I'm traveling with my son to Ensign next week. He loves to fish, especially for bass. Any suggestions on what areas of Ensign or nearby lakes to fish? Any tips on tackle he should bring? Thank you.

You need to use topwater lures like Whopper Ploppers, Zara Super Spooks, Pop-R, Baby Lucky 13 and similar. Bring along some crawfish patterns too. You can also use Senko worms to catch them. I’ve also used Shad raps trolling or casting for them. You will catch as many as you want. So I listed basically lures from all sections of the water column. Even some in the 22” size. Fish almost anywhere on Ensign for Smallmouth, but mostly the East side. Also the head down to Ashagon lake for a day trip for smallmouth. Triangle, or Trident lake on some maps is also good for Smallmouths. You might want to try some leeches under a slip bobber from camp for Walleye. Almost all of the campsites I’ve stayed at there hold walleye at night. Fish between 7:00pm and 10:00pm for the night bite.

Ensign is a great lake for fishing! On Ensign two years ago we did well in the evenings/early mornings with top water (whopper ploppers and spooks primarily) on the easternmost part of the lake - we fished there simply because there were fewer people on that end and that is where we camped. During the day we caught bass using some homemade crawdad patterns (I imagine plastics would work great) with cast-retrieve as we slowly worked around the lake. We trolled (variety of rapalas) some but primarily caught walleye with an occasional northern (good sized!). Plenty of walleye in the lake and we jigged the islands based on the winds. It is a fun lake to fish because it usually has good numbers.

Hope this helps. I know a search of this site will yield more info on Ensign. The Ely outfitters and bait shops are also an excellent source of information. Good luck and tight lines! Hope your son has a blast!

YetiJedi: "Ensign is a great lake for fishing! On Ensign two years ago we did well in the evenings/early mornings with top water (whopper ploppers and spooks primarily) on the easternmost part of the lake - we fished there simply because there were fewer people on that end and that is where we camped. During the day we caught bass using some homemade crawdad patterns (I imagine plastics would work great) with cast-retrieve as we slowly worked around the lake. We trolled (variety of rapalas) some but primarily caught walleye with an occasional northern (good sized!). Plenty of walleye in the lake and we jigged the islands based on the winds. It is a fun lake to fish because it usually has good numbers.


Hope this helps. I know a search of this site will yield more info on Ensign. The Ely outfitters and bait shops are also an excellent source of information. Good luck and tight lines! Hope your son has a blast!"

What rapalas?

SideSwipe: "

YetiJedi: "Ensign is a great lake for fishing! On Ensign two years ago we did well in the evenings/early mornings with top water (whopper ploppers and spooks primarily) on the easternmost part of the lake - we fished there simply because there were fewer people on that end and that is where we camped. During the day we caught bass using some homemade crawdad patterns (I imagine plastics would work great) with cast-retrieve as we slowly worked around the lake. We trolled (variety of rapalas) some but primarily caught walleye with an occasional northern (good sized!). Plenty of walleye in the lake and we jigged the islands based on the winds. It is a fun lake to fish because it usually has good numbers.



Hope this helps. I know a search of this site will yield more info on Ensign. The Ely outfitters and bait shops are also an excellent source of information. Good luck and tight lines! Hope your son has a blast!"

What rapalas?"

Shad rap #7 or even #9 (used this by far the most)
XRap Jerkbait #10
Jointed husky jerk #8

Colors we like in order of preference: firetiger (probably used 70% of the time), crawdad, silver, and bluegill

There are largemouth and smallmouth bass in good numbers on Ensign. we did well there with wacky worms in likely looking "bassy" spots.

The Northwest part of Ensign has some islands, fish around those for Smallmouth. Fish Splash Lake which is West of Ensign, excellent fishing for all species. On the far East side is a couple smaller lakes that are also good for fishing. And make sure you visit Cattyman Falls.

Thank you all for the great fishing advice!

We tripped from Snowbank to Ensign and fished Boot lake on the way. Best bass lake around that area, here's part 1 of our trip - https://youtu.be/q5Qa9xsJRJc