Witch Bay Canadian Camps By Phil Rolfe

---

The weather has actually gotten better. Much better. Light winds, warm,
sunny skys. Who could ask for anything more. Well, maybe a good bite.
And we have that too.

Walleyes are doing several things as usual. There is the home range fish
who occupies deeper water. He is in the range of 20-30', but moving up
near the low 20's range rather than closer to 30 as he has been. These
fish are spending their time on  the off shore humps and and along the
shorelines of main lake islands. Bottom bouncers and spinners are taking
really good numbers. Jigging the main lake humps is also working good.

Then, there is the weed walleye. He is down near Shore Island and was
really hot today. These were medium sized fish, but plenty of them. A
jig and half crawler was the ticket.

Glenn, Vickie, Steve, Randy, and Carl came in from Iowa. You all know
Vickie, the Shad Rap lady. Well, they took some really nice walleyes,
Glenn got a 28", crankbaiting the shallow topping humps. They have all
put a lot of time here on this pattern, and they have their milk run
already established.

Humps that top out at 8' or less are the key to this pattern. Plus the
hump must be adjacent to deep water, and have fish holding features such
as boulders, weeds, troughs, and the likes. It was their first day on
the water so stay tuned.

No musky guys doing much yet. Mark Carlson, the 50" king is in camp and
starting to put things together. Warmer waters mean more active fish.

Smallies are in the reeds, reeds and rock, in the boulders, and up real
shallow. I took some nice fish on a jig and crawler. Russ has been
getting them on jigs and plastics.
Wobbling cranks and spinner baits also working.

Big numbers of fish being caught. I mean really big numbers. People
going 50-75 fish a day. An awesome year. Can it last, we'll see. Lots of
young of the year bait fish out there. They aren't eating them yet, but
when they do, who knows.

Later,
Phil

07-11-00
Lake of the Woods Fishing Report
By Phil Rolfe

The weather has actually gotten better. Much better. Light winds, warm,
sunny skys. Who could ask for anything more. Well, maybe a good bite.
And we have that too.

Walleyes are doing several things as usual. There is the home range fish
who occupies deeper water. He is in the range of 20-30', but moving up
near the low 20's range rather than closer to 30 as he has been. These
fish are spending their time on  the off shore humps and and along the
shorelines of main lake islands. Bottom bouncers and spinners are taking
really good numbers. Jigging the main lake humps is also working good.

Then, there is the weed walleye. He is down near Shore Island and was
really hot today. These were medium sized fish, but plenty of them. A
jig and half crawler was the ticket.

Glenn, Vickie, Steve, Randy, and Carl came in from Iowa. You all know
Vickie, the Shad Rap lady. Well, they took some really nice walleyes,
Glenn got a 28", crankbaiting the shallow topping humps. They have all
put a lot of time here on this pattern, and they have their milk run
already established.

Humps that top out at 8' or less are the key to this pattern. Plus the
hump must be adjacent to deep water, and have fish holding features such
as boulders, weeds, troughs, and the likes. It was their first day on
the water so stay tuned.

No musky guys doing much yet. Mark Carlson, the 50" king is in camp and
starting to put things together. Warmer waters mean more active fish.

Smallies are in the reeds, reeds and rock, in the boulders, and up real
shallow. I took some nice fish on a jig and crawler. Russ has been
getting them on jigs and plastics.
Wobbling cranks and spinner baits also working.

Big numbers of fish being caught. I mean really big numbers. People
going 50-75 fish a day. An awesome year. Can it last, we'll see. Lots of
young of the year bait fish out there. They aren't eating them yet, but
when they do, who knows.

Later,
Phil

06-27-00
Lake of the Woods Fishing Report
Witch Bay Camp
By Phil Rolfe

The last week has been once again characterized by high winds and nasty,
rainy weather. One front rolling through after another seems to be the
rule rather than the exception. The good news is that the fish are for
the most part in their summer homes, off shore humps and island
shorelines. I like to key on the round rock studded islands opposed to
the granite type rock. In essence we are fishing tapering food shelves
instead of sheer drops.

However, even with the volatile weather, good numbers of walleyes have
been caught. The rule is there is no rule for patterns. You can't fish
yesterday's memories, cause things might be totally different the next
day. The versatile angler is the one who catches the most fish.

Cold fronts have constantly put the fish on the mud, deep in the weeds,
or on inside turns of points. It's amazing how location can change from
one day to the next.

The deep fish have been ranging from 20-40', with the majority hanging
out around 27-30'. These fish have been taken in good numbers on bottom
bouncers and spinners tipped with a whole crawler. The hot blade has
been the number 4 colorado in hammered nickel. The most important thing
to do when first starting to fish each day is to determine the most
shallow active depth. Start shallow, say 8-10', and run out to deep
water. Keep an eye on the depth finder and note at which depth you see
marks on the sonar. Do this at each spot you visit, remembering that
depths of active fish may change with different structures.

Even with all these fronts rolling through, there has been a good number
of fish taken shallow, from 2-15'. These fish have been taken on jigs
tipped with crawlers or leeches. Key locations have been points, inside
turns, and the edges of the weed beds. Wind blowing into these areas is
important. What seems to be happening here is that the fish are
constantly moving up and down. You will hit a flurry, the action will be
hot and heavy, then nothing. Keep moving, target many different spots.
You may go awhile without taking fish, but when you get them it will be
worth it.

Smallmouth have been decent. However, passing cold fronts can put them
down. They are relatively easy in steady weather, resting and feeding in
the boulders close to shore in bays and along the main lake shorelines.

Spinnerbaits, jigs and twisters, Husky Jerks have all worked well. When
the fish have moved deeper, a jig and crawler worked off the first
breakline have produced, but only sparingly.

OPENING MUSKY REPORT: 
Lots of rain and cool water temps of 58
degrees have kept the fishing slow. Some muskies from 32 to40 inches
have been caught but the big females have been slow. I seen a 50 inch
class swimming in a weed chocked bay that was pretty well marked up from
spawning. We'll need some sunshine for a few days to warm things up
before the fish get active enough to chase
baits.----------------Smallmouth bass have been going good with fish up
to 4 lbs being realeased. Softball sized rock have been the pattern as
of today. Fishing for musky with a 6 inch reef haug I was lucky and
caught a 21 incher. That’s one of the bonus fish you catch when you,re
fishing the big tackle. I'll put out another report this weekend when
hopefully the sun comes back to visit.