OK friends......

I am going to camp Quetico again this year, and will be there much much later than I have ever been up to Quetico in the Fall.....

I've always done pretty good, with some fish transitioning to shallower waters to feed, and some fish still out on reefs and in deep water schooled up......Decent numbers have really never been a problem, and decent fish have not either.

My question. While fishing with a guide last year, I was mentioning coming up later, and he stated that the lakes would be turned over, and that the fish really never move shallow once they are out on the reefs in the summer. I definitely believe this is not quite correct, but I wanted to get opinions from folks here, because I've not been up there late September.

1). I'm assuming fish will move shallow early and late.........mostly late, as the water warms up during the day and surface temps get to idea topwater temps :) :) .

2). I"m also assuming they will kind of still be ganged up in areas that are transition space.......I should be able to catch a bunch of "year class" fish with swimbaits, tubes, jugs, whatever.

3). If it does turnover, which I doubt it will happen that soon, but again I don't know. BUT if it is, I'm assuming that will push fish even shallower, because the the comfort zone will be everywhere, and the fish will move to where they can eat effectively.

4). Did I mention I'm pumped......REALLY PUMPED.

5). I'm planning on swimbaits to find fish......some topwater, flukes obviously,, frogs, maybe.......Also slower presentations with finness worms, tubes, smaller jigs, ned rigs, and shakey head......

6). Lake region I'm going to is 4-5 miles north of Pickerel .......In fact, I believe I could portage a canoe from Eva to Pickerel :) :).........Across the Trans Can highway though.

Am I leaving anything out?

Also Also........Since this is a cabin trip, I'm taking my taj mahal Side Imaging helix 7 finder.......OH YEA.

Yea, I'm definitely pumped. :) :)

Any help would be greatly appreciated..........

You fishing for SMB?

AmarilloJim: "You fishing for SMB?"

Yea.........

Sorry I should have said that. :)

I'll catch them shallower at dusk but seem to catch more in the day in the 15-25' range.

Hello Geo, we're heading up to Ely on Thursday the 12th. 8 days up to Iron Curtain Falls area and back. We go this same week most every fall. As noted above we often find the smallmouth bass at 15 to 30 feet deep during the day. There has been some talk about about the Lakes turning over due to cooler than normal fall temperatures. I have been wondering what the current lake temperatures are and if they would be normal for this time of year or lower. Best wishes for your upcoming trip.

drrick: "Hello Geo, we're heading up to Ely on Thursday the 12th. 8 days up to Iron Curtain Falls area and back. We go this same week most every fall. As noted above we often find the smallmouth bass at 15 to 30 feet deep during the day. There has been some talk about about the Lakes turning over due to cooler than normal fall temperatures. I have been wondering what the current lake temperatures are and if they would be normal for this time of year or lower. Best wishes for your upcoming trip."

I found a site that talked about a couple of those lakes last week and they were 65.

Around here, they won't start to turn until 60.........and usually that is more like 58, but obviously we're talking surface temps.

If the surface temps up there sustain more then down here due to cooler nights, I bet it might happen sooner...... :)

Turnover doesn't bother me too much, I fish black water at Dale all the time, but I prefer "cleaner" water :)

Later,

Geo

Not all lakes turn over at the same time if at all and there is always running water.

That's a great time of the year to fish smallies. I've found them scattered in deep water, sometimes relating to humps and sometimes just here and there. I've trolled a crankbait with great success, hooking one every five minutes or so. Good size too. Drifting over flats with live bait was also fruitful.

missmolly: "That's a great time of the year to fish smallies. I've found them scattered in deep water, sometimes relating to humps and sometimes just here and there. I've trolled a crankbait with great success, hooking one every five minutes or so. Good size too. Drifting over flats with live bait was also fruitful. "

Hey thanks.......Nice hearing from ya. I've done a lot of smallie fishin around here that time of year, but not much of it up there.

It is going to be fun either way.

AmarilloJim: "Not all lakes turn over at the same time if at all and there is always running water."

Yea......and even some that I fish down here never turn over due to the flood control nature of the lakes.

Funny about turnover.......On Dale it usually starts late november, and you can literally see where it starts and ends while running the lake. It is quite amazing......

AND if they get a little rain, and the have to dump water via the dam, it will suck all that "turnover" water quickly through the gates.

Chasing Turnover at Dale during that two weeks is a challenge........and amazing to see.

What day are you going? Sent you some info via email....

QueticoMike: "What day are you going? "

We leave Sept 12th - 20th.........

Fishing sept 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19...........I'm DYING......really looking forward to going.

GeoFisher: "

QueticoMike: "What day are you going? "

We leave Sept 12th - 20th.........


Fishing sept 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19...........I'm DYING......really looking forward to going.
"

You'll have a blast. I rented cabins for years when my dad grew too old to portage and paddle. It makes for a fun, comfy trip and having a broad boat and motor makes for easy fishin'.

I've been up there every year for the last 6 years in late September. It's my favorite time. Unless it has been cold (below freezing at night for several nights) the lakes will not have turned over. You should find bass in all of the same places, around structure in relatively shallow water. Lake Trout in 20-40 feet, and Walleyes on bottom structure in 10-15 feet. Pike will be wherever Pike are. We catch them and then we release them.

Best of all, there are very few people!

Geo, We are leaving the 12th also. Should be in Ely by Friday midday. Going in at Nina Moose Sat. AM. Curious where you are entering. Rick

drrick: "Geo, We are leaving the 12th also. Should be in Ely by Friday midday. Going in at Nina Moose Sat. AM. Curious where you are entering. Rick"

drrick.......unfortunately, I can no longer paddle........a few medical issues keep me from the canoe.......

I'm renting an all inclusive cabin on the North side from Camp Quetico. Literally, I could walk across the road and be on pickerel in 5 minutes........so it is CLOSE :)

I went last year, but not this time, and I've never been up to Canada this late, so I'm just a little concerned.

Thanks.

Geo

Geo, I have always enjoyed your perspective as expressed in your posts. Hope you have a great time over the next week or two. All the best. Rick

We just returned from the area you will fish in. The last week the wind blew 20 to 30 mph. and it rained for five days. The first five weeks we fished daily but fishing was slow. Slower each week. I think that they were deeper.

AtwaterGA: "We just returned from the area you will fish in. The last week the wind blew 20 to 30 mph. and it rained for five days. The first five weeks we fished daily but fishing was slow. Slower each week. I think that they were deeper. "

Man, I was so hoping I would hear from you :) :)

Thanks......

I'm hoping fishing is good.......

Good Luck. Next year if you see the camp windows unboarded, we are there. Please stop by. It would be good to meet in person.

AtwaterGA: "Good Luck. Next year if you see the camp windows unboarded, we are there. Please stop by. It would be good to meet in person."

Absolutely........................I remember the lake ......place on the right side coming through the narrow, right?

If our guide takes us that way, definitely.......that would be kewl.

Later,

Geo

BTW, I will be leaving in the morning, 2am. Woo HOO.

Right side heading back to the landing. The one with the log cabin near the lake. Hope to see you. Good luck. Take warm clothing and rain gear as it may be cold.

Man, our fishing was TOUGH.......very, very very TOUGH.

We caught fish every day, and I caught a couple good ones, but with water temps at 56 the day we got there, and not getting much better all week, the fish were scattered. They were not on reefs, and not schooled up, and definitely not where I was fishing.

Lots, and Lots and LOTS of suspended fish, and Man oh Man, I Never in a god zillion years, expected that and didn't bring any jerkbaits, or other effective methods to get those fish.

The best fish I caught all week came on a large body of water with 150 ft of depth and more. I would find schools of baitfish with isolated "feeding" smallies on that bait, and I would target that bait with gigantic swimbaits.

Most of the time that bait would be just at the bottom of a big break or the bottom of a reef, or the bottomf of a ledge before it really went to the bottom in 40-60 feet of water.

I caught a 22 inch 4.6 lb smallie, had one over 5 to the boat, and broke off a GIANT doing that....but man, oh man it was hard.

We had one good day out of 6, where we went to a very shallow lake, and that lake had more stable water.......and it had came up a few degrees with the 80 degree days we had monday and Tuesday.

We never made it to that Lake AtwaterGA.......

Oh well, there is always next year.

Later,

Geo