Kabetogama/Namakan Early June?

For the past 12 years we have gone to Rainy Lake the first few weeks of June and fished the east end of the lake.

This year we are thinking of camping just above the damn at kettle. This would be Namakan according to the map.

We do well on Rainy but just looking for some new scenery. Has anyone had much success early June from the Ash River Visitors center to Kettle Falls?

We would hope to be able to catch walleyes for dinner.

Thanks guys.

When you say you are camping above the dam I’m assuming you mean south of the dam.

Anyways – I have spent several several years up there navigating that stretch and it is one of the most beautiful spots on Earth. There are tons of little bays and islands to explore. I spent most of my time fishing Kab from the Ash river to Wolf Island and that stretch is awesome in June. The stretch you’re speaking about on Namakan I found to be a little tougher fishing but I also didn’t try as often. The fish will be transitioning from post-spawn shallows/bays to deeper humps and points by then I think and that stretch is a long way from any main lake body structures.

You’ll also want to know where you’re fishing in that stretch. Its one of those weird spots where Canada is actually south of the US!

You’ll find plenty of fish to catch on that stretch at that time frame.
As jason mentioned, that is generally a transition time of year. Fish can be found in shallow bays relating to emerging weeds, on reefs and points, and also on sand flats, especially flats near current areas. Fish the windy side, don’t hide from it. You’ll also likely find fish moving deeper towards main lake structure. In a nutshell they’re fish to be caught in many different areas year around. Some fish stay shallow all summer.
If you’re familiar with Rainy I doubt you’ll have much trouble on Namakan as they’re essentially the same body of water.
I’ve spent my whole life vacationing on Namakan. Feel free to PM me if you have any other questions.

Early June is my favorite time to be on Kab. I usually stay on the west side but in my experiences on the east side, they fish very similar to each other.

If fishing fast is your preference, cast cranks and jigs and plastics against shallow wind blown rock points and emerging weed beds. This is typically a multi-species bite and generally bigger walleyes in my experiences. If that is not working, then drag live bait rigs on mid depth point extensions and flats off islands. I like to find the transitions from rock to sand and creep a leech right along that edge.

We were thinking of doing Kab and Nam this year too but decided to do Rainy West of Brule narrows. Let us know how you liked this area. Our group is always looking for new adventures.