Post Your July 2009 Trip Reports Here

Well hopefully we'll get a few more reports for the month of July now that the board is getting a little more traffic. People don't have to be shy around here. All contributions are welcome.

The month of July is starting off with a nice day after 4 days of wind, clouds, cooler temps and some rain off and on to close out June. The water is a bit brown from the heavy winds, but has cleared some the last two days. The may fly hatch has started and is quite late again this year. Last year was the same and it seemed that the fishing was less affected than in past years. My guess is that with the walleyes being on the rocks, there won't be as many may flies to gobble up because they can't accumulate in the open water areas like they can on the shorelines and bays. The hatch is not very heavy yet so we'll see how it plays out in the next week or so.

The fish will be scattered about a bit from the winds, but our guests picked up a few June 30 when the weather started to break just a little.

Mid-lake humps were the ticket at the end of the month and we'll expect the majority of the action to come from that type of structure for walleyes this month.

Muskies should still be relating to weeds early this month, but will gradually move out to points close to weeds and mid lake rocks as the water temps rise. Complexes with multiple structural elements (ex. a point with some boulders and weeds) will certainly be excellent spots to concentrate on. Weed growth should be good all summer with the late start that the weeds got this spring. That might mean an opportunity for those that prefer fishing weeds to contact fish there in better numbers than might otherwise be possible be during a typical season.

Bigger Northerns should be headed to deeper points, but will still be in some shallow weed bays, pockets and shorelines as well. You can probably expect to pick up a few big northerns both jigging for walleyes and casting for muskies if things work out as they usually seem to during a summer.

Bass should be on rocky boulder shorelines so keep throwing those shad raps and crayfish cranks in there shallow.

Crappies are a bit of a mystery at times in the summer months, but if our friend Nic gets back up here, he'll be the best person to give us an idea of what kind of structure to look for them. On top of being an absolutely excellent all around fisherman, he can sniff out those crappies like nobody else. I call him the "Crappie Whisperer."

My wife and I fished July 1st through 3rd. The wind had been blowing hard for the prior three to four days, according to the other guests at Mylie's. We got a late start on the 1st and caught enough for supper in two hours. A Mayfly hatch was well under way and I expected the fishing to slow. Played golf after that on day one.. Day two and three were tough fishing. In spite of that we had another meal of fish up there and brought home a couple. Great weather to take the wife fishing and golfing. I'm glad that it wasn't a "Serious" fishing trip. Back up again in 2 1/2 weeks.

just got back from the woods fishing from the 3rd to the 8th fishing only 1 1/2 hours on the 8th musky fishing was tough. weather was stable with low winds and temps but i think we needed the warmer weather to get the muskies on the move. The am hours into early afternoon turned out to be a bust with no fish movement at all we probably fished 9 to 2 to 3pm each day only catching 1 small muskie at about 1.30 pm sunday 38" lung . we had only 1 follow in the am period in 5 days of fishing. the evening hours seemed to be the better activity period for fishing. We got out by about 6 till dark each day and would see 2 or 3 each evening (mon evening we saw at least 7 though) with a couple fish caught bothe by my wife a 37 1/2 and a nice 44" lung.We also lost at least 3 more fish in the evening period with one good one in the low 40" class .We started out fishing some summer time rock structures that always hold fish this time of year with no movement . Went to the basil for a day hoping with the shallower water and hopefully warmer water temps something would go out there but no movement in the basil for us either. Went back into some shallow bays for a long day fishing weeds mainly and hit the 38" on a bobbie bait but she actually ate on a rock point with no weeds but there was some cabbage 60' away. After that started fishing shorline related rock strutures and started contacting some fish .My opinion is the fish are on the move to there summer time areas that was part of the reason for slow fishing the 44" was caught in a area that i think is in a travel area also rock. Didnt see any giants with maybe a mid 40" class fish follow also in a shoreline related rock structure. fish were caught 1 on a bucktail 1 on a bobbie bait and 1 on a topwater good luck guys and gals
basil

I will be going up in mid August with 3 musky guys, never fished this time of year but I plan on fishing lots of Rock and points and a couple of late day favorite bays I just can't pass up. Any one fish this time? If so a couple hints will be greatly appreciated, no hots spots of yours just how would you all approach the Dog days of summer on LOW.
Thanks M.O.M.

It is always a great trip to Lake of the Woods, even though we could have done with less wind. It was a bit challenging to stay on the reefs and the rocky shore lines where the walleyes seemed to be at. Fished with the family this trip, Carol, Tom, Marion and my wife Maureen every one caught fish, Carol was the big fish winner with a 6+lbs a nice walleye that was released. We used Carol and Tom's boat a nice Alumacraft, I would have preferred to have used mine which I am used to but their boat was up there so it worked out ok. We mainly fished with worm harnesses which seemed to work very well. It was nice meeting you Randy, hope I can fish with you and Justin this year. I'm looking forward to it. Looking forward to coming back in 3 weeks with my uncle and good friend from Colo.

We came to Mylies on Wednesday July 1st right after a massive front had moved through and prevented many from fishing the previous 4 days.
We were still able to find plenty of Walleyes and as a bonus, a nice mess of jumbo perch. We caught around 50 Walleyes in a day and a half of fishing. We had some nice fish in the 18 to 21 inch range.

We were impressed with the great service and friendly atmosphere at Mylies.
This was a trial run and first time to Canada for my kids and wife. They all loved it and we will be back again next year.

Justin and his family do a great job!!

Marc

Well here goes. July 12th was a bit windy out of the NW and the bite was tough. We were fishing deep points to start of the morning with minimal sucess. We then moved to an area with some current moving through it and managed enough for dinner but nothing of any size. Later that evening went into Bob for a few northern and managed a few but still was slow. The mornig of the 13th started off the same, SLOW, but the weather was nice so we thought it a good idea to hit the reefs. Nothing was really going so we decided to try some bass shores and caught 20 or so bass. We then went back to walleyes on some shallow boulder flats close to shore and did very well jigging minnows. many walleyes in the 17-24in. range. We muskie fished that evening with one fish caught and several follows mostly on topwaters.
On the 14th the wind switch to the SE big time. We had to basically fish the morning where ever it was calm. It didn'y seem to hurt the fishing though. we managed too many walleye to count in 4 hours. I did get a chance to get back out to try for some panfish for a few hours later in the day and did so so. We caught a decent amount of crappies and nice perch.The crappies were just off flat rock shores in 15-25ft. of water right when the rock turned into mud. I'll be back up in Sept. for some Crap/Skie action. Keep those reprts coming.

My husband and I were mostly muskie fishing. When we did try walleye fishing, we couldn't find them. But we managed to catch three nice walleyes muskie fishing. Muskie fishing started out slow, but really picked up on the last day with 4 muskies caught. I think the clouds and the rain helped move fish. We caught 17 northerns, 2 bass, 2 perch, and eight muskies. The muskies were in bays with rocks and/or sheltered by rocks. We also found muskies on sandy beaches with weeds and rock nearby. We had a great time at Mylies!

Well, the cooler temps had fishing on the slower side for us. We primarily targeted muskies with limited results. Biggest fish was a nice 45", and the other five fish were in the mid to upper 30 inch range. Most fish were caught on cowgirls. Best producing areas were weed/rock combos, with a few more fish being seen in the weeds. Not many fish seen on just rock complexes. Walleye fishing was on the slower side as well. Fish were off the main lake reefs in deeper water. Smallmouth fishing was sparse with the best producing method being casting a crayfish style crank.

Thanks again to Justin and everyone at Mylie's for providing a top shelf resort. The service and fishing advice are both top shelf!

Hinch

Well another awesome stay at mylies resort (sabaskong bay Lake of the woods) in the books! Me and my girl (musky mic) fished for a total of seven days. We caught and released 11 muskies, 44.5, 43.5, 44, 42, 39, 38, 44, 39, 39, 35.5 and a 46. We lost nine other fish and raised 32 others! We both had on and up to the boat a 50 in. class fish which would have been the icying on the cake to say the least ohh well !! Water was getting up there by saturday 7:25 68-69 degrese so fishing should really pic up if it continues good luck you next lucky ones. Booked for next year but would love to sneak a short trip this year (will see). Mylies is a great place to stay and fish out of could not ask for more. Been going up to mylies since 1999 been to two other resorts around there and trust me MYLIES is the place! They even have camping spots which we do before we get into our cabin with seperate big and clean guys and girls bathrooms with showers for campers. Give them a try from fishing your bum - to relaxing your bum off you'll love it there!!

Jerken Jimi

Two friends and I were up at Mylie's, fishing Sabaskong Bay, July 25th thru
27th. We had three good days of fishing, catching a lot of Walleyes, many being over 20". My friend Terry (got a 30", the first double digit Walleye to come in to any of my boats. Attachment 6231

Overall, we brought in around 12 fish over 20", a few over 18" and lots in the 15'" to 17" range. Minnows and crawlers worked equally well with most fish coming out of 18' to 25' of water. Two fish fries and great weather. It don't get no better!

I was musky fishing out of Sabaskong from July 25-30. Of course water temps fluctuated between 70 - 63 degrees. Mother nature just doesn't want the water above 70 this year.

In 5 days of fishing I got 11 muskies boated - 10 between 40-48.5 inches. The volatile weather yielded semi-slow action. A few follows and an occasional hungry fish. When the weather stabilized... For a day, they went off. The shallow bays with sparse cabbage seemed to be the ticket. Most bays were choked out with a mixture of mossy cabbage and pond weed and held maybe a mid 30 - 40 inch musky and a few decent pike. Shrivers Hijacker spinnerbaits and Raddogs seemed to pull those fish out of the thick cover. As for the thin vegetation, #8's, 10's and topwaters were the go-to baits. A few fish were found shallow on bald rock reefs and burnt eagle tails were the perfect tool to get them to eat.

As for a giant report, they were definitely out there. We spotted a couple in the 50-53 inch range and 3 in the mid-fifty class. They were pretty selective on which baits to follow. Phat Daddy's seemed to get the most looks by the big fish. Had two big ones on but couldn't get 'em to the boat. My walk the dog hooking proficiency was poor to say the least.

Many of the bays that held big fish seemed empty on the first pass with bucktails, spinners and tail baits. Pull out the Phat Daddy and the fish showed them selves.

It seemed the fish were started to transition since the weeds were starting to moss over. I'm sure the rocks will be hot, hot, hot soon!

Here are a couple of the nicer fish from my trip.http://i643.photobucket.com/albums/u...1/DSC_0006.jpg
http://i643.photobucket.com/albums/u...1/DSC_0010.jpg
http://i643.photobucket.com/albums/u...1/DSC_0015.jpg
http://i643.photobucket.com/albums/u...1/DSC_0032.jpg

Great pictures Jerry. Congrats on boating some beauties and seeing some monsters. Thanks for the report. I'll be up to Mylies on Aug 8, so let's hope they are on the rocks! By the way, nice job on initiating Justin's raingear...doesn't seem that he can get it slimed himself!

Rich

Yeah, when I realized my Rain gear was left on the kitchen counter back in MN the only person who had any that would come even close to fitting was Justin.

I may be back in the Sabaskong area on the 9th. So hopefully the fish will be moving.

Yup, you're lucky I have such a large a$$, eh.

My anal retentiveness has gone down quite a bit too for me to borrow out some brand spanking new guidewear to someone. You don't know me that well yet, but I have 6 pairs of Nike shoes still on the box that I don't want to wear outside because they might get scuffed up. Yeah, a buddy that knows me pretty well couldn't believe that I loaned it out. Lucky for me I have no problem trying to get a new muskie bait all scuffed up with teeth marks! HAHA!

But it wasn't like you could go back to Baudette and get something to fit at the little tackle store on the main drag. Big dudes have to stick up for one another in a case like that.

Maybe it has some good mojo now.

Green works for you. Keep it in mind next time you have to buy some rain gear. :D

I thought I looked pretty good in green as well! :)

Wow, and all this time Basil and I thought the tooth marks on your baits were from when your wife was getting the Muskies to hit them. Go figure, eh? Ay least she was nice enough to let you hold the one in the picture.

Geez Eastie...must be busy at the office.

Expected you to chime in with some harassment a lot quicker than you did, eh.

You should be nice, maybe someday I'll take you muskie trolling for half a day during your October trip so you can get some tooth marks on your muskie baits. Us professionals can tell the difference between rock rub rash and fish catching rash. ;)

Had another enjoyable week on Lake of the Woods. Fishing was pretty good. Walleyes were a little slow for the 16"-18". Plenty of 23"-26" fish. I think we didn't do to bad on the Muskie for the amount of time we put in. They seemed to be more active towards the end of the week. Saw some big fish. Northern fishing was excellent with plenty of over 35" fish. Looking forward to going back next year. Rob