Morson Fishing

[eyeballs]

How has the fishing been up in the Morson area for walleye and northern? Anyone been up there?

[Eastwind]

Just got back from Morson Monday, May 28th. We fished walleye all day Saturday and Sunday. Picked up a lot of eyes Saturday and a fair amount Sunday.The average size was better than the previous three years. Saturday was cloudy with some wind and Sunday was sunny with a moderate east winds at first and then winds that were light and varying from NE E and SE. Saw someone catch and release a 14# + northern picked up while jigging eyes. Good weekend for the most part.

[puckey]

How about the crappies, has any one been trying them, and where, comming up on the 8th if anyone has a report I sure could use one.<P>Thanks

[puckey]

thanks eyeballs, the kids will love to hear that, I enjoy watching them as much as getting out on the lake, I've also been directed to thompson creek, do you know anything about that area?

[eyeballs]

Puckey,<BR>Thompson is up in the the north end of Miles Bay. Early in the year like now can be good, but also crowded at times. There is an island called Smokehouse, that I like to walleye fish that is just a little SE of Thompson. If your coming from Any of the Morson resorts you will pass it. If the crappies aren't hitting try the NE and NW side of the island for walleye. I'm Leaving the cities on Thursday to up their for a month or more, maybe I'll run into you. <BR>Good Fishing!!!

[eyeballs]

Oh Yeh, <BR>I was wondering how much the price of mixed gas is up their right now? Eastwind, where do you usually hit crappies this time of year? In early to mid June I can usually catch a mess right of of the docks at the resorts, but they they tend to move out in the begining of July. The NE side of Obobikan is fantastic in the fall if you ever get up there that time of year.

[eyeballs]

My apoligies, I ment to direct my qeustions and comment to Puckey.

[Eastwind]

Eyeballs and Puckey,<P>If you want to catch some nice crappies stop at Red Lake on the way up or back. Put in at the access north of Waskish. There are groups fishing several sopts including a couple hundred yards north of where you get on the lake. Otherwise I did hear of crappies being caught in 20' at the northh end of Miles. I did not buy any mixed gas but the price for straight gas worked out to be just over $2.00 per gallon at buena Vista. Good luck. <P>

[puckey]

eyes & eastwind<P>This March we were up on the north end of Miles Bay, somewhat close to Thompson, I think, but we were fishing in 32' of water not very close to any points or rocks, on mud bottom, and caught all the crappies we wanted. Is it like that in the spring too, or is spring fishing different.<P><BR>Puckey

[eyeballs]

Eastwind and Puckeye<BR>You've sparked my curiousity about spring crappie fishing in miles. What are some spring tactics you use and what should I look for in structure and shoreline? That bay you are talking about eastwind, is it the one with the old boathouse on the NE side of the bay? On certain days You can clean up on the northerns there. I've just never tried spring crapie from the boat, and now I think I'll give it a shot.

[puckey]

Eyeballs & Eastwind<P>In March we were about 1/4 mile due south of Thompson, west of the closest island south of Thompson, good time, it was cold fishing outside all day. Can non-resd. set up portable houses out, because i know next year I'm going to bring mine. We also went into Arrow Lake to try for walleye, awsome country, but no fish.<P>Puckey

[Eastwind]

I don't have any experience fishing crappies in the spring out of Morson. But I am curious if the spot you were on in March was in the northeast corner of Miles. It is kind of a bay that has a narrows at the back end of it that leads in to a smaller shallower bay. If so, that spot is also a good October spot for crappies. Off of the south tip of Hay Island is also a good October and ice fishing spot that may produce in spring.

[Eastwind]

I don't remember a boathouse. If you mean that the boathouse is in the bay through the narrows, I've never gone far in to that bay. I looked on my map for the location of the spot I described yesterday and it is east of the top of Smokehouse Island. In the Fall everyone drifts and jigs in the deep water all though the outer bay and off of the point on the North end of the bay. You will usually graph clouds of crappies if they are around.

[Eastwind]

Puckey,<P>A non-resident can set up a portable and does not need a license for the shelter either. At least that was the law when I fished Nestor Falls for crappies in January of 2000.

[puckey]

Eastwind & eyeballs,<P>I'm headden up to Miles bay tomorrow after work, be home around the 13th I'll fill you in when I get back, this is with the guys this time, I hope they want to try the crappies to.

[puckey]

East Wind & Eyeballs,<P>Wow, Fishing was great, the weather perfect, we were bobber fishing in Canada, yep that's right, bobber fishing for walleyes, jigging was slow, so we tried bobbers, they were down all the time. Fish from 26" to good eaters. Fished alot on the West side of Smokehouse Island.<P>Puckey

[jester]

Each year I fish the Morson area of Lake of the Woods for about a week in the summer. I will be back again, late next month.<P>We usually fish the larger basin just northwest of Sabaskong Bay. There are several rock humps out there that give up big walleyes. We also fish Sabaskong and Miles Bay, if the main lake isn't going. That was the case two years ago. After fishing a couple of days in the main lake (with little success), we went back into Sabaskong and found a nice spot that had big walleyes (several 27"-28"ers).<P>Anyway, I would greatly appreciate any reports on the Walleye fishing in the Morson area.

[Eastwind]

Jester,<P>We also get to Morson in July each year. Two years ago we were there around the fourth for a week and, as you stated, the fish were not active on the off-shore rock humps. This was probably due to lots of unstable weather prior to and during our time there. Last year we went during the third week of July and did very well on numbers of walleyes with a good mix of size. Most were caught on the many rock humps/reefs west and southwest of Brule island. we also went down to the Three Sisters ( long fun ride)and through Painted Rock channel without much luck. On both of those days, though we had little or no wind which is what most likely caused the slow fishing. As I recall, Miles Bay was not producing a lot of walleyes as they had moved in to a summer pattern. Have you had luck in Miles Bay during the times that the eyes are also out on the reefs? It would be good to have alternatives to big water on very wndy days. I hope this info helps.

[jester]

Eastwind,<P>You are absolutely correct. Two years ago those fish just were not on those mid-lake humps. It surprised us because we had decent weather and good wind, and we had caught fish on these same spots several years in a row. What we noticed, about our second day out there, was that there were a lot of little, dead nymphs floating on the surface. Going back into Sabaskong Bay we did not see the floating insects so we decided to fish there. It was like turning on a lightswitch. Almost instantly, we started catching bigger and more fish. My Dad caught the big fish for the week (28.5") within minutes of dropping line out there. We spent the remaining days in that same area and caught fish all week!<P>Re: spots we have fished in Miles Bay. There is a little sunken island at the North end of the mouth of the channel between Miles and Comegan island where we caught a TON of fish, mostly small though. There is a point coming off of the south of (I believe) Horseshoe Island, which extends quite a ways into the lake. Again, we caught a bunch of fish there, but mostly small. Also there is a little sliver of a sunken island right in the middle of Miles Bay. It comes up very fast out of deep water and is quite small and seems to have a little bit better fish....<P>I'm sorry, I don't have a Lake of the Woods map available to me, where is Brule Island, Three Sisters and the Painted Rock channel?<p>[This message has been edited by jester (edited 06-20-2001).]

[Eastwind]

Brule Island is just west of the end of 621 that brings you in to Morson. It is only seperated by the mainland by 100 yards or so. The Three Sisters is 20 miles out of Morson to the southwest through Basil Channel almost back in to the U.S. Painted Rock Channel goes over the north side of Painted Island west northwest of Morson to the northwest of bouy AS12. Keep in mind that neither the trip to Three Sisters or through Painted Rock Channel got us much fish. Three Sisters is supposed to be a good spot and Painted Rock Channel has some ancient cliff art halfway through it that was fun to check out.

[puckey]

Jester & Eastwind,<P>Left Morson this morning at 8:00, fishing was just o.k. We spent most of our time fishing Smokehouse, and Horseshoe, Quite a few boats at Smokehouse though. I did notice that the mayfly hatch is starting around Rabbit Point. The Gulls were sitting on the water plucking them up as they came to the surface. 1 question, do schools of minnows swim down 10 to 15 feet below the surface in 20 feet of water, or do they just stay at the surface.<P><BR>Puckey

[jester]

Eastwind-<P>Thanks for the info. I will definately make a point of it to check out the cliff art there in the Painted Rock Channel, this year. <P>It sounds like we may be fishing some of the same spots. The area of the lake where I do most of my fishing is contained within a triangle, having Brule Island, Pork Point, and the SE corner of Painted Rock island as the three corners.<P>Puckey-<P>Sounds like the bug hatch slowed your fishing down, as it did mine before. Did you try bobber fishing on the west end of Smokehouse Island again? Did you use crawlers or leeches?<P>I don't know the answer to your question about the depth of minnows. I have been surprised before by having schools of minnows right up underneath the boat in fairly deep water However, I can't really say where the minnows spend most of their time....

[puckey]

Jester,<P>I've been away for a while, was at a weding, I can't beleve that people would get married in June. I think the 2 best months for that is April, and late Augest. Answer to where we were fishing is yes the West side of Smokehouse. hedden back up on Friday, well see how Fishing is this time. The water is the highest I ever seen it and I've been going up there for 36 years.<P><BR>Puckey