Trip Report: Wabaskang Lake 6/22-6/28

[sheepman]

Jason,

Nice report! Sorry the fishing wasn't better for you. We go to cabin #1 August 24, you mention Spike's narrows..where on the lake is that located?

[JAY221]

Thanks for the report. Sounds like you had a good time including the annual getting caught in the rain! One question, Is the water level good or lower than normal? Thanks, Jay

[jsmyers]

The fishing was good--just not up to my unreasonable expectations. That one morning I got about a dozen bass over 12" in 2 hours. That was great. We had a couple of flurries of small pike after pike (which is what we were looking for).

I'd never heard of Spike's Narrows either, that is where Aerobus, Keynote, and McLeod drain into the 2nd lake. Apparently Spike had a camp around the narrows decades ago.

It's hard for me to know what a normal water level is. I think it was on the high side of normal. Certainly wasn't low.

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk

[billy weaver]

Returned from Wabaskang on June 22. Fishing was good with many fish over 20 inches caught. Water level was normal to slightly high. Water temps were 65 to 70 degrees. We caught most of our fish in 10 to 15 ft. of water. A jig with a half of nightcrawler seemed to work the best when fished super slow. I would have too rate this year as very good.

[Bill Krejca]

Good report, sounds like a fun time was had by all, or almost all, seems like some folks seem to have more fun than others in that environment. just shows that filling the boat with fish is not what it can be all about, lots of great memories for the kids!! Thanks for the detailed account of the trip!!

Bill

[AB]

Thanks for the report! Nice Muskie!

[jsmyers]

Originally Posted by jsmyers

Tom and I finished off our shopping list early in the morning. (I’ll get the time-lapse video up for you to enjoy.)

I almost forgot to post this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGKn...nF44_3QhD2iHiv

The playlist includes the grocery run time lapse, the musky madness, and my wife and youngest daughter bringing in a few fish. I've got a few good ones with my older daughter that need to be rotated 90 degrees. Anybody have any ideas on how to get that done?

[jsmyers]

In the weeks since our trip, I’ve been mulling over the question, “What did I do wrong?” Maybe wrong is a strong word and I’ve been thinking, “What should I do next time?”
I’d appreciate any feedback you might have on these or anything else you might suggest based on my trip report:

Fish more evenings for walleyes using bait
The last night by dad and I did well in the first narrows, a spot with a strong current, using slip bobbers and minnows. There are probably a lot of places we could have replicated that success and gotten more of the group to experience the bite. (I’m thinking other areas with current, weeds near a good dropoff, or shallow rock reefs.) We weren’t on the water at that time much, and most of the times that we were, I was trying out lures, attempting to target both pike and walleye, but probably not targeting either very well.

Jigs for bass
At a few different times, I did well with small jigs (especially dark hair jigs) for smallmouths. Generally, wherever I found warm water and rocks and/or wood, I could get a smally to bite a hair jig. I should have done two things differently. First, I should have ran to the store and grabbed more of the jigs for the group and encouraged others to try that pattern. Second, there were times when we’d catch a smallish bass on a mepps spinner. I can think of two times that I did so over shallow mid-lake rock reefs. I never tried the jig over those spots. Partly, this is because I had a one-track (pike) mind at those times, but also because I didn’t fully-form the hair jig pattern in my mind until the morning of day 6. I suspect I would have gotten more and bigger bass with the jig.

Move to the weeds nearest deep water
This is much more speculative, as Wabaskang reports from that time were generally down on the fishing for big pike (example: http://www.wabaskangcamp.com/4036). However, in retrospect, most of the time I was targeting pike in the weeds, I wasn’t along the deepest edge and wasn’t in a weedbed closest to the deep basin. As a for instance, we fished a few times out into the big lake from the second narrows, but the deepest water is much closer to the weedbed that I understand is on the north side of the big lake, near where the lake narrows, heading towards Gawley’s Bay. Additionally, the water coming out of the narrows was pretty warm. Perhaps it would have been cooler on the other side of the lake. I can think of a few other places I should have checked for weeds near the deepest water. In the future, I should map out where the weed-edge is and make sure I’m spending time closest to it. A few times, I figured out that the weed line was a ten feet, and I’d troll at that depth, but these were not areas with a good dropoff nearby.

Move more
In general, we often got stuck fishing one area or spot without a lot of action. Many times, the lack of success could be attributed to the weather patterns at that moment, but I bet we would have been more productive covering more water. The other thing is getting three boats to stick together is like herding cats. I’ve got to be a little quicker to start up the motor and tell the other boats, “Hey, I’m going to check over there.” This is a lesson I’ve read enough about to have in the back of my mind and was probably better than past trips. I think the experience is helping to truly teach me the lesson.

I have a few more in mind, but my lunch hour is up. Everybody enjoy your time on the water!

[billy weaver]

I read it all and enjoyed the report. I enjoy reports that includes family members and the younger members. I started taking my grandson to Wabaskang when he was 6 years old, that was 12 years ago. I have been fishing for years but the time spent with him and my son are my highlights. Your trip was well worth the time and expense as you will always have those happy memories and more important so will they.

Billy