Heading to West Arm/Nipissing this weekend

[lew]

 

 

Can you guys post here some images of lures/bites you are using. I google what you all write but google results are so different and diverse I cannot figure out what exactly I need to buy.

 

Pike are insane and will hit just about anything you put in front of them and they don't care how big or small it is. This little fool tried to inhale a musky bait that was darned near as big as he was. There's hardly a day goes by on the West Arm that I don't get 1/2 a dozen dink pike on big musky baits

 

And if you can figure out the location of that flat rock in the distance behind me, there's often a big musky or 2 just out in front of it...the rest is up to you

 

Edited August 26, 2014 by lew

[doubleheader]

There is a weedbed across from Lakair that has given up many a pike as well as one just west of the old Samoset lodge. Often you can catch walleye in both as well. Throw a small weedless Johnson spoon and hold on for pike. Walleye can be caught in the weeds on a jig and plastic or crawler. Between the islands west of Lakair leading into Warren Bay can be excellent for walleye, especially when the current is moving. Warren Bay itself is quite deep, so you'll fish the shorelines. Pike and walleye can be anyplace there are weeds. There are some underwater shoals around the periphery of Warren Bay. Do not rely on any map being completely accurate. Slow down, if you have a kicker don't lock it down. Going east under 64 bridge again can be good for walleye due to current. Watch for underwater shoal just SW of bridge like 25'. I recently came back from 2 weeks (8/9-8/23) and did rather well for walleye in 20-25 FOW. My wife and I caught close to 60 walleye which given the conditions wasn't bad. Of those 11 were legal, over 18.2". Our biggest was 25", smaller than we normally get, but again conditions were bad. Water temp dropped 5 degrees in the 1st week. Most all our fishing was east of 64 bridge around Squaw Island. Fish were located near underwater shoals and humps but not on them. As was mentioned Porcupine Creek has been producing, we didn't even fish it. We prefer to pull harnesses using our bow mount.

[AdamS]

Experiment with different spinnerbaits. We caught a bunch of pike on a variety of colours while we were up there. For bass we had luck with crank baits and the occasional pike would hit them too. Also try jerk baits if your into that. I'm +1 for a guide out there. The first day we were out we caught a few fish but the following day with the guide we caught a lot and he wasn't that expensive either. Good Luck!

[erexa]

Second day here. Scanned the whole west arm, cannot catch a single fish here. Tried jiggs, cranks, spinning etc everything that I had. Does not work at all. Called the lodge cannot get hold of guides ((

[Bass Tard]

I'll be up there Sunday, at Memquisite for my first stay there! If you see a 17' bass tracker, come by and say hi! I'll tell you what I'm catching fish on!

 

(I'll give you some hints already, white grubs, black grubs, and white Colorado blade spinner baits)

[lew]

I'll be up there Sunday, at Memquisite for my first stay there!

 

It's an excellent place and you'll really enjoy it.

[Andy]

Now now, settle down. If you've done any fishing at all, you have had days like that before. If you haven't had days like that, you either haven't fished much, or you are a world class pro. It takes time to learn a body of water. I have hundreds of spots marked on my GPS, and it's taken a lot of fishless days and many thousands of dollars to find them. If the only enjoyment you get out of fishing is catching fish, you might need a new hobby. Find one of the bays or long fingers around Warren Bay and keep chucking away at the shoreline, laydowns and weeds with spinnerbaits, spinners or shallow cranks. Then move to the next one. Sooner or later a pike or bass will take your bait. Relax and enjoy your time on the water.

Edited August 29, 2014 by Andy

[Gallie]

Now now, settle down. If you've done any fishing at all, you have had days like that before. If you haven't had days like that, you either haven't fished much, or you are a world class pro. It takes time to learn a body of water. I have hundreds of spots marked on my GPS, and it's taken a lot of fishless days and many thousands of dollars to find them. If the only enjoyment you get out of fishing is catching fish, you might need a new hobby. Find one of the long fingers around Warren Bay and keep chucking away at the shoreline, laydowns and weeds with spinnerbaits, spinners or shallow cranks. Sooner or later a pike or bass will take your bait. Relax and enjoy your time on the water.

This sounds like some sage advice any angler could adhere to. Id listen to it.

Good luck out there!

[Old Ironmaker]

All I can add is for your Walleye jigs add a stinger.

 

I don't think anyone can say " use this brand of lure with this colour and you will catch fish". It really doesn't work that way, it takes many hours and many dollars in tackle to zone in on a species.

 

And if the West Arm is anywhere close to like it is west of Callander Bay for rocks hidden just below the water. Do not, I repeat do not go out at night fishing there unless you know that water inside and out. Even then there is no such person that is an expert at not hitting a rock(s) and or ending up on a shoal with a foot of water covering it on Nip. I spent one very, very cold night just west of Bear Creek in a boat in May hung up on a large shoal. We had to wait until someone saw us in the morning. When daybreak came I was about 2 miles from where I thought I was, that was the 10th year fishing regularly there. And I took the bottom end of the outboard out to boot. We were going at trolling speed when we bottomed out thankfully. No way we were able to get that wooden Geisler off that shoal, no way.

 

Be careful man and good fishing.

[Bass Tard]

Good advice here, guys! I've been in the exact same situation, and it can be very scary!

[SlowPoke]

Second day here. Scanned the whole west arm, cannot catch a single fish here. Tried jiggs, cranks, spinning etc everything that I had. Does not work at all. Called the lodge cannot get hold of guides ((

Tough fishing this weekend and the rain hasn't helped. We've caught more walleye than pike and no 'skies. You're not alone. Heading out again now for walters

[Dan668]

It was ok for us. Besides losing a prop and skeg lol.

 

No muskies to be seen. Could not keep the pike off the line. Two largies over 6lbs. A few small walters. Thought we did ok for our first time in the area. Too much water to cover.