phishfearme
07-09-2008, 01:20 PM
My group just returned from our annual 10 day "week" at Wettlaufer Lake using North of 51 Outfitters out of Pickle Lake. This is a fly-in outpost, single cabin, 11 mile long lake about a 20 minute Otter flight due west of Pickle Lake on the Meen River. We were given the honor of "de-bugging" (literally and figuratively) this cabin that hasn't been used in about 3 seasons so we really had a "fresh" lake. And the results showed it!! Without exageration, the 4 of us caught about 2000 walleye!! We found 4 or 5 really-hot spots where it was just plain un-challenging and decided to move on. One spot we considered to be the best single fishing spot we've ever found. We also caught 2 "blue" walleye.
The walleye size range was unique for us. Probably 60% of the walleye were less than 15 inches (the future of this lake looks VERY bright) but there were plenty in the "sweet spot" range of 16-19 inches. Then there seemed to be a hugh gap in the 20 to 23 inch range as we only caught about 10 in that range. But the jumbos were excellent: 3 - 24's, 2 - 25's, 2 - 26's and the largest caught on day one was Wil's 27 incher.
The pike fishing was darn good also - even though we didn't really target them - with numerous fish in the 29-32 inch range. Tom's 37 incher was our best. There's a pike-only portage lake - Larsh Lake - that is supposed to hold trophy northern but during our day there (in a square back, man-powered canoe) we only got 4 pike - 29 to 31 inchers - and no small ones. A tough portage for this level of fishing when Wettlaufer was sooooo good.
As a bonus, while walleye fishing, we caught about 30 jumbo perch up to 12 inches. One windy day, my partner and I parked off a weedbed in the lee and specifically targeted perch with small twisters and worms and caught 5 in about an hour or so (along with a number of walleye).
The outfitter had the cabin setup just fine (the new shower was wonderful on cold days) but there's clearly alot of work that can be done there - didn't bother us at all though. Boats and motors were excellent - 14 foot dry Lunds and 9.9 hp Mercury's. The outfitter plans to have this cabin upgraded and the lake available for next year's fishing season.
The cabin's location was also notable - in a protected bay with a wonderful sand beach right in front. We practically never used the dock. Gary caught a 32 inch pike on the second cast off the dock the first day.
Questions? Feel free to ask away!!
phish
The walleye size range was unique for us. Probably 60% of the walleye were less than 15 inches (the future of this lake looks VERY bright) but there were plenty in the "sweet spot" range of 16-19 inches. Then there seemed to be a hugh gap in the 20 to 23 inch range as we only caught about 10 in that range. But the jumbos were excellent: 3 - 24's, 2 - 25's, 2 - 26's and the largest caught on day one was Wil's 27 incher.
The pike fishing was darn good also - even though we didn't really target them - with numerous fish in the 29-32 inch range. Tom's 37 incher was our best. There's a pike-only portage lake - Larsh Lake - that is supposed to hold trophy northern but during our day there (in a square back, man-powered canoe) we only got 4 pike - 29 to 31 inchers - and no small ones. A tough portage for this level of fishing when Wettlaufer was sooooo good.
As a bonus, while walleye fishing, we caught about 30 jumbo perch up to 12 inches. One windy day, my partner and I parked off a weedbed in the lee and specifically targeted perch with small twisters and worms and caught 5 in about an hour or so (along with a number of walleye).
The outfitter had the cabin setup just fine (the new shower was wonderful on cold days) but there's clearly alot of work that can be done there - didn't bother us at all though. Boats and motors were excellent - 14 foot dry Lunds and 9.9 hp Mercury's. The outfitter plans to have this cabin upgraded and the lake available for next year's fishing season.
The cabin's location was also notable - in a protected bay with a wonderful sand beach right in front. We practically never used the dock. Gary caught a 32 inch pike on the second cast off the dock the first day.
Questions? Feel free to ask away!!
phish