MANITOBA
WHITESHELL WALLEYE – SHU MON MOK
Walleye in many popular Whiteshell lakes tend to get harder to catch in the heat of summer. With the right techniques though good sized walleye are still catchable.
The structure that seems to be most productive at this time of the year are either mid lake humps or points with access to deep water. Hop a jig tipped with a worm or salted minnow on bottom while slowly moving around the structure. Keep moving around and vary your depths along the structure until a pattern is established. In addition to walleye, expect the odd perch, rock bass and pike.
To find such structure, it’s critical to have digital maps from either Angler’s Edge Mapping or Lakemaster. If you do not own a compatible graph, there are mobile versions that can be purchased for the lake that you are fishing.
Alternatively trolling deep diving crankbaits like Rapala Taildancers along deep shorelines can find some scattered walleyes as well, especially after you’ve exhausted the obvious structure. Maintain speeds of 2 to 3 miles per hour. It’s definitely fun to hear clickers go off on a strike.
MATT GELLEY – MG OUTDOORS
SUSPENDED WALLEYE AND BASS
We have been out on the water this week chasing Walleyes and Bass on deep offshore reefs. These fish don’t always orient themselves to the bottom.
Jordan and I pulled up on a hump the other day with very little fish on the structure itself. Where are they??? Suspended off the sides chowing down on baitfish.
One amazing technique for deep bass is slow rolling a 5” swimbait in space. We usually toss these baits on a 1/2 – 3/4oz wide gap swimbait jig. Bomb it out, let it sink for a few seconds, then, slowly retrieve it back to the boat. Cast it towards the top of the reef or on the sides dropping into the basin. A 7’6” MH Fast action baitcast rod spooled up with 14-16lb fluorocarbon is a must to keep those smallies pinned.
TROLLING FOR SUSPENDED FISH!
Flat line trolling deep crankbaits for walleye is another staple at this time of year. The banana shaped minnow profile 20 Ft + divers are excellent choices for targeting suspended Walleyes that are out in space. Reef Runners are a favourite of mine. Walleyes tend to stay at the same depth range of the hump. If the reef tops out at 20 feet, walleyes will often suspended at the 20 foot range off to the side.
Keep an open mind while fishing the reefs going into the fall. Pay attention to your electronics and try fishing suspended fish. You may be pleasantly surprised.
See you on the water.
LAKE OF THE PRAIRIES – ROGER AND SUE GERES
Fishing at Lake of the Prairies is still on fire even with warm water. Surface water temperature is around 74-76 degrees, but the fishing is still unbelievable
If you can get leeches they are working well! We caught the majority of our walleye on jigs in 16 to 22 feet of water. You will need to bring lots of bait if you come to Lake of the Prairies!
ZEBRA MUSSELS INVADE LAKE MANITOBA
Some more bad news in a year of the same. The Manitoba government is notifying boaters and watercraft users who use Lake Manitoba to follow all the required steps to prevent the spread of aquatic invasive species (AIS) following the detection of zebra mussels at the Lake Manitoba Narrows, Agriculture and Resource Development Minister Ralph Eichler announced this week.
“We know that Manitobans support our effort to prevent the spread of AIS, and most boaters are responsible about following the steps to clean, drain, dry and decontaminate their equipment,” Eichler said. “We need to ensure boaters and all surface water users get on board with protecting our environment and help contain the new finding of zebra mussels in Lake Manitoba.”
Zebra mussel veligers (juvenile zebra mussels) were detected in nine water samples collected from Lake Manitoba Narrows through monitoring conducted by the province in July 2021. This indicates there could be a reproducing population of zebra mussels in Lake Manitoba. Zebra mussels are an AIS that can impact aquatic ecosystems and native fish populations, clog water intakes, litter beaches and shorelines with shells, and foul watercraft and their engines.
NORTHWESTERN ONTARIO
The walleye are still using mid lake structure on the Canadian Shield lakes that abound in this part of the world. One of the key ways to catch them is by finding concentrations of fish, then using a slip float with a leech. Jay Siemens of Kenora did a show this summer on finessing these hard to catch Shield lake walleye.
The musky and smallmouth bass fishing is still hot in this part of the world. The smallmouth are using main lake points and shallow rock piles.
Close by are concentrations of big musky. Manitoba fly fisher Gerald Konrad and some friends recently spent some time on Canyon Lake just north of Vermillion Bay. Gerald was able to land six muskies on his fly rod, the largest 44 inches! Congrats on a great fish my friend.
VERMILLION BAY AND AREA – GLENN MCDONALD
Hot and humid weather has continued to blanket Northwestern Ontario. Despite a cold front that moved through last week, and cooled lake temperatures slightly, the day time temps have remained high. The cold front brought sustained high winds and for the first time all season the lakes we stirred up. Near record low water levels and no runoff has meant very clean and clear water in most lakes. As the border opened to American anglers, they were met with some of our toughest conditions of the summer.
The musky fishing bite has been absolutely crazy the last month. Reports of fish coming in from all corners of Sunset Country! The bucktail bite has been the hottest pattern for my fishing partners and myself. After going through the early part of the season without a figure 8 bite, late July has been boat side action like crazy. Almost every trip out we are getting multiple fish in the bag and seeing double digit numbers of follows.
A couple trips really stand out and are worthy of note. Dave Chaval and I made a full day trip to the Cedar/Perrault Lake area. A day that was slow to start, finishing in incredible fashion. Despite catching close to two dozen ( nuisance ) pike, we found a couple of the bites we were looking for. In a heavy weed bed a big female musky came charging out after my Dadson blade bait, she followed around in the figure 8 and smashed it on the outside of the turn. She pulled drag as she tried to go deep in the cabbage, I muscled her around and into the bag. Bumping out at 47 ½” she was a true beauty of a fish!
After a few missed or dropped fish, we moved to rock structure to finish the evening off. On the first big reef another big fish charged my Dadson bait down hard and hit in the 8, I made the rookie mistake of trying to walk her around the front of the boat. Of course I lost leverage on her and she popped off, without even a second thought I cast back out. Two casts later another similar sized fish came in hard, again she hit the outside of the figure 8. This time I kept her tight as she thrashed her head violently. Bumping out just under 44”, she was one off the heaviest mid forty fish I have ever caught.
One spot later, same result! This time a slightly smaller fish followed me through the 8 and hit on the outside and jumped to try to shake the hooks. She jumped so hard she hit the side of the boat including the windshield! The hat trick completed, we called it a successful day!
EAGLE LAKE ALWAYS SURPRISES
Eagle Lake can be brutal to anglers, the high of highs and the low of lows. Anyone who has fished here knows what I’m talking about. We spent a weekend at our brother-in-law’s cabin and while fishing with Richard Madussi, he and I experienced just one of those days. Moving fish, and catching a smaller musky, we could not figure out a solid pattern to find the bigger fish.
With strong north winds we took a chance on a main lake reef. While trying to control a backwards, downwind drift, I was casting the deep side of a huge reef. Only a few cast in and my rod literally doubled over. The fish stayed deep, usually a sign of a larger fish! In two foot waves Richard slid the net under her on the first attempt. I did not know her full size until I went to pull her from the bag. Bumping out at 51”, we were ecstatic, a beautiful mid summer 50 class musky! That is Eagle Lake for you, just when you want to give up, she rewards your persistence!
One more story to share, and a great one at that. A first musky, a tiger no less for Kelsey Sukich of Winnipeg. While fishing with boyfriend, Mike Harris of Element Custom Baits, Kelsey caught her first musky ever! As Mike put it, the fish hit the Muskie Munchie bucktail way out from the boat and put up a good fight! As it hit the net, seeing it was a tiger made for a great experience. Of note, Mike said it hit a black and orange bucktail, a tiger coloured bucktail catches a tiger. Go figure?
The full moon period this weekend should bring positive fishing, however a weekend storm is forecast with heavy winds. Despite the conditions some fish will be caught, and this could be a perfect storm, pardon the pun, to produce the best summer bite of the year!
Good luck out there anglers!
Check out my youtube channel for videos of almost all our catches of the summer.
https://www.youtube.com/c/54orbust
SASKATCHEWAN
The Walleye are still on the steep brake lines of Last Mountain’s main lake basin but when the wind blows there has been a number of good catches in 10’ to 18’ of water. All sizes of walleye are being caught from 12” up to the giant 32” trophies. For Walleye all the summer fishing techniques are still working well. Bottom bouncer and crawler harnesses, crank baits, jigging spoons, jigging and live bait rigging.BIG PIKE MOVING SHALLOW
ALBERTA-WES DAVID – FISHING THE WILD WEST TV
Alberta, like the rest of the prairie provinces and BC, has been experiencing one of the longest and most extreme heat waves of the 21st Century, resulting in extreme drought conditions. Water levels across the province are way down and water from Alberta’s reservoirs has been pumped onto agricultural land since June further depleting water levels in the reservoirs.
Fishing reports from avid anglers on lakes, rivers, and reservoirs have been consistent. “Fish are still biting but the bite is slow and in deeper water on the lakes and reservoirs and in the deepest pools on inside and outside corners of the rivers”.
A SUMMER FROM HELL
To add to the tough conditions and water use, forest fires rage across BC and the prairie provinces. Heavy mid-day smoke is making it challenging for some anglers in some areas of the province, and although I don’t fully understand the relationship between heavy clouds of smoke and fish, historically, I’ve found fishing during these extreme smoky conditions often creates false pressures and may aid in contributing to a slow bite. The combination of smoke, low water levels, and extreme heat seems to be turning fish off or keeping fish in a negative feeding pattern for longer periods across Alberta. However, at the time of this writing, it is forecasted to rain for the next three days. That’s good news for everyone.