Namakan lake help

Going to Namakan lake for the first time camping with son. Will be camping on Wilson island and was wondering if anyone has any ideas where to start looking for walleyes as I have never been there before.
thanks

Nam can be a pretty big lake, how mobile will you guys be?

Glancing at my map I’m not finding Wilson Island. What is your campsite number? Anyway, we are finding fish anywhere from 25′ to 32′ deep. I won’t lie to you, the bite has been tough this year. I’m still using leeches but will try minnows when I go to Rainy tomorrow.Big cool down coming next week, maybe that will turn them on?

Do you mean Williams Island South or Williams Island North? I don’t know of a Wilson Island. Walleyes have been deep, 30 feet plus. In that area, Hoist Bay has some deeper structure that holds fish, also some spots south of Namakan Island. You really need a good map card and use it to concentrate on good structure in the depth range you’re targeting. My preference is Lakemaster. Check the Gateway General website for starters. http://www.kabfishingreport.com/

Sorry we are staying at Williams island north # 61. I guess I better listen better when my son tells me where we are going.

thanks for the info and I will let you know how we do.

Dutchboy got a map today and you are right, pretty big and a lot of islands looking forward to fishing there. We have HPS 8 with mapchip so should be good for getting around. That said don’t know how far we will venture but I like to explore and have been accused of looking around too much and not fishing enough. I was studying that video posted on how to filet boneless northerns for a back up plan if we do not run into the walleyes.

Very nice view on that site….you will love it! When are you guys coming up there? You are in the area of some very good spots so I don’t think finding fish will be the problem. My concern was what size boat you have but you are in a really good protected area should you get wind. Troll the weed line right there between the island and Moose Bay for Pike.

if the walleyes aren’t cooperating, just hang a daredevle off the back for a bit. we fish Kab a lot and when we want to move spots, we hug the shore and run two daredevels up to the next spot, one red, one yellow= shore lunch more days than not…

We are going up this Friday and staying until Monday. Have a big enough boat that getting around should not be a problem. You read my thoughts stu on the fish fry back up plan. Even if we are into walleyes I am going to give that 5 cut boneless northern fillet a try for the fish fry this weekend.

You’re so confident… I’m still bringing an extra pack of hotdogs

thanks ron I have been studying the map in the areas you suggest and will let you know if we run into them. It looks like there are some big flats that hold the deep water pretty consistently or maybe the map I have is not detailed enough to show the subtle structure. Has anyone ever tried trolling leadcore? I have never tried it anywhere but ML but sure works good there. Maybe I will throw it in and try.

hotdogs are always wise…

my experience with flats is not good on Kab. Namkn is deeper and the walleyes tend to go down and thermocline. instead of leadcore, i’d try DRs like they use on LOW. for thermoing eyes it could be very productive. i’m think 5″ & 7″ blue and black shad patterns, one set on bottom, the other 20′ up, then watch your oncoming bottom to not snag up your weights…

Please respect the park. The last time I was at that campsite, someone had chopped a 3″ wedge out of one of the trees and stripped all the branches off another from the ground up about 5 feet. I called the Ash River visitor center and reported it, but never heard back from them. I had hoped with the reservation system in place that enforcement of park rules might improve. So far, it doesn’t seem so.

Hope you had fun, never good to endure that kind of rain when tenting! Did you have any luck with fish? Wanted to stop and say hi but it was a busy weekend.

Had a lot of fun. Really impressed with the way the tent worked, did not get wet. The one night though I wondered what the heck I was doing out there as the lighting and thunder sounded like it was way to close for comfort as I have never heard booms that loud and close before. First time to Namakan and what a beautiful lake! Did not do that well on the fish marked a bunch what I thought were walleyes could not get many to bite. Will definitely be back to give it another shot now that I have an idea of what to expect.

The thunder & lightning show Friday night / early Saturday morning was quite impressive!

Don’t feel bad about the fishing, it’s been a tough year for everyone up there. I’ve watched the guides running form one end of the lakes to the other looking for fish.

I would start at 35′ and go from there. They are usually 35′ or deeper until the lake starts to turn over. I have caught walleyes as deep as 70′ on Namikan. Many times frozen shiners will out fish all other baits on the lake. Check out the east side of Kubel, East side of Johnson bay. East Namikan reefs can be decent too if you have up for a little trip. Worth he ride since the pictographs I the narrows are close by. Another decent spot closer to Williams is just west to NW of Sexton island. Good luck.