manitoubass2

Down a good 6ft here on the Rainy River, and held that way almost all summer. It's normally high in the spring (it was this year too), then it drops drastically, then goes back up, then down, then way up in the fall before freeze up. Right now were at a 2.5ft average where it should be about 8ft average. If it stays this low, freeze up should be quick, but I'll be looking for new icefishing spots for sure. Oh, and because it has held this low for so long, water visibility is almost the clearest I've ever seen it

If I needed a prescription for my blood pressure because of fishing related stress I'm very thankful to live/fish in NW Ontario, thanks for the gentle reminder fellas!

Walleye Blue 3/8oz jighead with Kalins grub in bluegill Northland tackle shakeyhead jig with 4" Matzuo worm in pumpkinseed Live Target Golden Shiner lipless crank Pike Texas rigged Berkley Crazy legs chigger craw in black/red fleck Zara Spook Bass Strike King Potbelly spinnerbait in Black/silver willows Texas rigged Berkley Crazy legs chigger craw in black/red fleck Dt series cranks

to loop them up, do it just like a garden hose. One hand hold it, grab it with the other hand, twist your wrist (fingers in this case) slightly as you form the loop. As you form each loop, keep holding it with your other hand .Keep the loops the same size. Then wrap the end through the loop 2 or three times. Done With crawler harnesses (2 hooks) the hook position DOES NOT matter. In fact, I prefer them to be a little off, as it adds a little movement to the crawler Yours look very good! You'll have alot of fun tying them throughout the winter! As previously mentioned, look at Wal-Mart etc for beads, they have some really, really great beads for cheap. Also, if you have any craft stores in your area, go look. I've found awesome beads, really high quality ones too, for as little as $4 per thousand beads. You can't beat that. As for the metal clevises, they are just as good as quick change. But I use quick change until I have a trusted pattern, then I'll re tie it later on with a metal clevis Hope this helps

It won't be long Mike! He'll probably be trolling before walking

I agree. Anyhow, thats one amazing catch!!!!

Did you hear me?

Miles Bay, next weekend. I would not count on me for a large musky though, seems like its never gonna happen, lol My pleasure! Yes, my kids love every minute of it, from planning, looking at maps, tying spinners etc, they love it all! And I love watching them love it (if that makes any sense)

It's in the bag, just waiting on some better fish.

and two more quick pics from this morning. a 13" walleye with a partially digested 12" lawyer (Ling) half in its mouth, half in it's belly! My oldest boy had the biggest today! 23"

Well, on Friday afternoon I packed up the gear to go check out one of my shore spots. I wanted to see how the shiner run from Lake of the Woods/Rainy Lake was going. It started a few weeks ago, but has yet to peak. Here on Rainy River, the walleye/bass and pike feast heavy on shiners during the initial start of the shiner run. I get excited, because I know whats in store for the remainder of the softwater season. At first, its starts with smaller fish relocating for winter, then as the shiner run/gorging increases, so do the numbers, and size of the travelling walleyes. So my goal on Friday was to not only locate fish, but to see what they would bite. Sounds easy right? Shiners, DU'H! Lol, well it isn't THAT easy when the fish are gorging. More often then not, you need to locate the pods of baitfish, then search the edges with baits/lures that stick out amongst the pods. Sometimes its a size thing, bigger or smaller. Sometimes it's a color thing, totally opposing a shiner, or sometimes you need to match the hatch (but that doesn't happen often). Sometimes you can just jig or deadstick live bait in 20-30FOW. Anyhow, I got the timing of the bite down and found some productive tactics. Towards the end of the day I also tried to deadstick large minnows before I took the kids out. As sometimes it's the way THEY prefer to fish! I caught a bunch of good walleyes that day, and a few little pike. Biggest walleye of the day was only 25" though. This time of year, were looking for 30" PLUS! -wind was cool, 20km/h from the south, southeast. -water temps 42 degrees, clarity very good for the river, about 6ft. Saturday rolls around and I tell the kids the plan is to hit the spot by 430 pm. That gives us half hour to set up and be ready for a bite that, if I'm correct, will start around 5pm. The kids are excited as we gear up. All the kids talk about whos gonna catch fish, whos gonna get the biggest etc. So funny to hear the friendly banter of my kids, ranging in age from 7-12 years old. They sound like seasoned veterans (at this point they actually are). So, water temps today are rising slightly, about 46 degrees. It's much warmer, about 15 above, and barely a lick of wind. It begins overcast, but the sun quickly makes it presence felt in the way of clear blue skies. The first 20 minutes or so, no bites. But not to worry, I did my homework almost to perfection on this day. I show the kids some targets to cast to for underwater structure in 15-30 FOW, and show them the retrieve speeds etc. Tap tap THUD! Set the hook and the fight is on. I get the first of many small walleye. Look at my watch, 5:20 pm, almost clockwork precision, lol. About 30 seconds later, I feel like Bill Murray. Now the kids are getting bit! But its funny, the shiners push the shore, in broad daylight with sunny skies. The walleye are now in 4FOW, hugging shore and feeding heavily. The bites come fast and furious! It's all small fish, but who cares! Man were having a blast! This kept up for an hour and a half. We caught to many to count really, all fish from 13" all the way up to 20". For some reason I decided to take pics of all the small fish today, hahahaha. Walleye popsicle So, after a two hour, very succesful session, we headed home to fillet up the 4 fish we kept. The kids all hungry and awaiting, I made them a quick supper of walleye, fresh homemade bread, some onions, maple beans and a baked potatoe. The fish is in there, buried under the onions! hahaha What a fun day! Gotta love being a Dad in NW Ontario!!!! And hear is a pic of my boy with a 22" walleye. My youngest, 7, lands the largest of the day! Way to go buddy! It's not near his PB, but a great fish ON THIS DAY!!! Hope you all enjoy! I know WE did!!!!

Musky bait!!!!!

I like half ounce and one ounce for bass/pike and walleye, but lighter ones work well too. (usually river fishing, so there is current. Too light and the current just pulls the spinner off my targets) They work very well in cold water too, but it will be slower. You'll notice strikes from really active fish, then it might just die right off. Time to switch up or move on when the water is cold. Bass and walleye will destroy spinnerbaits right til the end of November in my experience. But at that time I'm only river fishing, so take that into account. I've never fished a spinnerbait in the lake in mid november, so I can't really offer advice

Why not just give it a few little twitches, you know, just to watch them set the hook on nothing, lol. Oh wait, then you would be no better then the other dood hahaha

I get no fishing pressure at my shore spots Simon, but I do often arrive to some empty jugs of alcohol, all from the same two people over and over again. A month back, one of them musta got the doghouse by the missus, cause they decided to kick in the door on my ice fishing shack. So I feel your frustration, lol As for fishing, the shiner runs been going on for awhile now. Walleye are getting better and better number wise, as well as size wise. Another week or two and it will be bonkers again. I'm excited, its an awesome time of year for cowbeenas, and because alot of them are near shore, the kids get to join in the fun! Unlike you though, I gotta tie my pups up. If I dangled fish in front of my dogs they'll eat them up right away, lol. Something about those huskies right before winter, lol.

Awesome! Darn thats a good looking pup! Livin the life thats for sure. Nice looking eyes too Simon, a good shore bite is always fun!

Thats a wicked catch!!!! Congrats, and good on you for treating that fish with respect! I'm lucky enough to have crazy amounts of sturgeon in my homewaters. We can sit on te deck with coffee or beers and watch them jump all evening long. I even get to bring the kids down to the rapids so we can watch them spawn, which is incredible! 7ft fish so thick there piled on each other literally at your feet. Almost looks like a shallow, shark feeding frenzie!

Always tie direct (I'll assume your doing that) Never be afraid to let a spinnerbait sink to bottom before giving it a good jerk, then retrieve (slow to keep it deep). You can also pause it and let it hit bottom before repeating. I'll often do this for walleye in 15-25FOW (but pike and bass will hit it as well. I'll even jig retrieve a spinnerbait, and walleye will usually hit it on the fall, bass and pike will hit it on the retrieve. I never use a trailer or a stinger hook, never seem to get short strikes or need a trailer. Although I did try it once this fall when advice was being handed out to Mercman in a thread, and I still caught just as many fish with a 4" minnow bait as a trailer (so I'm sure it doesn't hurt). Black and silver with willow blades is my favorite, works well no matter what the water clarity is. My fallow up is chart with willows. I like to tie direct with braid, and that allows my to feel the blades thumping, but I can also feel the strikes right away, and can also feel the structures I'm bumping off or weeds I'm ripping though. You'd be amazed how many strikes come right after the bait hits a rock, tickles a weed or thumps a log. Fish them without fear, they are pretty weedless and snag proof. You'll lose a few along the way for sure, but not that many in comparison to jigging or the like.

Spinnerbaits, then top waters, then flat raps or xraps. Almost everything after that is plastics, weighted or unweighted, depending on depth. Favorite plastic is still the Black & red flake Berkley chigger craw Pretty quick it will be drop shotting ^^^ X-zone Slammers

Wow, awesome! Some real tanks there! I always enjoy your reports

I'm all about mechanic gloves. I usually just get the normal style and clip off the thumb and finger. It's the only way I've found to still be able to do everything you need to do unimpeded. I wear them ice fishing too, and when I need to warm the hands (if I'm not in the shack) I just deadstick for a few minutes and put a pair of warm mitts on right over top

Morning Lew. Chilly and raining lightly here Walleye time with the kids, after one more cup of coffee of course

Thanks dood! Absolutely! NW Ontario style! lol Thats the formula! Thanks Lew

Yeah, we had an awesome weekend! Still some fishing to do today as well! Thanks, I liked that fish as well, lol Happy Thanksgiving to you too Paul! Glad you like, I sure did!

Took out my kids and some of the local children for a Thanksgiving shore fish this morning. It was very cold and a strong wind from the west. Water Temps 46, and the water still very low, and poor visibilty. Mainly fished a chart. spinner bait, and caught a few pike early on. Caught a couple decent bass as well, but it was fairly slow. Then we hit a good bronzie, right before heading up to visit with family and have an amazing meal! Perfect Hope you all had a great day with your families!!!! My Kiddos and the locals Theres a Bucket!