Hello Fellow Fisherman,

A group of us are heading to Moose Lake October 3rd and planning to fish Moose and Basswood Lake. We are primarily targeting walleyes. Can anyone provide an info as what live bait and lures works best? Thanks in advance for any info!

J

Lots of people with more experience and success than me but...We always trip this time of year; in fact we'll be heading out the same day you're heading in. We're still learning, but the one lure I won't go without is a Deep Tail Dancer that will run to 30 ft. Mine is purpledescent, but I'm not sure if the color matters as much as the depth and size. The things are huge, so I only bring one, but if the fish are deep it is the only thing I've had success finding them with. Last time we were up there by the end of the trip, we had one guys fishing that lure and everyone else paddling because nothing else was working.

That said, fall fishing is tough because they can be shallow or deep and there can be inversions and such. So I've always had to experiment to find what works.

One other note, this can be a windy time of year and big lakes plus wind plus cold weather can equal danger. We're specifically planning out trip to have access to small water (rivers and small lakes). I would have a plan B for Basswood if the wind kicks up and I'd never get far from shore.

Regarding wind, perhaps camping on an island to fish in the lee of the island from canoes and from the shore on the windy side on windy days?

I'd make sure I brought along jigs and white twister tails IMO. Minnows would be good too probably that time of year.

For the portion of Basswood that follows the border (going west from prairie portage), how is the fishing? Or is it best to go all the way to the main lake for better fishing?

Are you going in with a motor or are you canoeing? I second the comment about be leary of the wind, Basswood can get very dangerous once you hit Bailey Bay if the wind comes up. Around Praire Portage it is not too bad but once you hit the big bays it can get dangerous even in a motorized boat. My recommendation for both Moose lake and Basswood would be to fish on top and around the deep humps that top out around 20-30 FOW. There is a good chance you will find fish out on those if you can locate them with the depth finder.

Taking boat or canoe?

As for bait, that's late enough minnows will be a decent option. Slip bobber if it's calm, on a jig in other cases.

We'll be taking motor boats.

Thanks for all the advice/tips...much appreciated!

We were wondering if the fishing was good along the border (going west of praire portage) or is it better to get all the way to the main lake of Basswood?

cyclones30: "Taking boat or canoe?


As for bait, that's late enough minnows will be a decent option. Slip bobber if it's calm, on a jig in other cases. "

+1 especially if that jig is a roadrunner with a minnow on it

Have a similar question and hoping to get some answers here instead of a new thread.

We're going to be on Ogish on 9/24 mainly looking for walleye. Plan to troll some crankbaits and spinner rigs to find where the fish are. I've heard leeches are all gone so we're going to use crawlers for the spinners. Are those going to work for that and for slip bobbers? We brought minnows once I think and they don't seem to live.

Once we find them we have different jigs and plastics. Sounds like they should be shallower on some slopes later in the day?

Deep diving crankbaits late in the evening will likely be your best bet. Or, if you want the hassle, get a bunch of sucker minnows and drift jig in deep water. If you dont have deep diving crankbaits, get 2-3oz sinkers to fix 5-6' in front of your stickbaits and they will dive up to 25-40'. The big walleye are out looking for big baitfish, eating as much as they can to get ready for winter. Here are a few i've had success with:
Norman Shads
Strike King XD
Rapala DT16, DT20
Rapala 30' tail Dancers (by far your best bet)
Rapala Deep Down Husky Jerks

Good luck and have fun

Hmm think they'll be all the way down to 30 feet? I think we only have 15ft cranks to troll plus those spinners with crawlers. I thought as the day warms up they'll come higher so we'll fish in the afternoon to evening.

KingKapalone: "Hmm think they'll be all the way down to 30 feet? I think we only have 15ft cranks to troll plus those spinners with crawlers. I thought as the day warms up they'll come higher so we'll fish in the afternoon to evening."

Fished the far western side of Ogish a few years ago in september. During the day, we jigged mostly and managed to catch a few eater-sized, mostly in the 15-30ft range. At dusk the bite really turned on and we had our best luck trolling with deeper running rapalas and Wally divers. If I recall, fish were mostly around 10-15 ft. That was a fun couple evenings.

We were on Moose last week. It was rough fishing from a canoe with the wind because we couldn't stay on the spots we wanted to fish (deep drop offs, rocky points, shallow reefs near deep water). I was the only one to catch fish. One nice pike and a few smaller smallmouth and pike. All were caught on deep diving Rapalas about 15-20 feet. The fishing report at Piragis said smallmouth and walleye fishing had been slow. Our outfitter said some folks were catching walleye deep on night crawlers.

I’d agree with trolling deep cranks.

On Basswood with a boat you can fish Bailey Bay reefs either with jigs/live bait, or troll around them with crankbaits. Agree with all the advice on trolling crankbaits (that's all we do). Add Reef Runners to the mix...run about 19' down with 90' of line out. If you're running down to the west end of Basswood be sure you know where the reefs are....water is EXTREMELY low and lots of people hitting reefs. +1 on being safe with wind on Basswood....we are always in boats and there have been times it's not safe to fish (unless in a protected bay or behind an island).