Fall fishing LOW

[computerboy]

This was my first year fishing up on LOW, and I'm toying with the idea of going back for a late September trip. We did well during the summer on the reefs around the Cliff Island area, but I'm guessing they start staging elsewhere by late Sept. Any info on where they might be that time of year? Are the reefs still a safe bet, or would other areas be more productive?

Thanks in advance!

[Eastwind]

When are you going up? Should I asuume that you are talking about Canada.

[computerboy]

Canadian side, yes. We'll be going out of Sioux Narrows. We're planning on the weekend of Sept 23rd or Sept 30th depending on schedules. Any info on where they might be that time of year would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

[Eastwind]

I fish the Sabaskong Bay and Big Traverse area mostly so information that I give you may or may not be helpful. Hemlock, one of the forum administrators, lives up in the Narrows so he could probably be more helpful than me. That being said, we concentrate on rocky points with a good steep drop off of the end or narrows between islands with some current (current may be barely noticable). A lot of the navigation buoys will point you to these areas if the buoys are real close together. This should give you a starting point. I would go the weekend of the 30th or even one or two weeks later. I've always done better in October than in September. We also have a good Crappie bite in the Morson/Sabaskong area in Fall. With luck, there will be some Crappies biting somewhere up in the Narrows area that time of year. Good luck.

[computerboy]

Thanks so much Eastwind, your post was very helpful. I'd like to hit it a little bit later as you've suggested, but the last couple of weekends in Sept are the only ones that seems to work with everybody's schedule.

I'll try the type of structure you've recommended and post my results when I get back.

Thanks again!

[Hemlock]

End of September, the walleyes should be on the above mentioned structures. From SN, you'll want to head to Yellowgirl and beyond. Points with the typical good structure is where you'll have your best results. Good luck, that's a great time of the year to be out.

[Eastwind]

Oh, and by the way, jig and minnow or troll crankbaits.

[computerboy]

Thanks again Eastwind. On the topic of minnows, any idea how the bait supply usually is up there that time of year? Our two experiences up in the Nestor Falls/Sioux Narrows area this summer weren't all that great (leeches in particular)....more that double what we're used to paying and half of them weren't even suitable for panfish. Any idea where to get decent bait?

Thanks!

[Eastwind]

Yes, the price of minnows in Canada will give you a little sticker shock. Most of the resorts have six months to make a living and a twelve month mortgage so the $ has to come from somewhere. Some try to be more fair that others. If you buy bait in the town of Nestor Falls There are two bait shops. The bait shop South of Nestor Falls Hotel tries much harder to be fair than the one North of town at the turn for the airport. I always get my bait at the bait shop South of town. Another way to save some $ is to buy crawlers in the U.S. and bring them with. This is perfectly legal as long as the crawlers are packed in bedding with no trace of dirt on them. Vados Bait, in Spring Lake Park, sells 1/2 Canadian flats for around $32.00 that contain around 250 crawlers. I would still get some minnows while there but the crawlers at around $1.50/doz will stretch out your bait budget.

[Shorelunch]

I don't want to hijack the thread but . . . we've done as close to "scientific" research this year on the Woods this year comparing Gulp crawlers to real and in most cases, Gulp did equal or better than live crawlers. This was tolling spinners with pumpkinseed crawlers. Just a way to save a few bucks and not have the hassle of perchies nibbling your crawlers off.

[Eastwind]

Shorelunch,

There is no such thing as Hijacking" the thread. The poster asked for info from those of us that fish LOW in Canada. I'm glad that you and Hemlock weighed in. Now, for my own personal gain, I've tried Gulp on and off since last Fall with little or no luck. What am I doing wrong? I've tried red worms, black leeches, black minnows, pink minnows, pumpknseed (I think) etc. I usually use a leadhead. What do you think. I will be up again October 6th thru 10th and would love to add Gulp to my arsenal but I'm losing confidence in it.

[John-Di]

I would have to agree with eastwind. I have tried gulp a few times but have had no luck with it. Night Crawlers, red worms, grubs and black worms. Grubs I fished with a jig head and the worms behind a worm rig. Has anyone else had any problems. Am I doing something wrong?

[rockpt]

I've had more luck trolling or bottom bouncing spinners with Gulp crawlers than I've had jigging the Gulp grubs.

[Shorelunch]

Oh . . . I kinda forgot to mention that we used Gulp trolling spinners w/bouncers. I too have had not much luck w/it jigging. My best Gulp's are the pumkinseed nightcrawler and the black & silver smelt minnow. Both have done the job this year.

We'll see how they do this weekend.

[Northlander]

I have had decent luck with Gulp Crawlers on my spinners. Great when the perch are around.

[dmoore]

We use gulp with our spinner rigs and bottom bouncers also. Do just as good with them as with real crawlers. We do very well on jigs using 3" twister tails (generic ones work very good). Heading back on the 6th for about three weeks.

[Shorelunch]

Just back from LOW over Labor Day weekend. We tried deep, shallow and in between off shorelines, points, channels and currents and worked pretty darn hard for a walleye dinner and some fish to take home. We marked A LOT of fish in 18-25' but we weren't giving them what they wanted.

We had a decent Labor Day weekend last year, but I've generally had to work pretty hard for them this time of year. Our "best" luck came from silver spinners and white jigs tipped with minnows. The algae was emerald green soup around the Hanson Bay area but somewhat better out to the north. I did learn quite a few spots for some serious fall fishing though . . .

[Hemlock]

Shorelunch, you aren't alone with a slow(er) report. Lot of guys are working hard to find them in big numbers. I think they are scattered out right now, and you've got to put in the time till you get on some. Thanks for the report. Not a bad weekend to be out in the boat, eh?

[Shorelunch]

Nope. Can't complain about the weather . . . well . . . a little chop would have been nice . . . it could have easily been 50 degrees, rainy and windy.

[computerboy]

Well I’m back from our trip from the 23rd-25th. Fishing was OK around the Cliff Island area, with Saturday being the best and getting progressively worse by Monday. We found them scattered between 18-28 and quite selective in what they would take. We also marked and caught fish in deep water (30-55'), but at those depths releasing them really isn't an option so we generally stayed in the 24-28' range. We briefly fished the shallow rocks too, but with high winds, low water, and pea soup clarity we spent more time worrying about running aground than we did fishing. By Monday, the wind was absolutely howling so we were tucked behind islands fishing unfamiliar territory. We found lots of fingerling walleyes, decent smallies, perch, and saugers to boot...but a decent sized walleye was tough to come by on the last day of our trip.

Surface temp averaged around 61 degrees, and water clarity was very low with what appeared to be a significant algae bloom. Managing shore lunch shouldn’t be a problem if you head out there, but you'll probably need to go deep for bigger fish. Smallies, pike, and muskies are on the rock piles if you're so inclined.

Thanks again for all the information guys, and good out there!

[Matti]

We just got back from LOTW, and as it was my first time to LOTW and targeting Walleye, I was somewhat dissapointed, weather conditions were terrible, 40-65 over 4 days, from rainy and windy to clear and windy, didn't catch much fish at all between 7 people, went to Lobstick Bay and as west as Yellow girl bay, maybe brought back 14 walleye, 8 northern, and 2 bass.. kind of disappointing, is this normal for the weather? Thanks.. Matt

[Hemlock]

I suppose you don't want to hear that the walleye fishing has been fantastic on LOTW, do you? Wind has been steady for several weeks now. Nothing out of the ordinary. What kind of structure were you focussing on for the 'eyes?

[Eastwind]

Matti,

Much as I hate to encourage extra people fishing my favorite water, hang in there. LOW is a huge body of water with an enormous amount of structure to decide on. The only time of year that I found it easy to know where the 'Eyes were was mid Summer, when they are on the mid lake reefs. Fall was the most difficult time to learn how to fish the lake. The good news is, once you start to put it together, it is a great place to fish. My rule, especially when you are learning, ask about the general type of structure to find fish on(rather than specific spots)of people that know how to fish LOW. Try a spot. In 30 minutes if it is not working, try a spot. repeat until you start figuring it out.

[Shorelunch]

The above posts are dead-on. Every once in a while it seems the walleyes really want to go for a boat ride. Unfortunately, they most often like it better in the lake

Everyone on this board will tell you the type of structure, depth and the means they're fishing. It's a very fun lake to learn. Right now, they should be in current and fairly deep (20-40') with a jig and minnow. Then again, I can find them on weed lines, again in current, in 10-20' at the same time. That's why this lake is so cool.

And there's good duck hunting to boot. I'll let you know in a couple of days . . .

[Hemlock]

My brother was out yesterday jigging and doing well, he decided to go try in a shallower, weedy bay, and he got consistant 22-24"ers....go figure!