Kab/Nam Daily Updates

Finally made it up here to Ash Trail Lodge. Took Hwy. 65 (nice drive!) to Hwy. 1 (never again!) then over to Hwy 53 and to the resort. Ate dinner at the lodge (wow fantastic!!!), got the boats launched and are settled in for the week.

Everybody wants to sleep in tomorrow except my daughter and I will hit the water 6:00am-ish. Gonna try weeds for a little while and if nothing, then search out reefs & saddles.

Morning can’t get here soon enough!

Tight lines to all and I’ll report back tomorrow sometime.

enjoy the views! the fishing is a bonus

Enjoy!

Good Luck, hope them pesky mayflies are done for ya!!! Looking forward to your reports!!!

Mark

Daughter and I went for a quick couple hours. Tried some weeds right away but lots of moss on the bottom so we went to a couple deep reefs that went from 35ft and topped out at 20ft. Just a small rock bass and a small sauger. We both missed on a nice fish though.

Spent the last 20min pitching jigs to a small weedline in a small bay and did manage a 14″er. But then had to come back for breakfast and get my wife and son.

Going to head back out in a little while and look at similar areas (reefs, weeds & saddles).

Oh, and have not seen a mayfly yet.

Don’t forget about jigging raps on those reefs, but use your electronics to locate fish first. Not all reefs always have fish. Scan with electronics and more less sharpshoot with raps or power corks.

Well the afternoon outing didn’t produce a fish. Marked some, fished them, but no takers. Tried weeds, saddles and reefs, but just not the right ones.

The late afternoon outing (3:00 to 7:00) wasn’t too bad. Not great, but we boated 4 keepers from 14″ to 16″ and my nephew got a 21″. Not fantastic, but it’s a start and gives me some ideas for tomorrow. The fish came on big, deep bars extending from shore in 16-25 fow on jig/crawler and lindy rigged minnow. Couple cutoffs on pike too.

Idling around, setting waypoints on arcs, and fishing them from .2 to .5mph.

Going to look at 3-5 new spots tomorrow morning. Oh, and we did bring in a 10.5″ perch as well.

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We go up to Kab in about a month. I am really looking forward to it.

Today was almost a rinse & repeat of yesterday’s results. Only difference was we got fish in the afternoon instead of evening. The morning still remains a problem, but then the morning is my “search for new spots” time.

Today the conditions were quite different. Mostly cloudy. Some rain. And a healthy 10-25mph wind.

The fish we got today came from the tops of offshore reefs from 12ft to 20ft deep on crawler harnesses trolled around 1mph.

We have yet to find anything very consistent, but a pattern does seem to be forming of finding fish on areas of large structure. The small individual pieces of offshore structure are far less productive at this point.

Our best fish of the day…. my brother with a 21.5″ and me with a 24.5″ fish.

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Awesome! Keep the reports coming! Heading up Saturday for a week on Namakan.

For half the day we decided to sit out the rain and play family games which was fun. But the rain cleared out and we went out for a few hours this afternoon. Got a few keepers and a couple throw backs. Missed on a couple nice fish too that came unbuttoned. Found some new fish today on a small reef that topped out at 15ft & bottomed at 22ft.

Tomorrow is supposed to be very nice, so I’m taking my family on a long boat ride to some grounds I want to fish. Looking forward to it!

My dad with his big fish of the trip thus far.

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Appreciate the reports guys! Headed up Thursday and cant wait to hit the water.

Well, not much has changed this week. In fact, most people we’ve talked to have said this is their worst fishing trip ever to Kab and Nam. Some have only caught just a few walleyes in nearly 4 days of fishing.

My guess is it’s a combination of a couple factors….. water temperature being primary… and fishing pressure coming in a close second. There are more boats on the lake than even a lot of local southern lakes i typically fish. Water temps are higher than I’ve ever seen this far north…. from 78° to 82°.

We had a BUNCH of wind this afternoon, and plenty this morning. But we did manage to scrap together some scenic pictures and some slot fish. Catches today were all above the 21″ mark. Fish were completely scattered from 7fow down to 28fow. Lindy rigging a leech on a chartreuse or orange #6 hook far outweighed any other presentation.
Wasn’t even close. Primarily got our fish at a neckdown saddle where the wind was whipping water through. It was a tight bottleneck that topped out around 18fow.

Here’s just a couple of my favorite pics today starting out at the fantastic Ash Trail Lodge!

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That smoke on the water pic is fantastic! Great reports!

Had to dodge the storms today, but was able to get in on some quality fishing in between the storms. With the overcast and wind, fish came up shallow on a small island point. We caught nice keeper sized fish today and didn’t have any slots, however I know I had one slot on today that came unbuttoned.

Fish on the small island point were as shallow as 7ft and as deep as 13ft. They were aggressive and all 3 approaches used today worked…rigging with leech, jig/crawler, and crawler harnesses.

My dad and I were really putting the wood to them when people in an $85,000 Lund glass boat slid right in on us and onto the point we were fishing. The guy hit his spotlock and anchored his boat right in the way of our drift/troll path. What a POS. $85,000 boat can’t find the fish so let’s have somebody find them for us. I simply cannot comprehend sliding in on another boat when there are some 50,000+ other spots that could be fished!!! And don’t anybody give me the “you don’t own the lake” or “you don’t own that spot” garbage because those are “yeah no crap” phrases. It’s not about “owning” anything… its about common courtesy and being a decent human being, which the idiots in the $85k Lund boat most certainly are not. Even worse they had a young kid in there which teaches him everything that is wrong. What a shame.

So, with that rant done and over with, it was, overall, a good day of fishing. Tomorrow morning will be my final fishing outing, then its tubing & water fun for the kids in the afternoon.

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I had a guide do that on the Canadian side of Rainy. The hump was the size of 2 houses. The fish were biting but they were small and I’m sure his clients had to catch fish. I just motored away shaking my head.

Ya we took off and went to another spot I knew held fish.

Funny you mentioned your encounter. Last time we were there we were fishing between Ritchie island. I kid you not, some guide I assume, pulled within 10 feet of us and all 3 of them start fishing. We all looked at each other and said wtf is going on here? He turns to us and says they won’t be here long! This was in October and I think there were 3 boats on the entire lake!

I’m pretty certain this was not a guide. Looked like a 3-generation family. So grandpa teaching his son who teaches his son (and grandma in the boat) that you need a $85,000 boat to go fishing, and to fish right next to or on top of somebody that’s catching fish. Keep searching the lake and checking on boats until you find one catching fish, then move in and anchor right where the other boat is catching them.

This is what is being passed down from generation to generation. This is what the little kid in that boat is seeing and learning. It’s a shame, and it’s sad.

You are a bit to fixated on the price of the boat. They could have just as well be in a $1,200 boat that was 20 years old.

Weekender,
Last week when we were up, on tuesday morning on Namakan I headed out at 6am. I was on my third spot at a little after 8 which was a small tip of a rock reef point of an island. Community spot for sure but there was only one other guy on It and he was 50 yard shallower fishing the rock buoy.
I was there about 20 minutes working a 100 foot area back and forth with the TM. A boat rolls in and stops not three boat lengths in front of me and stops, right on my bow. New 20 foot Ranger with 4 guys. I missed the boat by 5’ on my pass. I listened while he says “I’ve been guiding for 5 years but my dad has owned a resort here for 30 years.”
I had about 20 things I wanted to say, but fired up the motor and moved to spot #4. 10000 acres, probably 20 boats out fishing, and he had to pull within 50 feet from me. If I see him again I will take my snap weight rod with 50 pound power pro and circle his boat and pull every last line his clients have in the water until I spool them as I leave.
No respect, none given.

It happens to me at least once a year up there. It’s too bad to hear about guides doing it too though. They should have plenty of spots you’d think….. I’ll always pass a spot up if it’s occupied being most spots aren’t real big out there.
The good news is that if you put in the effort on those lakes you’ll find other spots and plenty of fish to go around.

Thanks for the reports Weekender.
I’m coming up on Saturday for a week. Im hoping I’ll find some of those fish up shallow like you did. Generally it seems the shallower they are the more aggressive they are.

Yeah I’ve just never experienced this type of situation this far north on such huge bodies of water that offer thousands of spots to catch fish. Back home, it’s 100% expected.

Anyhow, it sucks, but what is even worse is tomorrow morning is my last outing. I haven’t had the time to explore all the spots I hoped to explore this week. The spots I did scout out at home these past few weeks on my handheld GPS have yielded some poor results and some decent ones. It’s been fun learning new water and seeing new sights. And if the border somehow remains closed through next year, we’ll certainly be back.

Sorry for the s****y people swooping in on your spot before you’re done fishing. All I know is I am EXTREMELY jealous of that beautiful looking livewell full of walleye. Nice job!

It’s been a fun week of family and fishing. All in all it has been a great trip. No accidents, no mechanical problems, no health issues for anybody so that makes for a good trip.

Took my autistic son out this morning for one more father/son outing up here. Took him further than we’ve been all week on Namakan. Hit 4 new spots and found fish on 3 of them. 2 spots were just a couple fish, but the 3rd had a nice school of smaller fish on it. Put 2 – 14″ers in the well. Did also get a 21″ that was rail thin… like it hasn’t eaten since the spring spawn. Weird.

Flat calm with hardly a cloud. Tried 8ft to 15ft but not much doing there. Hit a small hump in the middle of a bay that topped out at 21ft which is where the small guys were at. Also caught a couple over a midlake hump that went from 40ft+ up to 23ft.

Going to take a little end of trip nap, then get the kids out on some water fun. Slight chance of a quick evening run for fish, but more than likely pull the boats and start packing.

It’s been a great week at Ash Trail Lodge!

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Thanks for the great reports, Weekender! Can’t wait for my trip to Namakan in Aug, been following your updates and wishing I was there already!

Great reports! Safe travels!

It was a great end to a great week up at Ash Trail Lodge bordering Kabetogama and Namakan lakes! Steve and Deb were incredible hosts and some of the nicest resort owners we’ve ever come across, bar none. Incredibly accommodating, so nice and sociable and they truly care that you have a great stay and experience at their resort. I also want to give a special thanks to Dutchboy for all the help and info he was graciously willing to provide. His first hand knowledge of the area was very much what we needed! Thank you!

Our final day (today) yielded many memorable sights that Voyageurs National Park is famous for. Deer, bear, eagles and i even had a sturgeon leap a couple feet out of the water near the boat this morning!

It was a great trip and we ended it on a great note with some water fun at the Shoepack day site! Even our dog had a great time! 😄

NOW only 3 more weeks until I’m up on the Whiteface Reservoir with my best friend for a few days. Looking to put the smackdown to them like last year!

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Glad you had a good time.

It was fantastic!

We didn’t venture out nearly as far into Kab and Nam as I would’ve liked, but some of our best fishing came from these areas…. which are probably no secret to most:

On Kab:
Southerly side of Round Bear Island
Yoder Island area
Freedom Island area

On Nam:
Cemetery Island area
Sexton & Magie islands areas
Stevens & Williams Islands areas

If we ever get up there again, I’d like to get back into Lost Bay on Kab, and especially over to the My Island area on Nam. Sooo many spots and not nearly enough time!