This past weekend a few friends and I headed up to Crawfords Camp in Sioux Narrows on Whitefish Bay to try and get in on some lakers. It was a last minute decision consisting of my buddy Chris calling me Thursday saying, “Hey the weather is supposed to be nice this weekend, want to go trout fishing?” I was all in and before you know it we were settled in to camp Friday night.
Chris with the first trout
We met up with Matt Rydberg Saturday Morning, he gave us some spots and areas to try and we were off. Twenty minutes later we were set up on a point with a steep shelf, and Chris is hooked up! After a short battle, the first trout was iced and we were all smiles.
The main areas that we were targeting were points and ledges that had access to deep water, trying to stay in 40-75 FOW. The trout were typically running in 20-40 feet with the occasional screamer that would come shooting up off the bottom.
It’s tough to beat the rush of a lake trout chasing you as fast as you can raise it and hammering the bait 5 feet below the ice. There is something about it that you just don’t see while chasing any other species.
Dawn with nice one
It didn’t take long for all of us to get on the board after that! Bait of choice was definitely white and smelt colored Trigger X Minnows on a 1/4 oz. white VMC Swimbait Jig, with white tubes being a close second. One of the other key factors was to not get hung up on a spot for too long. if we didn’t mark any trout or bait within 20-30 minutes we would keep moving to a new spot. Once we did land in an area that we were seeing a few fish, we would drill a bunch of holes and hop around every 10-15 minutes. Being able to hop around in an area that we knew had trout definitely put more fish above ice for us.
Like many trout anglers know, not letting the bait stop moving was key for getting them to bite. As soon as a mark showed up, it’s a game of keep away to try and get them fired up enough to bite it. If you run out of room, just letting it free fall 30-40 feet would have them chasing it again, with some of them hitting it on the way down.
After a 10 minute battle!
It’s definitely an action packed way to spend your weekend, not to mention the wildlife and the scenery is a sight to see on their own. Within the first hour of being there we had already seen a few otters as well as a wolf running across the bay!
By the end of the weekend we had iced a pile of trout and I even scored my personal best while ice fishing. The guys at Crawfords Camp were definitely to thank as I had never fished Whitefish Bay in the winter and they pointed us in the right direction. It was a great weekend with friends and awesome weather to boot!
Great tips on getting them to close Pat. It’s been awhile for me in terms of Lakers. Thanks for refueling the fire!
Joel
Nice job Pat and great read… That last trout is a flat out BEAST! A friend of mine has been talking about getting me up to Crawford’s with for a while now and it just hasn’t worked out, but I guarantee I’m going to find a way to make after reading this! Add one more to the fishing trip bucket list!!
Will
Thanks guys! I think another trip is in my near future!
Awesome fish! Nothing beats NW Ontario Lakers in January when you get some decent weather. Power fishing can really put some numbers on the ice.
Nice fish! Lakers are definitely my favorite through the ice, and the scenery is always beautiful in the islands of Canada!
Nice one Pat – Lakers are so much fun, would be nice to do a destination trip in the Winter. We hit them in the Summer in Ontario
It really is a fun destination to go to in the winter as well. I love ripping around in the islands up there on snowmobile. Plus its a lot easier on lower units!
Jim Chyba I think its a tie for me between Lake Trout and tip up fishing for Pike. Tough to beat the power of a trout with a head of steam!
I am in the process of planning a trip right now for early March. We have been talking to Matt at Crawfords, great guy, goes the extra mile to help make sure we are all set for the trip!
He was very instrumental to our success up there as well!