Our family just returned from our annual Lake of the Woods trip to Meads Spruce Island resort (www.spruceislandcamp.com). We have been going to Meads in mid June now for 3 years and each visit continues to impress us with the hospitality from the resort staff and owners Harv and Janna Sadlovsky. We arrived in the rain on Tuesday morning and the staff had carts down on the dock waiting there for us to carry all of our gear up to the cabin right way for us.
Thanks again for making another memorable trip for us everyone!
On to the fishing report….When we arrived on Tuesday, it was just wrapping up a 12 day straight rainstorm that brought the lake levels up 10 inches in short order and lake temps dropping 9 degrees in a matter of a couple days. With water temps in the high 60’s prior to the rainstorm, we were worried that the female smallies have all dropped their eggs and moved off the beds leaving the males to protect the nests. After a couple hours of trying to get the mood, location and depths figured out, we found that the females that were ready to spawn have slid out a bit into deeper water waiting for more stable weather the complete their cycle. With the next 5 days forecasting nothing but sun and high 70’s degree weather and light winds, we were all excited on what that could bring.
Slowly but surely the weather had a positive effect on the smallmouth and brought the females up shallow again. Catching them was another story…however. The simple fast horizontal moving baits would not have any impact on them at all and left us with nothing more than to pick each one of them out from their respective rock. What worked best? Jimmy D’s small 1/16th ounce black River bugs did the trick once again when nothing else in the boat will work. Finding rocks that were about 2 feet in diameter in 3-5 feet of water proved to be the best areas for us. Each rock had to be painfully worked with up to as many as 5 casts to the same rock before she would commit to hitting the jig.
Several times through the day, we found smallies that were aggressively feeding the surface and could not beg borrow or steal a fish out of the school. Having my brother Scott (an avid bass tournament angler) in the boat with me, we both scratched our heads trying to find a combination that could trick them into hitting….to no avail on this particular situation. On to the next spot was all we could do.
Late in the week, I experienced a good bite turning into shape involving weedless BFT super-doo heads coupled with 3-1/2” YUM Vibra King tubes. Swimming these tubes over shallow boulder infested areas got the nod as we would pull as many as 15 females out of an area as big as about 30 foot long and an hour later. When the bite was on, we had some days that were 70 fish days, while other days averaged 30-40 fish.
All in all, we did not see quite the numbers and big fish as previous trips, but that I feel had a lot to do with what stage the female smallmouth bass were in when we got there. Last year we hit it right on the head. Had a great time as usual and look forward to next year!
Hre is my brother Scott with another nice 19″+ fish!
Here is another nice fish that fell victim to the BFT Super-Doo and YUM tube combo!!
Here is ahot of me and my best buddy Bailey that made the trip with me. Needless to say, 15 hours in the boat each day was plenty tiring, plus throwing in a pile of potty/swimming breaks. She was exhausted to say the least!
As usual great report, Steve.
Where do you guys boat in from and about how much time does it take?
Nice Smallies, I’ve been up to Spruce a few times over the last couple years and I’m always amazed at the service.
Nice people and great fishing.
fish any time,
Thanks!
We launch at Gills Marina in Morson, Ontario (about 45 minutes across the border in Baudette). From there we load up the boats with Food, clothes, and all other gear and boat 24 miles by boat to Mead’s Island. Most all of the way is through the numerous islands that offer wind protection if heavy winds are present. There is two small 1 mile long open sections where a south winds may cause a little slower travel. It took us about 40 minutes or so to get out.
Steve,
You are a gifted angler my friend.
Ryan Hale
excellent catch steve
Steve those smallies make mine look small
Great report and pic’s 
Hello Steve,
Sounds like you earned those brown fish! Paula and I are headed to Rainy on Saturday for 8 days of smallie fishing. Can’t wait! Let’s try again for a trip on the river this summer.
Regards,
Wayne
Steve it’s time for come backs
Those look like fun fish to catch! Good thing you had a good guide named Bailey in the boat to show you where to fish!
Looking forward to our trip in a few weeks!
Sorry for the delay Jeff! I have been out of town for work recently. I think I found the fine art of making a 12 inch smallie look like a 19″ fish!!
Jk
You had some brutes in your last report. Those fish sure are fun!
Even though the bite wasa little off compared to years past, I still get excited on every cast for those fish. Looking forward to August and September this year big time!
One bite that came showed promise towards the end of out trip last week was using small suspending jerk bait. Cast them out and snap-twitch and pause. The pauses were anywhere from 5 seconds to 20 seconds to pull the fish out.
That was a fun bite that I honestly have not capitalized on enough. Looking forward to trying that over the coming months on the river!
My goto bait for that application has been the discontinued Lucky Craft Bevy Shad 60SP’s in Ghost Minnow. What do you use for a small suspending jerk bait Steve?
My limited experience with these for bass has only opened the doors to small Super Rogue juniors and #10 Husky’s.
Are they as “Lucky” as they sound?
Clown was our best pattern overall in the sunnny parts of the day. I’ll have to givet he lucky’s a try!
Honestly Steve, I have yet to find a jerkbait that performs at the same level as a lucky craft, the difference seems to be in how they suspend, dont get me wrong, I have a ton of HJ’s, but they fall to fast for my liking on the pause. The LC’s I’ve found to suspend almost perfectly in nature. If you we ever meet up on the upper miss this fall I will toss you an extra one to have. Just don’t lose it to a Northern, it’s mighty painful to lose a good bait to such a worthless fish
JUST KIDDING TO ALL OF YOU TOOTHER CRITTER LOVERS
I love those toothy critters. Right next to my green beans and mashed potatoes.
Golden brown with some tartar sauce. 
Throw in some toe jam and you got yourself a meal fit for a king!!
I ordered two Lucky Crafts, gold and black, for Rainy. Smalljaws loved them for about 30 minutes. Paula got bit off first and I groused about her losing a $15 bait. Two minutes later, bing! mine’s gone. Too expensive for my blood!
Regards,
Wayne
So Steve, heading up to ‘the Lake’ (NW Angle) in mid July for 10 days. Any chance the smallies will be around that late?
Sorry, I’m kinda new to this way of fishing smallies as I have not done it for years and it was always trolling rapalas and casting mepps back then (on the North Shore/Gunflint & Arrowhead trails area mostly). So, can I get a little more info on the types of jigs/baits you’re using? Can I get them at Cappras in SLP or at Gander Mtn?
One other quick question. Do you know if there is any cell phone service up in the NW Angle? I’m in the IT business and that’s a long time to be out of touch w/my clients.
BTW, nice fish – do you credit your guide (dog)? My wife and I were up at Vermilion last weekend and she brought in a 17incher – she’s the fisher(person) in the family! But, not nearly the quantity you’re touting.
Thanks for your time.
Dan,
By July 10th, you should still have some good smallie fishing. One area that we have done well in the “Angle Area” has been the north rim of Monument Bay. Look for the basket ball sized boulders and even some reeds mixed in and you should be able to score. The speed of the presentations may be a little quicker than when I was fishing for them due to water temps and that the smallies should be in the summer groove! Casting crankbaits would be a great way to cover water for the active fish and then slow down in the better areas and throw tubes with an exposed hook.
THe jigs we used up on Lake of the woods was mainly Jimmy D’s “Standard River Bug” in the black color. And the other main producer was a BFishNTackle.com Super Doo jig head in the 1/16th-1/8th oz rigged with a Yum Vibra King tube. Black and punkinseed are real good colors in the tubes. Simply insert the jig head up in the tube and poke the jig eye through the plastic and tie your line on or just thread the tube on your jig head if you have a barbed collar to keep the plastic up on the jig. Both of these will work for the less active fish. I would also shift my attention just a bit deeper in the 4-6 foot of water if things are slow real shallow.
As for cell phone coverage…I don’t think there is much coverage. ITs been awhile since I been over in that area, so my memory could be fading a bit.
One more thing, by the time of your visit on July 10th, the walleyes should be prime on the off shore reefs. Look for reefs that top out around 6 foot and deeper with deeper water nearby and you should be in good shape to score some big walleyes. There are some real good reefs that have produced for us years ago about 6 miles east of “The angle”.
Good luck fishing!
and let us hear all about it when you return!
Great report Bud! Sure missed you at the Hunter’s Tournament on Mille Lacs!
Hope to see you soon!
Tuck
Same here Tuck! My plane flight from LA came in late Thursday night, otherwise we were going to try our hand at it as well. Next time…We’ll hook up soon right?
