camping /fishing advice

[wmn luv me walleye fearme]

going up for my first trip to kap next thursday. We will be going out of Ash river and was planning on camping somewhere between round bear island and Namakan. Just thought I would post and ask for some general advice.

In mid september is Kab or Namakan usually better? How is the fishing in the area's between them that time of year? I've done the boundary waters thing many times but these campsites look pretty built up. Are the bear lockers usually big enough for a cooler too? Will be nice to bring a lot of decent food and beer instead of eating some dried crap. Any general advice on crappies / walleyes? Hoping they've moved off of there summer depths and come in a little but I guess wont know until I try. Any good camp site suggestions or are they all pretty good. Sorry about all the questions, at work and have time to kill so figured i'd give them a shot. As usuall for me on a trip like this we started out with 6 people now just down to 2 or 3 of us.

thanks a lot

[BigStevie]

Hey,

I've been up to Kab/Nam once (back in June with my wife) and I'm heading up this Thursday the 6th out of Ash River with the guys. I can't offer much advice on the fishing as I'm still learning this lake system myself. We did do quite well on Smallies back in June on topwater baits and tubes in and around the rock islands. As far as the camp sites go they are very much like the BWCA. The exception would be that most sites have a picnic table and a bear locker. The bear lockers are pretty good sized and you should be able to fit a couple of standard sized coolers in them. Again, I've only been there once so I haven't had a chance to see all the camp sites. But the ones I did see all seemed to be more than sufficient for a great camping experience.

I hope you have a great trip. We'll have to compare notes when we get back!

Steve

[wmn luv me walleye fearme]

will do, good luck to ya, cant wait for next week

[madfisher]

We will be up that weekend as well. I was up there this past labor day weekend. We did ok not much for smallies but I am not an expert on the areas yet as this is only my 3 time up. The walleye bite was not bad and pike was ok as well. The walleye were small in the shallows. Maybe this weekend the bigger walleye will be a little shallower. The camp sites are nice and the lockers are definately large enough for coolers. good luck we will be camping around namakan by the narrows into sand point.

[wmn luv me walleye fearme]

How'd you do stevie? Looks like its going to be a little chilly so hopefully it brings them in a little shallower this weekend. Good luck fishing madfisher. Is there any closer place to buy bait then orr if I'm going out of the ash river area?

[BigStevie]

Hey,

The fishing was tough. Not much for smallies and the walleyes were hard to find. We had no luck in shallow water (less than 20ft). We had one day of good walleye fishing. Those fish came off of a big, slow tappering point that went out to 65ft. The walleyes seemed to be in 25-45ft. We caught all the fish on jigs with either crawlers or minnows. It rained most of the time as well. But I'd head back in a heartbeat!! What a beautiful place! It was much quiter this trip than it was back in June. June was too busy! And as far as bait goes, there are two more places outside of Orr that I saw. One is right at the turn for 129. The other was a few miles prior to the turn for 129.

Good luck and have a great trip!!

Steve

[guts]

Three miles North of 129, at 122, where the big saddeled walleye sits, is one of the bettter stocked bait and tackle shops. They usually have current fishing info or trends. guts

[SFBOY]

easy to find walleye fear me guy. just listen for the boat cranking Rod Stewart and Michael Bolton CD's out there. Thank goodness for everyone on the lake that it's now too cold to wear the bright yellow banana hammock while fishing.

Good luck up there Clancy.

If they dont bite well there, you know where to start looking south of Kab.

[wmn luv me walleye fearme]

thanks for the baitshop info, surprised to hear you didn't catch to many smallies ( since my walleye fishing usually pretty crappy thats what I was shooting for)Hopefully I can figure out what they're biting on. I;m guessing the michael bolton/ rod stewart guys probably dont do to much camping in 40 degrees ted but you never know.

later

[garyscho]

My wife and I are going to Namakan next week. Only been there once. Last year at the same time. Did not have much luck. I need all the help/ tips I can get?

[BigStevie]

My advice is don't be afraid to fish deep. If you can't find 'em shallow on wind swept points etc, watch your depth finder for arcs out on deep points or sunken islands. Drop a heavy jig with a minnow or crawler on them. Hopefully you'll get a few to go. Thanks what worked for us a week ago...

Good Luck!!

[wmn luv me walleye fearme]

pretty rough fishing for us, caught a couple here and there but the only decent stretch we had was pulling leadcore in 30 feet of water (picked up 6 between 18-23 in a couple hours) outside of that not much working for us. Good campsite but awfully glad there was sand as well as the dock. Water is so low the dock doesnt have a whole lot of purpose at this point

[GotOne]

Guts,,, what time is that bait shop open till Wed. night? Thanks

[overdalimit]

Guts is out of town. I think Gateway Store is open until 8pm Sun -Thurs and until 9 pm Fri and Sat. The number is 218-875-2088 if you need more info. I don't know the hours of Cold Spring Store or the other place (Jim's, I think) on the Ash Trail.

ODL

[GotOne]

Thanks for getting back to me. Were trying to head out before 4:00 tomorrow. Staying on the ash river, going to fish Nanakam mostly. Any tips on depth, structure, rigs, etc. thanks again.

[overdalimit]

Only been on Nam a couple of times this year as I fish Kab mostly now that the price of gas is so high. Maybe Dockboy or Johhny Namakan will see this and chime in. I am a Minnow and silver spinner guy myself and when I go I like to fish around Sheen, Fox, twin alligator, and also mica bay (real good structure there).

[Dock Boy]

Your best bet would be jigs and minnows a few guys are pulling plugs and doing quite well, but the old stand by jig and minnow will work fine. Depth I usually fish pretty deep this time of the year 23-40 look for current areas and deep holes outside of a shallow bay. Virginia and Crane Lake got some pretty good rain fall in the last couple of weeks this water will help the current areas out. Good luck