 |
| 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
No comments:
Post a Comment