Lac Seul Report 6/11-6/18

Stayed at Gold Pines in Ear Falls from 6/11/-6/18. Entered Canada via International Falls on Saturday Morning about 9:00AM and to my suprise there was no wait. Weather was fairly stable all week with a consistent South wind and highs in the 70's and minimal rain. Fished Sawmill Bay extensively and found the fishing to be good but not great. Took the Sawmill shortcut from the English River with no problems. Water temps ranged from 62 degrees in the morning to 69 degrees in the afternoon. You will definitely catch more numbers jigging and/or bobber fishing, but size will be lacking. Our group decided to forgo the numbers and concentrate on finding bigger fish. Trolled crankbaits (2.5-3.0 MPH) and crawler harnesses (1.1-1.4 MPH) in shallow bays (less than 7 feet) as the walleyes were feeding on Mayfly nymphs. They would puke them up in the boat and their stomachs were full of them. The Hot Steel Shallow Diver was the ticket as it outproduced other crankbaits 2 to 1. Had success on crawler harnesses as well with the preferred color being gold and white/pink. No blade is too big for these walleyes. Biggest of the trip was just under 28 inches caught on a Hot Steel Shallow Diver and the second biggest was 26.25 on a White/Pink Crawler Harness. Forzen shiners out produced regular minnows with white, green, or gold colored jigs being the most effective. Spent a day down in Mckenzie and had a great time pitching crankbaits in the shallows (i.e. fire tiger clacklin shallow diver). Water levels were comparbale to last year. All in all a decent bite with over 500 fish caught with 30% over 18 inches. There was a 2 hour wait coming back to the US on Saturday morning. Good luck to all.

[JDP]

AND had very good fishing!

Thanks for the great report PanMan!

[bpetersen]

Originally Posted by Pan Man

Stayed at Gold Pines in Ear Falls from 6/11/-6/18. Entered Canada via International Falls on Saturday Morning about 9:00AM and to my suprise there was no wait. Weather was fairly stable all week with a consistent South wind and highs in the 70's and minimal rain. Fished Sawmill Bay extensively and found the fishing to be good but not great. Took the Sawmill shortcut from the English River with no problems. Water temps ranged from 62 degrees in the morning to 69 degrees in the afternoon. You will definitely catch more numbers jigging and/or bobber fishing, but size will be lacking. Our group decided to forgo the numbers and concentrate on finding bigger fish. Trolled crankbaits (2.5-3.0 MPH) and crawler harnesses (1.1-1.4 MPH) in shallow bays (less than 7 feet) as the walleyes were feeding on Mayfly nymphs. They would puke them up in the boat and their stomachs were full of them. The Hot Steel Shallow Diver was the ticket as it outproduced other crankbaits 2 to 1. Had success on crawler harnesses as well with the preferred color being gold and white/pink. No blade is too big for these walleyes. Biggest of the trip was just under 28 inches caught on a Hot Steel Shallow Diver and the second biggest was 26.25 on a White/Pink Crawler Harness. Forzen shiners out produced regular minnows with white, green, or gold colored jigs being the most effective. Spent a day down in Mckenzie and had a great time pitching crankbaits in the shallows (i.e. fire tiger clacklin shallow diver). Water levels were comparbale to last year. All in all a decent bite with over 500 fish caught with 30% over 18 inches. There was a 2 hour wait coming back to the US on Saturday morning. Good luck to all.

Thanks for the report.

[iowa jal]

I concur with the previous fishing report. My brother & I were fishing the Lac the same week & had much better fishing this year than last. Fished around the outside of the sanctuary before it opened up, Wenesaga River & rapids after the sanctuary opened up, Goose Island, and Sawmill Bay areas primarily. Chartruese lures by far worked the best of any color for us, minnows worked good, but we had night crawlers too and they did better on some days. Other times we didn't even need crawlers or minnows. We found active walleye in 5 or 6 feet to 10 feet deep, most were under slot, but caught some in slot fish and a couple over. Not too many northerns for us this year. Water is down, about like last year. Watch out for reefs. Weather dry with some wind almost every day. It was a good trip. Had minimal border wait going in (10 minutes), and an hour wait coming home Saturday (8 am). The reason the wait was longer getting to USA was due to obvious "line jumpers" who used the intersections with stop lights before the border to squeeze in the line. Some even pulled their rigs in the middle of intersections to block all traffic in order to do this. Really sad that people have sunk this low in the USA to think they deserve to not have to wait in line like their fellow countrymen and women.. Anyway, that was the only black mark for the trip I can give. Good luck to all with your time fishing this summer. If you are lucky enough to be able to travel to Canada, you won't be dissappointed until your return trip back to USA. Then again .... cheers ! jal

[jswinter40]

thanks for the report. its seems by the reports that the warmer weather with a little wind makes all the difference.

[Knoxabilly]

What is the "shortcut" to Sawmill?

Coming from the english river, the sawmill shortcut goes left of goose island instead of going around it. An old timer let us follow him through our first year at lac seul. Hope this helps.

[rather-be-fishin]

Originally Posted by iowa jal

I concur with the previous fishing report. My brother & I were fishing the Lac the same week & had much better fishing this year than last. Fished around the outside of the sanctuary before it opened up, Wenesaga River & rapids after the sanctuary opened up, Goose Island, and Sawmill Bay areas primarily. Chartruese lures by far worked the best of any color for us, minnows worked good, but we had night crawlers too and they did better on some days. Other times we didn't even need crawlers or minnows. We found active walleye in 5 or 6 feet to 10 feet deep, most were under slot, but caught some in slot fish and a couple over. Not too many northerns for us this year. Water is down, about like last year. Watch out for reefs. Weather dry with some wind almost every day. It was a good trip. Had minimal border wait going in (10 minutes), and an hour wait coming home Saturday (8 am). The reason the wait was longer getting to USA was due to obvious "line jumpers" who used the intersections with stop lights before the border to squeeze in the line. Some even pulled their rigs in the middle of intersections to block all traffic in order to do this. Really sad that people have sunk this low in the USA to think they deserve to not have to wait in line like their fellow countrymen and women.. Anyway, that was the only black mark for the trip I can give. Good luck to all with your time fishing this summer. If you are lucky enough to be able to travel to Canada, you won't be dissappointed until your return trip back to USA. Then again .... cheers ! jal

Last year coming back to USA at Fort Frances we had a guy cut in front of the truck in front of us pulling a 28 ft plus boat. Mind you we had been waiting in line for 3+ hours.....the guy in front of us got out of his vehicle as well as my son and went up and knocked on the driver's side window and had a few "words" with the driver and then that driver pulled out of the line......then just a block further up it happened again with a different vehicle.....so once again the guy in front of us got out and repeated the same......but this time that driver didn't pull out of the line.....so then the passenger in the vehicle ahead of us that was with the guy who went to have a "chat" got out and just stood in front of the vehicle that cut in, until they finally pulled out of the line .......I must say we had our own "border line patrol"......made the ridiculous FOUR HOUR wait somewhat entertaining!!!

[Mike Kansas]

Saw a guy try and cut in line one day while crossing and watched a guy in a different car get out and chat with him. Turned into a boxing match and both were arrested by the local police. Bet that was an expensive day.

[stumcfar]

We have always used the short cut, maybe been through there 25 times. Make sure you keep close to the shore line on your left when heading towards Lunker or Sawmill area. We had a boat this year that went in the middle more and there is now an extra prop and part of a shaft on the bottom, as there is a reef or single rock in the middle somewhere. Stay to the left (east??) and you will be fine.