What type of location\structure is your best or favorite place to fish for your favorite type of fish? ( You don't need to give the actual location, not asking for that info. )

What type of fish are you fishing for in this location?

What lure do you use most often in this location?

What presentation do you use there?

Fishing for Walleye
Slip bobber and Leeches, or spinners and Leeches

Structure I like is islands on the side opposite of the wind. I like to find water that is about 15-18 feet deep. Bottom is rubble or small rocks. I also like to find underwater reefs and sandbars that jet out from inlands. Minnows tend to keep to the calm side and that's where the Walleyes will be.

If you can find a bay that has had the wind blown directly into all day, fish it at night.

Any rock walks next to your camp is good for fishing from camp after dark. They will cruise back and forth looking for food.

I have found quite a few underwater islands just under the surface. I like to anchor right on top in the middle of it. Then I cast to the deeper water and draw the fish into the shallows. They tend to get spooked if you anchor in deep water and draw them into the deeper water. I like to fish these areas with Mepps #3 spinners or Rapalas.

I guess my favorite locations would be big water reefs. Although these locations are not necessarily good early season, they are great for me from late June to early October. There always seem to be fish somewhere on or around the reef. I guess my favorite method when I find fish, is to anchor and throw out a slip bobber. Lots of fun in daylight hours, and even more fun at night with a lighted slip bobber. Sometimes the fish will be on top the structure, sometimes they will be at various depths on the edges. You just never know till you find them. On a Quetico lake the Top of the reef was at a depth of 30 feet, with 100 feet of water around it, so the structure does not necessarily have to be "shallow" as some might assume.

Another informative thread, Mike. Thanks!

I like a quantity of bass on the surface, so I cast F13 Rapalas at cover, like rocks and wood. I twitch the Rapala about five times and then retrieve. I don't do what the pros tell us to do, which is long pauses between the twitches. 98% of the bass hit the twitch. This works well for about three hours, but when the sun starts to rise, I switch to the TGO method and move a little deeper away from islands and reefs.

Walleye and lakers = offshore reefs

Smallmouths= rubble flats (when smallies are on rubble flats they are there to eat)

Pike= I like to locate small isolated patches of cabbage as deep as it will grow preferably off a prominent or secondary point.

quote missmolly: "Another informative thread, Mike. Thanks!


I like a quantity of bass on the surface, so I cast F13 Rapalas at cover, like rocks and wood. I twitch the Rapala about five times and then retrieve. I don't do what the pros tell us to do, which is long pauses between the twitches. 98% of the bass hit the twitch. This works well for about three hours, but when the sun starts to rise, I switch to the TGO method and move a little deeper away from islands and reefs. "

Inquiring minds need to know this stuff :)

My favorite is finding a sunken island that tops out about two or three ft below the surface in 20-40 ft of water, then just drop a jig and a leech or minnow and hang on.

I am with mutz ... one of my favorite walleye locations is a sunken island or reef or hump that tops off at 2 to 3 feet of water below the surface in 30 -40 feet of deep water. It is real important that deep water is adjacent to this shallow mid lake structure as big walleye usually hang out in deep water and come up to shallow structure to feed.

I like to start with throwing a jig or jig/spinner blade and Kalin Grub or paddle tail up to shallow top offs and move on to deeper water.

If it real large sunken island, reef or hump I will also Lindy rig a floating worm harness and slowly troll or drift depending on wind speed.

Another equally favorite walleye location is a "narrows" that are created by islands or points that neck down the water and increases current and funnels baitfish between 2 lakes or bays of the same lake. I usually troll or drift with the wind and pull worm harnesses on a Lindy rig or bottom bouncer to search and locate fish. Then I will turn to jigging.

A steep banked narrows out of the wind.:) Tied off so that maybe a nap is possible. I guess narrows and current is my favorite. I'm just not crazy about sitting a half-mile offshore over a reef in a canoe. Maybe late May has some to do with it. What kind of fish? Crappie Wallie smallie . Whatever bites! :) .oth

"Offshore"reefs need not be far from shore. My favorite is actually connected to shore via an underwater isthmus of sorts but extends out and enlarges substantially with the furthest portion of the reef extending perhaps 1/4 mile to 3/8 mile from shore. It tops out ar around 10ft and is surrounded by 70 ft of water.

I hit on the big suspended walleye mostly by accident. While trolling a large deep tail dancer I would make the a wide turn to make another run over the reef and the bigger fish were being caught over 70 ft. Then I started marking them on the depth finder as well and started understanding what was happening. As nightfall neared they started showing on the reef itself and I started jigging a roadrunner on them.

This was an August pattern on Basswood and I feel confident it could be replicated with other reefs at that time of year. A good spot for an old man who can't portage much to spend 4 or 5 days.........I'm looking forward to it.

MT brought up isthmus. That reminded of me of an old TV show called Little Rascals and the kid was asked to use the word isthmus in a sentence. I will link an URL below to the YOUTUBE video.


ISTHMUS

My best or favorite location to fish is moving water, mostly the area where water flows in from one lake to another. In the spring it can be really good if a smaller, warmer lake is pouring into a much larger, colder lake. Fish become more active with the warming water and begin to feed aggressively in these type of locations.

My favorite fish in these areas are the smallmouth.

In the spring I mostly use a Zulu rig, a five inch soft plastic jerk bait made from ElaZtech plastic. Stronger and more durable than any other plastic on the market. ZMAN manufactures these lures. I like to use the scented ShadZ jerk bait in some type of pearl color, typically in a gray or redbone type color to try and imitate the cisco which is one of the main bait fish in the BWCA and Quetico. (If you want to know more about the Zulu rig, send me an email at - queticomike@yahoo.com - and I will send you my article) I present the lure with a couple of soft twitches followed with a few second pause. Work the lure in a "walk the dog" slashing back and forth manner just below the surface.

In the late summer \ fall, I switch the lure to a big 4.5 inch flipping tube in either green pumpkin or a watermelon bleeding bait tube. Late summer the smallmouth are keying more on crawdads rather than bait fish. The presentation that works best is the reel and hope technique, but if it is extremely rocky I will swim the tube to avoid snags.

QueticoMike,

That Little Rascals You Tube video was priceless. "Isthmus my lucky day". Little Rascals/Our Gang was my favorite show as a kid growing up. Spanky, Alfalfa, Chubby, Darla, Stymie, Farina, Wheezer, Buckwheat ... to name a few of the memorable characters.

I spent countless hours laying on the floor with my 3 brothers watching Lil Rascals on our old Philco Black and White TV.

Thanks for bringing back the childhood memories.

Bass I have a couple areas I like. Current has already been mentioned. Slow drag of a minnow/leech/twister on a floating jig head with a split shot 18-24" above. Wait for the tug, slowly reel up the slack, set the hook, and hang on.
I also like the back end of small bays with a ton of sunken timber. If the wind has been blowing in, even better. Topwater, no matter what time of day. Another productive method is using weightless, or near weightless senko, or soft jerk bait.

Walleye, I like current also, but more subtle than incoming water. More like the saddle between islands on a breezy day. Jig and minnow on sunken islands is good too. As mentioned, larger islands that come close to the surface in deeper water are awesome.

Pike - shallow bays in the spring. Emergent vegetation, or old stumps. makes it even better. Jointed rapala worked like a jerk bait, or a husky jerk, or the aforementioned #4-#5 mepps spinners.

The only luck I have had for lakers was trolling for deep water pike and walleye during the summer.

Love this thread. Thanks Mike!

This is basically irrelevant to the implied fishing question (warm water bass, pike, etc), but to put in a vote for fly fishermen everywhere--right in the middle of a great hatch of mayflies or caddis or stoneflies does it for trout nuts everywhere I'd venture! Nothing like "volunteers" that show themselves at feeding time for your convenience!

I'm with bfurlow. Wind pushing into sunken hump being my preferred location.

"Walleye, I like current also, but more subtle than incoming water. More like the saddle between islands on a breezy day. Jig and minnow on sunken islands is good too. As mentioned, larger islands that come close to the surface in deeper water are awesome."

For smallmouth my best location is Lake Mille Lacs. I have been ruined and its tough to even consider another place.
If i'm going to the bwca or q its all about lake trout. I have 5 winter trips to every summer trip but my best location is warm water lake trout in spring. In early spring I look for bays that are rocky with islands away from the big part of the lake. I don't like water much deeper than 40 feet anywhere in the bay. These bays get warm faster and contain the forage that the trout are eating. The sweet spots are tips of points, islands and reefs. I like to fish right next to the rocks i can see with my sunglasses that have a quick drop to 15 or 20 feet. Best near surface temperature is 45 to 60. Red eyes and crocodile spoons work great.

This doesn't work on every lake but I have found quite a few lakes it works very well.