Hello again from Jim and Julie’s Wabaskang Camp. Week number 6 has come and gone so let’s update all our friends with the latest camp news. The walleye fishing has slowed somewhat due to the mayflies hatching almost everywhere in the lake right now. We are still seeing decent numbers of big walleyes but the smaller “eater” sized fish are hard to come by. The best bait right now seems to be large plastic tube baits and a 1/4-ounce jig. Just work the bait along the shore or on top of the rock piles and hang on. Bodie Inselman and Braden Lowes each caught walleyes over 22” early in the week and Braden released a beautiful 24” fish later in the week. Plenty of nice walleyes released this week, I didn’t have all the numbers from my guests but I do know Reid Lammers released a chunky 25” walleye, or so he says.
Bass fishing carried the week for many of our guests. Most of the females have left the nest now and are recovering from the rigors of spawning in deeper water. The fish can still be caught especially early and late each day when they are roaming the shoreline looking for an easy meal. Joyce Adams and Emily Minett each released chunky 18 1/2” bass, Ryan Inselman released his 18 3/4” beauty, the two champs of the week were Bill Pickle and David Harmon, they both received hats for catching and releasing a smallmouth bass at 19” or over, great job fellas.
Northern fishing is turning the corner now and we are seeing plenty of fish less than 25” coming from shallow weedy bays and shorelines. Big plastic baits worked well but also medium sized crank baits did the trick. It seems the family of Charlie Zender did the most damage in pike this week, Charlie’s grandson Bodie released a 34” trophy, another one of Charlie’s grandsons came from Florida to catch and release a chunky 30” northern. Old Timer Charlie himself released a 35” and 36” northern this week but he was edged out by son-in-law Ryan Inselman, he released beautiful 37” and 38” pike to take home bragging rights for this season.
Trout fishing has moved to deep water now and we had one group that managed to catch some small trout. Andy Lowe’s and son Braden drove all the way from Texas to catch a 12” and 15” trout, too bad so sad 😭 Nick Katsaropoulos had the giant trout of the week, a whopping 18” beauty.
We are definitely experiencing a very wet weather pattern here at camp with the lake still slowly rising each week. The shoreline is flooded making for some great hiding spots for baitfish and big fish as well.
Everyone bringing a boat to Canada must be sure to have the boat plug open and a clean and dry boat and live well, a quick mixture of water and bleach is recommended for cleaning your live well before coming into Canada to prevent the transfer of invasive species into Ontario waters.
I’m slowly recovering from my mishap a month ago and can get around with and at times without my walker now. Julie will certainly need some rest and relaxation once I get back to my regular duties that she is covering now. That’s all for now, this is Jim from Wabaskang.
