2020 Crane Lake - Lake Kabetogama-Namakan Lake Fishing Reports

[thedeadsea]

On east namakan we got the eyes in 16-22 FOW on chartruese with any type of minnow last week. Been cold since then so fish probably haven't moved much more shallow.

Steve

[FisH_SLaYer24]

Thanks! Any idea of what the water temp. was when you were fishing?

[thedeadsea]

Mid 50's.

Steve

[Fish Slayer]

Mid to upper 50's when I was there a couple weeks ago!

[jonny_redhorse]

I was camped out in Sand Point from last Saturday through Wednesday.....water was COLD.....Temps jumped from 53 defrees to 60 degrees and everything in between.....warmer on the sandbars and that's where we got the majority of walleyes in any numbers.....we caught eyes in 4'-8' of water from 7:00 in the evening till dark.....and record cold expected again tonight.....one cold spring for sure!

[Rick]

Cool weather and Spring-like conditions keep anglers guessing. Today's water temperature, June 7, is 54 degrees on the surface.

Fishing remains good with temperatures and winds being the biggest challenge. The next hurdle anglers face when fishing walleyes is finding some nice keepers that aren't too big. It's a nice problem to have, but small fish are hard to find in the cool waters.

Anglers report catching keeper walleyes in depths of 18 - 35'. The smaller fish are yet to settle in at a predictable level.

Jig and minnow has still been the old reliable presentation; however, leeches are coming on strong and seeing some action.

The west end of Kab still has unbelievable big walleye action in shallow water, under 8'.

Basic structure for anglers now are reef edges and drop-offs from sand bars and shoreline points.

Northern pike still elusive, only a few in the 30 - 40' range being reported. Action should heat up soon for this fish when the water warms.

Crappie action is spotty, nice sunny days seen to benefit the anglers for this fish when you find them off the shorelines in shallow.

Smallmouth bass being caught occasionally again; they are visiting the rip-rap shorelines and seem most plentiful on warmer days.

Keep Spring fishing in mind for your location choices and hopefully sometime soon Summer will drop by for a visit.

Ellen & Phil Hart

[beester15]

Anyone have anything to report so far this week?

I leave sunday night for the Frontier resort and can't wait!

Thanks,

[Four Ball]

Beester15 -

Just returned yesterday from five days, stayed along the Ash River as well. I was up in the middle of May as well, and the fishing was about this same this past week. Tuesday and Wednesday, though, were our best two days of the season so far. Produced a lot of fish in 20-28 FOW, primarily with jig and minnow. Another boat in our group had a respectable showing using lindys with leeches on an orange hook.

If you get good, consistent weather (seems hard to come by this year) you should be in good shape to catch some fish!

[beester15]

Are the shallow weed beds starting to pop up?

[Bearfan1963]

I too, with my family, are heading up. Leaving tonight after my shift for not one but two beautiful weeks in heaven. Any last minute update on fishing would be greatly appreciated as far as color and depths and reports in general on Kab/Nam. Thanks in advance

[beester15]

Hey Bearfan! Maybe we will see each other on the lake! Good luck fishing.

Mike

[Bearfan1963]

Beester, I'll be in a Blue/White Sylvan Pro Select. Good luck to you too. Where you traveling from in Illinois. I'll have my laptop, so I'll try to post how its going.

[Xplorer]

I'll be heading up on Wednesday night after my sons baseball game, but camping out on the islands. We'll be in a green lund/honda, fishing from mid kab to western/mid Nam.

Looks like some warmer but still a bit unstable weather for next week, but I'd be looking in the 8-13' range early and late, and deep in between for eye's and saugers. I cant see the bass being real shallow yet, but maybe off the first break. I've always done well casting #5/7 shad raps along shorelines this time of year, driving them deep away from shore.

Good luck to both of you, enjoy the day (and always play the wind!!!!)

[overdalimit]

Bearsfan1963 where you staying? You can try me on channel 12.

ODL.

[beester15]

I will be traveling from Chicago. Nice long drive...

I don't own a boat, so we will be renting from the frontier resort. if you see a boat with 2 guys in it not knowing what they are doing, that will probably be me and my friend! LOL.

I just hope to catch fish, whatever is bighting is fine by me. Oh and hope the weather will be nice too!

Mike

[CRITTER]

Going up on Sunday for a week. Any Bear reports in the area?

[beester15]

O.K. leaving in about 22 hours... I can't wait! Ne line on the reals hooks sharpened. rain gear packed...Ready to go! I will post pics when I get back.

Mike.

[guts]

What a weekend--one might believe Summer is here! Friday, a fast-paced storm blew through leaving behind a gorgeous, second to none, sun-filled, warm weekend.

Now we can say, come and get 'em. It appears as though jig and minnow is now giving way to slip-sinker rigs with bait of your choice.

Leeches are finally maybe taking over top billing for the anglers' bait choice. I expect crawlers to start seeing service time before the week's over.

Typical depth for walleyes is the 18 - 28' range going shallower as the evening hours set in.

Some big walleyes are still being caught in shallow waters amongst new emergent weeds.

Northern pike are starting in to the shallow water probably chasing perch. The pike bit should increase daily as will the smallmouth action.

Crappie action should be now as lilacs are finally blooming. This indicates to me crappies will move into the shallows for a short time.

For crappies try shallow bays generally outside the weeds--small jig and minnow or slip-bobber plain hook.

Pike anglers start trolling weed lines or over the tops of submerged weeds--generally in soft-bottom bays.

Walleyes--think spinner rigs--weave in a and out of structured depths found mostly on shorelines then settle in on your most active depth. Depth choice will vary greatly as waters warm quickly.

Smallmouth anglers--expect lots of action on rock pile edges and shorelines. Time to use crayfish lures and colors.

Better stock up on sun lotion and bug spray before you head out.

Have a great week!

Ellen & Phil Hart

[vman59]

planning a trip to Kabetogama next June and looking for advice on a nice camp ground. Would prefer one you can beach your boat at.

[CRAZYEYES]

Just got back from from my cabin after being there since May 22th. Memorial weekend was the best fishing that i remember having on kab. 4 of us caught an unbeliveable amount of fish that weekend and the weather that saturday and sunday was the best i can remember as well for that weekend. But up until this friday it has been pretty chilly for June. I have not been fishing as much as i would like lately but fishing is still pretty decent. The fish have swithched to leeches though big time in the last few days and spinners seem to be the way to go. I tried a few different combos and small silver one's seem to be the way to go. we did the best for keepers this weekend in anywhere from 18 to 35 ft depending what spot we were at. I've talked to a few people and i hear that the bigger ones are still in shallow from 8 to 15. The fishing on Rainy is not to bad either. Was up there at kettle on thursday and we did pretty well on the reefs out there and still found a few right in the channel. Heading back on thursday afternoon!

[KabNam]

Have been fishing Kabetogama and Namakan since Saturday and the mid-June bite is as tough as I have seen in 30+ years of fishing the waters. Lots of fish can be marked on electronics but finding biters is a challenge. Minnows, leeches, and crawlers have all had lots of attention in my boat, each one has produced at times and been completely dead at others.

11-13 inch fish have made up a majority of the catch with a 15-22 inch fish occaisonally. Have worked all depths from 6-40 feet with 18-28 being best. Main lake surface water temp. is 67 degrees and the bays are 70+ degrees. Many anglers are sharing the frustration and just waiting for the bite to go bonkers here any day soon. Curious if anyone else has any recent reports/advice to share????

[IAGoFish]

Don't get discouraged! The worst day of fishing beats the best day of work!

I am coming up next week, so any info you can continue to share will be appreciated

[CRAZYEYES]

I have'nt been out since Sunday as i am back in the city's for a few days but fishing has slowed down since the first week of June. I talked to my uncle who works for vnp and he said that there is a lot of mayfly larvae in the water and the big hatch is coming soon. It's amazing what a week will do though because last week the main lake temp was 57 and our bay was barely cracking 60 so things have really warmed up with the nice weekend. The last few times that i have been out leeches were the ticket though and easily outfishing minnows. The keepers are out deeper and there are a lot of small fish to sort through when you get on them and an ocasional 20 incher. Most of my keepers came from 25 ft+. The nice thing is there have been a lot of decent saugers mixed in so getting 6 fish to send all my pals home with keeps them happy. I have ended up keeping a few that were real small that the bladders came up through their mouths. If they go belly up the gulls and pelicans will find them pretty fast and i dont need to be feeding them. I have tried a little crappie fishing and other than a couple on the north side of long slough I never really hit them. As far as walleye fishing goes now I probobly would not expect anything spectacular on kab until the mayflies are done hatching which last year was the 5th or 6th of july. I would fish namakan during the hatch. Last year fishing was much better there the weekend of the 4th during the hatch.I just hope that fishing on the deep reefs will be as good as last year in july.

[THEDOGG]

Maybe they are getting some reports of more fish being cought either way I'll be heading up Saturday for a week long family fishing trip and we will give it our best shot

[KabNam]

Main lake surface water temp. is 66 degrees today and bays are 71 degrees. Bite is picking up better every day SLOWLY! Marked fish are finally starting to hit. 13-23 inchers more common in the catch. Any where over the mud you can mark bug hatches and fish following. Minnows have given way to leeches and nightcrawlers in my boat. Lots of smallmouth bass in the shallows for some additional fun if interested.

[THEDOGG]

Are the pike hitten yet? and are any crappies feeding that you have come across ?

[KabNam]

On the warm sunny afternoons you could see the crappies in the shallow bays; I suppose claiming their spawning grounds. Vegetation is minimal yet in the bays so we caught more pike on the shallow rocks. 20-36" pike are biting pretty good on those sunny afternoons!

[KabNam]

Anyone else see the Ebel's houseboat that was stuck on the rocks between the Kab-Nam narrows Thursday early evening? There were 5 boats hooked up to it trying to budge the big thing off that south shallow point near the green buoy marker. Things were a little hectic there with that approaching lightning storm that eventually hit the area.

[guts]

Kabetogama-Namakan:

A beautiful week of summer weather is taking its toll on anglers this past week. Sweatshirts have given way to shorts and tank tops. Sun lotion and bug repellent have become a necessity as does lively bait.

Those people lucky enough to be on the water are reporting that the walleyes are moving to deeper water. Depths of 22 - 30' seem to be a good common denominator.

Leeches and crawlers used with slip-sinkers and bottom bouncers plus a spinner on the snell are producing catches with the most consistency.

Anglers will be competing with mayflies as they are emerging from the soft bottoms as I write.

Artificial baits can come into play at anytime--keep them near the bottom for best success.

Smallmouth action is heating up. They will respond to live bait or artificials as they are spending their time in the shallows.

Northern pike have emerged from their hiding places of late. There are many reports of pike action in shallow depths out to 12 - 15'. Lures running or jerked at a 8 - 12' range could do well.

No one’s talking about crappies--maybe that's because they are probably biting since the water warmed up. Look for crappie action in shallow water--soft bottom bays near weed edges.

Enjoy the summer! Protect yourself from bright sun and skeeters and come and catch fish in beautiful Voyageurs National Park.

Have a great week!

Ellen & Phil Hart

[overdalimit]

I was up for the weekend and did well in 27 to 31 f.o.w. trolling "mud flats" slowly with a spinner and a minnow. Limited out on keepers and tossing back lots of little fish. Good luck to all!

ODL