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2020 Crane Lake Kabetogama-Namakan Fishing Reports - Click Here. Great info below. Newer reports are on pages that follow. Post your Crane Lake Kabetogama - Namakan fishing reports here!!

Wondering if any of you ever fish the inland lakes throughout Voyageurs and if so which ones? I have fished the Locator chain, Ek and Net lakes. My favorite of those three is definitely Locator. Seems to have a lot of northern and I also caught a good sized largemouth. Had a rough day on Ek. Was fishing with light tackle because I’ve been told it’s a good crappie lake and was broken off once otherwise nothing. One small pike on Net. This is a picture of the bass from Locator.

Hey guys. I’m new to this site. I’ll be visiting the park early June. While I have made several trips up there I’ll be bringing a friend who never has. He is a very experienced angler, but has yet to catch a walleye. A lot of his experience comes from using down riggers on Lake Michigan. He was asking about using them on a vacation this year and I had no answer for him. I can’t recall ever seeing anyone using that method in Voyageurs. Does anyone have a thought on this? I’d appreciate any advice. Want my buddy to have a great trip! Tight lines! Fully Kraeusened

Good opening weekend...great weather for opener and more boats than normal I would say. Fishing was good, not great. I'm sure others have differing opinions, but for us we found larger walleyes in 6-12 feet when pitching jigs. You had to put up with the large number of small northern that must have been hungry! Most of our walleyes came by way of a jig and minnow, in 30-35 ft of water...most of these 9-13" and went back, but every 4-5 fish was keepable and a fair number of sauger's were in the mix. Problem was you could catch 3-5 fish in a spot and then you needed to move. So, lots of boats running all day Saturday. Saturday night/evening the bite improved and keeper fish were coming from 22-28' of water, again with a jig and minnow for us. Sunday sunny and beautiful day to be on the water! Similar patterns with the evening bite producing most of our keepers that day. As far as scenery, you simply can't beat this area. Kabetogama, Namakan, Ash River, and Crane lake is truly beautiful and the fishing is just bonus. Listening to other fisherman, it seems the slot is frustrating some people...again lots of small fish (future fish) and many 20-22" walleyes but not many trophy's and eaters were tough to find. All and all, great opener again on Kabetogama, hope everyone else had fun and a safe opening weekend. Happy to talk fishing on Kabetogama, enjoy the season... Kab Kid http://www.kabkid.com

I realize that walleye is kind up there, but was hoping there were some smallie fishermen here on the board that could give me some advice on the fall smallmouth fishing on Namakan, Sand Point and Crane. I've been coming up there for many years to fish for smallies in the springtime but have never tried it there in the Fall. Was thinking that I may try my hand at some fall smallmouth up there while they're trying to fatten up for the winter. Right now I am planning on coming up at the end of September. I'm hoping to find the fish in less than 20 feet of water. Jigs, tubes, jerkbaits and topwater is what I'm hoping they will be biting on. I know water temperature plays a huge role in the fish moving back shallow to feed so I'm hoping my timing is right. Do you folks think it's worth the trouble around that time. I really don't feel like hauling my boat 1,100 miles (I live in Kentucky) if I'm gonna be fishing the dead sea. Would Rainy Lake be a better choice? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Hello staying on Namakan later this week for first time with my wife a two boys. Any fishing tips would be helpful. Thanks

Wind set the pace for anglers this past week. Some thought it was too much of a good thing. Windblown shorelines were good to anglers that could manage boat control and stay in the 10-15’ depth. Baitfish get directed into those shorelines which usually leads to good fishing. If the wind dies down at anytime, or the following day, concentrate your efforts accordingly for great results. A suggested method of fishing while the winds are blowing, is troll artificial lures at depths between 12-16’, or use lead line and troll deeper waters. All fish species relate well to this, and boat control isn’t as critical. The walleye bite remains very scattered, reports of anglers catching fish on all baits, shallow and deep, the only common denominator is, only a few fish from each location. It’s safe to say walleyes aren’t schooled up as would be expected. Live bait rigs, a slip sinker or bottom bouncer, with a 3’-5’ snell, plain hook or spinner and beads using a crawler or leech is the preferred methods these days. Pike taking artificial crank baits by casting or trolling deep weed edges is attracting pike of all sizes. Casting stick baits, spoons or buck tails up to weed edges or clearing is working well for pike and smallies. No favored areas of the lake to fish with them being so scattered, however best reports coming from say Sugarbush Island down to the Ash River entrance into Kab. Some deeper water success on Namakan using jig and minnow in the 30’ plus depth range. Biting flies still a nuisance as are evening mosquitoes - be prepared. I might add, lots of UV rays so lotion up and enjoy your time in Beautiful Voyageurs National Park. BINGO continues on Kabetogama at the New Community Hall on Tuesday and Thursday Nights at 8:00pm. Great Time for Planning a Trip, See you Soon, Crabby Phil & Ellen Hart

Any idea on when it might happen this year?? TIA

Just wondering if anyone is seeing any blueberries yet? We're headed up to Namakan on Thur. 7/9 and we'll be looking. Are the best areas the sunny slopes of shorelines? Thanks for any help. I'll post what we find.