Northwest Ontario Fishing Articles

Using worms as bait is often scoffed at by most anglers now a days, but this tried and true bait still works to catch the lunkers. Worms are the most versatile bait in the walleye angler’s arsenal. Crawlers work in the cold water of spring and fall, and during the hottest days of summer. They catch walleye in rivers and lakes. These fish like the smell, look, and feel of a worm. Yet many anglers, weaned on television fishing shows and endless super-lure infomercials, consider live-worm fishing passe, even vaguely dirty.

Simple article describes how walleye change their home-range when winter sets in as well as the fish change their eating habits. Sometimes walleye establish a smaller home-range during the winter, usually only a fraction of the size of their summer range. On smaller lakes walleye generally stay close to most traditional structures such as steep-breaking humps, deeper portions of long points and deep saddles.

This article contains critical information regarding water clarity and how it relates to catching elusive small and largemouth bass. It is broken down into sections based on visibility and what tactics to use. In truth, water clarity can be one of the most important elements in locating small and largemouth bass, especially when you correlate it with time of season.

Michael Bilsbarrow, a Patricia Region resident, shares some common strategies and angling methods practiced and perfected on the Lac Seul reservoir. These tried and true techniques consistently land trophy fish off of this gargantuan body of water. Local knowledge is no doubt a great asset when it comes to fishing a big lake like this one and most fish camps and resorts on the lake offer guide services. On your first trip to Lac Seul you would be well advised to engage the services of one for at least a day or two.

Writer explains just why the walleye bite can be so good in the autumn months. He also details various tips/strategies for angling and landing good sized fish in changing conditions on the lake. During the months of September, October and november; in the Upper United States and Canada, patterns develop that may land you your biggest/best walleye of the year. If you follow the progression of the season, you may catch big hog walleye up until the ice forms.

Walleye really turn on at dawn and dusk. the walleye’s unique eye structure gathers light better than a squirrel-on-steroids gathers nuts, and this gives the walleye a huge advantage at low light times. It’s like walleye are wearing night-vision goggles while they are feasting on those helpless little yellow perch.

Trolling spinner baits allows you to quickly probe prime locations, such as weed-flats and break lines, searching for actively feeding fish to enticing neutral ones to strike. Muskie trolling spinnerbaits allow you to quickly probe prime locations, such as weed-flats and break lines, searching for actively feeding fish to enticing neutral ones to strike.

When I started fishing for muskies, I spent countless hours casting big bucktails, jerkbaits and top-water plugs over shallow weed flats without so much as a promising follow. It was suggested to me that I try trolling… “”Troll for muskies in four feet of water?” I commented. “I’ll be hanging up in weeds all day.” Initially, I got caught on the weeds, and lots of ’em. Every couple of minutes I had to stop to remove dense green cabbage from my line and lures…

Trolling crankbaits is a great technique and teacher when it comes to finding bass. Pay attention in class this summer and you’ll graduate with honours in crankbait fishing from Bass U. Fish are creatures of habit. They follow behaviour patterns that keep them safe from predators, physically comfortable, and well fed. It’s a matter of life and death. If a bass is having its best luck feeding on top of a reef during a west wind, you can be sure it will be there every time those conditions occur.

Gord Ellis, shares a small story and some great tips on how to pack/prepare for an extended trip canoeing/hiking or at your favourite fly-in destination, here in “Canada’s Heartland”, the Patricia Region. Carrying a 7-foot one-piece spinning rod is obviously out. So is that big tackle box. It’s unwieldy and often requires an extra portage. Scale way down.

Excellent tips from various sources on how to properly drill holes into the ice with an auger. Told in a story format. “A common drilling mistake is applying too much downward pressure on the auger. Pushing down too hard won’t make an auger cut any faster and in some cases, will slow things down. A good indicator that you are pushing too hard is if you lose your balance or surge forward when the auger breaks through the ice…”

There is a multitude of different large wooden plugs one can get at a sporting goods store nowadays for slaying goon muskies. But still, many anglers turn to a lure that, when it originated, wasn’t sold in any store; the “original” muskie bucktail. Nowadays, bucktails are in-line spinners with a skirt made out of deer hair, and they are still a staple of muskie angling. But before the in-line spinnerbaits came along, there was the true bucktail lure. Many a muskie fell victim to those original bucktails

Simple article going over the details on how to create one of the worlds most durable flies for fly fishing. This fly can stand up to it all! record size pike, muskie, snapper, lake trout, sea trout,even sharks! Basically, whatever you can land with a fly rod. nter “The Invincible”, the pike fly that can be tied as big as you want, with synthetics that shed water like a happy duck.

Spring through fall, bass anglers need to try fishing the weeds to catch the big fish. Swimming a jig over the weeds in this fashion reduces snags and makes the situation a lot less trying. Ask most bass anglers how a skirted jig should be fished, and they’ll say that it’s meant to be flipped or pitched then slowly bounced and crawled along bottom or through heavy cover.

Easy guide to setting up slip bobbers. also gives a brief descripton of various slip-bobbing techniques, as well as what kind of equipment you should be using to maximize your effectiveness. “Then one day a solution came to me. Why not use a weight to hold the rig stationary? I retied the rig with a 1-oz egg-style slip sinker on the fishing line above the float. Since I was fishing for pike, I added an 18-inch wire leader above the size 4 Eagle Claw Lazer treble…”

Local sports writer/fisherman, Gord Ellis, discusses various tips, tricks and techniques to angling Northern Pike with a wide variety of spoons. He also makes a few excellent suggestions on which lures you should purchase. “Something about a spoon’s action attracts pike like no other lure. I first learned of its power when I was 10 years old. My father and I were trolling red and white …”

Ever fish with a bobber on a windy day only to have it constantly blow in the wrong directions? This article explains how to set up then utilize an excellent form of stationary bobbing called; slip-bobbing. Slip bobbers are a simple way to present live bait to walleyes, but even simple techniques must be performed correctly. The main purpose of any bobber is to hold the bait up off the bottom. But because bobbers are moved by wind and waves, the bait is also presented over more water.

Silver pike are believed to be a mutation of regular pike and may be deserving of their own species name. Little Vermilion lake will likely document this coming to pass due to the abundance of silver pike found in its waters. the “silver” pike has almost none of the normal markings of a normal pike. Typically, notherns have a dark greenish body with lighter elongated yellow horizontal splotches.

A complete overview on how to maximize your effectiveness while angling for walleyes at night, from what bait to use to where to cast, even how to troll or where to anchor. This article will explain it all in detail. The option to fish at night can be a great equalizer in times of bad weather. Day or night, wind is always a killer, but cold fronts on the other hand don’t have quite the adverse on walleyes at night. If fishing is tough during the day, one of the best plans is to fish at night.

While lampreys may be an invasive species in Canadian waters, that doesn’t mean that we can’t exploit them to our benefit as baitfish in waters where they have already spread. Young Lampreys are often one of the best baits for all manner of fresh water fish, especially walleyes. World record sized walleyes have been caught using Lampreys presented on Northland Float ‘N Spin lures.