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2004 Year End Newsletter
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Hello Friends,

The 2004 fishing season was a good one, despite a lot of cool and somewhat windy weather. The season started out with a foot of snow during the third week in May, and with a few exceptional days, the weather stayed windy and cool until July. We usually get about three summery months in northwest Ontario, this year it seemed like we had only one. This year was the exception and not the rule; however, I don’t want everyone thinking it’s always cold at Moonlite Bay Camp in northwest Ontario.

Because of all the cool weather, most of the fish on the main part of the lake were still in winter mode. This meant that the fishing was tough, unless you worked the more shallow parts of the lake. Some of the areas which were producing good action early on were Burrow Bay and Obabikon Lake. The main reason that these areas were producing, while other areas were not, was because these areas are shallower, and therefore, they warm up much quicker. In spring, as the water starts to warm up, the fish start to turn on. Another reason that people were catching fish in these areas was because these areas were out of the wind. It was much easier to control a boat on a windy day in these areas of the lake, mainly because these areas are not so wide open. The weather finally warmed up near the end of June, and the bite on the main lake improved accordingly.

Walleye fishing was slow on the main lake early on; however, we caught all the walleyes we wanted up in Obabikon Lake. Sure we burned up a little extra gas getting up there every day for the first month of the season, but it was always worth it. If you could keep your fingers warm, then you could keep catching fish. Trolling worked well throughout June and once the weather warmed up, Jigging worked well especially in July and August. The general rule of thumb is Troll early, jig during the warmer weather and troll late. This is not a hard and fast rule, and one should be willing to switch from jigging to trolling, and trolling to jigging in order to catch Walleyes. Don’t forget to cast cranks and spinners for Walleyes as well, although live bait generally produces more fish than lures.

Northern Pike typically follow the same trends as the Walleye do year to year, when it comes to were the action is. Most of the early season Northern were caught in the shallower parts of the lake ware the water was just a few degrees warmer. Since weed beds were hard to find early on, sandy bays were the best bet to find the Northern. Spoons such as Daredevils, Crocodiles and Little Cleo’s, work great early on before the weeds take hold. Once the weeds have established themselves, however, Spinner Baits and floating crank baits work very well, running just above the weed beds. When the water is cold, especially in spring and early summer, a slower retrieve, or a stop start retrieve, works very well at inducing a cold water Northern to strike. As the weather gets warmer, you can start retrieving your lures faster and faster, however, it’s always a good idea to very your speed, until you find out what works best for that particular day.

The Smallmouth Bass fishing in 2004 was probably the most consistent of all the species we fish for. What I mean is that almost any rocky shoreline or rocky point held Smallies. Because our water level returned to normal after last year’s low water level, we were able to hit all of our old Smallie spots. These spots produced nicely, especially on calm days and calm evenings. One technique, which seemed to work well for Largemouth Bass, was to troll up to some really weedy bays and throw weedless or nearly weedless lures such as spinner baits, way up into the weeds and retrieve these lures as best you can, until the lure gets fouled by the heavy weeds. When doing this, the strike would usually occur very early in the retrieve.

Musky fishing followed hardly any trends that I can recall, except the old, “when you least expect it expect it” Quote. Muskies tend to show up in the strangest places. A few nice ones were taken on medium to small sized crank baits such as the number seven shad raps. These lures are more closely associated with catching Bass or Walleye. We had a few groups who focused on Musky, and one group did particularly well in Burrow Bay, although the exact spots were not divulged to me. A 54 inch Musky was Photographed and released. The lure which hooked this brute was also not divulged to me.

Crappie fishing was darn good especially in August. Most of our Crappies were caught in Obabikon Lake on small jigs and tube jigs tipped with small minnows. The Crappies really made some of our August shore lunches great. I always enjoy spending a few hours over a Crappie hole in the early autumn sun.

Our reservation book is now open for the 2005 season. Reservations are on a first come first serve basis, and a $100.00 per person deposit is required to lock in any dates for next season. I will be doing two sport shows this year, the Omaha Sports Show, February 24-27 at the Qwest Center/Arena in Omaha Nebraska and the Milwaukee Sentinel Sports & Travel Show, March 11-20 at the Wisconsin State Fair Park Exposition Center in Milwaukee Wisconsin. Please contact me by email at mike@moonlitebaycamp.com or feel free to call my father in Wisconsin at (262) 569-9605 if you have any questions or would like to book a trip. Last but not least, I would like to thank everyone who came to Moonlite Bay Camp in 2004. I hope to see all of you again in 2005!

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