Ely - Babbitt Fishing Reports - Lake Conditions Too.

[Mike Stark]

thanks for the offer foss. im pretty busy next week but if i get a day off we should hit up bside.

[Wanderer]

Steve,

If you need an extra rod down Sunday or Monday morning, let me know.

[Steve Foss]

No prob, Mike. Tracy, shoot me an e-mail with your sked, or call. I'm thinking it's likely. A week away from Burtnside and I get itchy.

[Wanderer]

The itch is just the Spiny Water Fleas drying up from being out of the lake too long. I'll get hold of you one way or another.

Thanks

[Steve Foss]

Scratched the itch today.

Simply a gorgeous day to be on the water. Cold this morning at 36 degrees at 8 a.m., but it warmed up nicely, the sun was out all day, and the wind never went above 5 mph.

All morning, no fish. Wanderer got one about 1.5 lbs just before 1 p.m. on a bronze/black/hammered Stinger spoon over 90 FOW, fishing about 70 feet down. Fish hit after he popped the release and the lure rode up in the water column. That's a hint, BTW. Whenever I want to change lures or motor to a new trolling run, I pop the release and put the rod back in the holder while cranking up the ball. Doesn't happen even half the time, but often enough a fish pursues that lure up and hits it. I've probably put a dozen fish in the boat that way this summer, and in fact I often wait until I see a fish suspended below my rigger ball before I take advantage of the tactic.

The fish were NOT in a happy mood today. We marked many, many fish, some of which came up to check out the downrigger balls, but it was hard to get them to go.

After I dropped Wanderer off and went back out by myself after 1 p.m., I put about five feet of line and then sets of cowbells on the other three downriggers, spreading them from 55 to 60 feet deep to mimic a school of baitfish, and put a reversed orange Doctor spoon about 15 feet behind the ball 60 feet down. This yielded a 4 lber, but that was all.

Headed in about 4 so I had time to pray over the tackle and gear to ready for tomorrow's guide trip.

Both fish were stocked. Surface temps were 63 to 65 today, nearly 10 degrees cooler than my last trip out last week. And with more cool weather to come, I expect they'll drop a bit more in the next few days.

Saw probably six boats out there working for lakers, one that spent most of the day vertical jigging, the rest trollers. Didn't see anyone use their net all day, though.

[Mike Stark]

not a bad day with negative/neutral fish.

[Steve Foss]

not a bad day with negative/neutral fish.

Yes, my thought as well.

A further note on the attractors. By running three sets of cowbells, each about five feet behind the balls and within 5-10 feet of each other in depth, I think it goes a fair distance toward imitating a loose school of baitfish (smelt in Burntside's case). And by running the actual lure about 15-20 feet behind the ball, it looks like there's a wobbly wounded baitfish that's outside and away from the school, which is easy pickings.

Not that such a tactic is sure fire. I used it for about three hours that way and ran over a lot of suspended marks, and only one laker hit. And I of course don't know the laker was attracted to the attractor spread. Could have been it just had a Jones for the back-door Doctor.

But it's another arrow in the quiver, and on a slow day you can run out of arrows pretty fast.

[Northlander]

Ya Steve that popping the line and putting the rod back in the holder is always a good thing to do. I get a few fish every year doing that. I will even pump the rod as the lure rises. Got me a nice brown the other day.

[Great Outdoors]

Burntside surface temp as of 4 PM, 66 surface, 65 degrees all the way down to about 27-30 feet.

Thermocline is at 37-39 feet.

[Wanderer]

It was good just to be out there. Thanks again, Steve.

I left to go back and spend time with the family, as our oldest daughter doesn't get up to Ely much anymore since she moved out. We went back to fishing at Shags with limited success.

The walleye bite that was going on Friday and Saturday was dead on Sunday from what we saw. The smallies and pike were even tough on Sunday. The group of friends we hung out with at Espland's resort did get enough fish on Friday and Saturday to have their Labor Day fish fry. Some of them had smallmouth for the first time, enjoying it as much as the walleyes.

Ely was a good place to be for the weekend.

[Steve Foss]

And this morning, day after Labor Day, it's like someone pulled the plug on Ely and all the people drained out until next spring.

[Mike Stark]

made it out to b-side for a few hours today. got one little pounder. stocked fish. 50ft down over 100fow. little cleo clown pattern. foss thanks for the tip about putting the rod back in the holder after you clear the line from the downrigger, it worked! the fish was on when i started reeling in my line after cranking the ball up. most fish i marked were 50-60ft down over 80-100fow.

[Steve Foss]

Glad to hear it helped put another fish in the boat, Mike. Another stocker, eh?

You know, I'm starting to wonder about things a bit. The last few winters the large majority of fish I and those with me have caught did not have a clipped fin, but the last couple of summers, the opposite is true.

Tis a puzzlement.

[Steve Foss]

Quite a busy day on the lake today. We had 9 fish hooked, and landed 4, with three rods in the boat.

Nothing big, with 3 from 1 to 3 lbs (all stocked) and one freshly stocked dink. Two of the fish that got off were very heavy. Why is it always the big ones that get unhooked?

The couple had a great time (we met when I photographed their wedding a couple weeks back), even though it was heavy winds and bouncy going all day long. They are longtime anglers, and were definitely up for some lakers.

For my money, the late summer doldrums on Bside are officially over.

Surface temps at 60 degrees all day. Before today, for the last month or so I hadn't marked any fish shallower than 50 feet down. Today we saw several at about 35 feet. My guess is the thermocline is almost finished dissolving, and all depths will be fair game before long.

All our fish came over 75 to 120 FOW. While we had several different spoons (all the usual suspects) out all day, for about the last 5 hours I put on a lure I've never trolled with before. It caught three of the four lakers. Sometimes thinking out of the box pays off.

Here's the happy couple.

[Mike Stark]

nice work foss. good day on burntside. you going to share what those lures were????

[Steve Foss]

you going to share what those lures were????

Nope. Fella's gotta keep some secrets now and then.

[Mike Stark]

dang. now you got me thinking.

[Steve Foss]

dang. now you got me thinking.

Don't pull a muscle, buddy!

You know I'm just joshing ya, Mike! Heck, in a weak moment, if plied with beverages, I might just cough up the goods in private. That lure is likely something you've already got in your tackle box but have never trolled.

[tonyp]

Quote: That lure is likely something you've already got in your tackle box but have never trolled........

Thought about this for a minute... My guess? "Bass Trap"... White or green rubber skirt!

[Great Outdoors]

Water temps on Burntside as of 4 pm today about 60.7 degrees surface, a steady 60 degrees down to 37 FOW, thermocline at about 42 feet.

[ben h]

anyone fishing for walley? heading up in a second week of oct so lakers closed wondering how the eyes do at that time of year

[Steve Foss]

Ben, 'eyes are good then. Think 10-20 foot main lake structure. Think big minnows like red-tail chubs or light pike suckers.

Today's Bside report goes like this: Two fish hooked, one landed. Landed a 32 incher with a nice girth. Figured it for 10-11. The one that got off after about 10 seconds was heavy as well. Very spotty fishing indeed. Only one line today as I was by myself and was experimenting with lures I've never used before.

The 32-incher came on a chrome/blue Rattlin' Rap trolled 1.4 mph 80 feet down over 120 FOW. The one that got off came on a white/red Lazy Ike trolled 1.2 mph 60 feet down over 100 FOW.

No telling how the day might have gone if I'd just stuck with the usual spoons and faster speeds. Maybe I'd have been skunked, or maybe put 8 fish in the boat. Just no way to tell. I like to spend those solo days testing new locations/gear/lures. A guy never knows enough!

Saw two other laker boats all day, and fished within sight of one for most of the day. Never saw a net come out.

High was upper 50s, with mix of sun/clouds and light wind inclining toward calm for most of the day. Sharpish breeze sprang up about 5 p.m. and lasted until 7 or so. Surface temps were 58 all day. Another week and the whole water column will be there for the lakers.

Once again, I did see high flyers up around 35-40 feet, but only over water 75 feet or deeper. No suspended marks at all in water shallower than that. Curious if I'll start seeing fish moving over shallower water as September wanes.

From here on out, she'll be a barnburner!

[Steve Foss]

Fished all morning with one 5 lber to show. Stocked fish. Today I started seeing fish in 50-60 FOW for the first time since late July, so they are starting to use mid-range depths now. Also, over deeper water, saw quite a few high flyers suspended about 35 feet down.

Surface temps were 57. Gonna be another windy and cool one tomorrow, so no doubt those upper reaches will continue to churn and cool.

It was a gorgeous day, with light winds and perfectly calm periods. Had one fish slam my Sonar hard while I was vertical jigging a series of deepwater humps, but I set the hook into nothing at all.

Spent the afternoon with the Monster Map, the gps and the ink pen, boating around and locking in new spots for the coming winter. Winter and summer, summer and winter. They feed each other pretty well.

[Steve Foss]

Today's half-day trip with two clients yielded two lakers, one about 1.5, the other about 2.75. Had a third fish on for a few seconds but it shook loose. Both were stocked fish. Surface temps of 54-55, cloudy in morning changing to bright sun, very light winds inclining to calm.

Both fish came deep, and both came on a chrome/gold hammered Sutton spoon. Not sure which number, but one of the longer, thinner ones.

Two other laker boats on the water.

Another simply gorgeous day to be on the water. I was not overly optimistic, since it was one of those bluebird days right after a big weather front came through yesterday, but it's the fish that are in charge, after all.

[Mike Stark]

i was also out on bside for the afternoon. landed one small guy..around 2lbs. had a nicer one on for about 5 seconds then he shook the hook. fish were deep around the humps. silver coyote spoon..smaller size.

[Bandit155]

Hi Steve and Mike,

We were out there from about noon to 6:30 on Saturday too. Had a few tripped lines but nothing hooked. Beautiful day. Decided to enjoy the colors and graph and mark some spots for hardwater fishing since there wasn't much of a bite. I think I saw Steve if you have a white I/O ?? I saw your truck at the landing anyway.

Glenn,Viv,Bandit & Meeko

[Steve Foss]

Hey Bandit, thanks for the report. No white I/O for me, so it was someone else.

[Mike Stark]

fished for most of the day today. went 3 for 3. 70-90fow. 50ft down. little cleos. two came off a purple/yellow/silver and the other was charteuse/orange/silver. beautiful day on the water. 2 days left.

[Steve Foss]

Dang, Mike. Almost the same deal here. We went 2 for 3 from 9 a.m. to about 5:30 p.m. I only had one all day until my wife stepped into the boat about 4 p.m. so we could add a line. Had two after that, with one getting off via a netting error.

All three were stocked. And all three came on a 50-foot Jet Diver trolled far behind the boat. Did have two releases and a bump on the downrigger when using it, but never felt the weight of a fish. The last two fish came on the Jet Diver while the second line was on the downrigger.

Biggest laker was 5.5, with a pair of 3s. All three were very healthy with no wounds/blemishes. Most of the fish we've gotten since mid summer were pretty beat up. Today, one came on a large Finn spoon, the other two on large long gold/chrome Suttons. Looks like both large and small worked well. One of them is on the broiler even as we speak, waiting to feed hungry Fosses.

How fast were you trolling the Cleos? I know they roll over at much slower speeds than most spoons. I was at 2.2 to 2.8 as usual. Also over deep water for me. Marked a ton of fish up the North Arm this morning but couldn't get any of those to go.

Lisa and I then spent over an hour cruising the islands and coves and bays that get little attention during summer. Gorgeous scenery, amazing fall color, and not a few spots graphed for the coming winter.

[Mike Stark]

i was trolling 1.9-2.2 with the cleos. i didnt see anything on the graph in less than 80fow until after 4ish. then the smelt showed up and the lakers followed. marked a lot of other fish mainly in 80-90fow closer to the shorlines i tried some bigger spoons with no luck. i changed to a cleo and within 5 min i had my first fish. foss i could have sworn there was someone in your boat this morning...must of have been seeing things