Late August Report

It's just unbelievable how fast a summer flashes on by.  In a blink August is just about over.  We only have a three weeks of fishing left at Big Hook Camps and suddenly the 2017 season is in the books. Unfortunately, late August doesn't want to buck the heat wave as the warm dry weather marches on.  Sunny skies and temperatures in the 80's dominated the last week. Thankfully we received our first  trace of rain last night with no lightening in what seems like forever.  Less than a 1/4 inch fell but it is better than nothing. 

A foggy August morning

Vertical jigging echotails work well for walleye
this time of year 

 The daily high temperature is supposed to reach into the mid 80's tomorrow, which is unseasonably warm for this time of year.  Fortunately, the nights have been cool; the past several evenings have dipped down into the 30's.  We even had a trace of frost at Central last Wednesday. The cool nights have lowered the water temperature into the mid sixties.  Sadly, lake levels continue to recede as we still need rain badly.  At Central the lake levels are approaching two feet below normal.  The dry conditions and several lightening storms have also caused some small forest fires in the west end of the Opasquia Provincial Park around the vicinity of Burnt Lake.  Nothing threatening, just something we are monitoring. We have had some smokey mornings when the winds shift to the west the past couple days.  The majority of the smoke is a result of the massive forest fires in central Manitoba.

Big Fish Week

The cool nights certainly triggered the big pike this week.  The surface temperatures falling into the mid sixties coaxed the big females back into the weed beds.  Spoons, glide baits and bucktails fooled many 40+" fish throughout the park this week.

The walleye continue to hover around deeper reefs and rock structures.  15-25' is where you will find the majority of fish.  As I sound like a broken record, vertical jigging 1/4oz - 3/8 oz jigs with 3-4" tails works best.  Popular colors are white, black, flouro orange and pumkinseed.

40" Central Lake trophy 8/21

 

Central Lake led the charge with a 44" and a 43" as their biggest fish for the week.  A couple other 40" along with a 39" and 38" were also released.  The north narrows held several of the big girls along with Husker rock.   The walleye were a bit slower at Central as guests had to search deeper water to find schooling fish.  The Stop and Go jug was holding some big schools.  

44" from Central 8/21

West Lake boated five fish over 40" with a 43" topping the week.  The weed bed in the back of the Horseshoe was a productive spot for big northern.  The SE portage was on fire for walleye.  Vertical jigging the deep humps on the north end of the lake is great for big walleye this time of year. 

South Lake boated the biggest walleye for the week at 29 inches.  They also released a 28.5", 27, 26 and a couple 25" fish.  Most were caught in the 14 -20 ft range.  Vertical jigging while back trolling worked best.   

Burnt Lake noticed the walleye were holding unusually shallow for this time of year, catching many fish right along the edges of the weeds.  Big Boy bay is still the spot to beat for big northern.  The perch bite remains hot as they are still holding tight in the weedbeds.  

Cocos Lake said the walleye this week were aggressive and plentiful.  The bigger pike were a bit timid and cautious.  The water levels are close to an all time low for Cocos causing the first set of rapids to be a bit of a challenge to navigate. Fishing the deeper pools in the Sagawitchenwan was the most productive location. 

SW Lake boated plenty of fish throughout the week.  "Hoards of 17"-19" walleye," was a quote from the guests.  A dandy 39" pike was also released.  The guests noted the northern lights were quite spectacular Wednesday evening. Jigging or trolling around the island immediately east of the cabin was incredibly productive.  

Good luck on the water everyone! Hopefully we will receive some good rains here in the near future.  It would be nice to see the water levels come up a bit.  

-Nathan 

www.bighookcamps.com  

Mid August Report

We are just over half way through August and it feels like we are in mid July with temperatures well above normal.  The heat wave/drought continues here in the Opasquia Provincial Park.  Temperatures yesterday reached a sweltering 90F, which is highly unusual for this time of year.  We have received next to nothing for rain for the past four weeks and water levels are continuing to drop.  The fire hazard throughout the region is still critical with the woods being so incredibly dry.  Even though there isn't an official fire ban from the MNR, I would advise all guest to please refrain from burning outdoor campfires.  The MNR isn't located in the area and does not have constant feed back from our local conditions.

A nice 40" fish from West Lake 

Water temperatures also remain on the warm side averaging around 73 degrees the past couple days.  Over the years I have noticed that temperatures over 72 degrees will move big pike into deeper waters.  The guests at Central confirmed that statement noting very few big fish were hanging around weed flats.  After chatting with most guests yesterday I learned wind blown points and rocky reefs were the places to focus on for pike over 30".  Deeper diving crank baits and of course jigs were the effective lures for bigger fish.

The walleye seem to be really enjoying the warmer water temperatures.  Typically this time of year you focus in deeper water 15+' however, last week guests were boating eyes as shallow as four feet.  Walleye seemed to be feeding in every depth regardless of sun and wind.  Jigging fish along the edges of weeds or on deeper reefs and wind blown points was effective.  Trolling crank baits along shorelines was another effective technique to locate schools.

44" pike caught 8/8 on Central

West Lake  had good luck later in the week for northern, boating several 35+" fish on reefs east of the camp towards the falls and in the horseshoe. The SE portage was on fire for 18+" walleye, focus on the weeds just above the falls.  The guests also noted some excellent perch fishing within weed beds throughout the lake.  Cocos Lake noted the water was low but shooting the rapids into the Sagawitchewan river was still very easy.  Several beefy 41" were boated near the deeper pools to the SW in the river.  Some nice 20+" walleye were consistent in those same deeper pools.  South Lake raved about the quality of the walleye this week.  Though they didn't boat the fish of a lifetime, the guests claimed the average walleye was 22".  Trolling bright colored reef runners in 15-20ft of water was the magic combination for walleye.  Burnt Lake had new guests for the week and they had a great time.  Walleye were aggressive and would often smash baits just inches under the water next to the boat.  The perch were also active within the weed beds.  Walleye were holding surprisingly shallow and along the edges of weed beds.  Central Lake found constant walleye action south of airplane island and along numerous reefs on the north end of the lake. Finding rock piles in 15+ ft of water was key for walleye.  The bigger pike were a little gun shy this week at Central, many were seen and a couple were lost.  Hippo rock was holding a couple trophy fish but none committed to a lure.

Hot Lures

Walleye-1/4oz jig with pink or pumkinseed tails. Perch colored reef runner. 1/4 oz echotail white.

Northern-3/8 oz jig with a leader.  Musky killer bucktail with orange blade/black skirt.  Rapala F18 deep diver, perch color.  Rattletrap silver.

The blueberries and raspberries are fully ripened and plentiful if you know where to look in the area.  Mom, Luke, Shadow and myself picked a couple gallons of blueberries at Burnt Lake last Friday.  Our harvesting was cut short when we smelt an all to familiar odor.  Unfortunately Shadow stumbled across a skunk and was blasted right in the face.  In an effort to reduce the smell for the plane ride back to Central, I tossed her in the lake.  Let's just say that helped very little.  It was a tough twenty minute plane ride home.  She quickly received a bath in my trusty anti skunk solution.  Baking soda, dawn dish detergent, hydrogen peroxide and water did the trick.

Good luck on the water everyone.  Keep the great pictures coming.  Can't believe the 2017 season only has a month left already.
-Nathan
www.bighookcamps.com

Someone do a rain dance

Sunrise on Central 

Calling all professional weather makers, we could use a rain dance or two for our area here in the Opasquia Provincial Park.  One sprinkle of rain is all we have received the past three weeks, and more warm dry weather is on the way according to forecasts.  The forest are extremely dry and customers should avoid having outdoor fires at this time as the fire hazard is bordering extreme conditions.

Jigging up walleye with an echoltail 

The weather has been stable up here, albeit hot and dry.  With stable weather patterns comes great fishing.  Pretty much every camp has reported excellent results this week with both species.  Central is currently in the lead with the biggest pike for the week boating a dandy 44", while South is leading with a 30" walleye.  A special note should be made for South Lake, as of yesterday they had boated and released 43 walleye over 25" topping at 30".  21 of those fish were bigger than 27".  That's some hot walleye fishing indeed.  Burnt lake has also been boating plenty of 25" walleye over the past five days.  Guests noted the north end of Burnt was holding more quality fish.  SW guests were all smiles catching plenty of walleye and some very healthy 12" perch.  Cocos had several 39" pike boated along with some healthy walleye over 23".  They noted the water was as low as they have ever witnessed and it was getting tricky navigating up the rapids into the Sagawitchewan river.  West lake once again was out fishing every day I visited this week.  Guests from the previous week noted large walleye were holding on the north end, especially reefs around the only island.  They noted the
SE portage lake was excellent for numbers.

Camp dog Shadow helping me find blueberries

Coupled with the lack of rain and above normal temperatures, the water levels have dropped dramatically and are still falling.  We are approaching two feet below normal water levels.  Surface temperatures are hovering in the mid 70's range.  The warm water has most of the big pike in search of cooler water.  Most of the trophy fish being caught are holding off of deeper weed beds directly adjacent to deep water.  Shallow weedy bays are only holding small fish at the moment.  Jigging with a wire leader has been very productive for pike on deep reefs.  Bucktails, top water baits and silver minnows are still my preferred the baits to toss, maybe toss in a deep diving crankbait.

Walleye are in their typical late summer spots.  Most rock piles and wind blown points ranging 15-25 ft of water will be your best areas to attack.  Vertical jigging or dragging crawler harnesses will yield best results.  Walleye will ascend the water column on cloudy days into 5-10 ft of water, trolling crankbaits can be effective then.  Consistent wind is a key to finding the bigger schools of walleye.  If the winds have been blowing into a certain area for a couple days, concentrate your efforts there.

Keep on sending the great pictures everyone and good luck to you all on the water.
-Nathan
www.bighookcamps.com

Early August Report

An August sunset 

August is my favorite month up here in at Big Hook Wilderness Camps.  The first couple weeks of the month typically act as a transition from hot summer temperatures of July to fall like conditions of early September.  One of several reasons I enjoy fall is, the northern lights.  Daylight begins to fade quickly in August. Gone are the sunlit nights until 10:30 pm like we experience in June.  At 10 pm you can actually enjoy the night sky while getting lost in the stars and milky way. If you get lucky the northern lights will throw on a really great show.  Keep your eyes focused to the north for best aurora borealis action.  I should note the Perseid meteor shower is the 11th-13th of August this year and should be amazing if the night skies remain clear.

A chunky 35" pike caught on a silver minnow

Another reason I enjoy August so much is the lack of bugs.  On an average year the mosquito quits buzzing around the end of July and by August they are pretty much obsolete.  There are a couple mosquitoes here and there at the moment but they are disappearing rapidly.  Bugs and northern lights aside, the fishing in August is pretty darn good too.  I actually prefer August fishing to any other month.  The pike are throwing on the feed bag and are packing on the pounds for the quickly approaching winter. The walleye are rather predictable in August.  Most walleye are holding in 10-20 ft of water on rock piles.  Vertical jigging under the boat is the absolutely no questions asked the best way to catch boat loads of walleye in August. If the weather holds stable, the fish stay aggressive.

It has been rather pleasant here in the Opasquia Provincial Park.  Highs in the mid 70's and light winds have made fishing fairly easy throughout the week.  Conditions are still extremely dry and we are badly in need of rain.  The lack of rain has the lake levels incredibly low at the moment.  Be super careful when having shorelunch and out door fires.  Please make sure your fire is completely extinguished when you are done.  

Outpost Reports 

Waiting on the lake fog to lift 

Fishing at Central Lake has been pretty spectacular this week.  When you can boat and release 100 walleyes in three hours of angling, you have the ability to brag about the fishing.  Guests have been catching hordes of 16-20" walleye this week jigging in 10-20 ft.  1/4 oz pumpkinseed jigs have been the go to bait. Numerous walleye have also been in the 22-25" range.  The pike have been active when the clouds pop out and several 35-38" fish have been boated on Johnson silver minnows.  Top water action has been electric for northern. Smaller propellered Zara Spooks have been amazing. 

Burnt Lake popped a couple big northerns when I last checked in with them.  Big Boy bay is the place to be at the moment for trophies.  The walleye bite has been steady with a couple topping out at 25" were photo'd and released. Don't forget the amazing perch fishing in the weeds if you want to take a break from walleye and northern fishing.  

Cocos Lake guests have been focusing on the the deeper pools located in the Sagawitchewan river and have been doing really well for both species.  They noted the water was the lowest they have seen in almost twenty years.  

West Lake has been hitting the water super hard and I haven't been able to chat with the guys this week.  The rock in front of the dock is always one of my go to spots this time of year.  Also, the numerous walleye reefs on the north end of the lake should be holding some huge walleye this time of year.  

Southwest Lake never seems to slow down with the quantity of walleye.  The last guests trolled crankbaits along all the shorelines and claimed they boated fish wherever they went.  Nothing huge was boated last week but a ton of fish were caught.  

 South Lake admitted the week began on the slow side.  The numbers were down but there were some quality fish boated and released.  Several 27" walleye plucked 1/4 oz jigs with orange tails.  The fishing picked up however mid week and the guys said Wednesday was great.  

Good luck on the water everyone! 

-Nathan 

www.bighookcamps.com