Kabetogama-Namakan Fishing Report
Sicily Vittorio from Hermantown MN with her 26″ Walleye
11 year old Rachel Martin from Lakeville MN caught this 13″ Walleye that was swallowed by this 33″ Northern while reeling the fish into the boat.
June 14th 2 015
Breakout the sunscreen, ouch, breakout the after sun cooling gel, damn where’s the bug repellent, YEAH Summer in the Northwoods.
…to the point, fishing/catching has been average or above this past week. All species are responding to anglers on shore or in their boats and all of our dry ice is sold this week-until Thursday.
Pike are active throughout the lake mostly the under 2 pound variety with several trophies over 40” being caught throughout the week.
Walleye action varies, three distinct patterns have developed. Shallow water 6’ to 12’ soft bottom bays, 17’ to 28’ shorelines and reef edges. Then there’s the go to when in doubt, 30-38’ depths using jig and minnow.
Looking for big fish and sport fishing, the shallow flats where mayflies are emerging are kicking out big walleyes in the mid 20” range. Please handle your catch gently and release fish immediately.
Typically this time of year slip sinker rigs with leech or crawler moving slowly will produce nice results, many larger fish of course, more importantly skillet size walleye, perch and sauger catch can enhance your day.
Deeper water structures adjacent to a shallow incline produces sauger, perch and normally smaller walleyes. Stationary or slow speed will permit vertical jigging with accuracy to stay above a school of fish.
Soft bottom popular locations, Tom Cod, Peterson, and the Grassy Group Islands are great and further East, Blind Ash, Cuculus, and Wolfe Island offer good soft bottoms.
Shoreline structures, Harris, Ram, Sugarbush, Martin Islands and several others have good structures that offer any depth you want from 15’-35’ for slip sinker or artificial lure trolling or back-trolling.
Reef structures for jig and minnow are plentiful, check your map, my favorite, the new high definition “Hot Spots” map available for Kabetogama and Namakan and Crane Lake/SandPoint and Little Vermillion are great.
What a great time of year to Enjoy Nature at its Finest, a must for your Bucket List!!
Lake Kabetogama
See You at the Lake,
Crabby Phil and Ellen Hart
