Post by reelteacher on Jun 13, 2012 15:26:25 GMT -5
This report follows a fishing trip my father and I took June 2 through June 9, 2012.
We drove through the night and arrived in Ely around 11am Saturday. After picking up a few supplies, we headed for our cabin at Timber Trail Resort on the southern shore of Farm Lake. This lake is part of large river and chain of lakes which include the Kawishiwi River, White Iron Lake, Garden Lake, Farm lake and South Farm Lake. The South Farm Lake and the North Kawishiwi River are located in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area and unfortunately we were unable to fish those portions as we did not secure a permit in time. They were sold out. However, we were not in short supply the amount of promising fish hides.
Three days before we arrived, this region had received over 5 inches of rain, which was enough to raise the lake level several inches and turn the water color slightly stained. We unloaded our vehicle and launched our boat. We fished from the dock for a few hours, and I managed to hook a few walleyes using a white streamer and a full sinking line. I slowly stripped my streamer along the bottom, and they just would nail it like they were hitting a Repala. They fought well and it was exciting to catch such a historically elusive fish for me on a fly.
We fished around Farm lake on Sunday and caught several nice bass and a few small northern pike. Dad wanted to get some Walleyes, so we motored our boat through the silver rapids area and fished above the fast water for a while. I managed to land a single Walleye, but the water was still very high and swift, so fishing in that area wasn't as productive as we had hoped. This short narrow stretch of water was absolutely beautiful with thousands of fishy looking holding water. Anytime we fish a new area like this, it can be hard to decide where to fish. Much of our trip was trial and error. Some spots were amazing, and many other spots that looked fabulous, just didn't hold fish, or the fish that would eat our offerings for some reason. One morning we fished for bass in an area known as cemetery bay, and it would have been an absolutely stellar day, if I hadn't missed about 5 different giant hits on my popper. As it was, I landed 6 nice smallmouth ranging from 13 - 16". On that same day, I had a Farm Lake Grand Slam as I caught Bass, Northern Pike, Walleye and Bluegill all on the fly. Oh, and the bluegill from this lake were large! Dad caught on that was at least 9 inches, and I landed one on fly that was 8.5 inches.
We didn't catch many walleye the first few days of our trip, but about Wednesday, the water level had dropped some and cleared up, making the Walleyes easier to locate and catch. Dad, as always, has this uncanny ability to find fish in any body of water he fishes. So, we found some nice holding spots for the Walleyes and we caught many, including a couple that were in the 18" range that we had to throw back since they were in the slot limit. Most of the fish I caught were on a white Clouser minnow type streamer, while dad used a jig and minnow.
As we were drifting over one area, dad said that he was hung on the bottom. This was not unusual, as it seemed like our lures were hanging up on rocks all the time. The bottom of this lake is filled with rocks, rubble, and boulders. Dad began tugging and pulling on his line, releasing the tension to try to get his jig to slip down and unhook itself from behind the snag. Meanwhile, I pulled up my fly line and started the trolling motor to move around and get dad's lure. All of a sudden, dad yelled, "That's not the bottom, I have a fish!" About that time, I became aware that dad's line was ripping from his reel. A fierce battle ensued and 10 minutes later he landed a nice 33" pike from the water. It was the largest fish landed during our trip, but dad had another Galiath pike on the would have eaten that pike for breakfast. However, it broke dad's line, and took his antique Sonic with it.
A day was spent on a small stream catching native Brooke trout. They are so fun to fish for, and fun to catch. They have to be one of the sneakiest fish that swims. We had many hit on our small flies, but we missed most of them. We did manage to catch about 20 of the little battlers. That day would have been perfect, except the black flies had hatched, and those little vampires were about to carry me away. In fact, my arms and the back of my neck were bitten so much, they were bleeding badly. We used a bug spray that repelled mosquitoes, but apparently attracted the black flies like honeybees to nectar. I have never seen this before.
On the last day of our trip, the wind picked up and made the fishing difficult. We did catch a few fish, but we worked for them. All in all, I would rate the fishing as above average. We were able to catch plenty of fish everyday, and considering never fished this lake before, once we found the good spots, the fishing was pretty remarkable.
A fat bluegill from Farm Lake.
An average sized smallmouth that hit a bunny leech.
The smallmouth up there loved poppers!
Walleye on the fly! It was Awesome!
A baby hammerhandle. Isn't he cute!?
The monster 33" toothy critter!
As always, time on the water is a great time!
We drove through the night and arrived in Ely around 11am Saturday. After picking up a few supplies, we headed for our cabin at Timber Trail Resort on the southern shore of Farm Lake. This lake is part of large river and chain of lakes which include the Kawishiwi River, White Iron Lake, Garden Lake, Farm lake and South Farm Lake. The South Farm Lake and the North Kawishiwi River are located in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area and unfortunately we were unable to fish those portions as we did not secure a permit in time. They were sold out. However, we were not in short supply the amount of promising fish hides.
Three days before we arrived, this region had received over 5 inches of rain, which was enough to raise the lake level several inches and turn the water color slightly stained. We unloaded our vehicle and launched our boat. We fished from the dock for a few hours, and I managed to hook a few walleyes using a white streamer and a full sinking line. I slowly stripped my streamer along the bottom, and they just would nail it like they were hitting a Repala. They fought well and it was exciting to catch such a historically elusive fish for me on a fly.
We fished around Farm lake on Sunday and caught several nice bass and a few small northern pike. Dad wanted to get some Walleyes, so we motored our boat through the silver rapids area and fished above the fast water for a while. I managed to land a single Walleye, but the water was still very high and swift, so fishing in that area wasn't as productive as we had hoped. This short narrow stretch of water was absolutely beautiful with thousands of fishy looking holding water. Anytime we fish a new area like this, it can be hard to decide where to fish. Much of our trip was trial and error. Some spots were amazing, and many other spots that looked fabulous, just didn't hold fish, or the fish that would eat our offerings for some reason. One morning we fished for bass in an area known as cemetery bay, and it would have been an absolutely stellar day, if I hadn't missed about 5 different giant hits on my popper. As it was, I landed 6 nice smallmouth ranging from 13 - 16". On that same day, I had a Farm Lake Grand Slam as I caught Bass, Northern Pike, Walleye and Bluegill all on the fly. Oh, and the bluegill from this lake were large! Dad caught on that was at least 9 inches, and I landed one on fly that was 8.5 inches.
We didn't catch many walleye the first few days of our trip, but about Wednesday, the water level had dropped some and cleared up, making the Walleyes easier to locate and catch. Dad, as always, has this uncanny ability to find fish in any body of water he fishes. So, we found some nice holding spots for the Walleyes and we caught many, including a couple that were in the 18" range that we had to throw back since they were in the slot limit. Most of the fish I caught were on a white Clouser minnow type streamer, while dad used a jig and minnow.
As we were drifting over one area, dad said that he was hung on the bottom. This was not unusual, as it seemed like our lures were hanging up on rocks all the time. The bottom of this lake is filled with rocks, rubble, and boulders. Dad began tugging and pulling on his line, releasing the tension to try to get his jig to slip down and unhook itself from behind the snag. Meanwhile, I pulled up my fly line and started the trolling motor to move around and get dad's lure. All of a sudden, dad yelled, "That's not the bottom, I have a fish!" About that time, I became aware that dad's line was ripping from his reel. A fierce battle ensued and 10 minutes later he landed a nice 33" pike from the water. It was the largest fish landed during our trip, but dad had another Galiath pike on the would have eaten that pike for breakfast. However, it broke dad's line, and took his antique Sonic with it.
A day was spent on a small stream catching native Brooke trout. They are so fun to fish for, and fun to catch. They have to be one of the sneakiest fish that swims. We had many hit on our small flies, but we missed most of them. We did manage to catch about 20 of the little battlers. That day would have been perfect, except the black flies had hatched, and those little vampires were about to carry me away. In fact, my arms and the back of my neck were bitten so much, they were bleeding badly. We used a bug spray that repelled mosquitoes, but apparently attracted the black flies like honeybees to nectar. I have never seen this before.
On the last day of our trip, the wind picked up and made the fishing difficult. We did catch a few fish, but we worked for them. All in all, I would rate the fishing as above average. We were able to catch plenty of fish everyday, and considering never fished this lake before, once we found the good spots, the fishing was pretty remarkable.
A fat bluegill from Farm Lake.
An average sized smallmouth that hit a bunny leech.
The smallmouth up there loved poppers!
Walleye on the fly! It was Awesome!
A baby hammerhandle. Isn't he cute!?
The monster 33" toothy critter!
As always, time on the water is a great time!
