Lake Minnitaki Fishing Reports

[Vikings_59]

Hey Everyone,

Has anyone fished Minnitaki lately?

We are headed up this Friday. Going out of Pickerel Arm.

[prov1900]

Got back the first week of June. From what I hear, and through experience believe, fishing is great but wind/weather dependent. That being said, it's Minnitaki. You shouldn't have any problems catching fish. Minnitaki is my "second home" and we are planning a 2nd trip in late September. How well do you know the system? If you have any specific questions, feel free to ask. Do you stay at the camps or Donneleys?

[Vikings_59]

It is my first trip up there. The guys we are going with have been going for years. We are trolling with bottom bouncers/crawlers as well as jigging. We are staying at Donneleys.

Do you suggest any depths/colors for this time of the year?

Thanks Prov!

[prov1900]

Chartreuse or variations of green are always good to go. I would hate to speculate as to the depths as I haven't been there in 6 weeks, but 30 fow would be a good max depth starting spot. Look to the main lake reefs as well, although if you don't know where they are, there may be some other boats on them. I am a point guy at heart and if the wind is blowing in on the points, I'm sure you will hammer them shallow too. The guys you are going with should put you on fish in a hurry. Donneley's is a great place to stay.

Make sure you post your results when you get back, or do it while you are there. They have wireless net there. I will be there in late September, just haven't picked an exact date yet. I cannot wait. Definately a two times a year destination now for me.

[Vikings_59]

Hey Prov,

Fishing was great. We stayed around 25-35 ft using Lindy rigs with and without spinners. White, red and white, and gold were very good colors.

We fished the Reef on the main lake along with Red Pine and a few other islands in Southwest bay and had very good luck.

The weather was very inconsistent. One day the wind blew from every direction.

We released lots of slot fish. The biggest Walleye caught was 25.5''

Donneleys was a great place to stay.

We already booked our trip for next year. I am also thinking of making a fall trip in the future.

Good Luck in September.

[elusivecrappiecatcher]

Thanks for the info, I will be heading up next Thursday morning. I cannot wait!

[prov1900]

gatoreye,

Glad you had a great trip. The weather can really play with you, but it still is hard to beat a day on Canadian waters. We finalized our dates, Sept. 23-26. Not a long trip, but sufficient considering that the four letter word "work" gets in the way. It will hold me over till May when we go back with the big group. Glad you thought Donneley's was a great place. They have become like family with our group. Slot fish dominate that system. Gives you a nice picture of that lakes future...shhhh

[prov1900]

elusivecrappiecatcher,

Have a great trip and post your results when you get back. Look forward to hearing it as it will get me even more fired up for the fall. Have safe travels to and from and save a few for us.

[elusivecrappiecatcher]

Will do! If my aircard/phone work I will probably update when I am up there. I can never leave the electronics lol. Nice to have for weather and stuff though.

[prov1900]

Hey, if you are staying at Donneley's, they have wireless on site. Bring your laptop along for some live updates.

[elusivecrappiecatcher]

Hey, if you are staying at Donneley's, they have wireless on site. Bring your laptop along for some live updates.

We are staying at Abrams Lake Park. My friends family has been going there for years. I finally have the time to tag along. I have never fished this area so I am pumped. I have fished on a flyin to the east about 2 hours, but that was long ago.

I am hoping to convince my dad to take a trip up there next year sometime.

[prov1900]

Cool. Verizon works 100% up there in that area as well, so you should be able to connect either way.

[elusivecrappiecatcher]

Well just going across the border now and fishing was great on the Taki. 27-30ft was the ticket for us but also one spot was the 18-23 foot mark. Bigger fish in the deeper water though. Floating jig heads were the ticket the first 2 days then jig and a minnow. Each day it seamed like a different color. School bus yellow was the best though. Minnows not leaches.

[prov1900]

Awesome. Did you get into any pig northerns? I kinda figured they were in the same spots as the walleyes during the summer months there, i.e. on the deeper reefs. Minnows were always the ticket for us too. Tried to go cheap once...for about an hour, then went back to the standard minnow. Sure, the other stuff works great, but when you are catching 3 to 1 on a minnow vs a twister tail, you really don't care how much they cost. Donneley's always treated us right on bait anyway.

[elusivecrappiecatcher]

I got one northern but it was on a different lake. Others in the group caught a few smaller ones, nothing big though.

Best part about the real minnows is even if the head was the only thing left they would still hit that. I caught a pig 25" eye with the tail on head first then the rest of the body backwards on the jig lol. You should have a good time PROV. I am going to look into Donnelly's for next year. The place we staid was really great though as well. Donnelly's for me and my little boat would work better to me to spots faster. Going to probably get rid of the 9.9 and drop a 30hp E-Tec on my 14ft lund. Little sucker should scoot then and make fishing a bit nicer.

[Vikings_59]

Heading up to Minnitaki Friday the 15th.

Prov/elusivecrappie- are you making trips again this year?

Anyone else made any recent trips or heading up in the future?

I'll post results during and after our trip.

Good Luck!

[duckster]

I just got back on the 1st. We did our best in our "spring" spots 12-18 FOW and mornings were best. Heard that crawlers were hot but used mostly minnows(easier for the kids) and did good. Caught a lot of northerns also. Good luck,

Duckster

[prov1900]

Gator,

We were there for the opener and did really well, even with some odd weather (typical). We are going back in September for a now annual foray. Post your results. Good luck and safe travels. And I am jealous. Wish I was going.

[Vikings_59]

Hey everyone,

We are on day 3 of our 1 week trip.

Fishing has been great. Our first day (Saturday) we went out at 10:00 am and did well on the reef in the mid afternoon, then towards evening we had our limit of eyes in 2 hours. The last 9 fish we caught to end the day were 3 triples. Yesterday was good in the afternoon in the narrows. the 3 guys in our other group hammered slot fish 23-26''. Today was our best day. Our boat of 3 slayed on the reef in the morning. Biggest being 24''. But many being 20-23''. We left for Red Pine for shore lunch and stayed there the rest of the day. We continued to release 20-24'' eyes. My dad caught a thick 17'' Smallmouth. A nice bonus was to see a neighboring boat, also staying at Donneleys land a 43'' Pike. The fish was too big to fit in their net, so the father/son hand to boat it together.

I will post the rest of results at the end of the week.

Good Luck.

[prov1900]

Awesome! Just booked my September trip yesterday and have already kicked out the menu/gear list to the crew. Obviously I got the itch to get back. Will be counting the days.

[GRH]

Prov, Stop and pick me up on your way through.

[prov1900]

Will do. I may even dump my boat off at your pad and we can take the Ranger with instead.

[Rick]

Please let us know how the trip goes guys?

[GRH]

Would be great, and I'd be all for it. But that dang hunting season and lack of vacation get in the way. Guess I'll have to wait till next June. Have a great trip

[Vikings_59]

The rest of our trip ended great. We actually ran out of Crawlers on our second to last day. (we brought up 650 which is a Flat and a half in MN) We brought back our 6 man limit of Eyes, all 17 to just under 18''-8 pike and 2 small mouth. The Reef, Narrows, and Red pine were the ticket for us- all shallower water- 10-25 ft. When we had our limit of eyes we casted for pike in Red Pine and Southwest Bay. We boated a 36 and a 40'' and caught numerous 20-24'' We talked to quite a few other boats who were using everything for bait- Leeches, shiners, fatheads, you name it. Everyone had decent luck. We paid our bill at Donnelys and again booked our same weekend for next year. We saw 4 moose, and boated by a Doe and a Fawn swimming the width of the lake just past Seagull Island.

Good Luck in September!