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2006 Year End Newsletter
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Hello Sportsmen and Sportswomen, the fishing season at Moonlite Bay Camp is finished for 2006. It sure was a hot and dry season. In May, we barely had to turn on the heat in any of the cabins. By mid June we were buying extra fans, and by July we were asking ourselves, “when will it cool down, and when will we get some rain.” We had a fire ban on from mid July until mid August. Despite all the hot dry weather, we still had exceptionally good fishing all season long.

Walleyes were biting very well on opening day, which was May 20th in 2006. I always find spring and early summer to be the most consistent time of the year to catch walleye. When I say the most consistent, I am talking about total number of fish caught. Once June was finished, and the walleyes were off of the sand beaches, it became slightly tougher to find the walleyes. Most of the time, walleyes would be on the reefs. The trick is to choose the correct type of reef, and also the correct presentation of lure or bait. Sometimes walleyes would be on reefs that were in the middle of the lake. These reefs are a little hard to find without a GPS. These reefs are also very hard to fish in a stiff wind. The other type of reef which walleyes inhabit, are called secondary reefs. A secondary reef is an under water outcropping of an island. This can be an underwater island, rock or sandbar for example. A secondary reef is attached to an island that can be seen above water, but the reef itself, is below the surface. Once you locate a reef you want to fish, then you have to decide whether to jig or troll it. I suggest both. On any given day, jigging or trolling may work better, but you will never know until you give both a try. I have always leaned toward trolling in the spring and jigging in mid summer. This year I tried trolling quite a bit in mid summer, and I caught more walleyes than ever. You may prefer to jig or to troll, but never rule out one or the other, no matter what time of the year it is. Also trolling lures such as Wally Divers and Shad Raps on these reefs, or just on a shoreline, can produce great results. Because of all the hot weather in 2006, we were catching our walleyes about 5-10 feet deeper than we normally do. I don’t think that we caught anything over 30 inches in 2006, but we did catch a good number of 26-27 inchers.

Northern Pike fishing was also very good early on and only slowed down when the temperature hit the mid nineties. Obabikon Lake produced some truly awesome northern pike fishing in 2006. In Obabikon Lake or in the main lake, if you found a patch of cabbage weed, than you also found northern pike. Spoons, cranks, and of course spinner baits were the best baits for northern pike in 2006. I was out with a father and son in late June when the son threw out his spinner bait and got one of the worst snarl ups, (rats nest), I had seen in a long time. Because the line was so knotted up, the young man decided to pull the line in by hand so that he could retrieve his lure and retie it. This young man started wrapping line around one hand with the other. Well you can probably guess what happened next. Yep, a very large Northern, just under the 40 inch mark, hit this kid’s lure and somehow this kid got the hook set without using his rod. It was at this point that I noticed all that line wrapped around the kid’s hand. I was very worried that this powerful fish might pull the line so tight that the kid’s fingers could get injured or worse. I told the kid to point his fingers at the big fish, so that when the fish took his first run, hopefully the fishing line would spool off the kid’s hand without pinching. Well, thank the fishing gods, it worked. When that big fish took off on its first run, the line came unspooled off this kid’s hand in a blur. After that, I thought we had lost the fish because the line went slack in the water. The kid started pulling line in the boat, without wrapping it around any appendages this time, thank goodness, when all of the sudden, the line got tight again. The fish was still on!!! I was telling the kid to try to keep pressure on the fish by holding the fishing line in his hands, but be sure to let go of the line if it takes another run. When the fish was only a few feet from the boat, I thought to myself that we might actually catch this thing. I told the kid that we probably only had one chance to get that fish in the net, just keep dragging it toward the boat. Finally it was in netting range and I was just barely able to net it before it tried to take off again. We got the fish in the boat, and it was not long after that both father and son decided to have that big northern pike mounted. What a great story they will have to tell, as well as a beautiful mount.

If you feel like casting some lures on a hot sunny day, the small mouth bass is your best bet. Smallies are the game fish least affected by bright sunshine and hot weather. Because we had more than our share of hot sunny weather in 2006, the smallmouth bass was a good fish to target, especially when folks got a little tired of jigging or trolling and wanted to do some casting instead. That is not to say that you cannot jig or troll for smallmouth. Both of these methods work very well, but personally speaking, I prefer to cast for smallmouth. Try tube jigs, small spinner baits, small cranks, or anything that looks like a crayfish and you should be able to boat a few smallies. I have had very good luck with some of the new jointed shad raps made by Rapala. The joint in the middle of the lure really makes them look alive, as they swim through the water. We always say to fish the boulder shorelines and rocky points, but don’t forget to also throw some semi-weed less lures into the weeds and slop once in a while. Not only will you catch some nice smallies, but you will also pull out an occasional large mouth bass as well.

Musky, musky, musky, 2006 was a great year for musky. It was one of the best musky seasons we have had for a long time. Not only were the numbers of Musky caught, way up, but the size of the musky caught and seen, was way up as well. I believe that the increased size limit of 54 inches, is the main contributing factor in seeing and catching larger musky. Most musky fishermen and women are catch and release folks, we all know that, however, it used to be the new fishermen and women or rookies, who used to catch and keep the occasional 48” or better musky. Not that you can blame anyone from wanting to keep and mount a fish of that size. The fact is, most folks now release almost 100% of musky caught, and this has drastically improved the size and numbers of the musky in Lake of the Woods. Now a days it would be very difficult, though not impossible, for a rookie fisherman or woman to land a 54” musky without full musky gear. A fish of the 54” class is either very smart or very lucky or both. Personally, I think that a fish of that size is basically a very smart fish in the same way that a trophy buck is a very smart animal. In 2006, medium to large spinner baits were the best musky lures, followed closely by buck tails and top water plugs.

Crappie fishing in July and August was very good. Small jigs and small tube jigs tipped with small minnows did the trick as usual. In addition, many jumbo perch were also caught in 2006, all season long, and while fishing for crappie. The important thing to note is the fact that almost all of the jumbo perch caught in 2006 didn’t have any gill or flesh worms as we have seen in the past. Although these worms cannot hurt humans in any way, the look of a perch fillets without worms, is much more appetizing than perch fillets with worms. These perch were a welcome addition to the shore lunches of 2006, and hopefully to the shore lunches of 2007 as well.

Finally, I would just like to say thank you to all of the guests who came to Moonlite Bay Camp in 2006. My 2007 schedule is now opened and ready to be filled. Please don’t hesitate to email me or call my dad as soon as you know what dates you want for 2007. May June and July are my busiest months, while August is a touch slower. Because I could use some more business in August, I am willing to discount the price of anyone who books a trip to Moonlite Bay Camp in August. This discount will be based on the number of people coming, as well as the type of plan requested in August of 2007. You can still catch plenty of fish in August; however, unless you know the lake, a guide is essential at that time of year.

Please remember to get a PASSPORT if you are coming to Canada in 2007. Last I heard, the powers that be are still fighting as to whether passports would be required for re entry into the USA in 2007. If you get a passport, however, you will have nothing to worry about, when the time comes for your Canadian fishing trip

All the best for a safe, happy and healthy holiday season,

Warmest Regards,

Mike Evans

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