MANITOBA
Red River
Catfishing is still on fire as we move into fall. Don’t be afraid to move around. Most times you will catch three or four fish in one spot, then the action slows. Bring a wide variety of weights and circle hooks since current will vary. There are some walleye starting to show up but some of the best action is in the lake itself. The walleye are a bit deeper at this time of the year so use your electronics to find schools of fish.
It pays to Spotlock on them for short periods of time until the fish move. It is time to switch back to salted shiners as the #1 option.
LAKE OF THE PRAIRIES
I am heading out this weekend for four days of fishing. Roger and Sue Geres have been finding the fish in eight to 22 feet of water. Roger says he slow trolls with crawlers until he finds some fish, then stays on them with a jig. Leeches are tough to come by right now, but if you can find some, they will put more fish in the boat. Don’t be afraid to put down some crankbaits. They have also been catching some good sized perch.
NORTHERN MANITOBA
Manitoba has some of the best drive-to lake trout fishing in the world. They include lakes like Clearwater and Athapapaskow but there are plenty lesser known ones as well. One of those is Kississing Lake north of Cranberry Portage. Travel Manitoba features Kenanow Lodge in this Destination Spotlight
“FLY BITES”
reports from members of the Manitoba Fly Fishers Association (MFFA)
NORTHWESTERN ONTARIO
SMALL LAKE MUSKY – MIKE CORRIGAN, MFFA PRESIDENT
The backcountry Musky lakes continue to produce. The fish seem to be a little larger and a little more wary, but aggressively stripped flies without pausing has produced some quality fish. Even as the water starts to cool down, the fish continue to hold in very shallow water.
The MFFA have resumed meetings at Riverview CC on Ashland on Tuesday nights at 7 pm. If you are interested check out our website, MFFA.org or drop by the Hall.
Tight lines! Mike Corrigan
LAKE OF THE WOODS AND AREA – JAMIE BRUCE
The walleye fishing on Lake of the Woods seems to be as good as it’s ever been . I have cracked the 30 mark a few times on the hunt for bass. With the unseasonable fall temps, a lot of smallmouth have stayed shallow, leaving the walleyes with the open water structure mostly to themselves.
Bait is always the main driver this time of year; specifically smelt and ciscoes. A Smeltinator Underspin with a 4” fluke style bait or a 3-5” Swimbait is always tough to top.
On the largemouth front, a lot of them have stayed shallow as well. Frogging and “clean jigging” shallow bays have been the deal for us.
Sioux Narrows Bassin’ for Bucks starts this weekend, and will be interesting as temps are set to cool on day one of the tournament. We have our work cut out for us if we want to hang on to the big trophy for another year!
Jamie
Www.btfishing.com
VERMILLION BAY AND AREA – GLENN MCDONALD
August has come and gone, and September has brought the first cold front to Northwestern Ontario. Fall is certainly in the air in Sunset Country.
The last week of August remained warm throughout the region. Stable weather brings stable fishing patterns. Familiar summer patterns held true for musky fishing. Weeds and main lake rock structure. Prior to the first cold front of the season, when musky start the move to shallow, warmer water, they hold out on summer locations. During our last couple fishing trips in August, we were fortunate enough to encounter a number of active fish.
Fishing with friends Ron, Cindy and Matt Abel from the USA, along with my wife, we put together a great day on the water. Kyla hooked a beautiful fish, on a spinner bait, on the outside edge of shallow weeds. Picking areas adjacent to shallow weeds and rock are always key. Fishing a similar area, albeit separated by a few kilometres, Kyla caught a nice pike. Not long after releasing the pike, Ron caught a thick musky from the back of the boat. Not to be outdone, Kyla hooked another musky in the figure 8 on the next cast. It’s often said the muskies roam in packs, and this certainly felt like it.
A day later, Dave and I headed out and managed to hook a few fish. After finding some lazy follows in the weeds early in the day, we went back to them later and had success. One in particular stood out to us. Pulling up on our spot, a weed saddle between islands, I made the call to change baits. Clipping on the familiar Dip Stick from Top Line Baits, first cast I hooked up way out from the boat. Not only did we see this fish earlier in the day, but the bait change, and direction change made all the difference in the world. By casting up, against the current, and pulling the bait into the musky, I was rewarded with a beautiful sunset musky.
A few days later I was back fishing with the Abel family. On a bluebird day, with no wind we managed a three fish day. No easy feat on a lake only I was familiar with. It was their first trip out there. Again, sticking with summer patterns we caught two smaller fish out over shallow rock reefs. We moved many fish in the weeds. Our decision to fish weeds paid off as Ron caught a solid fish buried in thick weeds. Burning a bucktail through the weeds was the best choice, and a Dadson Blade Bait hardly ever fails us.
Finishing off the week before Labour Day weekend, I took the Abel’s to Eagle Lake. I only mention it as we had a funny story to share. It was a slow day overall, although Ron caught a really nice pike. Only a few casts later, Matt hooked into a low forty class musky, I slid the net under her and as we got our camera’s ready we heard a splash. As Matt went to grab her from the net, he said, “Oh there is no fish here!” A hole in the netting allowed the fish to swim through. Looking back a few days, a smaller musky had stuck its snout through the netting, and probably cut part of it on its gill plate. This current fish most likely had its nose through the same hole. The moral of this story; always check your net! Check all your gear before every trip.
September’s long weekend brought the first cold nights to the region. Night time temperatures dropped to just above freezing. The mornings were cool and lakes were full of fog to start the day. This cold weather was a distinct change to the fish, and their behaviour. Almost overnight the familiar summer patterns did not apply. I fished a couple days after this big swing in the weather, and can admit things were much tougher. I was able to put together some fish in the boat, but we had to work for every bite.
Switching to slower moving baits has proven itself over the years as the lakes cool down. A shallow magnum Swimming Dawg, from Musky Innovations is a favourite of mine. Looking for fish over deeper water, suspended out from structure, usually is a good place to start. One such area paid off with a really nice musky that followed and hit in the figure 8.
Being able to adapt to changing conditions is very important in musky fishing, more so in the summer to fall transition. For a video describing fall musky locations click the link below
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SASKATCHEWAN
LAST MOUNTAIN LAKE – ROB SCHULZ, G& S OUTFITTERS
BRITISH COLUMBIA
WES DAVID – FISHING THE WILD WEST T.V.
Courtenay BC
I had the good fortune of visiting the BuzzBomb Tackle, factory, and warehouse in Courtenay BC. Tim and his wife Gaia are the owners of Buzz bomb Tackle, and while Gaia kept the lights on at the factory and warehouse, I got to spend two days with Tim fishing chinook and coho salmon. I’ve fished BuzzBomb Tackle for years on both saltwater and freshwater species but having the opportunity to gain first-hand knowledge of how exactly the Buzz Bomb, Zzinger, and Spinnow, are designed to work and how you can manipulate their action in different situations was priceless.
While other boats trolled key salmon locations, we set up to jig the same salmon that other boats were trolling for. We drifted over key structure and jigged the Buzz Bomb, Zzinger, or Spinnow, depending on the drift, and set the hook on several Chinook and coho salmon. These lures are designed to imitate a wounded or struggling baitfish and regardless of if we were vertical jigging or swim jigging these lures, salmon would aggressively hit these lures and make long powerful runs with aggressive head shakes. We caught and released all our caught salmon, but we did catch a couple of rockfish and a small lingcod to join us for lunch on the boat.
Regardless of if you’re jigging freshwater or saltwater species, never leave the dock without BuzzBomb Tackle! https://www.buzzbombtackle.com
Serengeti Fishing Charters
At the time of this writing, I am still on the west coast fishing a mixed bag of halibut, lingcod, rockfish, and salmon with Serengeti Fishing Charters out of Port Hardy BC. We have been on the water for two days and as always, Serengeti Fishing Charters has their finger on the pulse of fishing the west coast.
Each morning depending on tides and weather determines where and what we will be fishing for first. Yesterday morning we started fishing for lingcod in 250-300 feet of water with 8oz jigs and large soft plastics, then mid-day we moved to rockfish with BuzzBomb lures on light tackle in 100-200 feet of water and finished the day with an amazing coho bite off the edge of islands in 65-feet of water trolling herring baits.
On the second day, we started our day with a 50-minute run and anchored in 300 feet of water somewhere on the Pacific Ocean and sent down cut bait smothered in Liquid Mayhem and waited for the halibut to show up. It didn’t take long for the first bite and after the first bite the action was non-stop often two rods would go off at the same time setting up action-packed doubleheaders.
Within a few hours, we had our halibut limit. To give out arms and back a break, we fished deep water structures for rockfish before moving onto and closing the day trolling for coho with mooching rods and reels. I have no idea what day three will hold.
Serengeti Fishing Charters runs their charters from mid-May until mid-September and over the years, I have fished every month with them, and I can assure you, you return to the docks with a limit of fish and to the lodge with a hearty appetite and exhausted but filled with memories and exciting fishing stories from an amazing day of fishing.
http://www.serengetifishingcharters.com
Wes David Host & Producer of Fishing the Wild West TV