Lake St John (near Rama)

[Cudz]

I am thinking of fishing this small lake for some eyes. Anyone ever fished it? Where is the public launch?

What species besides walleye inhabit the water?

Any help would be appreciated.

[mbac31]

Hey Cudz,

Was there on Saturday. Fishing has really slowed down there right now. The 2 guys I had with me wanted to go after smallies in Balsam so we left around 12 noon. We got 9 walleye. Nothing real big this time. Boat launch is at Longford mills road, I think thats the name. Just go past Casino Rama about 3 km and its on your right. Big smallies/Largies/Pike and Crappie there as well

[bassman]

Be careful what you eat out of there. The factory on the lake may have something to do with it.

 

Check the Fish Eating Guide to be sure.

[mbac31]

Stephan is a soap factory. Had the water tsted myself because of all the rumors. The same guys who test my cottage well water. Water and fish are fine fom there. No worries. Was a spill from a previous plant but nothing seroius. No have to worry about glowing in the dark or anything.

[bigredfisher]

what do u use out there for bait thanks and how do i get there heading north on the 400 thanks bigredfisher

[Cudz]

Hey Cudz,

Was there on Saturday. Fishing has really slowed down there right now. The 2 guys I had with me wanted to go after smallies in Balsam so we left around 12 noon. We got 9 walleye. Nothing real big this time. Boat launch is at Longford mills road, I think thats the name. Just go past Casino Rama about 3 km and its on your right. Big smallies/Largies/Pike and Crappie there as well

Thanks

Did you get the walleye in Balsam or Lake St. John?

Anyone know what kind of wter clarity there is there? I was going to use braid but if it is clear like simcoe I will use fluoro or mono.

Edited November 4, 2008 by Cudz

[snagmaster]

Pretty clear on st.john when. Was suppose to go there last friday to chase some smallies but had boat trouble///let me know how you do

[misfish]

Watch the top end of the lake where the island is Cudz and right of it where the airport is.. ROCKS.

[ohhenrygsr]

Can anyone Dig up any information on the Previous Spill?.

[glen]

You might not find any info on the many spills they had out there. The next time i talk to you i will give you some info about it.

 

You didn't want to have kids anyway did you?

[Gerritt]

I pretty much grew up on St.John... spending countless summers there with my family... I was there when Soap was discharged into the lake.. it was not pretty... while I did not witness any die-offs as a result, there was foam washing up on shore for months. My families property was located directly across the lake from the soap plant. While there are pickeral in the lake, pike are more abundant.

 

G

[tknohpy]

We used to fish pckeral all the time there 30 years ago! My grandparents had a trailer on the lake.

[cheaptackle]

Post caught my eye cause I just moved here a month or so ago. Haven't been out as much as I'd like. No walleye caught yet, trying to avoid the bass (they're everywhere!). Seen some pike. New lake to me so it may take a while to get the patterns & colors etc down.

Neighbours who've been here forever tell me the plant is actually cleaning up the lake now. The discharged water is cleaner than the intake so I'm told, along with 24/7 monitoring every 15 minutes & reporting to MOE. I tend to believe that knowing how strict regulations are now but have no on hand knowledge of what might be the truth. Don't see a lot of boats fishing yet even on the weekends. I do see some shore anglers fairly regularly. Lake is a lot bigger than I thought, deeper too (used to Dalrymple). Landlord tells me the last survey indicated an abundance of walleye, haven't found that report anywhere yet. I did catch (one only) the largest crappie I ever have seen. Don't have a livewell on the 12 foot tinny so I let him go rather than hang him on a stringer in hopes of catching more (I didn't).

Hopefully I'll find what works soon, like to be able to report on something!

 

Michael

[cheaptackle]

Finally!

Just about an hour before the storms rolled in last night I landed my first (only so far) Lake St. John walleye! Just right eating size, scrappy little bugger to boot. Trolling with a jointed rapala got him. Landlords GF was out with me and lost a pike at the boat while I was stringing up the walleye, she was trolling a stick bait. The light show started about then so we headed in. I was cleaning the fish when the rain started (heavy!) and the thunder really got loud.

Hopefully will have more to report soon, heading out again this evening.

 

Michael

[bassfighter]

Tough lake to fish that lake since the weeds died out last year due to some chemicals from the factory or chemicals to control weed growth spread by the locals to made the water close to shore line more swimable, since some area's weed growth seemed to be out of control resulting in unhealthy weeds with algae. The whole lake was minty green in color, same colors you get from mint ice creme. We did catch one walleye on our first cast, and a pike on our last cast of that day. Was surprise that the fish can even see our white grub inspite of the milky green water.

 

By the time we got there, we were debating either to turn around and go somewhere else. None of us were willing to step on the water due to its color. The entire shore line was really bad then.

 

The worst part was the healthy weeds that was used to be there were gone, that was one of our Walleye honey hole. Only few visible crumpled up dead weeds on some spot and completely flat on most. Not sure how long it takes for the weeds to grow back again to certain level.

 

Hope everything improve since then.

[cheaptackle]

No shortage of weeds! Close to shore is almost choked with them already. Water level has dropped about 24" since I moved here in mid April. Water seems clear enough even over the weeds (where they aren't right up on top). Don't know about any chemical use but there was no spill from the plant in recent years (according to a neighbour it was once and many years ago). As time goes on I'm sure I'll learn more about this lake, I'm trying to stay away from the bass right now they're everywhere!

Michael

[Gerritt]

That's right Micheal, it was only one time... and it was years ago.

 

even then the fishing was good from what I remember!

 

G

[ohhenrygsr]

I think i'm gonna head out again on this lake. Pictures will follow. Here are some from last year

Edited June 2, 2010 by Henry Nguyen

[eyefish]

Hey Cudz,

Was there on Saturday. Fishing has really slowed down there right now. The 2 guys I had with me wanted to go after smallies in Balsam so we left around 12 noon. We got 9 walleye. Nothing real big this time. Boat launch is at Longford mills road, I think thats the name. Just go past Casino Rama about 3 km and its on your right. Big smallies/Largies/Pike and Crappie there as well

 

 

you people do know that bass aren't open yet right?

[eyefish]

you people do know that bass aren't open yet right?

 

 

My bad I didn't see the date stamp on this one!

[ohhenrygsr]

My bad I didn't see the date stamp on this one!

 

LOl i was waiting for that Reply

[Kerry]

Tough lake to fish that lake since the weeds died out last year due to some chemicals from the factory or chemicals to control weed growth spread by the locals to made the water close to shore line more swimable, since some area's weed growth seemed to be out of control resulting in unhealthy weeds with algae. The whole lake was minty green in color, same colors you get from mint ice creme. We did catch one walleye on our first cast, and a pike on our last cast of that day. Was surprise that the fish can even see our white grub inspite of the milky green water.

 

By the time we got there, we were debating either to turn around and go somewhere else. None of us were willing to step on the water due to its color. The entire shore line was really bad then.

 

The worst part was the healthy weeds that was used to be there were gone, that was one of our Walleye honey hole. Only few visible crumpled up dead weeds on some spot and completely flat on most. Not sure how long it takes for the weeds to grow back again to certain level.

 

Hope everything improve since then.

 

Actually you are seeing nothing more than the usual algae bloom that St John gets yearly.It can be so thick some years it sticks to the boat and your wake will close up behind you.It's always bad if there are several calm days in a row which lets it spread across the whole surface.You would be amazed to see how many fish are swimming within 5 ft of the surface with these conditions.All the weeds aren't gone.Stay to the midlevels,they'll be green.

Kerry

[cheaptackle]

Weeds are right up top in many areas now (right where I dock too of course!) Algae blooms very visible but most of this is nearer to shore. Outside the beds are a lot of torn up fresh weed floating around. Not sure what's tearing them up, don't see a lot of boats fishing. I just know one thing - I'm fishing and that's that! YAAAAAYYY!

 

Michael

[ohhenrygsr]

Weeds are right up top in many areas now (right where I dock too of course!) Algae blooms very visible but most of this is nearer to shore. Outside the beds are a lot of torn up fresh weed floating around. Not sure what's tearing them up, don't see a lot of boats fishing. I just know one thing - I'm fishing and that's that! YAAAAAYYY!

 

Michael

 

 

Yea i have no idea what's tearing up the weeds either

[lovetofish]

i've been fishing this lake for the last 5 or 6 years... sinse the ministry put the green chemical in to cut back on the weeds, fishing hasn't been the same.