I went to cottage this weekend to prepare for shutdown next weekend and I did about 1.5hrs of fishing Saturday evening and 2 hrs on Sunday morning and the walleye were feeding on the troll and full of 4" minnows. Fished anywhere from 22ftw to 50ftw but fish were out in 32-50ftw. I was trolling 26ft down to 32ft down with ripplin red fins.
Did you catch any? I was there Sept 19-22. Fish were not biting and weather was brutal (non-stop rain and cold). Caught a handful of fish for the week.
How do you get Redfins so deep?
I caught 6 Friday evening in and 7 Saturday morning. Leadcore on 1 rod the other is a small jet diver. only 3 under size, 1 was just over line the rest were 17"-19.5"
Thanks for your report Ozzy. Based on your long term experience fishing Lake Kipawa, I'd appreciate your input on why larger walleye are not being caught. The harvest length limit (37 to 53 cm (14.6 to 20.9 inches)) was imposed in 2016. That being the case, I believe that there has to be a lot more larger walleye swimming in Lake Kipawa now compared with 2016. However, trip reports don't seem to reflect that or else fishermen are not reporting the catching of larger walleye. Perhaps there is so much natural forage in Lake Kipawa that the walleye are difficult to attract with crawlers, leeches and/or lures. Thanks in advance.
Jay
I tried the same thing Oz. I used a 2 oz inline banana weight. It took a ripplin red fin (fav lure chrome and blue) down to 22ft. Got 3. Was marking fish around 20ft in 40 to 50fow. thx for the tip ;D
Quote from: Jay Thomas on October 03, 2022, 05:06:55 PM
Thanks for your report Ozzy. Based on your long term experience fishing Lake Kipawa, I'd appreciate your input on why larger walleye are not being caught. The harvest length limit (37 to 53 cm (14.6 to 20.9 inches)) was imposed in 2016. That being the case, I believe that there has to be a lot more larger walleye swimming in Lake Kipawa now compared with 2016. However, trip reports don't seem to reflect that or else fishermen are not reporting the catching of larger walleye. Perhaps there is so much natural forage in Lake Kipawa that the walleye are difficult to attract with crawlers, leeches and/or lures. Thanks in advance.
Jay
Jay
Steve and I have been catching a lot of walleye over the slot size.
My biggest this July was 10.6 pounds
with all three of my trips this last season, My group was able to take home all fish in the 19-20" range.
My first trip in early June, we never saw a fish below the slot size . All fish were either keepers or to big.
Remember the magic number Jay.....7 feet
We caught alot of over size the slot early in the year also. I do alot of trolling and find most of my fishing locations doing this and as the summer went on and more pressure from fishing and boat traffic I marked more and more fish deeper in the water column. This is what I found atleast at our end of the lake. I didn't really fish to many of my spots up by Alwaki this year and concentrated more on Lac Hunter. It takes awhile to develop spots and patterns in a new body of water. I believe next year will be a fantastic year for fish and size now that I have spent a season figuring out the lake. I will be closing down the cottage this coming weekend but if weather holds I would go back up for a weekend, I love the fall. I seen 1 other boat all weekend.
Quote from: Ozzy30 on October 04, 2022, 08:29:17 AM
We caught alot of over size the slot early in the year also. I do alot of trolling and find most of my fishing locations doing this and as the summer went on and more pressure from fishing and boat traffic I marked more and more fish deeper in the water column. This is what I found atleast at our end of the lake. I didn't really fish to many of my spots up by Alwaki this year and concentrated more on Lac Hunter. It takes awhile to develop spots and patterns in a new body of water. I believe next year will be a fantastic year for fish and size now that I have spent a season figuring out the lake. I will be closing down the cottage this coming weekend but if weather holds I would go back up for a weekend, I love the fall. I seen 1 other boat all weekend.
LOL
Probably Joe
Thanks for the replies guys!
Jay
I've been here ten years now. Man time flies! I still learn new things about this lake all the time.
Quote from: Ozzy30 on October 03, 2022, 10:39:52 AM
I was trolling 26ft down to 32ft down with ripplin red fins.
What color Oz? 8)