Morson Report

[Eastwind]

Just got back from three day's of fishing at Morson on LOW. The Crappies were hit and miss. Hay Island was slow on Saturday but some friends went up in to the Elbow and did pretty well on Saturday. I went up in to the Elbow on Sunday but just did so so. Both Thomson Creek and Bottleneck Bay in Miles were slow for Crappies. If you go up to the Elbow and the current in the narrows is fast that day make sure you have plenty of battery power left in your electric for getting out if you have to do so against the current. It took four of us with ropes and one of us running the bow mount to get one of the boats out of Obabikon Lake through the narrows. Walleye fishing was great in most spots I tried with a good average size. The Muskie trollers were finding it to be too early yet as the water temp was still in the 50s. That's gonna change shortly with this weather. I'm glad I drove home on Tuesday rather than starting my trip then.

[FOOTDOC]

Sounds like things have not changed much. I went to Obabikon Bay Lodge for about 10 straight years, the first week in October. We always got our crappies with at Thompson or in the elbow of the Obabikon. Walleyes were found here and there with no specific spot. We spent a lot of time in Burrow Bay and did well. I am not sure what has happened to the Obabikon Bay Lodge. I have heard rumor it is up for sale. I think Steve, the owner ran a decent camp but was tough to get along with. My son always used to tell me we did not go up to see Steve - we went up to catch fish! I really miss it!

[rockpt]

We were up in Miles Bay from Oct. 6-15. Had a couple beautiful fall days early in the trip with lots of walleye caught, then the weather turned. Woke up Wed. a.m. to 26 degrees, snow blowing sideways and frozen pipes. That continued for three straight days with temp never rising above 32. Too cold to fish for walleye, so trolled for muskie with the dog while my wife stayed in the cabin and burned wood. Temp rose to 37 on Saturday but still windy so pipes didn't thaw. Left on Sunday morning and temp was 32 when we came across to Morson and we broke skim ice as we entered Hanson Bay. Water temp was 57 when we arrived on Oct. 6 and was 42 when we left nine days later. Was our 8th Oct. trip and by far the coldest.

[Eastwind]

But did you catch any Muskies???

[rockpt]

No. Would've caught a lot more walleye but some guy from Ham Lake came up on our spot and kept asking questions about my boat.

[Eastwind]

But its a nice boat. Can't you fish and brag at the same time?

[Shorelunch]

I hope to get up there this weekend for a last hurrah for walleyes and ducks. Will report back.

[Hemlock]

Fished Miles Bay on Saturday for Crappies, and only managed to get into a few (4). We stunk. Headed back towards the angle and north of there and did really well on the walleyes.

[Shorelunch]

We hunted ducks over the weekend and did fairly well - even managed a few bluebills. It's fun just hearing those things zoom by. We hit walleyes on Miles Bay, over at Burrows Bay and a spot by Obabikon pretty well deep (30' +) with the ol jig and minnow. We tried the crappies for a while and actually did fairly decent shallow. It was fun - and dressing in layers was key . . .

Hemlock, I thought I saw a sharp lookin' white boat up at Miles You were probably catching all of those walleyes on a nice Loomis, eh?

[Hemlock]

I sure wish I were using my sharp, new boat, but I was in a Lund Alaskan, 20'er. It had full windshield, but no top. Layers were key...much to my surprise, I kept every layer on all day. Brrr. What did we do wrong in Miles? Found 4 crappies in a few hours of poking around.

[JZ]

Hemlock Might want to sharpen your fishing skills a bit!Sounds like every time you go out you do poor! In other words you S*%K!

[dmoore]

We got home last Thursday. Spent two weeks at our trailer. Some of the worst weather we have had up there in 25 years. First week we only spent three hours on the water fishing. Camp froze up. 30-50 mph winds, low temps. We got our two limits of ducks in a couple of days hunting within 2-3 miles east of Mylie's. We got walleyes in Burrows - had to catch alot of fish to get some decent ones. Tried crappies at Hay. Just too windy. Finished up doing real well on walleyes by the two buoys going into Burrows the back way. Never got up to Miles. Closed down for the season. Hope to get back around Jan. 1 for trout season.

Dick

[rockpt]

Hemlock,

I don't think anyone did well on crappie at Miles this year. The story is they netted too many last year, but who knows. I did hear some good reports of crappie coming out of Hay Island. I also heard some crappie were caught in Obabikon, but it was tough getting in and out with the low water.

[Shorelunch]

We found the crappies last week surprisingly shallow - around 15'. We caught a few while fishing for walleyes, but most were along a very sharp rock cliff break (where we've caught them in the summer). We just used those wire things with a minnow. It was definitely quieter than past years though.

[JZ]

Shorelunch we found the same thing! little jigs with Berkley Gulp in 9-16 FOW. On saterday I think we boated like 45 slab monsters around Smokehouse on the sharp cliffs. Also the walleye fishing is so much better in Morson area than the angle area. I don't think we will will be going back to the angle. Hows the Ice around Morson?

[Shorelunch]

It's sad, but I've never had the chance to go ice fishing around there. Heck, I could be mistaken, but I'm not even sure if there's live bait around Morson in the winter.

I'd jump at the chance to get up there ice fishing . . .

[Eastwind]

Check out the sponsor for the Canada part of this forum.

[dmoore]

The Morson Store might be open this Winter. Tony will have minnows. Buena Vista usually has minnows at the house, if you can find them there. Also check with Bergland Cafe. Otherwise, buy them in Rainy River.

Dick

[Wild Thing]

Wow!

Just got back after 10 days on the lake and some of the best duck hunting of my life! It seemed every mallard in the country was up there eating rice. And the raft of bluebills just southwest exceeded 10,000, and that's by count from guys hunting up there 30 years. They were not offering a lot of chances to decoy, but we did get into them a few days at the usual hotspots. It's fun when they land in the blocks!! And fun just to watch the raft -- they looked like bees swarming.

We shot limits of ringbills, bluebills and mallards pretty much every day we tried. Ate a lot of duck. I've never seen mallards like that up there before.

The best season in many years for sure! Hope other folks had a chance to get in on it. Managed 22 days in duck cap and 18 in the blind since Sept. 10. New dog had more than 50 duck and 2 goose retrieves.

Now, wait for ice and back to fishing, which I haven't done since Sept. 9!!!

[dmoore]

Sounds like a hunting trip of a lifetime. Good to hear the birds were down. Where is your place? Like to meet you sometime.

Dick

[Shorelunch]

Nice hunting WT! We were just starting to see good numbers of blues up there a few weeks ago and there were a lot of mallards. It was our best hunting up there in many years.

Is anyone is interested in having a mini-get-to-gether up there this winter? Could do walleye and perch or perhaps through lakers into the mix?

[Wild Thing]

Shorelunch -- Talked to the Shopping Center last week and they plan to stay open all year again, with minnows. Start shallow on the reefs. It seems the walleyes head back to the reefs once the ice forms. Crappies in the same spots as fall, as far as I know.

Dmoore -- send me an e-mail at [email protected] and we can chat!

[marknamy]

I think a winter get-together would be great.

[Hemlock]

Yeah, I'd be in for it!

[Holaey]

Hemlock,

Maybe you should start working on putting this ice fishing clinic together.

I have heard so much about your ability to catch big lakers.

I am sure I could find a few "buddies" that would love to learn your methods of madness.

Maybe you could start working on finding a small business

like a gas station or something to donate some prizes.

Is there any "heated" cabins up that way that we could stay at?

take care,

holaey