Lac Des Isles Walleye
We are going out to Lac Des Isles this weekend and staying out until the middle of the following week.
I've fished that lake maybe a dozen or so times over the years with decent success but have never really honed in and found the big walleye people keep talking about. They Walleye should be post spawn which means they are likely concentrated in one area of the lake ...... does anyone know where that might be? I have never fished this lake in late spring post spawn. PM preferred. I would be happy to return the favour for sharing information on any lakes I know. Thanks in advance. |
I've fished it a bit.....mostly ranger bay area and always had good luck. No monster walleye but descent 5-8lb ones and a few big pike. I'm sure there are some better holes though.
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EZM, that is too bad you are only staying middle of the week. Our group arrives June 11 at Murray Doell groupsite for the week. Unfortunately I cannot make it till the 14th.
Be our first time there as our fun little derby is usually held at North Wabasca Lake but as defending walleye champion I decided to try a new lake. PM me the good spots when you find them! |
Walleye Classic
One thing I can say with certainty is: there is a one day tournament on Saturday, September 01 on Lac des Isles. There may be a few spots left if you act fast. It will be my second kick at that cat and looking to move up.
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The weather is supposed to be tough - but I will give the general low down on what seems to be working - just can't share any of the new spots guys PM'ed me. I've been there a dozen times or so over the years - never really concentrated on walleye, but caught a reasonable amount of decent fish - just nothing really big there. I know Waterhen, Pierce and Lapine quite well - so if you make it over that way - send me a text and I will put you on fish. All 3 of those lakes have 99% of the fish in 1% of the water. Waterhen is especially brutal if you don't know where to look. I will text you pictures with all the Leviathan's of the Deep so I can gloat. That will serve as sweet retribution over the last time we went out and you went 3 fish for every 1 of mine just to emasculate me for your entertainment. |
UPDATE ....
Just got back. Lot's of rain, wind and low pressure systems blowing in from the south and east which limited our fishing, cooled off the water temp (by 10 degrees F) and made the trip challenging. Found a few spots where we could literally see dozens and dozen of walleye scattering away from us and set up and casted everything right on top of them but they had zero interest. Drifted baits, jigged, bounced, you name it ..... it was slowwwwww. Everyone in the group caught fish and catching pike wasn't an issue. Had a good group of guys out there, some good neighbours and we had a few beers and a few good laughs .... I guess it was a great trip. Tried some of the spots the guys PM'ed me and they all had their merits but found no magic bullet when the walleye fishing was tough due to the weather fronts and wrong barometric pressures. Everyone we spoke to was pretty much on the same page - walleye weren't real aggressive and hard to catch. The last day the weather changed and we were on fish - problem is - it was the last day .... lol ... thanks again to all the folks who PM'ed me !!!!! |
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Just wondering, did you try slip bobbering. I have found some success with this when things are as you suggested. I anchor up wind a fair ways and let the slip bobber drift into/through them. Can I ask how big the pike were? |
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We could sight fish the walleye in a few areas and they simply didn't seem interested in much of anything. I could drop a jig and minnow right on his beak and he'd swim away disinterested. The biggest pike of the trip was under 10 lbs - so nothing spectacular but most seemed quite healthy. Quite a few in that 4-5 range which keep you interested anyways. The weather, as I mentioned, sucked. Lots of rain and wind with a few sunny periods but the water cooled off the day we got there, pressure dropped and the fish seemed to "turn off". The more I take note of wind direction, water temp and barometric pressure the more I believe these are major factors in how active the fish are. We worked pretty hard to land fish on every outing and covered some serious water. At the end of the day we caught fish, shared a few good meals and had some laughs. That was the highlight ....... and of course .... the new guy getting pushed off the dock into the water ...... that was great too. https://i.imgur.com/aoOQkLV.jpg https://i.imgur.com/2sa7gMq.jpg https://i.imgur.com/hgNiVo6.jpg https://i.imgur.com/6qUCWRF.jpg |
Water sure looks nice and clean and sounds like you guys had a great time, which is the most important part of the trip.
When the fishing was off did you try very shallow? I know for me this year on May long I found my most consistent action in 3-6 feet of water. It seemed the active fish were in very shallow even though the spawn was clearly over. I found this odd given that last year while I expected them to be shallow they were in fact deep. Also both this year and last the ice came off late and the water temps were not that different. Found I sure had to work for every fish I managed to hook. Thanks again for the report. |
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In fact we put my boat into places a kayaker would have had trouble navigating - and into water where my motor had to be trimmed up and fighting current to meander between rocks and into back flows and flats on both the inflow and outflows as well. Man we worked the lake ..... we did catch fish ..... but it was serious shenanigans on some days. Got chased off the lake a few times with storms moving in, lightening, and seeing storms and dead calm appear and re-appear several times a day for 3 days straight made it a real adventure. The funny thing is all the walleye were post spawn and no longer staged and had began to re-distribute into the lake, while, down the road at Waterhen, they were still post spawn staged and still grouped up (got this intel from a fellow we met out there with a red Kingfisher who I think said lived in Cold lake). The weather changed the last day and the fishing improved just in time for our departure !! lol. Met the guy chatted a little while on Lac Des Isles then saw him upon our trip back home at the boat inspection. He had been that morning and found some walleyes still staged in Waterhen and hammered out a limit in 20 minutes. |
I have seen this on Lac Des Isles before....
Anchored over school of Walleye. Caught a couple but they ignored almost everything. Had minnows , leeches and crawlers....even tried just a small plain hook under a slip bobber with leech swimming right in front of their noses. Watched them on camera and they were not interested! If you spend alot of time at LDI you will notice the abundance of minnows so the Walleye have lots of feed. |
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Free |
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Walleye are partial to laker belly fat cut into 3" long strips....works well at Marie lake....just gotta get a laker out of pierce for a shore lunch and keep the belly fat.:) |
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Johnston Lake
Hey has anyone fished Johnston Lake north of Lac Des Iles? Looks likes they stock it with walleye annually.
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fished it years ago, lots of little walleyes and pike.
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