Clearwater/Pipestone chain

[ovechkin]

A friend and I are going up to the this chain of lakes June 29 to July 2. Just wondering how the fishing is going, and if anyone has any reports. Thanks!

[Hoffer]

Superbee will chime in soon.

Hes an expert at this area and has cabins there too.

He knows his stuff.

[superbee]

Fishing has been very good so far this season. The walleyes have been real good in 12-18' of water and even shallower at times. Somedays they have been in just 6' of water. Have heard all good reports from Clearwater, Pipestone and Jackfish. The bass have been real good, but are now moving off the beds.

[ovechkin]

Thanks!

[ssaamm]

We'll be up this weekend. Sounds like a warm, sunny one. Are the bass still roaming the shallows or are they moving off? We've made the run from the S side of Clearwater to what I think is the Pipestone Lodge or some resort up there. It's quite a hike. Had some luck in the past about a mile or so over the portage--just short of that narrow rocky area. Do we need to go a ways north for better fishing for bass and walleyes? Or, can we do fine closer to the portage? The lake levels in our area are very high. How about up there? Lots of questions. Thanks for the time.

Sam

[superbee]

Bigger bass are moving into deeper water. Mayfly hatch is also on and slowed things down a bit. If you make the trip up Pipestone, some of the best fishing is from the area just North of Pipetsone Lodge and up the Northwest Arm into Schistose. Pipestone is just a touch low. We need some more rain.

[ssaamm]

Thanks. Can you buy gas at the Pipestone Lodge or anywhere up there if a person is low? Thanks for the reply. Sam

[superbee]

They may sell it, but I am not sure. If they do, expect to pay around $8 gallon or better afetr they have the extra expense of hauling it up the lake. I would just take an extra can with you to save time and any hassles.

[DREZLER]

8 of us were up the 15th and 16th in 2 boats. We went up to Pipestone to fish lakers one day; only got one (about 5 hours of fishing!).

The next day we portaged to Jackfish and found a lot of fish on the spot near the island with the cross on it. It had pike, walleyes, huge perch, and 1 13" crappie on it.

We also had to run the mechanical portage by ourself in the morning since Ray wasnt around!! (One of the guides from a resort was right in front of us and kind of showed us how). I don't recommend it.

Fishing on clearwater was just okay in the evenings when we fished it. Slower than normal. We never fish clearwater for 'eyes' until before dark.

[MinDak Hunter]

Does Lakemaster make a chip that covers Clearwater?

[superbee]

No depth charted maps that I am aware of for the system.

[MinDak Hunter]

Superbee-Thanks for the reply, do you guide for crappies in the summer too?

[superbee]

No, I only fish crappies in the winter. I prefer walleye and trout fishing.

[MinDak Hunter]

Would there be anyone you would recommend in the area that guides for them in the summer? My wife, kids, and I are coming up to Clearwater and I'd like to try for some of the big Off Lake crappies with my 5 and 7 year old kids.

[superbee]

Where are you staying at? I know that the owners at Little Moose and Ross' Camp do well on some big crappies, but they are fishing them on Jackfish and the other lakes over the South portage.

[MinDak Hunter]

Superbee-We are staying at my wifes families cabin, south of the boat launch on Clearwater.

[superbee]

Between Trails End and Ross'?

[MinDak Hunter]

Got back from Clearwater Sunday night, fishing was slooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooow for us but the swimming and rock jumping with the kids was great, beer drinking was ok too! We ended up eating half a dozen bass just so we'd have fish to eat (brother-in-law and the kids caught them from the dock).

Superbee- we stay at the cabin that says "Keiths" on the boathouse.

[ssaamm]

We were there the weekend before the 4th. Canada celebration day. It was hot and flat and hot. Usually we can pick up a couple of walleyes to eat in the evenings either trolling Shad raps or casting cranks. We only got one, and it was too big. We went over the S portage one day and scratched out a few pike and smallies. Over the N portage for a day and got a few too. We had our toughest year fishing in the 4 yrs here. Clearwater was the dead sea. Oddly enough, there is one bay we hit every year just over the N portage and catch smallies, pike and walleyes casting Rat L Traps. We catch 6-7 fish in 20 minutes every stop. We ended up circling back about every hr because it was the only spot that was good. That's fishing tho. Still had a good time. Couple of nice muskie follows kept the heart pumpin.

[superbee]

Was up Pipestone a couple days back for about 5 hours. It was a bit slower than previous trips, but 3 of us managed to catch 20 wallleyes, smalllest was 16" and largest was 23". The bite was real light. Gold jigs tipped with leeches and lindys with leeches and crawlers worked also. Fish were in 14-20' of water. Reports from Clearwater are slow right now. The best walleye fishing on Pipestone starts in the area around Sullivan Narrows and up the lake.

[MinDak Hunter]

ANY reports from Clearwater? We are coming up with the kids next weekend and are hoping to find a few fish, last time up we found very few walleyes but caught some bass.

[MinDak Hunter]

Anyone??? Crawlers, leeches, minnows?

[NoWiser]

Didn't fish Clearwater, but was on Pipestone all last week. Walleyes were as slow as I've seen in a few years, but caught a couple nice ones. We had crawlers for bait. Trout bit good on downriggers for us when we fished for them, which might be a good option if you have access to them. Anywhere from 45-90 feet down. Wish I could help you on Clearwater more, but I didn't hear anything at all when I was up there.

[MinDak Hunter]

NoWiser- thanks for the info.

Our report: we fished Clearwater Fri-Mon with lots of walleyes in 14-18 FOW(flats not sharp breaks). We mostly drift fished with 1/4 oz. white jig heads and a leech. We also used brown twister tails that seemed to work ok too but almost all the fish we caught had a belly full on minnows. The fish we caught were mostly under 15 inches with only one over 18 in.

Talked with Brian at Sportsmans Landing and he'll be open Friday-Mondays until the end of Sept.

[MinDak Hunter]

Any word on the Clearwater walleye bite?