limeyangler

I was very surprised there was 9” on this lake, it behaves more like a deep trout lake and freezes in two stages most years. Normally the shallow bay at the landing where the trail comes out goes the same time as my home lake, but that first bay opens up to the main basin area that gets to 67’FOW, many times you get 7”-8” in the first bay then 200 yards out it’s suddenly 2” cuz it froze later, this year it was 9” everywhere. Since the initial dump of snow we had here that screwed the trails with downed trees we’ve had maybe 2”-3” of snow since the ice formed, so the lakes are makin real good ice this year. BTW, you said you were looking for a sled this year, I recommend 4 strokes.

Hi all, My buddy and I headed out to break trail to our nearby favourite walleye lake, after an hour of breaking trail and checking ice conditions we got to one of our spots and spent another hour staring down the holes. Once the sun hit the treeline we had a short 20 minute flurry of action, iced 6 walleye but 4 were tiny and went back, I came home with my catch, one just under 18" and one just under 22". Fun afternoon.

Yah, I hear yah….

I’d take another winter like last year to be honest, love winter, love short winters even more these days…. Lol. whitefish won’t be for a while, they are mostly in the deeper bodies of water, some of which still have open water. good luck in yer yak!

I’d love to be musky fishing still! It’s probably a good thing I’m not though, I think I messed up my rotator cuff casting this October, really not a good thing but I don’t think I could resist casting and it needs to heal.

Got out for the second time this season, got one really small fish yesterday and froze my @$$ off in the process but this morning was warmer and got around 10 in a couple hours, good to get out, 9” of ice….. 👍

That’s awesome!

I’d say I’m sorry Brian, but I’d be lying….. lol!

Hi all, Wabigoon Lake froze over night a week ago now, we had no snow and two nights of -20C right after the initial lock up and it made 4” of clear, black ice in those three days. I’ve been going down to check every evening since but have only drilled a hole once with the intention of fishing but never did. My son has been very keen to skate every chance he can get, and anytime spent with him is better than the slim possibility of a dinky sauger…. Lol…anyway, fishing kind of sucks right off our shore from mid June and is even worse until practically ice out. Because the lake went in one go, the ice is perfect for skating and with minimal snow and no cracks(yet), clearing an Olympic size rink area is easy and no flooding required(yet…lol). There were sleds out on the lake last night, dumb if you ask me, no ice is safe ice, especially when the margin for error is so big this early on. Anyway, it has also been fun to check ice thickness with my son and educate him on ice safety and hear him explaining back to me why we approach it the way we do, the safety considerations to think about before walking out and his great knowledge of how weather conditions before and after ice formation fit into those safety considerations, and just as important having a whole lot of fun doing it and not hearing about Minecraft for a whole hour!!!!!!

Sorry guys, lol. It froze over in one night, North wind howling to 30kmh right now but the point and two islands at the head of our bay will protect the ice completely. We were forecast snow overnight and this morning but it never materialized, next to nights it’s clear, no wind and dropping to -20c, will be skating out front here on the weekend, might even drill a hole for the sake of wetting a line but the fishing in front of the house sucks until spring. Just came up from shore 5 minutes ago and snapped some pictures.

Last year was brutal here, we were not really on the ice until mid December and my last trip on a quad or snowmobile was around mid March, a full month or maybe more than usual, totally missed out on the great crappie fishing this Spring on the ice, but was kinda of cool cuz we had really good shore fishing for walleye before walleye season closed! I also found a real honey hole for crappie the previous fall which made up for missing the spring ice bite…. A little bit anyway.

Sorry guys, lol. It froze over in one night, North wind howling to 30kmh right now but the point and two islands at the head of our bay will protect the ice completely. We were forecast snow overnight and this morning but it never materialized, next to nights it’s clear, no wind and dropping to -20c, will be skating out front here on the weekend, might even drill a hole for the sake of wetting a line but the fishing in front of the house sucks until spring. Just came up from shore 5 minutes ago and snapped some pictures.

Yes…ice fishing is a week or so away!

Got out for a few shorter Musky sessions last week on Wabigoon Lake both solo and with friends. Musky were feisty and hungry, still to be found in 3’ - 6’ FOW in the remaining/ remnants of the cabbage and coontail weeds. Only had one session with no musky follows or netted, but picked up some decent pike that afternoon as a consolation prize for breaking my right arm casting…. Lol. Still throwing bucktails. Walleye are still around on the humps, as too are the crappie and bass, just haven’t spent much time fishing them while bigger toothy critters want to play.

I make a pittance compared to what I could make in a city, but “good living” is more than money for me, I’m happy here, poor…. Lol… but rich in other ways.

Had plenty of those days too....just makes for a pretty boring video, so you don't see them.....lol.

Kind of 'iffy' on the topwater, which is a shame because nothing beats that sudden explosion. Mostly bucktails buzzed over the weeds, with the odd spinnerbait (when the weed is really thick) or a boilermaker. Its weird because I can buzz all of those lures over the tops of cabbage which in effect is 'topwater' , but throw an actual topwater on and there seems to be little to no interest whatsoever.

Thanks Rich, not world records for sure, but fun as heck anyway.

Yes, Wabigoon Lake looks like a Timmies double/double all year. The whole area is mostly clay. The fish are also very pale, low light penetration, kind of the same effect as those albino salamanders that live in caves, lol, no need for any pigment. It’s all vibration and scent for fishing. Got a couple more yesterday evening too, definitely holds lots of fish despite the water clarity. Walleye, perch, pike, crappie, bass and musky, lots to choose from. I’ve even caught the odd whitefish and eel pout too, very productive but also challenging, good fun. Yesterday’s musky……(and a decent pike)

Right? That is the coolest and most heart stopping thing when it happens. Thanks Wayne!! Thanks Terry!

Been having fun the last week or so, teasing a few musky from the last of the weeds here on Wabigoon Lake.

Finally finding some time to put some of the footage I’ve been taking of my fishing outings. I was kinda forced to as 2 year’s worth has filled my SSD and my external hard drives….lol. This is from this spring, ootanaboot with my lad.

Cool, yeah I have an xtra heavy and a heavy St.croix. I recently got the xtra heavy because I was losing too many fish, don’t think the heavy action had enough backbone for good hook sets, especially at distance. I also have a Stradic 4000 spooled with 30lb power pro Super Slick8, works like a dream, casts to the horizon and no birds nests, also much more versatile setup than with the bait caster, a bait caster would be virtually unworkable for when I visit Antigua with the prevailing gale force easterly winds that rarely drop below 30kmh .

Hundred yards might be an exaggeration… lol…but easily 75 feet. I actually use a spinning reel on a Heavy St.croix, I can cast pretty darned far, and it’s what I’m used to, I have the Tranx and a Beast, not a fan of bait casters.

Had a bunch of follows yesterday evening and got a consolation prize of a wee little one that chased a whopper plopped a full 100yrds, made quite a wake for such a little guy. I couldn’t help notice the distinct ‘bars’ on it… tiger musky?