You are either a long truck ride (30+min) or a pretty good boat ride from Van Hook if you are staying at Indian Hills…plus the gravel road in there is brutal at times. If you want to specifically fish Van hook, then I would look into some of these guys suggestions. I am not familiar with those places to stay…I pretty much solely fish the area of the lake around Garrison (East end) the entire summer…way less boat traffic, especially that time of year. But I do know the Indian Hills area and if you stay there, you do not need to go all the way up to Van Hook to find fish…plenty to be had there.

You will be baffled by the amount of boats that will be at Van hook during that time frame you are there…its insane!!! Fishing is typically insane too…just make sure to bring a heaping load of “patience” with you for when you are at the ramp.

That time of year can be gangbusters in the tailrace…but it can also be very busy if you fish Fri or Sat night….a little less busy during the week. If you want to hit it at the best time…go for an early AM bite (like dump the boat in at 4am and head straight up the shoot towards the dam). It is safe running from the boat ramp up into the shoot….if you go south of the ramp, things change fast. Take a spotlight with you if its your first time to help you get your bearings at the ramp…once your up in the chute, there is nothing to worry about hitting other than other boats…there is quite a bit of light up that way from the dam.

Take a long handle bait net with you (like a bait net on a 8ft broom handle). It is legal to dip the stunned smelt off of the surface an use them for bait there. Have a 3-way rig tied with a 1/2 or 3/4 sinker on one end (most of the time 3/4oz is best for staying vertical but can depend on releases) and a #2 or #4 plain hook on other. Tie the weight onto the 3-way with very light lb test (4 or 6)…if you snag up, will just lose weight then. I say go early before sun-up because you can get the smelt off the surface up below the dam before the birds can see them and move in for the day.

There are big orange markers on both sides of the chute (rocked area that runs up to dam) that tell you how close you can get to the dam. Pull up to those…put your motor in neutral and let the current start to drift you. Run that 3 way straight down and try to stay vertical…if you feel bottom, reel up and stay a foot or 2 off bottom. If you dont have smelt, can use crawlers, smelt colored plastics or Rapala F-11s…they all work but the stunned smelt will out fish everything. The drifts will be fast and have always caught most fish in the first 1/2 of the drift….when you get the the end of the rocks, can fire the motor back up and run up and repeat. You can fish jigheads too…1/2 to 1 oz….just have to figure out the drift based on the release at the time…it will change while your there too. Like was previously stated…DO NOT Anchor in the chute…bad idea. Saw a boat do this one time and when the rope tightened up, they had problems….not to mention the other boats drifting past them at mach 5.

Fun part about that time of year is you do not know what you have when you set the hook. Lots of catfish but also have a legit shot at some monsters. Walleyes can be hit and miss…when its good, its insane. Best part is, you have the chance at the big Rainbows and Browns… have pulled a 14lb rainbow, 16lb brown and 7lb cutthroat form there and those are not near as big as they get. Plus, can get bonus Salmon, ling, and just about everything else that swims in the system. Its just fun fishing.

If you have to fish evening…just going straight south of the ramp on the sandbar flat and anchoring up in 4 to 7ft and tossing floating cranks in the evening is great too…used to spend my summers driving up there with my waders and fishing there in the evenings. Can fish the evening in the chute too but it will be busy in there if the bite is on…can get a little hectic with all the boat wake…wear your life-vest.

Beyond fun lake to fish….in the summer months. Not winter…too many bad things can happen (even when you are careful)…will never be back to ice fish there…scuba crews are expensive for atv recovery.

Thanks for the info…was able to contact ice castle. Berkon trailers for that year are only in the hydraulic frames….all crank frames are GS trailers. Now not sure what to do.

They are both 2017 units….I was trying to go research on when the ice castles switched stuff up but have not been able to find anything.

yes…that is the one Im talking about (lol..we just call it the captains license because whoever of us brings their boat needs to have the $30 pass…the rest of the fisherman just need the $7.50 pass). Should have referred to it as what it actually is.

Have been doing a Laker trip or 2 out there for the past four years. Have stayed at the Hotel just north of the marina every time….sometimes in the small hotel rooms…sometimes we have rented one of their larger cabins. They have everything you need there (gas/bait/tackle/beer..etc) and it is only 2min from the marina ramp (but like stated…its definitely not 5 star). I did do an October laker trip a few years back and it is such a gamble with the weather and stayed at the cottonwood (rooms were nice…food at the restaurant sucked)…if you hit it right it can be great…we hit it wrong and dealt with 25degree temps and 25mph winds…was a character builder trip. I would say anytime after the 4th of July is good…but I also know people that do well in June and love September too. Later in the summer your go…the deeper you will be fishing. Closer to fall you get…the more they will be grouped up. The highway is a little rough but not terrible between Culbertson and Wolf Point. Just know someone in your group needs to purchase a captains license and you must go through a boat check prior to putting your boat in the lake and save the receipt (we’ve been checked for it). There is a boat check along the highway in Nassau right before you turn south to head towards the dam. Make SURE everything is clean and dry…there are sticklers (had a guy scraping squashed bugs off the side of our boat from the drive out questioning what they were on one trip). Take the time to head out deep and tune in your electronics before you go…as you will not catch much fishing blind. You need to be able to see your jig on your 2D all the way down to 100+ ft. If you are planning to use livescope…need the 34 if you are going to fish deeper that 80ft. July/August tends to have them in 80 – 120ft depending on the year. Last thing…as a warning…if you go out there and get into them, you will be hooked and you can count on making multiple trips back. We have had 40 – 60 fish days and its about the most fun you can have with you pants on!!