Morson Fishing Reports, LOTW

[Eastwind]

Six of us just got back from three days of fishing WFB for Lakers and Sabaskong Bay for 'Eyes. Fished Lakers on Saturday and Monday. Only two for two on Saturday but we had trouble with one sled and decided to head in mid afternoon to avoid having more serious trouble after dark. Got in okay but better safe than sorry. On Sunday we fished for 'Eyes. The only good bite lasted about an hour in late morning. Got enought 15" to 17" to feed us and I lost a big one after fighting it for a while. On Monday four of us went up to WFB. We never got a strike until 4:00. Between 4:00 and 5:00. We landed two and lost two. Someone needs to start setting hooks with a little more gusto. All in all a fun trip.

[welfedted]

eastwind, good to here from you. youn didn't mention slush so I'm asuming all is well. could you confirm? thanks. any crappie action to report? any activity in Morson? I'd like to here from Ken V. or Terry G. I'll be heading up mid & late Feb. targeting all species. Sure wish the Mad Mulcher & his side kick Scott would come out of retirement. I might be willing to through another game of crib eastwind i got to rambling again. I do appreciate all the updates! I'm looking for an FMer that fished hay island on new years day. you were with 4 to 5 other guys south of hay, by the little islands. Wish i had said hi but was to cold. if you are out there please let me know. I think it would be fun to have a party with the Morson FMers some day.

[Tman2]

Mad Mulcher's a putz! He doesn't have his passport. I asked him about a trip at the beginning of the month and he said he didn't have it yet. I told him to hurry up!! I think he satisfied a little of his laker needs on a open water trip to Isle Royale. Just keep sending him your pictures and he won't be able to take it.

[Eastwind]

W.F.T.

Good to hear from you also. Travel was very easy, with no slush encountered. There was occasional evidence of previous slush but it was frozen up pretty good. We did not fish for Crappies at all so I can't give you any update ragarduing the Crappie bite. I think Royal Dutchman was getting close to going up to Miles Bay, possibly for Crappies. He may have a report for you. Doug?

[Royal Dutchman]

Went up M,T,W. Slow bite in my "never fail"(need to rename) spot so ran to N. Miles with a decent bite for eyes and perch.

Enough to eat but not our usual bite.

As usual, not enough time to search around for the crappie that I know are there, maybe next time.

Conditions are a bit rough so had to go slow but no slush so not complaining.

Sitting in motel in Coralville, IA, waiting for sportshow to start. Looking forward to talking to our past and future island guests while here but can't wait for next ice trip!

[wiwizard]

Long time viewer, first time poster. First, a quick intro. Me and my brother have owned a cabin on the lake, south of Morson for about 10 years. Personally, I have 642 days fishing on the lake for almost everything that swims in it. Decided to start posting our trip fishing reports. The first one's a little late, but here it goes.

Jan. 14th - 3 of us fished our favorite Walleye hump for 5 hours. Jigged spoons tipped with a piece of minnow in 17'-18'. Caught 57 Walleyes (including 4-15"ers, 4-15 1/2"ers, 5-16"ers, a 16 1/2"er, a 17"er, a 17 3/4"er, an 18 3/4"er and 2-19"ers) and 8 Sauger

Jan. 15th - 3 of us fished for Lakers in 3 different spots in Whitefish Bay for 5 1/4 hours. Jigged 3" white tube on airplane jigs in 30'-50'. Caught 5 Lakers (a 24"er, a 25"er, a 28 1/2"er, a 29"er and a 29 1/2"er). Lost 4 other fish.

Jan. 16th - 3 of us fished a reef that we've never fished for Walleyes before for 5 1/4 hours. Same technique and roughly the same depths as 2 days ago. Caught 35 Walleyes (including a 15"er, 2-15 1/2"ers, a 16"er, a 16 1/2"er, a 17 1/2"er and a 20 1/4"er), 6 Sauger and 2 Perch (including a 12 3/4"er).

Jan. 17th - Although I live in Wisconsin, I was born and raised for the first 8 years of my life in Minnesota. Plenty of time to become a Viking fan for life (although being a purple fish in a sea of green for the last 40 years has been really tough at times). Had to watch the Vikes kick some Cowboy butt today before running out to our favorite Walleye hump. So, I only fished for 1 3/4 hours. Caught 7 Walleyes (including a 15"er, a 15 3/4"er and a 16"er) and 6 Sauger. My buddy is not a Vikings fan, so he got out earlier, but had some snowmobile problems and only fished for 3 3/4 hours. He fished a different hump and only caught 8 Walleyes (including a 15 1/4"er and a 15 1/2"er) and a Sauger.

Jan. 18th - Back to Whitefish Bay for Lakers today. 2 guys for 4 1/4 hours. Fished 1 new spot and 3 old spots. Caught 3 Lakers (2-24"ers and a 30"er), lost 3. Fishing has been really slow so far this trip.

Jan. 19th - Back to our favorite Walleye hump. 2 guys fished for 4 1/4 hours today. We caught 48 Walleyes (including 3-15"ers, 2-15 1/4"ers, a 15 1/2"er, 2-15 3/4"ers, a 17"er and an 18"er)and 14 Sauger.

Jan 20th - 3 guys fished 2 spots for 5 1/2 hours in Whitefish Bay today. Action was a lot better today. We had 62 encounters, hooked up 13 times and iced 8 Lakers and a Northern. Lakers were between 24 1/2" and 31".

Jan 21st - Back to our favorite Walleye hump. 3 guys for 5 1/4 hours with varying success. We caught 84 fish today, but I caught 43 myself and one guy only caught 14. 47 Walleyes (including 5-15"ers, 3-15 1/2"ers, a 15 3/4"er, a 16"er, a 16 1/4"er, a 17 3/4"er and an 18"er), 36 Sauger and a Tulibee.

Jan 22nd - Last day of the trip. 3 of us fished For Lakers on Whitefish Bay for 5 1/2 hours. SLOW! Fished 3 spots and iced 2 Lakers (lost 6!), 2 Northerns and 2 Tulibee! Lakers were 26" and 29".

Not a terrible trip, but by no means a great one. We'll be heading back up during the last part of Feb. Will report again then.

Wizard

[Casey Sunsdahl]

Thanks for the report.. Wild thing will be happy

Keep on posting!

Casey

[Eastwind]

wiwizard,

Welcome to F.M. Great report! You'll find a great bunch of people to trade reports and tips with on this site.

[Mad Mulcher]

Ok, ok. Consider me out of hiding. Yes we did clean house at IR last August as evidenced by the video below but my laker catching satisfaction from that trip just ran out 2 days ago. Who's ready for a Whitefish Bay run? Ted are you ready to put your game face on?

http://s650.photobucket.com/albums/uu229...soundsofIR2.flv

[Eastwind]

Mulcher,

Nice fish. Cool video. When you fish Lakers at Isle Royale do you stay on the island or just run out to it every day? I assume that you are fishing in the general vicinity of the island.

E.W.

[Mad Mulcher]

We stayed at the Hotel in Grand Portage which means you have a 40 some mile round trip across open water to fish each day. Not a bad drive if the lake is calm, lol. This summer we will camp out on the island which supposedly is the "correct" way to do an IR trip. Last August was the maiden voyage of our big lake trolling set up and gearing up to camp at the same time would have put us a little out of our comfort zone. Yes the fishing is close to the island.

[benelli_dude2002]

Went up to Whitefish Bay on saturday. Never seen or heard another soul out there other than the trucks going by on the highway. Noticed most of the traffic was heading up to the west side and taking that channel that comes out just south of Whitefish bay camp. had to make our own tracks to our regular spot. Never hit any slush anywhere. the smoother riding was in the powder the closer we got to our spot. otherwise it was a slower ride. iced 5 lakers, let one go 33 inch a tad over 12 lb. a couple pike as well. only a 22 mile ride one way from my dads in Morson. havent fished anything else other than lakers up there this winter. not sure when i will be heading up again cuz its usually a last minute thing for me. looks like milder temps this week so hope it sticks around.

[benelli_dude2002]

going up to WFB on friday with a group. hope to have a report when I get back. sounds like the weather is gonna be nice. just a day trip for us.

[Casey Sunsdahl]

catch some fish Bdude! Don't let that older Brian dude outfish you again!

[benelli_dude2002]

kind of a slow day but it was beautiful minus the sunshine. Not a breath of wind, we seen one other sled and got to hear some wolves howling. Just the hum of the Vexilars to break the silence. Never bothered setting up the portables. iced 8 lakers with 31 inch 10.5 lbs being the biggest. probably lost 5-6 altogether. 2 pike about 5 and 7 lbs. One laker was caught at 520pm. never fished for them that late in the day. Fun day by all. cant wait to go again!

[Tman2]

So, what's the word out there? Anybody fishing? Conditions? Might be going 2nd week of March

[welfedted]

Tman2, I've been up twice in the last 2 weeks and the fishing and weather have been excellent. Lakers, crappies, eyes all bit well, especially the crappies. The last day my 1st & 2nd spots were already taken so moved to a spot I had never fished before. Best ice crappie bit I've had in years. Funny how that works. Two wolves crossed in front of us on the way back to top off the trip. Be back up later in March. GOOD LUCK! WFT

[welfedted]

Tman2, forgot to inform that the conditions for snowmobiles are great. WFT

[Wild Thing]

Hey Well Fed,

Any help on the walleye depths? Did you fish reefs?

We're heading up Thursday for four days. Any help would be appreciated!

Gracias

P.S. And thanks for posting, this has been a slim year for quality info posts for sure.

[welfedted]

WT, we hit the eyes in the morning on a reef west of Morson in about 17' of water. The next day we fished the last 1.5 hours before sunset in 15 fow off an island point near to Morson. That was a better bite than the reef. We did pick up some eyes while fishing crappies. I bought fat head minnows before I left and salted them. They worked great for crappies and eyes. Either a head or a tail under an 1/8 oz glow demond. The bigger eyes bite on larger live minnows we got from Terry Gill.I hope this helps. Good luck! WFT PS. The Mad Mulcher is alive and well and hasn't missed a beat when it comes to icing lakers!

[Swiftboy]

Hey WFT I Made it! leaveing in the morning to hook up with wild bill then on to some deep sea fishing in Holbox Mexico maybe I'll have better luck landing a sea trout than a lake trout. should be alot warmer than Morson. talk to you when I get back.

[Wild Thing]

Hey Thanks Well-Fed! Sounds like we'll be in the same area you were for 'eyes. We've had good luck with a late morning bite on the reefs, summer and winter.

Take care

P.S. to all

I don't usually promote any business but Alf Gate who lives south of Bergland about a mile has good minnows, reasonably priced (by Ontario standards.) If you hit the 600 Road going north, you've gone too far. FYI since the lack of a good tackle store/bait shop up there is affecting us all.

[Shorelunch]

Man am I jealous of all of you who've made it up there this Winter! I hope to be able to get up there over the Winter for eyes and lakes next year (there's always next year, right).

I'll have to try Gate's bait this year. The only place I was somewhat satisfied with this past year was BV - but you need to take out a 2nd mortgage for them. I've tried to use Gulp/grubs when possible, but sometimes live bait makes the difference.

[Tman2]

So, what's the ice depth? Are extensions needed?

[Tman2]

In addition to my previous question, I'm now wondering if 4-wheeler travel is better? Seeing all the lakes down here with a bunch of sitting water on top from melting has me pondering things.... and I saw warm temps forecast for up there.