fishing reports

[bigboreblr]

Nice catfish. double digit to large teen catfish isn't rare in the hudson river here in NY, but still a good catch. Usually most fisherman are avoid catfish here while fishing for striped bass.

Went to Topsail NC last week. Many fisherman were not catching much on the pier. Managed to catch a few bluefish and a small spanish mackeral. Spent 4 whole days on the pier kingfishing. Usually between 5 and 25 folks fishing for them. No runs or catches. Water was too cloudy from wind.

Almost got a 5ft hammerhead shark on the pier. Too many people right next to me look at the fish to fight it properly. Got wrapped around the pier pile-on and btoke off. Was surprised how weak the fight was. Had 30lb mono with a steel leader. Kinda glad he let off a bit though.

Vacuum sealed what I did catch and brought home maybe 12lbs of bluefish fillets and a few pounds of whiefish / mullet and some spots. Had to throw back a nice flounder.

I do better early may or late april, but wife likes the better weather right before memorial day.

 

[BuckSutherland]

I spent May 25th-May 30th fishing in the Boundary Waters with my wife and 9 year old daughter. Our weather was spectacular. This is my third year in a row going in on Memorial Weekend. It was their second trip in a row, and we will be going on this trip every year until physically unable to. We absolutely love it. We paddled 21 miles with 8 portages in 7 hours and 15 mins to reach our remote campsite. We saw ZERO people for the first two days.


My third year in the BWCA was probably the slowest fishing I have had, but it was still very good. We caught:
-between 150-200 walleyes (biggest was 26" caught by my daughter. She easily caught the most 20+" walleyes) Best night we caught 60 in 4 hours. We didnt have much wind on our trip and I think that hurt walleye fishing some but was good for paddling.
-about 3 dozen northerns. Average size was 4-5lb. Landed a few between 7-10lb. We had 8 additional encounters with HUGE fish. Only my daughter got a hook in one. It was approximately 40" long and snapped a short line fishing the rapids. We had several monsters grab our walleyes as we reeled them in. After a few mins of fighting them they would let go closer to the canoe and we would real up a mangled walleye.
-only about 12 smallmouth bass (biggest was 19.5")
-a couple dozen bonus monster bluegills (all released).
- several meals of baked walleye in tinfoil over the campfire and one meal deep fried.
-80+ miles paddled with 12 lakes visited (also got to see some old pictographs)


These trips are spectacular if the weather, bugs and fish cooperate. Absolutely no f***s given for nearly an entire week. It feels so damn good to just get away and unplug from everything. Already looking forward to next year.

 

[BuckSutherland]

 

[Mtyhunter]

You worked your ass off to afford the time and the money, and showed your family a world class fishing trip. Man, I love America, and, all the opportunities like this that exist. I'm impressed, and maybe a little jealous, lol!

 

[Telemark]

Is the whole area like that, or do you have a secret spot where the fishing is just amazing?

 

[BuckSutherland]

Is the whole area like that, or do you have a secret spot where the fishing is just amazing?

Its pretty damn good fishing all across the BWCA, especially for those of us with lots of fishing experience. The state record walleye and state record northern come from the BWCA. We are leaving 90+% of the people behind us cause we are willing to do the hard work it takes to get way out there. The further you can get away from the entry points the better the fishing.


There are dozens of entry points to access the BWCA. I have gone to the same one 3 years in a row cause it is a river chain and seems super simple to fish to me. Our canoe is wasting the average BWCA fisherman. A lot of poor fishermen visit the area and still do quite well. I've encountered a few people who haven't caught a damn thing and we were pushing 100 fish a day. 10% of the lake seems to hold 90% of the fish. If you can get it figured out its world class.


I like to go in late May to beat the heat and also cause fish can really get stacked up this time of year. I focus my fishing on a couple key areas and eliminate 90% of the water right away.

1. Moving water is awesome this time of year.
2. Shallow wind blown points can really get hot, especially with a few days of the same wind
3. Neck down areas with current moving through them can be awesome, especially if the wind is pushing into them
4. Underwater humps
5. Any shallow green weeds with minnows swimming in them (weeds are rare up there)


I do have secret spots that could produce 100+ fish per day. We enjoy fishing with a jig and leech or a jig and plastic. The scenery up there is about as beautiful as it gets. I love drinking the fresh lake water. I love all of the old antique cedar trees. Hasn't been a day go by since my first trip 3 years ago that I haven't day dreamed out being up there fishing all alone in the remote wilderness.

 

[Bill]

That’s one heck of a great family trip. Kinda jealous here. Congratulations for making that happen.

 

[BuckSutherland]

Here are some additional random photos to show what it can be like. That twisted up old cedar tree is very special to me. Its in a spot full of great memories where the river dumps into a highly productive lake. Has treated us very well. The family has many fond memories right out in front of it. I'm sure for as old as it appears to be that it has seen some impressive catches. Been around a lot longer than MN I'm guessing.

 

[Bill]

Dead calm is my favorite. I like them all. But dead calm like that is awesome on any water. It even happens in the ocean.

 

[Telemark]

That's amazing. I'll have to take my nephew up there some day. He loves fishing, but he's still pretty new. We have walleye where our cabin is, but they are deep and hard to catch.

 

[weekender21]

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That’s not a fishing report, that’s an adventure report! Awesome trip, thanks for sharing.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[swat1018]

I was just north of the BWCA last week. It was amazing, I too was keying on rapids, water falls, and moving water. It was a great bite. I was at a remote rental cabin I frequent, on the Canadian side. I was fishing along the Quetico Provincial Park, their version of the BWCA.

 

[Bill]

Baby short fin Mako. We were hoping for a Thresher to make into steaks….

Can’t keep Mako anymore. Not that we would have kept this one if legal. But man they are one of the best steaks you could eat. NOAA closed fishing for them 4 years ago and said it would only be for 2 years. Hmm the Gov lied again. 2 weeks to slow the spread. 2 years to grow the numbers.

 

[matinc]

Bill what rig did you use to catch it

 

[Bill]

Bill what rig did you use to catch it

For sharks we use about 5 foot of braided cable with a circle hook crimped on. Then a 10 to 12 foot 250 lb mono leader attached to that as a shock cord. Serious overkill for that little guy but it could have been a 300 lb dinosaur. 8 to 10 inch bunker for bait. Run 3 lines, floater on top with a ballon to hold it up. Near bottom set with a weight. And mid range weighted a ballon float.

Send them out in the chum slick and drift.

No tuna around yet and June is shark month so we gave it a shot. Pretty good number of thresher sharks have been coming to the docks and not a lot people target sharks.

 

[Angus 1895]

Finally back home. Time to start farming/ irrigating/ riding the ponies.

I released a couple more over 27 inches but no photos taken.

I regret the one my brother netted, he just drove up to the river while I was fighting it.

The photos are the Yellowstone, the Crow, and the Minnesota.

I didn’t take any photos of the sheyenne.

 

[Kdog]

Think I got one fish pic from our two weeks at the beach. Fishing was slower than normal for me this year. Primary targets are snook and pompano and while I did break my pompano PB three times this trip, I just did not catch as many as usual. My old PB was 17", I caught one over 18, 19 and a 20.5". Don't think I will ever break that PB.

The snook were just starting to show up at the beaches and the better fishing was at night with cut bait. I need my sleep and prefer to fish mornings, so I focused more on the jetties at the passes. I caught several in the 20-30" range on x-raps, but only managed two over 30" with one at 32" and the other at 36". Both of them came on live lady fish that I caught while pomp fishing.

 

[bwoods11]

I was able to catch 4 walleye in front of my house in Minnesota. 19 inch was the biggest … good eating !

 

[matinc]

Bwoods glad you get the small ones are the best to eat.

 

[Foggy47]

I was able to catch 4 walleye in front of my house in Minnesota. 19 inch was the biggest … good eating !View attachment 78849View attachment 78850

Minnewaska? (as I teased my friend...."the Dead Sea").