One Last Hoorah!

Our season is winding down here at Big Hook Wilderness Camps. We have entered our final weeks for the 2009 season. Mother nature is giving us a great send off with warm temperatures and sunny skies. After a really cool July and August the blue skies and warmth is greatly appreciated. Blueberries and raspberries are now ripening and litter the forest and bald rocks with vibrant blue and red colors. In my opinion, there is nothing better for breakfast before a long day of fishing than fresh blueberry pancakes.
The water temperatures are back on the rise with the pleasant weather. I see myself jumping in the lake this afternoon, following a sauna of course.

Looking outside at the moment, I would never guess that in two weeks we will have the chance to see snow falling from the sky. Weatherwise, the month of September is really unpredictable. Several years ago forest fires ravaged Sandy and Deer Lake. Whereas, last year we could not cut enough fire wood to stay warm.
Fish this time of year are normally the biggest, however they are not schooled up like in earlier summer months. A risk about fishing in later September is the lake turnover. Usually mid September the cool water on the surface will get replaced with the warm water from below. This causes the water clarity to drop and cloud up.

Currently, the walleyes are at their deepest depths of the year. When the walleye are at depths of 20 ft+ the most effective technique is vertical jigging. Most crankbaits have trouble reaching waters deeper than 20 ft. When the sun is out and shining I'll switch to lighter colors. Yellow twister tails are probably my favorite lure followed closely by Berkley Gulp flouro orange.
Pike are on their fall feed and are striking as big of baits as you can possibly throw. Really effective lures right now are bucktails with a #8 colorado blade, and 1 0z Johnson silver minnows while fishing in the weeds. Remember to always place a twister tail on your silver minnow, it increases it's effectiveness ten fold. Trolling large crank baits like a Bomber magnum or a Believer around reefs can yield surprising results.

Attached right, is a pic from West Lake of the 41" pike that jumped in the boat. Just imagine that monster jumping at you, reminds me of the movie Jaws. Pictured left, is Kathy from Cocos Lake with one of many trophy pike that she has caught and released over the years.

Good luck on the water everyone! Remember to put the big ones back. All walleye over 18" must be released and all pike over 27.5" must be put back,
-Nathan
Big Hook Wilderness Camps