Lake Wabana Fishing Reports

[JBMasterAngler]

We might be renting a cabin on the wabana chain in august. I've never fished there before. Which would be the better bass/panfish lake between wabana and trout? Speaking of which, any chance of getting any lakers that time of year?

[Raider4ever]

JBMA,

Which lake are you staying on and when in Aug? I will be staying at the M.L. Resort on Arrowhead Road (not sure about the rule on posting whole resort names) on Wabana 8/1-8.

I've been up on Wabana that time of the year a couple of times for day trips before we got the cabin and the Bass fishing has been great early and late in the day unless it was cloudy/choppy as the lake is quite clear. They were both shallow and deep. Bluegills seem above avg. in size but Crappies can be hard to find. Wallie was a tough find too. We got one or two fishing deeper humps or some of the steeper drop offs when it was overcast and windy.

Can't Help you with Lakers, but I know they are in Bluewater and access is easy through Wakeman Bay.

Hope it helps.

[bmc]

The whole chain is loaded w/ bass and panfish. Best bet for lakers that time of year would be downrigging on Bluewater, easier to downrig there because of less structure compared to Big Trout. You could also do some vertical jigging if you graph some fish deep. Very scenic area, my family does a trip 3-4 trips up there in the summer.

Brian

[Iambjm]

Just be careful if you haven't been on it before, there are some shallow rock covered spots that will definitely do a job on your motor.

[bmc]

Great point lambjm!!! I had a case of head up @$$ syndrome last August on Wabana and banged up the prop and skeg on my boat. A good way to get an idea of SOME of the shallow structure on a lake is go to mapquest and type in the name of a city near where you're going to fish. Get the map orientated to the lake you're going to, then go to the upper right corner of the map and click on aerial view. It will show quite a bit of structure, depending on the lake you're looking at.

Brian

[FishNovice101]

Just be careful if you haven't been on it before, there are some shallow rock covered spots that will definitely do a job on your motor.

Yes - and if you are out at night take a bright light with you. Even the GPS can be off if you are following the trail back to the landing.

[JBMasterAngler]

Thanks for all the info. I'll be up 1 week after you raider, and I honestly don't know which resort, but it's on wabana (my wife is doing all the research for that). I need to get them to hurry and book something though because most other areas we've looked into were already booked up. Sounds like a fun chain to fish...I don't care much for walleyes, but I might give the nightfishing a try. Is it a good mix of smallies and largemouths, or does one outnumber the other significantly?

[dhuth]

It all depends on where you are fishing for the bass. The traditional spots for each respective fish will be holding each (rocks vs weeds). Keep your eyes open for a gray and black Alumacraft with a 75 Mariner on it. Thats me, feel free to stop by. My girlfriends parents have a cabin on the lake and we're up there quite a bit. It is a real nice lake but the fishing can be tricky at times due to the clear water, bring your snorkel! I love the walleyes but usually end up chasing smallies during the day.

[Raider4ever]

My girlfriends parents have a cabin on the lake and we're up there quite a bit.

She wouldn't be my girlfriend for long. I would of had her at the altar back in March. DO NOT let her get away. Cabins up there are a premium since so much of the land up there is National Forest. If she's an only child, be REAL nice to the future In-Laws. This may sound selfish and not the "right" reason to get married but hey, a Wabana cabin is a Wabana Cabin.

P.S. I don't care if you're 12. Marry her.

JBMA,

Oh yeah, I forgot about the rocks. They are more prevalent along the eastern portion of the lake from around the boat landing to up past Arrowhead Point. Though there are others scattered throughout the lake. I did the Mapquest thing a couple of years ago and it is nice. They shot it on a clear day and it shows most of the Lower Unit eaters. I have read on some other posts that they believe the map chips for Wabana were a little off. Those guys were none too happy about it either. Your best bet to avoid Crunch 'N Munch if you launch off the east shore landing and are heading north is to watch out for the rocks a little southeast of the island, then go through the channel on the west side of the big island and keep that line north.

Dhuth hit it on the head: Smallies on the rocks and bars, Largies everywhere else. Be real careful if you come up on some bulrushes that taper off onto rocks (there are a buch of those areas so I'm not giving anyone's "Secret Spot" away). That lake has some monster Northerns in it and those seems to be the areas I either luck out and land 'em or I get to see 'em flash and cut the line. My best was a 38" 14.5 pounder. Lots of 10's too.

[JBMasterAngler]

Unfortunately my brother-in-law has decided to pass on getting a cabin, so instead we're going camping on ten mile lake. Anyway, I think a week long trip to the area is still in order. Probably won't happen until next year, but oh well. Thanks again for all the info.

[Iambjm]

Gee that's too bad, I live just down the road from Wabana. I would have suggested you try Spider too.

[unwound21]

i've been going to the wabana chain for many years and always had great luck catching crappie, but within the last 3-4 years i can't seem to find them anymore. heading up there beginning of june for two weeks and was hoping someone out there could give me some pointers, like water depth, type of bait, etc. any info would be greatly apprieciated. thanks

[nitz6868]

Just joined the conversation. Our group hits Wabana the second week of June. You will catch fish, need to do some scouting though. Being so clear it can be a tough fish. BUT, when we go up, many breeds are in certain stage of spawn. As for the gills and suns, it's see fish, catch fish. If you get frustrated with walleyes, go looking for the smallies. Pound for pound one of the funnest fish to catch! Size wise, you'll find them in the 1-5lb range. If i land the 5lb-er, it's going on my wall!! THere are some good northerns in there too. 4-5 years ago i landed a 15lb northern that made the blue book in minnesota and made it on my wall. Crappie, i.e. "grey ghosts" are some what spotty and illusive. there are consistant pockets we hit every year and usually limit out. Look for the steeper structure drops. They like the lily pads too. White and hot pink has always worked for us.

If i didn't mention, we too stay at M.L.resort, green cabins. John and Mary are the best. She's the real fisher-person. She's the crappie queen, treat her right and she might point you in the right direction. The only reason we have luck is one of the guys we go with, has been going there for two weeks for thirty years. HE's our personal "Guide". Keep an eye on water temps too. I've put out other posts trying to track that. Smallies begin spawn in 63-65 degree temps. The week we go, we usually hit them. I know it's been cool, so if anyone has a report on water temps and trends, much thanks. See you all up there in 10 more get ups!!

Iowa boys....

[nitz6868]

What days are you heading up? We've got a group that is leaving Friday the 5th and should be on the lake by Saturday. Aren't too many resorts, i'll just say we're at M.L. resort. The crappie are tempremental. WE've had luck in the pads. A good pair of polarized glasses and you can spot them. The ol grey ghost is illusive. That time in june with the water temps around 63-66, the crappie are staged out still, starting to come into the shallows. use your radar and look for the drops, they'll be staged out a little deeper, 8-15 foot of water. You'll find a couple up closer grouping up, but when we've hit the schools, it's been deeper. Small white and hot pink has been good for the last five years tips with wax worms or some call bee-moths. I'd love to tell a little more, but because of their craftiness, got to keep our handfull of spots close to the vest. Good luck and may we'll see you on the lake.

Iowa Boys

[Raider4ever]

Gotta love Mary. She takes no BM from anyone.

[Laker Dog]

I saw water temps this past weekend in the 56-58 degree range.

[nitz6868]

Thanks for the water temp update. It'll probably be a little cool when we're there the week of June 8-12. One of the guys in our group stays two weeks. SO the week of June 15-19 may be spot on for smallies. He's always joking how "second" we is so much better. Need a heat wave to really shoot those temps higher. If next week up there in the mid to higher 60's or even lower 70's, it'll be close.

No matter what the temps are, looking forward to the trip. I'll check back for a water temp update for next week.

Nitz

[JBMasterAngler]

Is there any camping available in the immediate area?

[bmc]

JB,

There are some primitive, boat in sites on Wabana, Big Trout, and possibly Bluewater lakes. I'm not sure if any of the resorts in that area offer any type of camping or not though.

There's camping at Government Dam, which is a mile or two west of Grand Rapids on US Hwy 2.

Brian

[Iambjm]

Prairie Lake Campground is only a few miles away, Wa Ga Tha Ka has some camping right on lake Wabana.

[unwound21]

Tyvm for the info ill be up there june 7th or 8th until the 20th. Staying at BB. GL and see you on the lake.

[JBMasterAngler]

Thanks, I'm gonna look into that. I'm all booked up this summer, but there's always next year.

[Denver]

Just got back to Denver after fishing on the Wabana chain of lakes May 31- June 6. This has been our 8th year in a row there and are thinking of trying a new lake in that area next year.We are looking for a lake with better walleye and northern pike action. Any suggestions would be great also if anyone has a resort they like that would also be helpful. Wabana was great as always, we caught all we wanted of bass and pan fish. The walleye bite was tough, the other fisherman at the cabins fished hard for walleye and only had very limited success. We had our best results on Trout and Little Trout, the water was a few degrees warmer there than on Wabana.

[bmc]

The best walleye fishing in Itasca County is on the west side of the county. Winnibigoshish, Round, Sand, Bowstring, and Jessie are all great/good walleye and northern lakes. The northerns run a bit smaller on some of the lakes mentioned.

I hit the Wabana/Trout chain 3-4 times a summer with my family and we have a blast. IMHO it has by far the nicest scenery in the area. Usually picnic/swim and fish panfish or bass during the day and anchor up on some structure on Wabana for the evening bite. We usually end up catching a variety of fish that are in the lake. My wife and daughter's like it because they never know what they're gonna reel up when the bobber/leech combo goes down.

Lakewood Lodge on Sand Lake is a sponsor here and has great multi species opportunities on Sand.

Brian

[Jason Boser]

I second on lakewood they are a good resort on a great lake with access to bowstring, winnie round right next to sand

Jason

MN fishing pros

[Raider4ever]

Heading up to Wabana for a week starting 8/1. Just need reports on the action. Don't need spots or what they are hitting on. Just if anyone has fished it recently, especially for Smallies and Pike.

Thanks

Paul

[Jason Boser]

was there the other day action was decent bass were on the edges of the shoreline but we were catching large mouth. walleye were on the deep points 20 ft or so and we were using jig and minnow

Jason Boser

mn fishing pros guide service

[Raider4ever]

Thanks Jason. Targeting Smallies and Pike but will have to try for Walleye and LMB for the Thursday Fish Fry (a smallie will never see my livewell).

[Raider4ever]

Anybody been up on Wabana lately? Might be "sick" on Monday and thinking about heading up. Looking mostly pike. All my fishing will be C&R anyway.

Thanks.

[JBMasterAngler]

Smallmouth won't be C&R, it is closed completely until saturday the 29th.