report may 26

[Steve Herbeck]

fishing report 5/26 eagle lake and surrounding
water temps up to 67 down to 58,again a cool front came in later in the week and projected high 30's nite time 50-70 daytime through the next week. winds variable 5-15 mph e to n to w by later in the coming week.
walleyes are using a variety of structure including typical late spring areas like flats with emerging weeds,timber,shallower bars and points etc. but also we are also finding them on structures usually associated with later in june into july including rock bars and humps topping off from 12-22' particularly on the darker or frontal periods.using with success alot jigs 1/16-1/8 oz ,slip sinker or shot and hook rigs both with minnows but also got reports of good catches on leeches especially on bigger fish,no one tried crawlers yet, maybe could be worth a try. plastics like ring worms,gulp,etc have also been putting alot of fish in the boat also reports of good catches slow trolling shallow crankbaits like flicker shads,shad raps,and rapalas and spinner rigs over 5-12" flats and bays.
collin boated the biggest walleye last week at 32",dan 30",and the johnander group had fish to 28".
on eagle alot of 16-17.75" eaters available and everyone was catching slot and over fish 19-27" consistantly through the week. depending upon the weather and day guide trips were avg. 30-100 fish per day.the shallower,darker, and smaller 4wd lakes were very good last week for those who tried them mostly 4-8' of water jigging and avg 60-90 17-26" fish and the bass also a bit ahead of the deeper lakes,even on topwaters.
some nice pike caught 34-39" while fishing walleyes and also casting reed edges and bays but bigger fish not in huge numbers so alot must be suspended and or deeper,try trolling some cranks from 16-24' and or running 5-7" suckers/dace on a jig or 20# floro leader lindy rig around areas alot of walleyes are being caught for the bigger pike . the deeper portge off of eagle trout type lakes produced a bunch of nicer pike 32-39" for the couple groups that tried along with alot of 4-8# trout. slow back trolling tube jigs and # 5-6 spinner rigs and minnows produced the trout and pike came on spinner rigs trolling shorelines/points and casting/trolling crankbaits around mouths of bays,timber,and shallow bars.
bass are definatly moving up and starting to bed even on the colder sections of the lake and hitting plastics like flukes,ring worms,twisters,gulp,wacky worms,etc., some fish boated on topwaters and twitched baits like x-raps on warming water trends.
bob boated some nice trout to 16# on eagle trolling spoons avg depth of 40' whether on bottom or suspended over deeper water.
was a bit concerned when the front came in on a thurs/fri and lows hit mid 30's fri nite/sat am obviously dropping water temps a bit as the bays were steaming a bit at daybreak,but reports of the few who were out today were very positive actually a real good agressive bite on the walleyes though avg a bit deeper around 16-19' and the bass not moving off the beding areas and biting esecially those still cruising.
muskys have been fairly active with 2 48" and 51" brought to boatside for water release pics fishing walleyes and more biting off jigs and following hooked walleyes and small pike.
should be a good opener come june 16 on as they appear to be spawned out already.got a couple openings thru june 16-july 14 weeks,come and get first crack at em'.
getting some calls from those who have put off trips so far and now getting the itch,if you're in the same boat and kick'n around heading north give us a call or e-mail,we got some availablity yet here and there and it would be great to have you a part of camp!!
tight lines!!

[Steve Herbeck]

update;
today sunday a bit more than a cool front,lets call it a cold front for sure. weather reports 50 degrees to day but with a cold east wind and misty rain it sure feels more than that. water temps dropping to high 50's but reports from those who have been out today other than they are wet and cold is fish are biting good. walleyes dropped to 15-18' off rocky bars and structure that one of the guides was targeting. good number of slot fish too. the other groups i talked to so far fished bays,flats,and weeds and caught fish 7-10' but smaller avg size,mostly eaters,lower end slot fish with a few over slot.will update further as more come in today and as we go through the next couple days which are supposed to remain cool.wed on back to 70's and sun.bass were still on or near beds as of late afternoon.

[Steve Herbeck]

update.

mon am rainy e winds,cleared to partly cloudy sunny and w winds afternoon,really helped people attitudes.
mon nite tues am cold,rainy,ne winds again making it feel even colder especially on the hands.
water temps dropping into low.mid 50's.
most today not traveling far and trying to find places to fish out of the cold wind. this kind of weather has as much to do with attitude and desire thus success as how the fish are biting.
got to give them credit,it's been tough fishing weatherpast few days, today 1 group of 2,1 group of 3 ,and 1 group of 5 in by noon with plenty of eaters for lunch but not alot more,glad to get them, get back,dry and warm up,have a good lunch and try again this aft.we'll see what the rest do as they come in.
wind dying down,rain quit,and skys seem to be trying to break.forecast for sun and 70's extended moving forward wed. on.,fishing should resume to former levels after a day or so as shallows warm up again
as can be expected fishing past 2-3 days has slowed a bit from last week,but not a total shut down,you can catch fish but got to keep moving and stay warm. 1-4 fish a spot it seems then they spook or quit biting. best has been 7-16' grass or rock/grass combos,deeper structure fish seem to have scattered to nowhere land for now. guides who know what they are doing are avg 20-30 fish,1/2-1/3 of previous week/days avgs. some bass caught but also alot more scattered.
one boat had fun after supper catching a bunch of pike 24-30" casting rapalas to reed edges last nite but at noon today hadn't had much luck yet casting.
weather forecasted to stabilize ,sun coming,and 70's starting wed is the forecast so it won't take long for things to rebound to former levels or better.
groups that went out this late afternoon and after supper all reported better action after the weather broke boating some nice eyes 17- to 25" and pike 22" to 28" one at 39".

woke up wed am to SUN!!!!!! everyones got a smile on.
might want to give lake trout a try in the am and give the shallows some time to get some sun next couple days before bass,walleyes,pike get active. they are typically the least affected this time of the season by the type of weather expereinced past couple days. try at or around
40-50' , tube jigs,spoons,minnow baits,spinner rigs or cowbells with a sucker minnow or cisco.
good luck to all and let us know if you found any other patterns working,it's a 2 way street and is forum is to help all of us.

[Steve Herbeck]

wed. 2;00pm
i'll keep everyone posted,almost 500 looks at the report post last couple days so i assume alot are wondering about next week ,thier trip,been watching the weather,etc as it is probably going to be a busy one for most and a popular week for fishermen coming to canada.
a beautifull sunny day!!!!,west wind breeze,temps approaching mid/high 60's.
just talked to a group who came in to get more bait and 2 guides via cell phone to check and see how it was going.
good news,those i talked to have been fishing walleyes this morning and fish are biting very good.
they have rebounded quickly,quicker than i thought,i would have guessed first clear day or two would have been touch and go and obviously the weather past few days was just a burp.
feel confident you should have good trips next week.decent weather and good fishing.enjoy yourselves and what nw ontario has to offer.
if you are thinking of a trip we got 3 openings between june 9 and the 30th and will take good care of you. give us a shout for details and specials to fill remaining occupancys.

[Steve Herbeck]

thurs,
another beautiful day!
west winds,sun,water temps rising and fish responding accordingly.
best walleye action for most was shallow 7-12' with good numbers and activity levels, mostly eaters and slots.jigging and spinner rigging.look for newly emerging weeds/grass and wind blowing warming surface water. this pattern should really be a go to next week.
another group had a great day fishing timber and shallow rocky points.
got out myself yesterday for part of day with fritz and the boys and tried trout for a couple hrs in the a.m..
boated 2 7-9# and a 22-24#er,lost 2 others 1 of which was another big one. 58-64', 40-50' down on spoons at 1.2-1.4mph.
easily caught a limit of eaters for supper with a total of around 25 in an hr and a half.
a group casting pike reported slow acttion with mostly smaller fish. as weeds sprout more bigger fish should move shallow again.
bass getting more active again but still finicky,that should improve daily as weather is going to be sunny and 70-80 next week.
bass update fri;
first real guide trip targeting excusivley bass all day, danny reported just now that they boated 65-80 bass avg 15-20" but 2/3 in the afternoon as shallows warmed up,am was much slower so they should just get better everyday and peak mid next week. all kinds of gulp and plastics produced as well as jigs and leeches in the am.
good luck!!

[Chuck Schranz]

Herbie...Really enjoy the updates which you've been posting lately. I check out the AML site first thing every morning to see what's been happening on beautiful Eagle Lake. Anxious for the muskie season to get underway and read about the catches and those that got away. Danny, Bill and I were talking about what seems like a lifetime til one season closes and the beginning of the next. Keep up the posts...they are much appreciated. See you with the boys in August!...Chuckie

[Steve Herbeck]

chuckie,
good to hear from you and really looking forward to seeing you guys.
i know posts have been multi species but just to give you an update since you're a musky fisherman all the way it appears they are all spawned out and recouped. all fish seen or incidently hooked have appreared to be in great shape,not all banged up from spawning.
we have kept everyone fishing pike to small # 13 size minnow baits or smaller and #4 or less spinners to try and keep incidental catches to a min untill june16 however we can't totally keep them from biting jigs and small pike and bass baits. all have been water released so not the best pics but some 38-41's,44,45,2 48's,51,and 55 and an even bigger fish broke off as we do not allow netting untill opener,so it looks like come opener june 16 they should be ready to rock.
can't believe it but we even have a couple openings for opener,hope someone picks them up as it could be a real sleeper this year. my longest fish last season came the following week,first day out.
see ya soon,
herbie

[DanR]

I am cocked, locked, and ready to rock. That's all I wanted to say.