Hey All! My group will be heading into the Horse Lake area right after Memorial Day. Looking for any input anyone could provide to help catch some walleye and smallmouth bass mostly. For sure planning a trip up towards Lower Basswood Falls, but is there anywhere else worth trekking to find some good fighting fish? Lures, techniques, spots if your able, any information would help!

Appreciate the help, Paddle On!

Looks like no one is helping ya. I haven’t fished that area that time of year.

You can never go wrong fishing current, find the slack water/eddies near the current. Anywhere the water narrows on the lake or river creates current. That attracts fish early in the year.

Looking at a map and traveling through those areas during late summer (sorry it’s pass through water for me—no specific experience) there are many spots that fit the above.

I’d find the current and eddies and vertical jig. Lightest jig that will get ya near the bottom.

T

More questions than answers. You don’t say how long you will be out or if you are base camping or moving and if so what your trip speed is. There is a pool at the end of the last Horse River Portage before the falls that holds smallmouth. Nothing huge but fun to catch, especially on a fly rod. Lots of people fish the falls area. Lost a couple of big northern there. If you are moving then Crooked is great fishing, especially if the Canadians open up RABCs and you can snag a Canadian fishing license. I figure you already know about the pictographs. Will you have live bait? If not use lures you are comfortable fishing with since technique & presentation are important. I like crankbait divers, spin rigs I make, spoons for the big, moving water by the falls. As for the Horse River, never seriously fished it. Horse Lake is OK but have done better on lakes leading into it. Be prepared for hurry up and wait on the Horse River portages as the landings on some don’t have much room. Depending on water levels some rapids can be walked or lined, but only if you are comfortable doing that and have good water shoes.

Specifically to fish LBF, you need an anchor. This is to stay in one area, fish all around the canoe one cast away, 360 degrees. Do that for 20 minutes, if nothing, move one cast away, repeat. There are always fish there, in the eddies/boils which are very hard to spot/feel. Bottom is best fishing, IMO. Its a large area, and you can fish quite away from the falls. If you catch something, throw back to that spot, the fish were in that pocket for a reason.

If you’re staying on Horse, I’d venture over to Fourtown, Boot, Fairy and Moosecamp. All are good Walleye Lakes.

Horse river during low water level can have extra pull outs/beaver dams/muddy shallows, being spring hopefully that's not the case. One of the better sites on Horse (at least it was at one point it's been 3 years since I've been that way) is at the enterance to horse river. If you make it up to Lower basswood falls just to the east is wheelbarrow falls a little down stream(to the west) from that is a chokepoint that must have been a water fall at sometime because there is a 40 ft deep hole just down stream from that chokepoint that has been reliable in the past. Also I've had success below basswood falls. Fourtown has an old car and acres of leftover logging relics on the south east side.

the bottom of Wheelbarrow Falls can produce some nice fish as well. If it were me I'd go all the way to LBWF and fish that area exclusively

Never stayed on Horse, but came over from Fourtown a couple times. We had decent luck where the the drainage from Fourtown enters Horse. Walleye, SM, and Pike in there. There's a nice level rock where you can fish.

Not sure if anyone is monitoring this, but with water in the upper 40's (MAYBE 50), does anyone throw big baits for northerns or walleyes in shallow bays or should the focus be all small stuff? Anyone use salted minnows?

valleyr1: "Not sure if anyone is monitoring this, but with water in the upper 40's (MAYBE 50), does anyone throw big baits for northerns or walleyes in shallow bays or should the focus be all small stuff? Anyone use salted minnows?"

Valley,

I've fished Basswood during cool water and know certain areas *cough* Back Bay *cough* hold monster pike when the water cools especially early season. I've fished everything from double cowgirl bucktails to large half pound rubbers (chaos tackle's Madussa and Poseidon). They will be somewhere shallow, it's just a matter of will they be in the bays or hovering the drop offs just outside the bay. I would say to keep the salted minnows at home at least for the pike but could be useful for walleye. I'm more of a believer in oversized jig heads with white cisco-esque plastics for large cold water walleye.

Thanks DJ! Very helpful!

I've talked to people who love both Horse and Fourtown.

We always push on to Crooked and have a blast fishing up there.

The last time we hit the lower basswood falls (below it) the water was way to high, fast and snaggy. But I know many do well there.