Manitoulin Island--Lake Manitou, Lakers-Fish Porn

My buddy Phil and I went to Lake Manitou for May 11-14 to fish for lakers.

Normally a group of 8 of us go the last weekend of April/1st weekend of May each year, but last year and again this year, the trip was cancelled as the ice was not out.
Phil and I decide to go alone at the later date.

On the Monday it rained heavily and Phil managed to get a 4 lb laker on a Rapala in 15ft or water. We usually catch the fish shallow this time of year.
On the Monday we ran out to deeper water (50ft) and marked large schools of Smelt, but no fish around them. I figured the Smelt were going to come to shore on the Monday night to spawn.

Tuesday morning we each picked up a laker on Rapalas, once again in 15ft of water. Phil had another at 4 lbs and mine was 5 lbs. By late morning it was blowing a gale and there was no way we could get out to fish. It blew hard the rest of the day and all night and really turned the lake over.

On Wednesday, it was around 9:30 before the wind subsided enough that we could get out. We couldn't find fish anywhere, deep or shallow and we used spoons and plugs. We couldn't find the Smelt schools either.

When we left to come home early Thursday, the lake was like a mill pond , but I have no idea if there were fish around.

The pic attached shows the fish and I'm the one with the LSO hat.

SDC

NIce job Ralph....when u hitting simcoe?

Hi Greg

Not sure when I'm hitting Simcoe.

The only days I'm free to fish next week are Tuesday and Friday.
Right now, the wind forecast is for high winds on both days.

I'll have to wait and see what develops.

What are your plans?

Ralph

Pm sent Ralph

Good report. Appreciate reading it. Especially the challenges of the weather and it's influence. What size boat do you use for that? For fishing the shallows - how do you rig?

Thanks

Nice to see you made it up there again this year!! Damn weather!!

Its gods land up there I have 2 camps on a island on the north channel by haystack harbour. I'm here lol right now.

Be up there on Wednesday, Lake Wolsey, Twilight Isle, 14 guys, 22nd annual. I feel a sore liver already! LOL.

We were at Mountainview Resort and were using one of their boats. It was a 16ft Lund, Naden with a 15hp motor. Open boat-no top, so Monday was a challenge--thank goodness for good rainsuits.

We just flat line--long leads with Rapalas and medium weight spoons. It can be a challenge trolling there, as the bottom is very irregular/rocky bottom and you can be in 20fow one minute and in 10fow or less the next. Hang ups are not uncommon, but you usually get it free when you go back to the place you have hung up on the rocks.

I have been going up there for 10 years now and we always fish shallow as we are there usually a week after ice out and the fish can be in as little of 3fow. Trolling slowly in 10fow and casting towards shore to the shallows. The lakers are often in that shallow to feed on crayfish. The fish we caught this year had smelts or crayfish in them.

When we went 4 years ago, that was the year of the mild Winter and the ice had been out for a month when we went. We started tolling as usual in the shallows, but no fish.

We moved out to 50fow and the fish were there, close to bottom. It was calm, so we started drifting and jigging. I was using a Mr. Champ with a salted minnow and Phil was using a Bad Boyz. Did we ever have fun!! If a fish came on the screen, one of us was going to get it. We must have caught and released at least 20 lakers that day, in the 3 to 6 lb range.

Already looking forward to next year.

SDC