Report July 21 through 26

Got back from Camp last night. We had a great time, as always. Gail and Steve, and all the staff were great. Can't say that enough, but the service is always top notch, and the new faces in camp fit right in. Thanks for everything, including the emergency boat repairs, the use of the clothes dryer, and all the other assists. When we started fishing on Sunday the 21st, the water temps were in the 72 to 74 range. When we pulled out the boats on Friday the 26th, the water temps were in the mid 60s. The falling water temps and the ever changing weather made the musky fishing challenging. Day 1 we found lots of muskies on all the usual summer time spots -- rock reefs, points and islands. That night a strong thunderstorm rolled through dropping lots of rain and also dropping the air and water temps. That also resulted in sporadic muskie sitings. The rest of the week, we would find a fish or 2 on a spot and wouldn't see them again for a couple of days, then they would be back. That made it hard to hunt a previously found fish. As the week progressed, we started seeing fewer fish but finding more willing to bite. In fact, one 2 days I think we had as many hits as we did follows. 4 guys fishing muskies about 80% of the time managed to boat 5 fish during the week (46, 45.5, 43, 38 and 37). Based on the fish log in the lodge, it looked like 2 or 3 fish were being caught each day, most in the 30s or low 40s. 2 of our fish were caught on top water lures (1 on super top raider and 1 on a jackpot) and the rest were on double bladed bucktails. Other than the first day, we average around 6 to 8 follows per day, and about 3 strikes per day, per boat, but a lot of the strikes were short and didn't result in landed fish. This year we only saw 1 fish that would have been in the 50" range and she didn't show back up again. Most of the fish we saw were in the mid 40" range, and all that were caught were thick fish. As Brad and Mark posted, the cooler water temps resulted in better northern fishing than we usually experience during out muskie fishing. We ran into a number of quality pike, including 6 or 7 over 30", plus a 36.5, a 37, and a 39" fish, all on the rocks while fishing for muskies and using muskie sized baits. The bass fishing was decent. In an hour or so fishing, we could typically catch 10 to 20 fish. Most were in the 12 to 15" range, with out biggest being 16". Last year, the same week, we hammered the bass including good numbers in the 17 to 18" range. Crankbaits, floating raps, and slip bobber leaches all produced fish. We only spent a couple hours walleye fishing -- and that was for the camp shore lunch. The walleye guys in camp, however, seemed to be doing very well. We heard lots of reports of 50 to 100+ fish days, and there were lots of 25 to 29" walleye posted on the board each day. According to the guys who were working walleyes, early in the morning and during low light conditions the fish were in the 16 to 20' range and during the middle of the day were in the 20 to 25' range. Seemed like a mix of vertical jigging and bottom bouncing were working. We caught a 25.5" walleye on a musky crankbait on the shallow rocks one evening in the wind and rain. Usually we spend a fair amount of time casting shad raps to the shallow rocks but we didn't do any this year. A few comments on the water conditions. As mentioned previously, the water temps were decreasing while we were in camp. The 10 day forecast looks like it will probably stabilize and then start to climb back up. The water clarity is fine. I saw virtually zero algae bloom. The weeds are a mixed bag. The big weed bed in front of camp is only about 1/2 developed (as to what it usually looks like) and trapper shack has little or no weeds at the entrance. But the cabbage in Bottle and Moore Bays looks real good, and we saw some patches of cabbage in spots we haven't seen them before. Even though the musky fishing was a challenge, we still had a great trip. Can't wait to go back.

Thanks for the great report Dave,

When we think we have things figured out,,,, Mother Nature throws us a slider.

Heading up on the 9th with my daughter Diana and my right hand man Devin to work Muskie’s for a week, will be fishing about the same ratio as your group.

I will post a report after,,, hope the water temps bump back up a bit,,, but I do like cooler water for the heath of the fish and the better Pike action up top.

Tight lines,
RTL