low..nov 10 and 11

[curt quesnell]

one of the things about fall fishing lake of <BR>the woods is sometimes you just cant bring<BR>enough minnows along to last the day.<P>i got the biggest 2 scoops of minnows i have<BR>ever seen at log cabin bait saturday morning.<BR>and at 2:30 we made a trip in to randalls<BR>resort for more.<P>saturday <P>pulled out into 19 feet of water<BR>at the morris point gap. this was the first<BR>area that we could see baitfish or fish on<BR>the depth finder. we dropped anchor.<P>it seems the big schools<BR>of baitfish have disappeared, the clouds<BR>on the electronics are only a fraction of<BR>what they used to be. but the fish are <BR>still there and still hungry. the only time<BR>we left the spot was to get more bait.<P>the weather was much nicer than you would<BR>dare ask for in mid november and the fish<BR>started biting very soon after the jigs<BR>and shiner minnows went to work.<P>the fishing was great...you could take all<BR>of my other storys about the morris point <BR>gap and reprint them here. so i will tell<BR>you what was different. more burbots, less<BR>5 inch walleyes more 12 and 13 inch <BR>walleyes (we tossed 40 plus back of the<BR>12 and 13 inchers on saturday).<P>sunday morning<P>dead calm, not even a whisper of a breeze. we got started at 7:45 again at the morris point gap. real slow...and very small fish.<P>so we cruised over to lighthouse gap and the<BR>4 boats that were there were catching small<BR>"keeper sized" walleyes and saugers. a couple<BR>were anchored and a couple were letting<BR>the current push them slowly out to the lake. both tactics seemed to produce fish<BR>on a regular basis...the boats fishing there<BR>claimed the river bite had died so they were<BR>trying the gap<P>the wind came up finally and that put an<BR>end to the easy fishin in the gap. the fish<BR>kept biting but the current and wind were <BR>working against each other and we left to<BR>work the morris point gap in the wind. it<BR>improved. <P>i hope that when you come to fish the rainy<BR>river and dont hit it right you will remember<BR>this series of reports on fall fishing in<BR>the lake. it is so very consistant and <BR>almost too easy. it works equally well<BR>in a mild wind or a big wind (once you get<BR>the anchor in, turn your back to the wind<BR>and fish). the anchor is vital, get one that<BR>will hold in the wind.<P>if the wind changes the bite will slow down<BR>for a while, if it goes to calm it will also<BR>slow it down. most days it wont do either.<P>we didnt ever get a huge whopper walleye this<BR>fall, but we did release two fish real close to 6 pounds. <P>the positives are many, the negatives are<BR>few....great fishing continues till freeze<BR>up on lake of the woods.<P>good luck where ever you fish<P>curt quesnell<P><BR>