Lake of the Woods - Morson Fishing Report

[Scoot]

He was showing us your route and we all mentioned how cool of a trip it would be....kind of like Quetico without a lot of the work!!

Yeah, my arms aren't sore from paddling one bit!

Were you up there with a fellow named Jay? If yes, did you guys muskie fish at all? If yes, how'd it go?

[Gusser88]

We were up with a Jason from Wisconsin who likes to muskie fish. He is still up there fishing. Have not heard how he has done. I know he had raised a couple by the time we left on Monday but hadn't hooked up yet.

[Shorelunch]

Got to fish out of Morson July 1-4. Beautiful weather - and great fishing. Got unpacked about 3:30 on Friday and hit the water at 4:00. We went out to the humps, reefs and sunken points west of Manitou and south of Sunset channel. We trolled spinners with crawlers and minnows and did real well - depth was 16-18'. Biggest was a 26" with a number of 14-16".

Saturday morning the wind was going pretty good, so we went north past Sunset and fished a sunken point. Caught walleyes on spinners in 12-18', and some very nice jumbo perch, til we ran out of bait and then cast crankbaits over the shallows and caught a couple of smallies, northerns and a 24" walleye. Went out for a couple of hours Saturday after dinner and trolled crankbaits around island shorelines and points and caught a couple walleyes, a really nice northern and a few smallies. That was a lot of fun - first time I've done that in a few years.

On Sunday morning, we went out to the reefs out from Dawson channel/east of Gooseneck. Trolled spinners again in 12-20' and caught fish at every stop. Lots of eaters, along with a 22 and 24". Sunday afternoon, we ventured out muskie fishing in Burrows Bay. We threw bucktails and some jerk baits to keep things simple. My 10 yr old had a fish on for about 10 cranks - he was hooked after that. I caught a 36" northern and a couple smaller northerns. Had a nice follow - I'm guessing mid-to-high 40's. Got about an 1 and 1/2" of rain Sunday night. Lots of fun and sun - but no wind, so a boat ride felt good

Ventured west to the reefs west of Manitou and tried jigging with plastics and continued to do well. Fished a few of the bouys and tried a few new spots. Saw fish at every stop. On the way back stopped at an island west of the gap and threw some crank baits trying to catch a few smallies. Caught one smaller smallie, a northern and a Kamikazee perch. Fun weekend and looking forward to getting back up in a few weeks.

[Wild Thing]

Hey Shorelunch!

I forgot about this HSOforum for a while!

We must have been very close over the Fourth weekend... we also fished to the west (as usual) and had fantastic luck, tons of 15-17 inchers and many 22, 23 and 1 27 was biggest. Didn't fish more than 3 hours each day and caught way more than enough.... The usual summer bait - crawlers and bouncers! Usual summer location. Pretty easy fishing as usual for this time of year...

Man did you see the slicks of millions of dead mayflies? I've never seen that before... some were 1/4 mile long! Lots of mosquitoes out too...

Back up in 10 days for 10 days of fishing!

See ya on the water!

[Wild Thing]

Wow, I'd been away from this site for a few months and see now no one else is using it any more either. Oh well, fads pass.

Anyhow, had the absolute best walleye fishing of my life over the last 8 days. Reefs. Crawlers. Constant action. Never quite seen anything like it. No matter the wind direction or speed, air temp or sky condition, they were slamming the spinners. Only "off' thing was no big girls this time, biggest was only 25, but tons of fish 17-24". I never fish a whole day -- only a few, hours each day -- so I can't compare it to how many we'd catch in a full day... but we averaged 10-20 fish per hour, per person. Almost felt guilty it was so good. Almost.

I'll check back in a few months to see if anyone else posts here!

Take care. Beg borrow or steal some crawlers and get up there asap before the frenzy ends.

[BleedSiouxGreen]

Hey guys, I'm heading that way on Wednesday, but a little further north by Sioux Narrows. When we fish the reefs we always vertical jig. I guess I always thought we'd get snagged up pulling spinners, but that doesn't sound true from what you're reports say. Do you guys troll right over the reefs with the spinners? Just curious because I'd like to try if it's not too bad for snags.

[Gusser88]

BSG - We primarily pull spinners with bottom bouncers and go up and over, around, and all over the reefs. We do get snagged sometimes but not any more or less than jigging. Good communication from the guy controlling the boat to the other fisherman is important. Letting them know when you are coming up from 30 to 15ft, etc. We also don't let the bottom bouncer rest on the bottom but continunally are tapping it on the bottom and jigging up a bit. Good luck.

[Wild Thing]

Same here Gueser, but I find a LOT fewer snags with bottom bouncers. And you can use crawlers which seem to catch bigger walleyes than minnows this time of year, I occasionally fish with a friend (he in another boat) who ONLY jigs and, when the fish are on the reefs, he is snagged up twice as much as our boat. Also, just back up and the snag comes out most of the time with a bouncer, so you don't have to re-tie. (Another tip is to have double floats on the spinners so the hooks don't get caught in the rocks. Cabelas makes a great 2-hook float spinner for crawlers.) Jigs are great in the spring and fall, but bouncers and spinners are much more productive at rock reef time. You can also move very fast and cover more ground. My jigging friend makes fun of how fast i go but this time of year I always catch more and bigger fish.

Man, get up there, it is still going on. Crazy good on the reefs!!!! (But bring bug spray for deer flies. Ouch, they are bad!!!)

[Shorelunch]

Yep, I agree, too. Only time I use jigs this time of year is if the fish are stacked on a certain spot in a small area. Otherwise, bottom bouncers and spinners OR I've been trolling cranks too with success - especially after dinner. Make sure to use a heavy enough weight (45 degree angle when trolling) which will help with less snags.

Fishing has been very good on the reefs, for sure. Should stay that way for a few more weeks.

[dmoore]

Just got back from a week ay our trailer. Lots of walleyes up to 25". Fish mostly to the East and up around Sunset. Mostly shoreline points and a few reefs. 15-20FOW. 1-1/2 oz. Bottom Bouncers, #3 Colorado blade, Hammered Gold or Copper. We don't use crawler rigs anymore. 24" snell, 3/0 Gold, long shank hook with either a minnow or chunk of crawler. Catching just as many fish and a lot less fuss than a harness. Going back in two weeks.

Richard

[jerkin'm]

We will be up fishing the Nestor Falls area the 13th of August and are going to venture out on LOW-I have purchased all the Canadian maps of Sabaskong, Whitefish, Basil Channel-I also have the Rainy/LOW chip on my Lowrance. According to our resort owner we will need to head far enough west to avoid the bloom conditions. He thinks Miles Bay is a good starting point. We will be dumping into Stevens Bay and heading West. I read these reports all the time and it seems bouncers/spinners with crawlers are the bait/presentation of choice. Also sounds like main basin style reefs are where we should start. We will have 2 boats and lots of kids with and am curious as to an island location that would be a good kid swimming/lunch area. Any other info would be helpful- We are planning on trying to find some walleyes and perch.

[Shorelunch]

We will be up fishing the Nestor Falls area the 13th of August and are going to venture out on LOW-I have purchased all the Canadian maps of Sabaskong, Whitefish, Basil Channel-I also have the Rainy/LOW chip on my Lowrance. According to our resort owner we will need to head far enough west to avoid the bloom conditions. He thinks Miles Bay is a good starting point. We will be dumping into Stevens Bay and heading West. I read these reports all the time and it seems bouncers/spinners with crawlers are the bait/presentation of choice. Also sounds like main basin style reefs are where we should start. We will have 2 boats and lots of kids with and am curious as to an island location that would be a good kid swimming/lunch area. Any other info would be helpful- We are planning on trying to find some walleyes and perch.

J- Miles is always a popular place to start. Lots of reefs and good points to fish. There's a small island in the NE corner of Miles Bay that has a small sand bar that bridges the island to the main shoreline. Island itself is maybe 30 yards from shore. Great spot for lunch and swimming.

If your're out in the big basin, west of Morson, there's literally hundreds of reefs and island points to try. Can't really go wrong. Give each one a couple of passes and see if anyone's home. If not, on to the next. Obviously, be very aware and scout your locations before getting close to them - takes a long time to get back home with a kicker . . .

If wind is a factor, you can hide up by the Sunset Channel. If you go that far west, Fish Narrows and Dawson Channel are cool places to explore. Lots of nice sand bays to pull into east and just west of the channel. I'd also throw in a tub of leeches, too.

[jerkin'm]

Shorelunch-thanks for the help, having a lunch destination is high on our priority list..thanks for the fishing tips too..I am slightly apprehensive as last time I was over there with a brand new boat I found some rocks thanks to a native netter...Do you know a guy by the name of Lentz? If not no biggie but I thought you guys knew each other..

[marknamy]

jerkin'm.

Shorelunch is dead on. The island on the east side of Mile's is great for relaxing. I'm headed up this weekend. I'll post a fishing report when I return.

[Wild Thing]

What they said! Great advice.

But a couple of odd points. Why would the resorter say avoid the bloom? Some of our best fishing comes under bigtime blooms. Personaly I would avoid Miles Bay unless you like crowds. But other folks do really well there. From Stevens Bay, unless you want to burn a lot of gas, you shoud be able to find tons of fish in Sabaskong.

I'm also a little taken aback by the fact Shorelunch and others didn't have their best ever fishing this month. Both over the 4th and mid-July we had the best waleye bite I've ever seen.I must be lucking out on reef timing (they only bite for so long each day and you have to time itr right sometimes) but I've never seen anything like it before.

Heading back up Thursday with my brother in law from the cities, will report back next week.

[jerkin'm]

WT-I don't enjoy crowds at all but I have no clue about that part of LOW-that was the area he suggested. If you think they can be found in Sabaskong and have a suggestion I am all ears...Is it a day bite up on that part of LOW or more of a morning and evening thing? I don't know about the bloom thing at all but he suggested going West until we are out of it...

[Shorelunch]

J- I know Mr. Lentz very well.

Sometimes I've found that thick, bright green, soupy blooms slows or stifles fishing. It can make a difference - especially in areas that haven't had much wind or wave action for a few days. Miles can be busy, but nothing like say Mille Lacs, etc. It's all relative and we're spoiled on the Morson area of LOTW. I'd listen to your resort owner and if it's soupy, I'd travel a little to get out of it. Sabaskong is a huge bay, but there are great spots east, west and south of Hay Island. PM if you'd like to get pointed in the right direction.

Fish can be caught from sunrise to sunset. Because it's stained water, I've had great fishing on bluebird sky afternoons with no wind. I've generally heard lousy reports from those trying fishing after the sun goes down. I love trolling cranks after dinner on top of reefs or points until sunset.

WT, we had a very good July, but not a slam dunk like you had! Only really got to fish the reefs a few times so far, so that's been the most disappointing part. Plan to get back up next weekend and hope the walleyes stay on the reefs for a while.

[jerkin'm]

thanks for the info, sent you a pm...

[Eastwind]

Jerkin'm

All good advise given to you by the others. Can't add much except that there is a great shorelunch and swimming area on the Esst/N.E. side of Comegan Island, which is on the south end of Miles Bay. As wasd said, there are hundreds of spots to try between Miles Bay. the bigger water west of Morson, Sunset Channel, the channels East toward Blueberry island. The key, especially in August, is to keep moving and trying new spots/types of structure. Some days you may only gett one or two per spot but run ascroos one spot that'll be very active. Fiftenn minutes without a fish and it'd time to move on. It's such a beautiful area,it's kind off a bonus to explore it while trying different areas. Have fun, look at your maps to get a plan, head ot and enjoy my favorite place to fish, ever.

[Wild Thing]

Just got back, two guys 2.5 days of fishing... went through more than 10 dozen crawlers. Simply unbelievable fishing... like a broken record... but just guys this time, no kids, so more time fishing!

Friday was picture perfect, calm, sunny, hot -- perfect for reef fishing. we stopped counting at 50 walleyes, 3 sauger, 3 perch and one sm bass... I got a 27" and we had multiple 24's.... we even did great from 8-9 at night after dinner when i hardly ever catch many fish... Saturday brought a few sprinkles and stiff NE wind with whitecaps in the a.m., started slow but drifted and powered back and got about 20 in the a.m.... again several way too big to keep..... took a break at mid-day then fished 4-7 and just hammered them on my very favorite reef... again, significantly more than 50 walleyes on saturday and MANY over 20 inches.... back for steaks and went to the pow-wow for a while... fun

Sunday was cooler and sunny, started slow (went 30 minutes between fish at one point) until about 10 a.m. then it kicked in big-time... we went through our last 36 crawlers in about 90 minutes.... lost track of how many we caught... before we had to go home at noon.. but my brother-in-law got a 28'', his biggest walleye ever! It took us a really long time to revive her but she eventually did go... never had that problem before... We felt sorry for 3 people from Indiana in a little camo boat who tried to get close to us on the reef but just couldn't catch a single fish... they only had minnows... we offered them our last few crawlers but they declined... oh well, stubborn and fishless...

Water temp is 75 degrees or so on average... NO ALGAE bloom as yet where were were.... fished 8-16 feet on top and just off the top of the reefs... water still low...

Last 5 weeks have been incredible... what a summer!

[Shorelunch]

That's awesome, WT! I'm heading up this weekend and excited to get back out there.

[marknamy]

Found most of our fish on points from 10-17 fow. Crawlers seemed to be the ticket. I agree with being willing to move. Two passes without a fish and I'm moving. Tried a couple spots that I've never fished before and now they are on my favorites list. Back on Labor Day, keep the posts coming.

[jerkin'm]

Awesome reports guys-do you guys buy crawlers down here and bring them with? Debating going up to Vados and getting them-

[Wild Thing]

Jerk -- buy them down here if you can get them packed in shredded newspaper rather than dirt (import rule). They are better quality and half the price.

I'm sure minnows will work too but they are harder to keep alive and also very expensive (I do everything on the cheap!)

Use any color spinner as long as its hammered gold!

Forgot to say that those damxxed deer flies were gone! Glad to report that, hardly saw any.

Billions of shells of some odd, small bug-eyed bugs in the water making big bug slicks. Algae bloom looks to be right on the edge of happening.

[marknamy]

jerkin'm,

PM me if you have any other questions and I could help out.

I'll second the color choice, hammered brass/gold.

Have a good trip.