Sioux Narrows Report

[Winona Ice]

I fished the sioux narrows area from june 17th to june 23rd. We fished walleyes around cliff island most of the week. The first 3 days the fishing was great, we caught most fish in 1-6 feet of water on plastics. Sand bottom with a few rocks seemed to work best, but fish were biting everywhere. The average size was some of the best i have ever seen, almost no fish under 16 inches, with many being 20-25.

On the 4th day things slowed down quite a bit. We could no longer find many fish in the shallows. We had to fish in 10-25 feet of water and the fish were more scattered. Average size was also down some, with most fish being 12-15 and a few bigger. Numbers were still pretty good, but we really had to work at it. All week there was almost no difference in live bait vs. plastic, but plastic color seemed to make a big differece at times. We caught a lot of bonus smallmouth, with the biggest being 19 inches, and we had many bite-offs by snakes.

Evening crappie fishing was pretty good in snake bay, with most fish being 11-14 inches.

ICE

[fishanytime]

We were up for our annual family June trip over the same timeframe. Walleye fishing was outstanding in the Shore inland and Chisholm areas. Depth from 6 feet in the weeds to 25 feet on the humps. Size was 16 to 20 inches. Minnows or worms worked very well. Didn't try crappies in snake, how deep was the water you fished in?

Snakes were in shallow but found some on the rocks in 20 feet of water.

[eyemaster]

we were up in that area at that time also....the fishing was incredible. We caught fish shallow in the bays during the day, and out in the main channels in the evening. We caught alot of large eyes, a few snakes and some HUGE smallmouths. We got a few nice perch, but no crappies.

What a blast, the group I go with has decided that this was the last trip we are going to make. We are going to stay on the states side next year. It will be interesting to see if we can get into the same quality of fishing!

[Hemlock]

Eyemaster, just curious as to why you are putting an end to your Canadian side trip, especially after such a fantastic report. Poor service, border troubles, tired ol' dog?

Just curious...

[eyemaster]

Basically getting to be to much hassle going across the border. We have a couple in our group that have had DWI's, and the trip would not be the same with out them. Also the last time we came in they wanted to see all of our fish, we were legal, always have been, but it was a pain taking everything out of coolers and putting them back in. It is mainly the DWI situation though.

[Hemlock]

I totally understand...I guess the only thing I stand up for is how easy (generally speaking) it is to come up and have a vacation here. Some of the newest legislation has scared people off, and that is affecting tourism/business.

Long story short, our borders need to be protected. Whether it's drug smuggling, too many walleyes or terrorists, border officials have an important job to do. For the Joe "law abiding" citizen", it's a walk in the park to cross.

Note: Have your cooler of fish right near the top of your luggage with 1 sq. inch of skin left on each fillet, individually wrapped/packaged, and then they realize that you have done things by the book, and they should wave you through.

[eyemaster]

We did have the fish ind packaged with skin on, and it was not that big of a deal. It was just one more thing that made the trip a bumm deal.

The DWI thing is puzzling to me. I can respect what they are doing, but I think they should allow ppl in for vacations with a stipulation that they can't drive in Canada rather than saying they can't come in. That is the main reason that our group has decided not to go back. We also have ppl from small towns that are not interested in getting passports, but that is their choice. I am not happy that the decision has been made, and will most likely try and get another group to go but after years of going with the same ppl you get used to what to expect, and what works. It is hard to find a large group that gets along well!