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Braving reef hazards paid dividends.


limeyangler

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Hi Y'all....lol...me again.

 

 

I was reading a post by Goodtimer asking for advice on fishing spots in Northwestern Ontario, and one of the replies by Eye-tracker ,who has just finished the PWT here in Dryden, advises that all he islands, rock points and mid-water reefs on Wabigoon hold fish(walleye).

 

Anyway.....i headed out this evening on Wabigoon for a couple of hours, after spending all day cleaning the truck which was a complete wreck after our trip at the weekend to Tallman Lake. It was pretty windy and i found myself heading out from our dock with no pre-planned destination....for some reason that post i just mentioned popped into my head. I decided i would try some midwater reefs....but the ones close by i had tried recently were not really producing...yeah the odd fish or ten...but no real action or size to any of the fish.

 

As fate would have it i found myself near the Goverment Dock end of the lake as i had to travel up the Wabigoon river to get more minnows from the store near the dock downtown cuz mine had all miraculously escaped from the minnow bucket tied to my swimming patform...dunno how the little Houdinis managed that!.....so with midwater reefs in mind i decided i would try the ones just of the North point of Anderson Island straight across the bay from where the river comes out to he main lake.

 

I have seen people fishing there before but always avoided that spot on my way to other places. To be honest i am still pretty new (only had my boat just over a year) to boating and so tend to avoid reefy marks unless someone else has shown me before hand...but...my confidence is growing...so decided to slow troll up to the reefs...some slightly visible...and some not so ...but high enough to cause damage still.

 

I decided to use my hammered gold walleye spinner set up, as i also read on OFC that its a good way to locate fish, covering lots of water area. After a few passes to the left of a barely visible large reef in about 9' of water i get a hit, did not set the hook, but glanced at the fishfinder and there were a few nice arches there, right under the boat...so i flung my marker bouy over the transom and prepared to come about. On the very next pass i get a hit again...felt solid, started to reel and thought...oh yeah ...Jackfish.

 

To my surprise it was a really nice 24or 25" walleye...considering my PB is 30" not a bad fish! for me. I wanted a pic of course for the report, and nearly gave up trying to get one as the fish kept flipping at the exact time i clicked the button...lol....and the whole time the boat was drifting into all the rocky reefs, but i managed to get a clear snap just before i became the Titanic.

 

I caught about 5 other fish...all around 16 or 17" but gave up trying to take pics with all the wind and rocks about, but did manage some nice sunset shots on the short one mile boat trip home in less treacherous waters.

 

So...thanks due to OFC(ers) for handy tips and venue idea.....cuz it was a very pleasant hour or so in the boat this evening.

 

 

 

 

THE FISH KEPT FLIPPING...........

 

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.......AND JUMPING :wallbash: ..........

 

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...........FINALLY GOT A STILL PIC :thumbsup_anim:

 

 

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A FEW NICE SUNSET PICS FROM THIS EVENING OUT ON WABIGOON

 

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Edited by limeyangler
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LOL...the whole of Wabigoon is a clay flat of about 17'-25' apart from the afore mentioned humps and reefs.

 

No kidding, I didn't know that.

 

On most shield lakes that's pretty uncommon. Mostly rock, sand and gravel and mud.

 

I've encountered that pattern a bunch of times over the years on different lakes, and every time have hit the jackpot with walleye.

 

When I say clay, I really mean clay as well. Whitish/grey in colour, smooth and slippery. You could make pottery out of it.

 

Problem is unless you've got an incredibly good graph and know how to interpret what the bottom composition is, they're very hard to find in deeper water.

 

I've found 2 on my lake by dropping a heavy anchor down in what I suspected was clay flats.

If it's clay it'll stick to the anchor..

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Well i was exaggerating a bit Solo, but Wabigoon is mostly clay, hence its colour, which is like a double double from Timmies. Lots of clay banks wearing away all over the place...but like you said whether or not its clay in the deeper sections is difficult to tell, however my fishfinder tends to show rock as dark orange and red and softer clay as black or blue, so i would say there are a lot of clay flats out there. I will probably get out tomorrow evening as usual and if i get the chance i'll try your tip and let ya know what i find.

Edited by limeyangler
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Cheers TipUP.......had to laugh...your as bad as me ....already dusting off your icefishing gear and inviting all on the 'other' forum....lol....only about 9 weeks before i should be powering up the Jiffy out the front here :thumbsup_anim:

Edited by limeyangler
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