2014 Fishing Reports

[Justin Gaudry]

Opening Weekend 2014

Fishing results was fantastic for our guests this year. Fish were biting on opening day and continued through the Canadian long weekend of Victoria Day.

Walleyes were hitting jigs/minnows with a bit more frequency than spinners and other live baits the first day, but then seemed to even out. Reported depths varied from deep (30 plus feet) to as shallow as 10-12 feet, but the most common report was the fish came in the 15-23 foot range.

Multiple fish from 25" to 28.75" have already been released this year.

Water temps started out in the 43-47 degree range and have come up to about 47-53 degrees.

With these temps, walleyes will be still be spawning and even some pre-spawn so PLEASE be selective with respect to the fish you harvest for eating. Many 17"-18" females are still full of eggs and need to be able to drop them to keep the fishery happy and healthy for the long term. We don't want to be light on a year class or two in the coming seasons!

Plenty of small northern action and several incidental big smallies and muskies have been caught on walleye presentations already as well.

Attached is the largest walleye of the weekend reported.

A 28.75" beauty for Mike C of Canton, GA. Not a bad second day ever on Lake of the Woods for Mike.

Caught, Photographed and Released on May 18, 2014.

The week ahead looks great in the weather forecast and the lake will be filled with Memorial Weekend anglers so we expect to get a lot of great reports and photos.

Good luck on the water and thank you for practicing CPR fishing!

J-Man

[Justin Gaudry]

MEMORIAL WEEKEND 2014

The opening week success of great numbers of big fish cooled somewhat, but there has still been plenty of action on the water in the Morson area.

Wallayes up to 26.5 have been released throughout the week and weekend. Fish seem to be scattered in different depths..hearing some people claim 25 feet is the only depth they could find fish in some areas, yet shallow in other areas. Fish have been scattered and typically not sitting in their usual spring locations according to more of our guests.

This goes throughout times of day as well, possibly relating to warming temps in the above average heat of the past few days later in the day bring water temps from cold at the surface much warmer.

We've seen temps as high as 63 degrees after two days of bright sunshine, but they were down to 55 at our dock this morning. This is only a week removed from 43-50 being the normal report.

Water is high and rising for this time of year, but still great clarity. This is usually not the case with lots of runoff from the rains.

Northerns have been hot on the bite in Obabikon lake. Smallies have been bunched up and seem to be feeding before they spawn. Several fish in the 18-19 inch range have been caught and released. Keep in mind that bass is not catch and release only until July 1. This is a change from previous years on Lake of the Woods.

The crappie bite has slowed done a bit from the opening week, but one boat did report getting some smaller crappies schooled up in one of the typical fall crappie holes.

Again, many walleyes are pre spawn and spawning. Please check your fish for eggs before deciding to keep a 16-19 incher for shorelunch of dinner. They need to be able to do their thing so we aren't short in a year class down the road.

Good luck on the water this week. Stay tuned for weekly reports and feel free to post your own observations on this thread.

J-Man

[Justin Gaudry]

Weekly Fishing Report: May 24 - May 31, 2014

Weather was great over the Memorial Day weekend and got hot the week following. The bite was good and great with the stable, warming temps. We saw water temps go from 53ish before the weekend to up over 70 during the heat of the day during the warmest part of the week. It has since cooled back some but still in the mid to upper 60s.

Evening bite was the best for walleyes. Most anglers were dragging spinners with minnows, but there was also some action for those like liked to jig.

Some deeper water was the ticket to start the week, but as temps rose a more seasonally expect pattern emerged. 10-15 feet was the most common report from our successful anglers. Several big fish up to 29.5" were landed and released. Sandy, rubble shorelines, point and transitions areas all produced walleyes.

Bass and northerns were plentiful with smaller spinner baits and cranks in the shallow rubble (smallies) and shallow reeds/muddy areas for pike.

Crappies were found in some deeper water before they moved in to spawn.

Muskies has been seen paired up and doing their spawning thing. Please resist to temptation to cast for them until our opener on the 21st of June. Incidental catches are one thing, but throwing back to, and returning to areas where you had a muskie follow and hit and get off, is breaking the law and hurting the fishery. Regardless of whether or not you are using "northern" gear, if you are knowingly fishing an area where you have seen a muskie you could run afoul of the CO's in the area.

The weather for the week is calling for more rain and we are not in need of any. The ground is saturated and water is very high for this time of the year. We need some sunshine and precip free days to get things under control.

Good luck on the water this week!

J-Man

[Justin Gaudry]

Weekly Fishing Report: May 31 - June 7, 2014

Fishing was spectacular despite a couple of rain days this past week. The rain cells did not bring t-storms with it so the pattern was relatively stable and this kept the bite white hot despite a little decrease in air and water temps. Water temps have settled in to the low to mid 60s range.

Late spring patterns are in place for walleyes with most of the reports being 10-16 feet of water anywhere there is rubble/rip-rap on the shoreline. Big numbers and big size were present for most anglers. One group of 6 anglers in 3 boats had several days that were outstanding, which led them to declare this trip the best they have had in 20 years of fishing out of Mylie's. Their last day was Thursday and can only be described as epic with all 3 boats landing over 100 fish each, with the top dog being 141. This was the combined total when including some pike and a few perch and smallies mixed in while they caught fish on every spot they stopped all day long. They lost count of the fish 25-28 inches during the week. Minnows and spinners were the top producing presentation reported by our anglers.

The northern and smallie bites were on as well. Northerns all over the shallows in Obabikon Lake, with a few nice ones mixed in. One group managed two pike that were 39" during a day in OB.

Many more smallmouth up to 19" caught and released along the shorelines. Some anglers calling them a little deeper than usual and north facing rubble the best target zone.

A few crappies mixed in as well. Some were caught ultra shallow and others in the medium 8-12 foot range.

Lots of muskies being seen by bass anglers. Please resist the urge to cast back to these fish with bigger baits while they are going through their spawning routine. Many fish will be trying to bulk up for a second round of spawning and are vulnerable to being caught. Muskie opens here in Ontario on June 21.

Good luck on the water this week.

J-Man

[Justin Gaudry]

Weekly Fishing Report: June 7-14, 2014

Walleye fishing was spectacular. A 70 fish day was a slow day. Shoreline with flat, varying depths. Most boats in preferred spinners with live bait. The number of fish 24 and over were too numerous to keep track of for the week. A 29" class fish was the largest reported. CPR fishing at it's best!!

Northerns active in Obabikon lake in the shallows. Small spinner baits and spoons were all you needed.

Bass active on the shorelines. Small cranks were the ticket.

[Justin Gaudry]

Weekly Fishing Report: June 14-21, 2014

Walleyes moving to the breaklines. Great fishing had be many again this week. Rocks and anything with a slope produced action. Lots of vertical jiggers in camp this week. Again, this is often an angler preference more than a better presentation over another. Deep, shallow was more a function of the water max depth around you. Find a place where it drops off and work it good. Again, many more beauties caught and released. Photos on facebook to prove it!! Plus I'm backed up so bad I need an intern to load photos full time for a week!

Another 30" hit the CPR log this week on Friday. That is our 3rd guest 30 inch class walleye of the season!! Another just under 29" was a good second best of the week.

More northern in Obabikon Lake. You can catch them at will it seems. Smallies less targeted this week, but many caught on the rocks.

Good luck to all!!

J-Man

[Justin Gaudry]

Got out opening weekend on Sunday and fished 3 til about 8pm. Fish were around, but things seemed more like summer patterns with the absence of fishable weeds due to very high water levels. Some bays that warmed up in the two days of sunshine that have traditionally held fish still did so. Found a couple on the first spot, another reliable island with a long point on one end and small point on the other. There was a fish on both points. Saw a another fish in a bay and one other fish in the weeds for a total of 7 total. One other strike, the biggest of the day that did not hook up on a low hooking percentage bait that always seems to get their attention but cant get them pinned.

Small cranks (x-rap) caught the little nuggets, 3 nice bass and a small pike. The other strike came on the aforementioned small twitch bait. One follow on a bucktail. Fish that followed were generally low and slow.

Water temps ranged from 66 to 74 in a couple south facing bays that used to have a sand beach but are flooded out.

Lots of debris and water on the dirty side, but clarity a bit better than I expected.

Others have been seeing fish..some on bucktails, but mostly on small cranks. Nothing big landed yet, except a 45 that ate a walleye anglers 12-14 incher on the way up and didn't let go. Another boat casting hooked a small pike and the biggest muskie he has seen up here came and took a look at the northern for a snack, but passed it up.

Cold front rolled through today with NE winds at 15-20..winds letting up tomorrow and temps back near 70 the next couple days. Stable weather leading to the weekend and new moon period could make it fun.