English river maps Manitou falls

[JJB]

I have been looking everywhere for a good map on this area.We go up every year to Manitou falls camp and know the area pretty good but a good map always helps.If anyone has and idea where to find one please let me know
thanks for any help out there.

[Guest]

JJB;

I stayed at Naughty Pines Fish Camp. I know some good hot-spots, pending the time of the year you go. I don't think you will find any structure maps of the system (if we are talking the same body of water: Goose Lake, Wegg Lake, Barnston, etc)

When are you going there?

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Let 'em go so they can grow!!!

[JJB]

Thanks for the reply, thats too bad about naughty pines burning down but its a good thing it didnt spread.
We are going up june 17-22 and fish the same system.We were up the first week of june last year and spent most out time down at the narrows b4 you get to the last lake(I forget the name).Best walleye fishing I have ever seen.But really want the detail of the lakes but havnt had any luck.I really want to spend a day or so trying for a big pike or ski but dont know where to start.The water was down about 6 feet last year and all the bays were empty.Thougt some sunken islands or saddles might produce a gator if the bays dont.Any help you can give would be great.We never got any eyes with much size either so thinkink of trying some new areas too.Thanks for the help.

[Guest]

I took my dad there in 2001. We had a blast. Hooked about 50 walleyes a day, with about 30 bonus pike (EACH DAY).

We pulled Spinner rigs with minnows. (either on bottom bouncers or slip sinkers). Orange blades were the ticket. Any other color didn't produce half the fish. Don't know why orange was such a hot color, but again, it out produced chartruese, gold, silver, green, & glow about 3 fish to 1.

We went the last week in May/1st week in June.

The first set of rapid didn't really produce a lot for us. So we went down to the opening of Wilcox lake. Just to the left of the opening, there is a good bar that produced some good walleyes. However, the best walleye fishing by far, is at the very end of the system, in Unexpected Lake. Go to the end of the lake, on the west side of the far island. There is a good reef there (on the Naughty Pines map, it says rocks). We pulled spinner rigs accross the top of the reef (ranging from 8 feet to 3 feet) and hammered the walleyes like there was no tomorrow. That reef also produced a 17lb pike for my dad. I caught a 14lb on that reef too, by pulling spinners. (My dad is a bit older and can't cast like he used too and he can't jig that well either, any more, so he wanted to pull spinners the whole trip.)

Working around that island by the reef produced some larger fish (dad caught a 7lber), but the numbers are not there. There are some points / flats that come off that island.

Go to the north of the island, and there is a water fall there. Fish that, I watched 2 old timers pull in a 41" fat pike while walleye fishing. Dad hooked another pike at the same time that went 43" and 18lbs (Kinda skinny). There is also very good walleye fishing right there, with both numbers and size. Go right to the falls with the boat and anchor up. You will find 2 holes on the way to the water falls. These holes are stacked with fish (but it is also very snaggy).

Go south west of the reef, and there is a deep bay. I talked to another guy who casted weighted suicks and slammed good pike in there.

As for muskie fishing, I know they are in Goose lake. That is all I know.......

Also, they claim there are BIG walleyes in Clear lake, but I didn't have much luck in there. If you do fish it, there is a good point/flat by the eastern point. Caught some fish, but when you are blasting as many fish as we were on the other spots, you don't waste time fishing average areas.

Mostly, I don't know what you are bringing for equipment. However, if they don't have trolling motors, I strongly recommend that you bring one, with a charger and 2 batteries. By having that trolling motor, it caught us fish. People were up there, trying the same thing we were, but were using the outboards and didn't have half the success we did.

One last area is a good sand flat with good breaklines along the mouth of Johnson Lake (fish Wegg). Along this shorline, is a great sand flat. We pulled cranks along this and did very well for walleyes. It is either a milk run for the fish or they spawn up on the rocks by the shoreline. However, there are fish along there. Lastly, we did catch some nice fish at the end of Wegg lake, going into the river channel, on the north side of the mouth. If you look at Naughty Pines map, they say rocks there. We jigged it and did quite well.

Hope this helps. Again, the reason we caught the fish we did, was because I knew a kid that worked there, and he gave me these hot spots, for that time of the year. On this system, these fish really migrate. We tried a few different areas as well, but the fish were there one day, and gone the next. Why: Because we went just at post spawn. We got there 2 weeks after ice out.

I do plan on going back some day, in August for just muskie fishing, but that will probably be in another year or two.

Good luck and when you get back, let me know how you did!!!!!!!

Keep in touch and feel free to ask more questions!

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Let 'em go so they can grow!!!

[JJB]

Thanks for the reply, I cant wait.Thats how fishing went for us also.Nobody belives ya when you tell them it was possable to catch 50-100 eyes in a day.We would get 2 scoops apiece of minnows in the moring and 2 in the afternoon and you could go through them in 1-2 hours when you got on the fish.Never had eye fishing half as good.
I bring up my trolling motor 16 ft lund and 25 horse merc.I never did make it all the way down to the end but that waterfall sounds awsome.
Sounded like you guys had a great trip.We got alot of pike also but the biggest was 38in with two others close.I was told the dam up at manitou had some big pike also but our bigger ones came from them narrows on wilcox.
Thanks for the info.I will let you know how out trip turns out.I wish I still had the one map we used up there to relate to all the areas you are talking about but I have a good idea.Thanks for all the help and may be back to ya with some more questions.

[Guest]

yea; I remember the minnows now.................We had 2 minnow buckets.

We would fill them each up with 2 full scoops in the morning (so we each had a minnow pail). We would be just about out ( a few straglers in the bottom) at the end of the day. There was probably close to 200 minnows in those buckets. I remember now, how many spinner rigs I lossed because of pike eating them. I bet I went through 20 spinner rigs a day. I remember only having like 2 or 3 orange spiner blades left after the trip. (I'm a tackle junkie, so for me to run out of walleye rig material takes a full year.....)

Ya know, a guy probably caught more fish, when you think about it. The action was non-stop. Best boat-in/drive-in trip I ever went to.

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Let 'em go so they can grow!!!

[Guest]

Hey!!!!
I just looked at your profile!

You are in Hastings!!!! I'm just outside of town.

email me @ [email protected]