Fishing goes Boom!

Waiting for the post spawn lag to end is like holding a fire cracker.  The fuse creeps along and you wait for the BANG! When it happens an adrenaline rush occurs, very similar to the fishing bite after the post spawn.  All lakes reported a flurry of action last Thursday, Friday and Saturday.  New guests arriving Saturday were grinning ear to ear starting their fishing week with impressive results.

The walleye are moving into the currents and shallow mud flats.  The pike are following the schools of walleye, whitefish and suckers, picking off the stragglers.  Both trolling and casting have been effective.  Fish are really enjoying the past couple of days of sunshine, frolicking in the warm shallow waters.  Water temperatures have shot into the 60's on the surface with the pleasant weather the past few days.  Weed growth is finally beginning in most bays.  Unfortunately, some black flies have been spotted so bring some bug spray.

Burnt: The narrows flowing into the north end of Burnt was the dominate spot.  Several points just southeast of camp have been productive for walleye.  Moose Creek just to the west of camp was incredibly productive today according to guests.  Many 36+" pike were reported last week, topping out at 39".  I'll be if they pinched the tail on that fish it would have been 40."

Cocos:  As in every report you will see this summer, the rapids is the hot spot.  However, several large fish have been boated in bays adjacent to camp and bays on the western shoreline from the rapids.  Water levels are subsiding from last week allowing smoother transitions up the rapids.

Central:
The Newburn party boasted they collectively boated and released the most 30+" pike this year in their 20 years of vacationing at Big Hook.  Hot spots were the East and South rapids.  Several fish surpassing 40" were boated on Manns Hardnose Shads. "No Fish Bay" produced another large pike, a dandy 42.5 incher.  Someday I may have to change the name of that spot.


Southwest: The Fish Factory kept churning out the 16-20 inch walleye.  The east arm put up impressive numbers of quality pike.  Small jigs with yellow twisters were favorites among the walleye. Thanks to the Allen party for the great smoked walleye!

South: Large walleye are being boated in the narrows just south of the cabin.  Pike are looming all around the area.  I was told the walleye bite will be hot and heavy and suddenly stop.  Guests would have their line bit or boat a nice pike.  The narrows on the very east end of the lake was another productive area.

West: Guests claimed I needed to change my map marking.  Most fish were just holding about 100 yards from all my marked hot spots.  Smaller baits were the key to boating finnicky fish last week.  However, fish the past two days have changed there feeding, increasing their aggressiveness. Chatting with the Sellner party this morning I learned that several large fish are holding on the rock just in front of camp.  I always say to give it a couple of casts every morning and evening, you will be surprised with the results.    

Favourable: Mud flats, mud flats, and mud flats are where the fish are holding.  Pike alley and Bear Creek are a couple areas that are consistently producing.  Johnson silver minnows with white trailers are top lures thus far.  Lemonade is cranking out the numbers as usual.  I truly think every spot in the lake holds fish this time of year. The Severn out flow on the west end of Favourable is holding massive amounts of fish.  Trolling 5ft diving crankbaits is a great way to locate the schools in that expansive area.


Hot lures:
Pike- Johnson silver minnow, small silver rattle trap, Hardnose swim shad, Rapala Original F18
Walleye-Jig with Gulp twister, Hot N Tot

Attached photo is of a dandy 28 inch walleye boated and released at West Lake.

Good luck on the water everyone.
-Nathan
Big Hook Wilderness Camps
www.bighookcamps.com

Reporting In

Fisherman had some elements to contend with last week.  Walleyes having spawned during the week were lethargic.  On top of that, Mother Nature provided some less than pleasant wind with cool temps for several days.  However, some surprisingly productive fishing reports rolled in after conversing with the fisherman on Saturday.

Most reports were consistent that the week began slow with the walleye coming off the spawn.  The bite steadily increased as the week progressed.  All reports reflected that Thursday and Friday were the peak days for both pike and walleye.

Water temperatures are still very cool for this time of year.  50 degrees can be found on some mud flats, with fish congregating around the warmer water.  Steady sun forecasted for this week should send the water temperatures skyrocketing.

As I have stated before, finding the warmer water temperature is crucial for fishing success this time of year.  Fish are craving some warmth after a long cold winter.  Even one degree difference can change a bay or channel from a vacated room to a fish party.  Analyze the area, is it a mud flat?  Dark shallow bays heat up super fast in these tea stained lakes.  On top of that, if a current is nearby you have the perfect spring fishing combination.

Burnt
The "bottleneck" and the narrows were the most productive spots throughout the week.  Both walleye and northern both congregated in the same area.  Walleye's centered on the current with pike flanking the stray pickerel or sucker.
Cocos
Boated and released 3 pike over 40", and an impressive 28" walleye.  The rapids continues to gush with the higher waters.  Guests were able to drive up the rapids 5 out of the 7 days.  Some of the biggest pike however were boated just a stones throw from camp.
Central
The east and west rapids were the hot spots on the lake.  Slow trolling a shallow diving crank bait was the key to catching the lethargic walleyes.  Three pike sized between 36-38" were released in 15 minutes just outside the west rapids.  The bite for both species steadily increased as the week progressed.
West
Three fisherman reported over 1000 walleyes and three pike over 40", topping at 42.5".  Fish were located in the narrows towards the "fish bowl" and shallower water where the water temperatures were slightly warmer. The key was standard for spring fishing, finding that warmer water temperature.
Southwest
The fish factory continued to pump out tons and tons of walleye.  Most fish were holding in shallow mud flats soaking up the warmer water temperatures.  One of the hottest spots was the narrows just in front of the cabin.
South
The narrows just south of camp is the goto spot.  Big female walleye were stacked in the area.  Sporadic lulls in the walleye action meant cruiser pike swept through the area.  The north end of the lake was also active just above the outgoing rapids.  Numerous walleye were boated and released over 25".

Good luck on the water everyone.  Looking forward to talking about fishing with everyone soon.
-Nathan
Big Hook Wilderness Camps

The opening

Much apologies to my blog followers, I have been out and about opening up Big Hook Wilderness Camps for the 2011 season.  The past eight days I have been stationed at several different outposts.  Opening up the resort every spring presents numerous challenges.  One always hopes the camp weathered the winter favorably. However, I'd like to mention the gremlins do like to come out of the woodwork and keep you on your toes this time of year.

Our new pilot Andrew and I arrived at Central on May 14th flying under sunny skies and one heck of a north wind.  The trek north from Eagle Lake to Central was a smooth but tortoise like.  We felt like a salmon swimming up stream battling a 20+ knot headwind to Big Hook.  Upon arrival, Central was half iced over and at the resort every thing appeared to be as we left it.  One of the three windmills was damaged during the winter months and was in need of a new set of brushes for the alternator, a tedious fix to say the least.  It takes one hour to crank the windmill down for repair and then another long grueling hour to crank the turbine upright.

Two days after arrival we managed to haul in 11000 pounds of materials from Sandy Lake with the help of a Twin Beech.  It was a much needed sauna night after a day of playing pack mule.  That night, for the second year in a row I was the first to grace the waters of Central lake. I'll admit the water hardly acknowledged my presence as I streaked back up the dock  into the sauna, teeth chattering and all.

The weather has been anything but stable the past two weeks.  We were graced with 80 degree temperatures for several days only to get dumped on with 6 inches of snow last Monday, don't worry the snow was gone by morning.  For over 7 days we witnessed a strong east wind, a rarity for us.  North and west winds are commonplace in the great white north.  Not counting the snow, this Saturday is truly our first rain we have had in the past two weeks.

Now to the fishing report.

Central and Cocos we the two outposts brave enough to tempt opening week.  Water temperatures began last week peaking out at 57 degrees in some shallow bays.  However after the snowfall, temperatures plummeted to 47 on the surface.  They have been slowly on the rise, averaging in the low 50's on the surface.

Cocos reported a 43" pike as the largest for the week and a 28.5" walleye.  The pike was boated and released just a stones throw from camp.  The rapids are flowing at a pretty good rate considering the high water throughout the park but are still drivable.  According to the guests, about 80% of the female walleyes still had eggs which means they are late to spawn this year.  The pike have spawned and are holding in the shallow waters absorbing as much sun as possible.  The suckers are packing the rapids and are readying to spawn.  The pike are close by.  Hot colors for Cocos were gold gold and more gold.  Gold spoons seemed to have the magic touch for pike and jigging slowly for the walleye.

Central Lake was finding fish in every moving current.  The walleyes also are in the process of spawning.  The west narrows are holding large amounts of fish.  Shallow sunlit bays have pike prowling everywhere.  Another couple days of sunshine and the fish are going to get ravenous.  Shallow running crankbaits have been really effective in the muddy bays, along with jigging in the currents.

As I get out and around this week to the outposts I'll be able to see how the other outposts are fairing.  I'll make sure to bring the news directly to the blog site.  Good luck on the water everyone and looking forward to seeing you soon.

Nathan
Big Hook Wilderness Camps     

Spring Fever...continued.

May is a surreal time of year for a resort owner.  The anticipation for the up and coming fishing season is almost overwhelming.  In our case, making sure all the necessities for the 2011 season are purchased is a top priority.  Once at the resort it is tough to go shopping at the store down the street; especially when considering that store is almost 200 miles away.

Eagle Lake ice

A lot of attention is now focused on Mother Nature and more particularly the ice.  An early ice out is always appreciated.  A long cold winter created plenty of stubborn ice, on some lakes ice was recorded at close to 40 inches thick.  It was close to record year for the local trucking companies on the ice roads to Sandy Lake.  However, warm temperatures in NW Ontario over the past week put a formidable dent in the ice.  Ice in the Dryden area has been reduced to floating slush. (Attached right is a pic of the ice on Eagle Lake).

This weekend a rather wicked low pressure has traversed through NW Ontario brining plenty of snow/rain.  Snowfall totals in Sandy Lake have surpassed 4 inches and is still accumulating.  The large amount of precipitation will only raise the already high water in the area.  The back side of this low pressure is dragging plenty of wind which will aid in ice break up.  Also, looking at the forecasts warmer temperatures (50-60F) are to return to the area next week.  Coupled with the warm temperatures last week we should be on track for an on time season opener.

Rapala Shad #5

I'll keep everyone posted with ice out updates. I have all my equipment sorted, reels freshly lined and greased and ready to hit the water.  Attached are a couple pictures of lures I just bulked up in my tackle box that I think will be really effective this summer.

Reef Runner Lil Ripper

Good luck on the water to everyone.  It is only a couple of weeks until I can start posting fishing reports.
-Nathan
Big Hook Wilderness Camps
www.bighookcamps.com