It was such a beautiful morning today. I decided on the spur of the moment to wet a line. I never have my plan until I pass the last marker buoy. I decided to fish for some pike. I started with a bucktail. With nothing to show for I switched up to a jointed salmo, again nothing then I switched to one of my favorite lures and bam 3 fish in a row with in a few minutes of each other. Fun Fun Fun. One 37, One 38 and a 28. roughly. My tape measure was not in the boat so I had to use my 20 inch walleye board
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July 25th 2016
Well she been a little quiet around here as of late. My buddy Wayne made it up for the weekend of the 15th. We did get out and do a little fishing but after all those days of wind the bite was a little tough for sure. We only managed to land 4 small walleye with the biggest just over 15. I was a little surprised as we hit a couple of my go to spots. I spose there’s plenty of food for them to eat out there this time of year so maybe trying some leeches may be the ticket. Sunday Wayne was not feeling to well so we skipped the fishing. We did go check out a few blueberry patches, I ended up picking about two quarts. Wayne is possessed with those small wild strawberry and was on the hunt for those. We did stumble on to a juneberry tree that had so much fruit on it, it was bent over all most touching the ground. Tuesday I got out fishing by my self and with leeches managed to get 4 for dinner but it was tough. Friday Boar and his wife Laura camped down at the lake. Boar and I went out Saturday morning and again managed to keep 4. Jeff did loose 3 fish and I missed a couple bites so the fishing was quite a bit better. Sounds like Boar will be up again this weekend and we plan to wet a line. Were also going too do a little scouting as he may come up and do a little hunting this fall. Lee and Nick came up Sunday and the wind kept them off the lake. They had a very small boat, but they had a plan B and brought the golf clubs so they headed to Blackduck where the played 27 holes. Marty and Shelly showed up late Saturday as they were at a wedding in grand rapids. we all set down at the lake for the sunset and then set in Boar and Laura’s Clam screen house when the skeeters came out. Wow is that thing nice and goes up easy peasy. Sunday we all set down at the lake and just chilled. Jeff and I went for a swim while Kellie and Laura got a little to much sun. Monday Nick and Lee got out fishing .Again the wind got the best of them and they showed up at Oak harbor golf course where I work to play another 18. I told them we could go fishing in my boat Tuesday morning so they just pulled there boat Monday evening and we went out early morning where again we managed to catch a few fish. Lee left me two jars of home made maple syrup .Thanks Leo.
This weekend is Hillmens 31rst annul Billy Hillmen softball tournament, with festivities starting Friday evening. There still looking for more teams. Saturday after softball they play a mean game of 4 man tackle football in the mud pit and its always a big turn out. August 6th Westwind is having a 32 team Kornhole tournament, You can check out there website for details.
Paul and his two boys are coming up fishing this weekend and Jeff, Wayne and I plan on wetting a line also
July 11th 2016
No takers on the play and stay yet. I have not been fishing as of late but will be putting the boat back in the water this week. My buddy Wayne helped me give her a good cleaning. I changed the oil in both motors and also installed new plugs.
Looks like this weekends weather should be good for fishing upper red lake. Light winds. Talked to a couple locals and there still catching fish. Were still wide open with the cabins the rest of the summer. I have plenty of projects around here to keep me busy. Going to check the blue berry patch down the road as I would like to can/jar some this year. Also dong some work on the river lot and dock
Golf play and stay
Here”s the deal stay two nights here and I can get you 2 free passes with cart to Oak Harbor golf course. The course is 52 miles away one way from the shores of upper red lake. I have not gotten out but I here there still biting pretty good
June 24th
wow its been all most 20 days since I last posted a fishing report. I guess I will share one of the reasons my reports are far and few between? When we went to a 4 fish limit on the 14th it was a windy day so there was not much action at the public landing . However on the 15th it looked like opener. I was up mowing at the park/public landing and there were areas I could not mow as there were trailers parked on the grass. Again please do not be offended but where do they all come from? yes some stop and have breakfast or lunch at westwind, or buy bait in town. But most come for the day and never spend a penny in town. I realize that it is a fishing destination with no other activities golf, water park etc. I do not think I have ever seen a boat in tow stop at Sandys little antique store at the edge of town. Its never a bad idea to stop and buy a gift for the sweetie for letting you go fishing. I also realize that they are spending hard earned money to get here so there helping the economy somewhere. Sandys and north country sell locally grown wild rice. Hillmens ,westwind, north country all sell bait and tackle.
I had Ken and his two daughters here for a week from fathers day until the 24th . They have been coming for quite a few years staying in the grey cabin. Ken likes pulling crankbaits and they caught fish every day they went out. They brought the bicycles and went for a couple bikes rides. I never did see the girls go down to the lake and swim though. They had a couple fish fries and went home with there 12. Pat came up with Nate and Nate for a couple days Monday through Wednesday and stayed in the little green cabin. The wind was a factor in there fishing. I did take them out in my boat “Imagine That” after work on Tuesday. We headed into the wind to the north shore and were able to get out of the four foot rollers and do some trolling with spinners. Nate got to catch his first ever walleye which was nice. We only caught a few fish but did have some action. They headed out to the same area Wednesday and did much better as the wind had finally laid down. Marty and wayne were up on the 10th and 11th We all went fishing. I had to run the big motor with the wind conditions but we did real well trolling spinners. I had the hot hand and out fished both of them. I would guess we caught 50 fish for sure. We used up 3 generous scoops of minnows for the day. I had to stop in westwind harbor to get gas. When I was coming back on the lake I was just about to the last channel marker when a boat came from behind me full speed I never saw him coming ,He did not hit his horn that he was passing and man am I glad I did not turn left as I never saw him coming. Not sure why he was in such a hurry. Must of heard they were biting good? Who knows? Wild Bill was up also with his wife and daughter. They camped down at the lake for a couple days. They caught fish everyday drifting with leaches. Both cabins set open last weekend. I did go down to Rodgers Saturday and picked up a family Paul, Amanda, Br ady and Cody. they were friends of Joe Flak a old customer. They were camping there. He did not have room in his boat for everyone so I took then fishing. We drifted a area I like and had at least one bite or landed a fish every drift. I’m sure Joe marked that spot as he said it was not on his lakemaster chip? Oh well I better get off to work sounds like The golf course Oak harbor got quite a bit of rain Saturday. Both cabins are still wide open the rest of the summer.
june 9th 2016
My guy canceled the small cabin for the weekend. Said the weather is going to be to hot plus thunderstorms on Friday. Accu weather say sunny and pleasant Saturday with a high of 82. My buddy Wayne will be up and I plan on wetting a line and get in on some of the great fishing going on out there. I also talked to a few golfers at work yesterday in baudett that have been down fishing this week. They live on the edge of lake of the woods and come down here to fish? I counted over 50 boat traliors at the access Tuesday when I was mowing the ball fields. When the weather is nice they sure show up from somewhere.
Sounds like the bite has been real good this week . 3 to 6 feet has been producing real well with doubles and triples for some?
june 6th 2016
Well it was not to bad of a weekend. Bob, Dennis and Greg staying in the grey cabin arrived to late Friday evening to get out. While they were unpacking I noticed they brought there golf clubs. Greg said they planned on getting a round in, I dropped the ball and should of steered them up to Oak Harbor Golf course where I work. They ended up going to blackduck sunday afternoon when the winds blew them off the lake. I’m thinking they may of walk the course as one of them commented it seemed like it was all up hill. Any way back to fishing .They did come in Saturday late afternoon with there limit for a fish fry. I was hoping for some very calm weather to try for the elusive yet still catchable upper red lake crappie but the wind never layed down to my liking. I do have plenty of projects to keep me busy here though. Living in waskish you learn to fix quite a few things yourself. For instance the dryer needs a new hub bearing so that has been taking apart and a couple parts ordered. The bravado has a antifreeze leak on the intake manifold so I have that half apart with quite a bit more to go before I know what parts I need. The john deer lawn tractor broke its hydro drive belt I had to remove the deck and lift the thing off the ground to pull a pully to install the new belt plus I had to remove the carb and clean it. I finished making my drag and had to go over to Davids and torch a couple pieces of metal to length. I have some painting to do this summer /fall. I also have a couple trees that need to come down but I do not do chain saws so I’m trying to barter for that. So the last week I have been a small engine mechanic, a car mechanic, a appliance repairman, a carpenter/fabricator.
Any way back to fishing it sounds like the fish are starting to scatter a bit. I may get out later today as its looks like its going to be a gorgeous day here. The grey cabin is open for the weekend at this time and both cabins are open the rest of the summer
yesterday while mowing the ball fields here in waskish I came home for lunch and got a call from a good friend Chris. He was in blackduck and wanted to know if I would take it out fishing . I hoed and hummed about 10 seconds and said sure. Pick up some crappie minnows and meet me here at the house around 6 pm and we would go look for the elusive yet still catchable upper red lake crappie. Arriving to the spot there were 3 boats working a half mile stretch. We pulled in started fishing and listening to some jonny cash. The first bobber down was a pesty walleye. Oh well he would be a good eater. A few walleyes later and Chris landed the one and only elusive crappie of the evening. With the water temp at 63 I expected we would do better? I guess why that’s why they are so elusive. We did manage to get 6 very nice walleyes with two coming in just over 18 inches. I made a deal with Chris and he fillet the fish plus I had him cut out all the cheeks. Yum Yum Yum fresh fish for dinner tonight
yesterday while mowing the ball fields here in waskish I came home for lunch and got a call from a good friend Chris. He was in blackduck and wanted to know if I would take it out fishing . I hoed and hummed about 10 seconds and said sure. Pick up some crappie minnows and meet me here at the house around 6 pm and we would go look for the elusive yet still catchable upper red lake crappie. Arriving to the spot there were 3 boats working a half mile stretch. We pulled in started fishing and listening to some jonny cash. The first bobber down was a pesty walleye. Oh well he would be a good eater. A few walleyes later and Chris landed the one and only elusive crappie of the evening. With the water temp at 63 I expected we would do better? I guess why that’s why they are so elusive. We did manage to get 6 very nice walleyes with two coming in just over 18 inches. I made a deal with Chris and he fillet the fish plus I had him cut out all the cheeks. Yum Yum Yum fresh fish for dinner tonight
another opener in the books
This years opener was a eye opener as mother nature decided to unleash some strong winds out of the north north west with bone chilling temps . Getting on the lake was possible but it had to be miserable if you were out there. Frank and the crew did well in the river and landed enough fish to feed there group two big fish fries for the weekend. They have been coming for years and taking home fish is not a big goal but getting enough for there fish fry and fish boil is what its all about.
Wayne, Jonny boy my son and I did go out sunday as I wanted to send john home with 3 fish. It was not the best weather to fish but we managed to land a 15 fish in the couple hours we fished before we ran out of minnows. Our boat Imagine That needed a new battery this year as the original one finely gave out after 12 years of service. All the family are coming up memorial weekend. Other then that our cabins are wide open this year. I’m a little surprised as I expected we would have quite a few calls this year. jake was up last week Monday and part of Tuesday. We had to battle mother nature a bit but did manage to land 8 elusive yet still catchable upper red lake crappies. Jake did not keep any and I kept 3 for the hammer and I to have a fresh fish dinner.
On a side note getting on the lake with our 20 foot tyee is was manageable in the wind on sunday but I did bottom out twice and that always drives me crazy. I’m not sure why the markers are so close together as there not even a channel there. Coming in with the wind I ended up going on the right side of the markers with no problem. I would not go to the right of the markers going out though as I be leave there are some rocks scatter about to the north