Gullrock Report

[Jeff J]

I just came back from the Gullrock this past Saturday 7/24/04 and wanted to post our results. This was our 6th year at Five Lake Lodge which by the way is the best camp I have ever fished from. I will call this year big fish year. We had more eaters in the 17" range and more throw backs over 22" than ever before. Our largest fish for the week was a pair of 26 inchers. We found the fish on rock humps or points anywhere from 15-22 ft. The key was fishing the windy side. We used two methods trolling bottom bouncers with 1.5 oz weights and 3/8 oz jigs. We tried different colors but for us an orange blade or jig with 1/2 crawler worked the best. I would say if you are going to the Gullrock the fishing will be great. Make sure you let the fish over 18" go so that we all can experience great fishing for many years to come. I certainly hand it to the camp owners on the Gullrock with their catch and release policy, it is working.

Thanks
Jeff

[Hump1]

Thanks for the report. Where were your hot spots? Did you fish Keg at all? I head up on friday. Any more info would be great.

[Cough]

Any luck on the Pike and did you try any of Bud's drive-in lakes?
Thanks,
Craig

[Jeff J]

We concentrated on the sunken Island, Marker Island, the Boot, Henry Island, the island before you enter Keg, the Gullrock, and the sunken Island south of the Gullrock before Round Island. In Keg we fished the banana and the little island east of the banana. We also fished Burnt island. Our success was based on wind direction and fishing the spots that had wind blowing into them. You will have excellent fishing.
I am an early riser so we were on the water by 5:15am every day and usually were limited pretty quickly. We then fished mainly for fun.

To answer the other email, I do not concentrate on northerns but some guys in camp did well in the Chakuni river. My two sons and one other person from our group went to Zimmering one of Bud's remote lakes and they caught a bunch of northerns the largest being 27".

Hope this helps.

Jeff

[Zim1]

The boys and I are packed and ready to roll out of here Saturday morning. Will be in a boat Sunday morning. Camping at Poplar Point. Thanks for the report. Hope there are a few left.

[Renn]

Thanks for the report Jeff. Sounds like you had a great time. Hope you didn't give all the walleyes sore mouth!! :-)

Zim, I will see you on Sunday sometime. Depending on what time you arrive at camp we may be out on the lake. I will plan on talking to you Sunday around supper time?? We are arriving on Saturday early afternoon.

Have a safe trip!!

Renn

[Hump1]

Great information. Thanks.

Where is marker island? also are you referring to Banana Island as the one straight out from the green buoy? I thought that was really rocky.

Any wait at the border?

[jeff j]

Marker island is north of the sunken island in the main part of the lake. This is the island with the red buoy. The banana is the sunken reef out in the lake. Just east of there is a tiny island. On the south side of it pointing toward the green buoy it is fishable. We were in 18-23 fow and with the wind blowing in there that point was stacked. Remember wind plays a critical role out there.

Jeff

[milt]

Taking some kids up to gullrock, 5 lakes lodge on the 7th of august. Have not been there in about 13 years. How much are they charging for a dozen minnows these days. Is it possible to pick up a fairly large quantity of leeches at Fort Francis for a good price. Where is the best place to buy nightcrawlers at. Going by Cabelas in Minnesota on the way up. Thanks

[Mike Kansas]

Heads up too all fisherman on Gullrock next week. Barney is coming to Gullrock and you can bet that there will be plenty of sore mouth Walleye by the time he heads home. This year could be even better than most for Barney because he has some experimental jigs that he will be field testing for Walleye Wacker Inc.

If you see a guy out on Gullrock who spends most of his day with his Bionic Blade Rod doubled over with Hog Walleye.....that will be Barney....stop and get his autograph.

[larrym]

Minnows were $3.50 per dozen at the lodge. Crawlers from Cabelas is the best bet but order before you go. They come packed in soil and need to be re-packed in bedding before crossing the border.....not a good task to do in Cabelas parking lot! Don't know about a "decent price" but we get our leeches at Ear Falls on our way up. Can also find in Ft Francis or Dryden (if you go that way) but there have been times in August that the supply of leeches is short.....never a problem in Ear Falls however.

[Hump1]

Thanks Jeff- did you fish around the green bouy? What about the claybanks.

Looks like the weather is going to be good. 69 on Sat. and the hottest is 80 on Tues. Wed.

[Jeff J]

We get our bait at Four Season's bait shop in Ear Falls, pre ordered 1lb of leeches and one flat of crawlers. The leeches were $22/lb and the crawlers were $65/flat Canadian.

I do fish around the green buoy and the clay banks if the wind is right.
Experience tells me the fish are on windy structure.

Jeff

[BudFLL]

Hey Jeff, if I knew you were going to talk that good about the camp I would of given you that hat. Hope your boys had a good time. The MN.guys had a good week biggest fish was 26in. for thier group but you know how hard they fish, I mean play poker. The May flies were over on wed.

[Zim1]

Hey Renn,

So how did the rest of your trip go? We stayed for 4 days and my boys had a good time. They about killed me one night by leaving one of those mosquito coils burning....nasty! We did not do so good overall on the walleyes. Definitely should have anchored and jigged/cast more. We located a few hot spots but it was windy. With the little guys it's easier to troll but the fish were biting very light.

Ken

[Hump1]

I believe we were there the same week. Four mayfly hatches didn't help matters. We caught fish, but the bite was tough. Not as many big ones as normal either. Still great to be on Gull Rock.

[Renn]

Zim and Hump,

I agree the mayfly's didn't help matters much. We had a good trip. We caught quite a few fish but like Hump said the size wasn't like it has been in the past. Our biggest walleye for the week was a 26". They weren't as aggressive as they have been.

My brother got a 42" northern and I got a 39" but those were the biggest we found during our trip.

Can't wait to go again!!

Renn

[Zim1]

For me it was just good to restart a tradition with my own boys. The computer game boys got a kick out of the wilderness and tiny towns. They thought every fish was big. They loved the evening walleye dinners. And best of all, they want to go back next year! Bigger and better I bet.

[Hump1]

I started taking my bou when he was in Fourth grade. my fondest memories are with him in Canada. I can still see his face when he couaght his first big walleye and I screwed up and lost a huge northern.

Cherish those moments, I haven't been able to be with him the last few years.

Last year, we struggled a little on Sat. evening, caught enough for supper and threw back quite a few, but for most of us, it was slower than usual. We had a young man in our group who had not been to Canada before and he made the comment that " how could fishing be so slow, he had just caught more fish in an hour than he had his whole life. It is just how you look at things!

[Renn]

I agree!!! The children make the trip even more enjoyable.

My son and daughter have been to Gullrock at least once every year of thier short lives. This year my 5 year old daughter was reeling in a walleye (on her Barbie pole!) and all of a sudden this fish started taking out all kinds of line and coming to the surface out in front of the boat. When it got closer to the surface I could see this large something coming up and my first thought is a monster Walleye or Northern. Well it came to the top and it was a Loon with her 16 inch walleye cross ways in its mouth. Thankfully, it let go of her fish when it saw us and swam away. That was an event that I will never forget and I am sure she won't either.

Those are some of the things that keep our family coming back year after year!!

Renn