Sag Report

[tkettel]

I am heading to Sag this friday on my annual trip with the guys, anyone have any good walleye news to report? I have heard things are slow, but hawgs are being brought in on occasion?

Thanks,

[gunflint]

I've heard that they're biting but they're still shallow.

[vermilionwally]

I just got back from sag today, me and my dad fished with steve from seagull creek fishing camp. We got 5 walleyes among many smallies and a big (38 inch) Pike. All the walleyes were caught on a slip bobber and a leech. The smallest walleye was 24" and the biggest we got was 28". All were released.

[JBMasterAngler]

I was talking to a guy while I was up there that was nailing them trolling in 9 to 11 ft of water. Lot's of smallies, pike, and lakers mixed in too.

[tkettel]

Vermillion Wally, how did you like going out with the Seagull guys? I have met them on the lake, chatted via e-mail, and at the landing but never fished with them. I have hinted hard to my wife about an awesome present she could get me next b-day, fathers day etc, I think it would be fun to see how they attack Sag. The most interesting part to me is they do it all during daytime hours. They don't go past 5 right?

Anyway, I would love to hear how your experience was.

[vermilionwally]

Well i cant compare it to the other guides because that was the first time i have ever fished with a guide but it was great!! Steve was a real nice guy and also managed to put us on some fish. We had better fishing in the middle of the day then the rest of the day. I would say it was about 11:30 or quarter to 12 before we had the first walleye in the boat. From talking with our guide he said that they dont catch many small walleyes at all and that the average walleye they catch is over 20" long. It seems like they prefer to use live bait rigs. He also told me that they catch a lot of smallmouth while going after the walleyes. I guess they dont catch that many walleyes each day out either, we caught 5 and he his group only got one the day before us but it was a 32"er and the other group out only got 2 walleye. He worked really hard to put us on fish and make sure we had a good time. I would guess on average they probably get 3-4 walleyes per day each group, but maybe it was just slow this last week so i could be wrong. It seemed like we started fishing the same area as the other guides but werent having any luck so we all scattered in different directions. They also have a camp hawg board which you get your name on it you catch a walleye 28" or longer. I didnt make it on there but my dad did. The guide also did a great job coaching us through fighting the fish and everything and was a nice guy in our casual conversation. All in all it was a great fishing trip and well worth the money. Im hoping to get up there again sometime later this year, if not next year for sure. It was also a great price on the guide, 275$ per day thats fishing from 7:30 am- sometime around 5 pm. If theres anything else you want to know about fishing with them let me know

[tkettel]

I have been going up to the BWCA for years, my trip friday will be the 20th. For the first 15 or so we fished Basswood out of Ely, it involved 2 portgages of our motor boats and such. As we were getting older, we decided to try other lakes, and Sag was out first adventure. The very first thing we noticed about Sag was the size of the walleyes we caught, nice eaters. In Basswood, we caught alot of what we called cigars, barely keepable but sometimes needed for the sunday night fish fry. Anyway, with this group of 9, we have always had plenty of fish to eat from Sag, and we have gotten into them where we have very nice stringers. I think what the guides are doing that is different than us is intentionally fishing for quality over quanity. Not that I am not looking for the hawgs, but I think they have their fingers right on the pulse of Sag and know exactly where to look for the big ones. I fished a deeper water reef 2 years ago and we could not catch a eater to save our lives, but we released a 32'29' and 28' in one afternoon. Also, a highly productive time for us is the evening bite, and I believe the guided boats are already done cleaning the fish and the beer drinking is in full force by sunset.

Anyway, I appreciate your feedback and will continue to hint to my wife about an excellent idea I have for next fathers day!

[vermilionwally]

Yeah they didnt seem to care much about catching any eater eyes they just want the big hawgs. The guide told me that they also do guided trips into northern light lake in ontario and that they catch a lot of eaters out of there. Good luck convincing your wife

[tkettel]

Wally, we out being too specific, are you just anchoring off of shore and pitching bobbers into the right depth? I have worked several spots in Red Rock doing just that but we have never caught a hawg. Did manage to catch a nice laker last year in about 15', but that was dragging a Lindy while moving to the next anchor spot. We seem to be able to locate the eaters, but I wonder what tactic I am missing to find the hawgs. It is funny that all you did was bobber fish, one of my fishing buddies heading up with me friday swears we are wasting out time with the bobbers!

[vermilionwally]

At first he brought us to a spot almost right on the shore and i was about to remind him that we wanted to fish for walleyes, but he said they had been catching the walleyes right in there lindy rigging but all we caught was around 10 smallies doing that. Without being to specific i can say we were fishing with bobbers near the edge of some reefs off of islands and 1 spot right up near shore in 7 feet of water. I think we were fishing from 12-20' by the reefs but i wasnt sure. I know he said we were in 21' of water at the first spot. We were also using colored hooks. I would start with the bobbers if i were you unless you wanna mess of smallies . I think too many people including myself overlook how effective the slip bobber presentation can be, just my two cents. . I would try to be a little more helpful with spots but that was my first time on sag so i really dont know where we were. We were fishing either close to shore or close to an island at all the spots never more than 50 yards from and island or the shore. Hope this helps

[analyzer]

How bad did the fire char the landscape around sag, especially in the corridor? Is it completely fried to a crisp?

[vermilionwally]

Quote:

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How bad did the fire char the landscape around sag, especially in the corridor? Is it completely fried to a crisp?

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No, it wasnt as bad as i expected it to be, although some areas around the lake are burned. There was an area of the corridor that burned though.

[tkettel]

Well as promised here is the Sag fishing report from this past weekend. Slooooooooooow! Our group of 9 caught 6 eyes total over 2 ½ days of fishing, 4 eaters and a 26 ½ and a 27”. A lot of smallies were boated and released with one going 4.5 lbs. What we think was happening was a transition from the bays to the reefs as we caught most of the eyes anywhere from 12-20 on reefs, with the finder showing many more down there. We also caught one at 11:40 at night in 4’ on a main lake reef. All reports we got were about the same as ours and we noticed an unusual high amount of night time fishing, which I believe indicated very slow day fishing. As for the burned area we were all very surprised, as it looked a lot better than we had anticipated. We stopped by many of the resorts and heard their stories first hand which was very interesting. Anyway, a bad day on Sag is still a good day in my book.