Fall Fun

Fall is in fact my favourite time of year.  The temperatures are mild, Mother Natures colors are amazing, and fishing continues to be exciting.  In the fall, most people hang up their fishing poles for rifles and focus on hunting.  Since closing the camp, I was able to venture on several fishing excursions in the Dryden area this fall.  My primary objective was to seek out species that are not accessible at Big Hook Camps i.e. anything other than walleye or pike.

Chunky 41" Eagle Lake musky

I had the pleasure of fishing with several different people in my search for trophy trout, musky and smallmouth.  My wife Heidi and her father Martin drove up from Wisconsin were excited to see some of the Eagle Lake area.  Unfortunately, during their stay the weather had other plans and brought 5 days of bitter cool weather.  Nonetheless, it didn't stop us from hitting the water.  Attached right is plenty of proof of fish and the many many layers of clothes we had to wear.

Personal best 48" musky.  

The first species I searched out was Lake Trout. We quickly managed to locate plenty of trout before the season closed on the Sept 30th.  The prized trout was actually boated while fishing with my neighbor Eric for musky.  A hefty 13 pounder smashed his bait on a figure 8 boatside.  It was shocking to see such a large fish in that shallow of water.  However, we found most fish were much shallower than anticipated, roughly around 20-30 ft of water.

13 pd laker caught on a figure 8 boatside

After boating and releasing trout for two days we switched our focus to smallmouth and once again were promptly rewarded for our efforts.  The smallmouth were absolutely thick on 20 ft rock piles.  A simple 3/8 oz black or white tube jig boated just about every fish.  I can't even recall how many fish we boated over 18", I do remember the biggest was around 19.5".

Boated many 18+" smallies 

Heidi and Martin didn't exactly share the same enthusiasm for musky fishing as I.  So, I waited till they departed back to Wisconsin to focus my efforts on the fish of 10,000 casts.  I was ecstatic when my neighbor Eric invited me along to hunt the elusive muskellunge.  We managed to put several fish in the boat over a couple days.  I set a personal best with a 48" musky while fishing alone and without a net. Fortunately, I had the GOPRO with me but didn't get any decent shots. The hot lures for big fish were suspending jerk baits.

Around the Big Hook Region

There has been a mix of warm and cool weather up towards Big Hook.  Chatted with the boys at Sandy Lake and the float planes are coming out of the water in the next day or two.  Our next visit to Sandy Lake will be on the winter road. Dad and I have plenty of items purchased for the trek north.  A "new" shuttle van has been found for the drive from the runway to float base.  Now all we need is those lakes to freeze over.

Eric with a tanky 45.5" musky 

For those of you who haven't quite yet put their fishing gear away, get out there and enjoy the fall.  It looks like there is going to be several weeks left of great fishable weather.

Good luck on the water everyone,
Nathan
www.bighookcamps.com

Martin with football like smally.