Originally planning on fishing Malberg...but have heard Koma might be better. I'm asking for opinions on which is the better fishing. Going for walleye and northern. Most likely using Rapalas, spoons and leeches. Going in June 12th.

We were in the area late May and fished quite a bit on Malberg. Lots of northerns and, when we were targeting walleye, we caught a few. Pretty busy lake though. We didn't fish on Koma and only saw one person on that lake. Talked to quite a few groups consistently targeting walleye on Malberg but didn't hear if they caught any. The husband says there is a decent walleye population on Koma but be careful as it is very rocky.

Both are great lakes. Walleyes really relate on those lakes to structure and hold in deeper water, coming into reefs and shallow rocky areas to feed.

My personal opinion is you are likely to catch more walleye on Malberg, but Koma has better fish size, nice smallies too! I would concentrate on slip bobbers with leaches, and jigs with leaches over fishing with cranks - but I am devoted jig man so my opinion is biased on the crank fishing.

I caught my biggest BWCA smallie on Koma jig fishing about 8 feet of water around boulders with a plastic leach.

Good luck!!

Bob.

X2- I'm Headed to Koma/Malberg on June 8th. Out the evening of June 11th and staying at Lutsen Resort that night. I could call or email you that night and tell you what worked for us. We are targeting Walleye and Smallies. Let me know. matthalberg@gmail.com

solo- If you felt like sharing a couple spots, I'd be happy to hear tham. Email me at matthalberg@gmail.com

X2jmorris, We fished both Koma and Malberg on a trip just last year. If you're going for walleye and pike, I would certainly focus your efforts and camp on Malberg. Didn't have any luck with northern on Koma, and caught a few decent ones on Malberg. Furthermore, staying on Malberg allows you to day trip to the Kawishiwi River just north more easily, which is supposed to have great northern pike fishing. As far as walleyes, Malberg was much better for numbers. Tried trolling, leeches, and jigs on Koma without nearly as much luck as Malberg. Best of luck on a great trip!

In 2011 we were camped on Malberg for a couple of days targeting walleyes. We got run off the lake by a bear in camp that kept coming back after we had run him off 4 to 5 times. We weren't doing very well on walleyes anyway, so we headed to Koma to finish out our last 3 days. We caught a few walleyes but eventually switched over to fishing for bass and had a great time catching them on leeches, crawlers, and all kinds of crank baits including top water. We just love to catch fish and Koma saved our trip. Others have said it is a good walleye lake, but they were tough to come by on that trip in June. Good luck -- the fish are where you find them.

Koma with a day trip up to Kivaniva.

quote saltdog: "In 2011 we were camped on Malberg for a couple of days targeting walleyes. We got run off the lake by a bear in camp that kept coming back after we had run him off 4 to 5 times. We weren't doing very well on walleyes anyway, so we headed to Koma to finish out our last 3 days. We caught a few walleyes but eventually switched over to fishing for bass and had a great time catching them on leeches, crawlers, and all kinds of crank baits including top water. We just love to catch fish and Koma saved our trip. Others have said it is a good walleye lake, but they were tough to come by on that trip in June. Good luck -- the fish are where you find them."

My party fished up through Malberg July 6-15, 2011...

We came to the first campsite on the east side of the South arm, expecting beautiful sunsets at a great campsite. We're all still in the canoe, and my brother says: "Hey, there's a note here.. It's dated 'today'.
Then he reads aloud: 'A bear came to our campsite last night... Came back today. Will probably be back, so we left. Good luck!'

We moved around to the west side of the lake, and found a GLORIOUS beach campsite facing the southwest (buggy, though)...
It was pretty warm, and the walleye bite was off.
Despite our diligent fishing, only caught one walleye on Malberg, a good number of medium-sized pike, but KILLED the smallmouth, and good size, all day for a couple days. Went up to Fishdance to check out the pictographs on the cliff. Very cool. Excellent pike and bass fishing in the Kawishiwi river along the way (no walleye- I think it was the heat?) but we didn't mind too badly with all the other action. It's a great paddle in that area with fairly easy portages, and some cool bluffs all around. Long way for a just a 3-day trip, IMHO.
Koma yielded maybe a half-dozen small-to-medium-sized bass while we were passing through, tossing jigs and cranks. Not a real concerted effort fishing it, though.
;) -There's a GREAT little falls into River Lake that produced a good number of bass and pike from shore. REALLY nice-sized bass.