Hello All! I am heading up for the annual VNP trip next Monday. We are staying in a new to us area on the NW side of Kab. Anyone have any recent info or going to be up there this week that would care to share how things are going and what depth? Any other ideas. We generally find the fish after a while but if I can narrow the search a bit with some info it would be much appreciated!! Feel free to PM if you wish.
Thanks
I’ve received a lot of ideas for my late June trip but it’s mostly tailored to the east end of the lake near our campsite. I’m also very interested in hearing how folks have been doing lately. Gateway’s most recent report on 5/28:
Water temperatures are now around 54-55 and slowly coming up. Walleye fishing continues to be good throughout the lake with good reports coming in with fish being caught anywhere from 12 to 40 ft. Almost everyone is getting in on the action with no real hot spots to speak of and catching fish at just about all the popular hang outs. Use the wind to your advantage and fish the wind blown shorelines and funnel areas. Tom Cod has started to produce a few fish and it’s now just a matter of time before it heats up. It’s extremely encouraging to hear about the size variety anglers are seeing with fish anywhere from 6 to 28 inches. Moving slow or anchoring with a jig or split shot rig and plain hook tipped with a minnow is still the most productive with rainbows and shiners doing best. There has been good fishing in the current areas up towards Kettle Falls as well.
Northern pike and small mouth bass are still common and almost a nuisance. Perch are showing up in bigger numbers and the size is incredible. It is not uncommon to catch jumbo perch over 12 inches on a regular basis.
One angler was surprised when a musky made its way into the net. Very uncommon on Kab but pictures confirmed it was definitely a musky in the 20 inch range.
I know, not overly specific, but sounds promising if you get good weather. The jumbo perch news is very welcome here.
Thanks for the info. We’ve never stay past round bear island so this will be new for us. However, we will likely spend quite a bit of time traveling around if we can’t find them near us. I like those water temps from the report.
Send me a PM with your campsite and I can help with some good spots around the park for end of June if needed.
We are heading up on June 10th, primarily fish the West end. Tom Cod is usually good sometimes early evening can be the best there. During the day it is really a crapshoot all of the usual spots listed in the reports work but I find you need to keep moving. Catch a few and it slows move on until you find a bunch of active fish or keep moving…we often stay too long on spots.
We’ll run anywhere though, sometimes run down to Lost and work our way back Sugarbush, Cutover, Harris, Yewbush, Bittersweet, Tom Cod…if we find a good spot we stay. Varies from Day to day.
The West end seems to be better when the water is higher and they have the dams open in the system…must create current?
Sorry about being non-specific but it is the truth.
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Timatkn… we are heading up also on the 10th. We are staying at Voyageur Park Lodge… how about you guys? I have only been to Kab one other time about 2 years ago. Even in mid June we found allot of fish in the 8-10 FOW range on weed edges especially if there was some wind. Very excited to head up again in just over a week.
We are heading up on June 10th, primarily fish the West end. Tom Cod is usually good sometimes early evening can be the best there. During the day it is really a crapshoot all of the usual spots listed in the reports work but I find you need to keep moving. Catch a few and it slows move on until you find a bunch of active fish or keep moving…we often stay too long on spots.
We’ll run anywhere though, sometimes run down to Lost and work our way back Sugarbush, Cutover, Harris, Yewbush, Bittersweet, Tom Cod…if we find a good spot we stay. Varies from Day to day.
The West end seems to be better when the water is higher and they have the dams open in the system…must create current?
Sorry about being non-specific but it is the truth.
That sounds similar to my last 15 years on Namakan and the east end of Kab. We also generally stay way to long on a spot as well
Thanks for the info.
We struggled last week so im not a whole lot of help. The guys who were getting some said they were out deep (30’+). I hate fishing that deep (mortailty rate, and I find deep methods I know boring) but tried anyway, I could see them on sonar but couldn’t make them eat, plastic, rainbows, leeches, nada.
Normally I can find fish in the protected slot for pictures shallow in late May, never found one all week, plenty of small and a few medium pike and some smallies, no eyes. Was a weird trip compared to the last 5 year’s.
I finally got on some sauger the morning we had to leave in 15-20′, managed 3 to take home from 500-700am and lost a few more bringing into the boat and a small one before I had to go back to load up and go. All caught trolling a tail dancer.
Makes me want to plan a shorter fall trip to exact my revenge on them, but a few items that need money spent on them this year that I don’t think it’s in the cards.
We struggled last week so im not a whole lot of help. The guys who were getting some said they were out deep (30’+). I hate fishing that deep (mortailty rate, and I find deep methods I know boring) but tried anyway, I could see them on sonar but couldn’t make them eat, plastic, rainbows, leeches, nada.
Normally I can find fish in the protected slot for pictures shallow in late May, never found one all week, plenty of small and a few medium <strong class=”ido-tag-strong”>pike and some smallies, no eyes. Was a weird trip compared to the last 5 year’s.I finally got on some sauger the morning we had to leave in 15-20′, managed 3 to take home from 500-700am and lost a few more bringing into the boat and a small one before I had to go back to load up and go. All caught trolling a tail dancer.
Makes me want to plan a shorter fall trip to exact my revenge on them, but a few items that need money spent on them this year that I don’t think it’s in the cards.
Thanks for the info…that helps! I am guessing things are a couple week ahead of schedule this year. What area of the lake were you on?
We stayed at northern lights (state point), I fished from Tom cod over to the east end of lost bay. About the only spots I didn’t hit was the ‘lower arm’ that runs to namakan east of wolf island and the very south end (Nebraska bay, moxie island area).
There was always guys sitting in the evemings in that big saddle like hump between cemetery island and whatever the one to the east is, I tried two evenings there, caught two little walleye and a nice perch. From what I could here from the other boats I think they were more there for social hour than to catch fish.
Tried shipwreck area one morning for bass, must be too early or something as I got skunked, never tried that complex before.
I did finally get to see the rock garden, would look even better when they get the flowers planted for summer. There is a bay just south and east of the gardens, in the very back you can see a pretty cool waterfall. Was a huge snapper back in that bay too.
All in all the trip was still a win as I got to get away, and my 4 year old enjoyed being out in the boat (really liked going fast, which he hated the last time he was up there in ’14).
We are staying at North Star resort you probably never heard of it, they don’t advertise…it is near Park Point Resort.
We will have 4 guys packed into a deep 17′ crestliner with IA plates…no we aren’t fishing bullheads 
T
We are staying at North Star resort you probably never heard of it, they don’t advertise…it is near Park Point Resort.
We will have 4 guys packed into a deep 17′ crestliner with IA plates…no we aren’t fishing bullheads
T
That on the wooden frog ramp side of the point?
Close, I think it is Arrowhead Lodge that right next to the ramp and we are straight across the bay from Arrowhead and the ramp.
North Star is a pretty old resort, the owner now bought it in the 70’s…because he went there every year and when it went up for sale he was afraid he wouldn’t like the new owner so he just bought it himself. Most of the people going there have been there for a couple of family generations—he doesn’t really seem to care if his resort full or not. We’ve been there several times in June and we are the only guests. They treat it like a retirement home more than a resort.
We used to stay at Park Point, we and the owner of Park Point (former) helped Northstar with a tree situation…when Park was selling and couldn’t gaurantee our reservation North Star invited us to stay there if it didn’t work out. The rest is history.
Hey poomunk We caught some northerns and a nice walleye one time in that bay/waterfall area. Probably 5 years ago…never tried it again, did you fish it? Seeems like it would be better early in the year?
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We did fish through that area, couple shmedium northern and bass, no eyes. Wind was southwest that day and best action was on the west edge where it turns south towards the next bay. Had a dandy smallie come unbuttoned just short of the boat in the next bay south.
Walleyes were tough to come by this week on Kab. We did venture from west side of Kab up to Kettle without a lot of success. As always it was a great experience! Anyone up this week able to get on em?
That’s a bummer to hear, but glad you still enjoyed the trip. I’m hoping things pick up by the 23rd when we arrive.
Thanks for the info…that helps! I am guessing things are a couple week ahead of schedule this year. What area of the lake were you on?
As of a week ago, not sure that was true. Check out my Rainy report. Not the same place but not that far away. you might see them up where rapalas or pitching plastics could be working. Then again water temps could rise fast enough to have them make their transitions to main lake points and reefs.
Was up Mon – Thursday this week.
Caught some slot size walleyes in 12 to 14 feet Tuesday morning in about 45 minutes. (3 @ 23″ to 25″), but ran dry real quick after that. Fun.
Found small walleyes in 30 to 35 feet, but they were tough to get a bite.
Northerns all over the place, smallies were on the shallow rocks.
Supposedly the crappies were on fire in Sullivan Bay, but I did not get back there.
Overall a tough few days.
Was up Mon – Thursday this week.
Caught some slot size walleyes in 12 to 14 feet Tuesday morning in about 45 minutes. (3 @ 23″ to 25″), but ran dry real quick after that. Fun.
Found small <strong class=”ido-tag-strong”>walleyes in 30 to 35 feet, but they were tough to get a bite.
Northerns all over the place, smallies were on the shallow rocks.
Supposedly the crappies were on fire in Sullivan Bay, but I did not get back there.
Overall a tough few days.
We were up Monday to Friday and your reports is the same as ours.
We were up Saturday June 10 through 13 .Walleye bit was bad for us .Maybe first time up there trying to figure it out had to do with it . Was windy also and had mayflies around us to. Talk to other people on the lake seem like they weren’t doing any better.
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