2020 Crane Lake - Lake Kabetogama-Namakan Lake Fishing Reports

[dillon]

What is the Kingpin site like? I have relatives staying in a cabin at Crane in the end of May, so we decided to camp in Sandpoint  this spring instead of Kabetogama. We booked Kingpin for May 26-29th.

[imhatz]

The countdown is on...heading to Sand Point on June 10 for 5 days...staying at King Pin site. Any reports on current water temps ? 

thanks

 

mark

[Handsonthepole]

On 5/17/2016 at 10:41 AM, imhatz said:

The countdown is on...heading to Sand Point on June 10 for 5 days...staying at King Pin site. Any reports on current water temps ? 

thanks

 

mark

Surface temp on Kab is around 52-56.  Fishing is slow but picking up with the warmer weather.   Have heard similar situation down on Namakan but nothing from Sand Point yet.   Fishing up on the Rainy side of Kettle has been good. 

[jramsber]

I am heading up to Kabetogama over Memorial Day weekend. I have never been on that lake before so would greatly appreciate any input on depth, presentations, locations, etc. We are hoping to target walleye and smallmouth.  I will post a report after we get back. Thanks!  Can't wait to get up there!

[Satchmo]

Fished for a few days over the holiday weekend. Fishing was tough to say the least. Multiple fronts moving thru has definitely slowed things down. Had to do a lot of running and gunning to try to pick off fish in a one here, one there sort of deal. No consistent depths, as we caught fish from 10-40 feet. We need some warmer, more stable weather to come along. I marked many large schools of fish without takers. Best is yet to come.

[Neutz68]

Satchmo, 

 We had the same luck on Kab..Jigging shiners and rainbows in 8 - 35 feet and just one or two here then have to move... Still have a few buddies up there and still the same luck..  As soon as the weather breaks and they have a steady weather pattern for a few days in a row i believe they will start snapping. 

[Satchmo]

Sneaking back up to Kab from the 11th to the 14th. Hoping warmer weather & more stable weather makes the fish a little more predictable. We'll see.

[imhatz]

The countdown is on...heading to Sand Point on June 10 for 5 days...staying at King Pin site.

Good luck to you satchmo

 

 

mark

Edited June 5, 2016 by imhatz
answer

[Satchmo]

Thanks imhatz. Good luck to you too. Should pick up soon. We may even get the shallow new weed growth bite going soon. Always fun catching them shallow, even though it doesn't last long.

[imhatz]

Satchmo: we are at King Pin on Sandpoint and will lurking around Swansons bay and hit Browns bay and Staeges. We are catch and release guys...we kkeep the small Northern Pike to eat..crappies would be a bonus

 

Mark

[Satchmo]

Fishing on Kab is starting to turn guys. Most consistent walleye pattern right now is Lindy rigging leeches & crawlers in 22 to 28 feet on the rock/sand or sand/mud bottom transitions. Fishing should be good until the first big mayfly hatch hits. Sauger and perch are moving out deeper. Get 'em while they're hot.

[gus004]

Any new fishing reports from Kab?  Coming up 7-2 for the week and have not seen much for updates.  Have the mayflies hatched yet?  Thanks in advance for any updates.

[Satchmo]

Gus,

The mayflies started hatching last week on the west end and I'm sure that has progressed east. Fishing was picking up then, but haven't heard much since. Heading up Sat the 2nd myself for a 9 day stint on Kab,

[NELS-BELLS]

We got back from a 4 day trip to East Namakan on Sunday.  Fishing for Smallmouth was good.  We caught fish on flukes, wacky rigged senkos, and topwaters.  The two biggest went 19".  We only fished walleyes a few times and had the best luck with spinner rigs and nightcrawlers in about 25' - 30'...nothing bigger than 15". 

The weather was good on Thurs and Friday, but had storms on Saturday and wind on Sunday.  The bugs weren't too bad and only saw a few mayflies.

Nels

[Xplorer]

What kind of water temps were you seeing on the main lake?  Heading up to the east end in a week for 5 days with the family, hoping the mayflies dont go nuts but seems very possible.

[NELS-BELLS]

19 hours ago, Xplorer said:

What kind of water temps were you seeing on the main lake?  Heading up to the east end in a week for 5 days with the family, hoping the mayflies dont go nuts but seems very possible.

70 - 72 degrees surface temps in most areas of East Namakan

Edited June 30, 2016 by NELS-BELLS

[Topwater Scott]

My son and I are heading to Namakan on Monday  for a week of fishing camping.  We are wondering if leaches are better than nightcrawlers or vice versa?  I am thinking we will some of each but I wanted to be ready for anything.  Weather is looking great and we are excited for our first trip to Voyagers!  

[Xplorer]

TS,

  This time of year both will be equally effective (or not).    

When we hit a spot I always start with a leech and my wife or son starts with a crawler.  We let the fish tell us which they prefer, but I have to admit that I have to be getting out-fished pretty bad to leave the leech.  For me its a confidence thing.  My wife always prefers to rig a 2 hook crawler (or half crawler frequently).

 

Have both, sometimes one spot is a leech bite when the next is a crawler bite.  For a 5 day camping trip I usually take a half pound of large leeches and 5 dozen crawlers.  This is for a family trip, not a hard core fishing trip.

Good luck, we'll be up on Wednesday for 5 days on the east end of Nam, cannot wait  

[NELS-BELLS]

Crawlers out-fished leeches on our trip.  1/2 crawler on a 2 hook gold or chartreuse spinner rig seemed to be the ticket.  Vertical jigging with a crawler also worked but not as good.  A friend was up a week before us and leeches where best for him.

Nels

[gus004]

Just returned from a week on Kab.  Weather was great and fairly stable for the week outside of one storm.  Fishing on the other hand was the worst we have experienced in the 6 years we have gone.  Most notably was the absence of any larger walleyes.  Largest one was 21".  Mayfly hatch seems to be over which probably had a lot to do with our lack of success.  Marked lots of fish deep off the reefs and shoreline structure, but nothing would make them bite.  All of the fish we caught early in the week were spitting up bug larvae.  We did average about 2 keepers a day/ per boat, which was above average for the resort we were at.  Heard that there was a decent bite going on shallow on the west end, but it was too late to get that dialed in on the last day.  Good year class of fish in the 8-11" range which we have usually not seen, so should be good for the next couple years.  Leeches out fished crawlers for us by a large margin.  Pulled 6' rig with a leech (best), spinners with crawler or leech and even some cranks.  Water temps ranged from 66 to 72 degrees.  Every morning the temps were in the 66-67 degree range.  Kids did not even want to go in the water for very long, good for me as it meant more time fishing and less time pulling tubers and skiers.

[Deerstalker]

I'm heading up to Kab the week after Labor Day. My wife and I are renting a houseboat from Ebel's. We've done the whole houseboat thing before and had a blast last time fishing and cruising on Namakan.

Just wondering if there've been any recent fishing reports or if anyone out there has any tips for fishing Kabetogoma come September.

Thanks in advance!

[imhatz]

Heading to Crane Sand Point july 17-21....what is the water like this year. was nice level last year. thanks mark

[Satchmo]

Water level is a little higher than normal, but not outrageous.

[Satchmo]

Been a decent year on Kab, but the variable weather has fishing in an unpredictable pattern too. Much like last year, saugers have made up a big chunk of the catch, but walleyes are coming around. LOTS of small 9"-11" 'eyes around mixed with some 15"-16" 'eyes and sauger. Some folks are still picking up some of the jumbo perch too. Little pike are everywhere and quite the nuisance.

[Handsonthepole]

Lots of mayflies now.  Larvae were coming up two weeks ago and now good amounts of sheds on the water.  Fishing has been great for those willing to move around and find active fish.  Start looking to first reefs off islands and shorelines as fish are starting to move to them.  30ft for us was good. Leeches.  2-3ft snell.  Plain hook.  Caught quite a few yesterday.  Good size range.  Kabetogama

[Satchmo]

Heading up Sat. for the whole week of the 4th. Looks like weather is going to improve as well. Should be a great week.

Edited June 29, 2017 by Satchmo

[ifishwalleye]

I fished Kab on Monday. Lots of mayflies floating. We caught 5 eyes and kept 3. I was marking lots of fish I 22'. I pulled spinners with crawlers and rigged with leeches. It was a beautiful day on the water but with the lack of wind, it was a tuff bite. 

[imhatz]

Hello Guys....what does it look like for ice out in May on Crane/Sand Point lake....any predictions / appreciate the help thanks

 

[fishin4sum]

Still 36"+ of snow covered ice.  Unless we get a real nice warm up probably not until 4-5 weeks from now.  Which is about week after opener.

[imhatz]

Thanks we are heading up May 17...should be good I hope !