen- 17"
Bonnie Sparr- 17"
Charlie Sparr- 16"
Week of May 22-29th, 2010
Rapidly warming water temps has guests reporting a lot of activity of smallies already on their beds making the bite a little tougher and more fishermen in camp reluctant to really pressure them. Several groups did report good action on smallies in the limited time spent fishing them this year.
Week of May 15-22, 2010
Only a few smallies caught this week as most of fishing pressure was on walleye and pike. Look for this to change in coming weeks as some of our more serious bass fishermen will be arriving to put their annual "whoopin" on the bronzebacks.
Lake Trout and Perch
Week of July 31-August 7th, 2010
I don't know whether it is a testament to the great walleye fishing or an indictment of the slower perch fishing this year when a guest (Ron Lorman) tells you "it's easier to catch walleye than perch right now". I guess when you can say that and STILL go home (four guys) with 192 perch, it's a pretty good problem to have. Not many other groups in camp focusing on perch this week, but some scattered jumbos caught by most guests while walleye fishing. Perch still relating to weed beds (around 6-8 fow) and taking crawlers and minnows fished on small jigs or by slip bobbering.
Week of July 24-31st, 2010
Just a couple of groups in camp taking advantage of the tremendous population of big perch here in Wabaskang this week. Those who did, took home a bunch (though complete limits were still a little tough to come by), and found that they make an excellent supplement to walleye and northern on the dinner table. Like the walleye, same pattern(s) as last week produced fish.
Week of July 17-24th, 2010
A nice continuation of the upward trend that started last week, with several groups in camp targeting perch and doing very well. Phil Schumaker, wife Kandy and nephew Matt went home with 144 nice jumbos for the week. Not bad for first timers. Joe Weiler's family caught some perch in decent numbers too, including some over 13" that we also measured back to belly at over 4" , some truly impressive specimens. Jeff Miller's first time crew also had decent success on the perch. Slip bobbering shallow weed beds and small jigs fished slowly around the weed edges produced fish. A couple of groups did comment that although all the perch liked worm scraps, the really BIG perch liked the minnows best.
Week of July 10-17th, 2010
Perch fishing started to pick up consistency again this week, with most guys targeting them doing pretty well. Individual limits of the great big ones still a little tough to come by this year, but several cabins took home 70-100 perch this week.
Week of July 3-10th, 2010
No fishing pressure from guests at all on these species this week.
Week of June 19-26th, 2010
Perch catches improved this week from previous weeks as it looks like they may be starting to school up a little tighter. Still required some searching but every group in camp that fished for perch reported good to excellent success. Ironically, guests reported that nightcrawlers did not stand a chance this week when perch fishing as the perch were definitely on a minnow bite.
Week of June 12-19th, 2010
Perch still seem to be a little more scattered than usual for this time of year, but the LaDuke party still managed to get about 70 real nice take homers, including a dandy 15" caught by Cory Cypher. Lake trout action was excellent back on Wine Lake this week for one party in camp.
Week of June 5-12th, 2010
Very limited fishing pressure on perch this week as sometimes is the case when the walleye fishing is off the charts. As we progress into the warmer summer months we should start to see some pretty impressive catches more consistently.
Week of May 29-June 5th, 2010
Excellent perch fishing this week was a nice supplement to the action on walleye and pike this week. As usual the majority of perch were 10" and better.
Week of May 22-29th, 2010
As mentioned last week, the shallow laker bite was almost over before it even started this year with the rapidly warming water. The perch bite however just keeps getting better. Several groups in camp this week fished the perch and did very well with almost everything kept in the 10-13" range. Mean Lake weedbeds proved to be hot fishing small jigs tipped with a piece of crawler or minnow. The big lake bays also were yielding some decent catches of perch.
Week of May 15-22, 2010
Only a few lakers caught this week as the quickly warming water temps put a damper on our usually good shallow lake trout action. Perch however were very cooperative. Not bunched up in great numbers, it required a little searching and hopping around but two groups in camp did very well on perch by fishing small jigs with bits of crawlers and slip bobbering crawlers and leeches around old reed beds.
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