3 Seasons June 11-18th

[pike mike]

 A great week ,as usual with 3 Seasons ,despite some set backs .
First day in surface water temperature a chilly 58'F .My boat mate Smurf boats a 3+ lb'r in bright sunshine . Alas over the slot size ...back it goes . . In another of our three boats my young son "Chucky" catches a beauty 5+ lb'r ....once again back in . I was the only 1 of our 6 members  after that to catch fish that day. I managed to catch 5 total bringing 3 back to camp .
Later that day ,as the group fish cleaner , I set out to tackle the new fish cleaning technique .I ,unlike many , shun the electric knife and /or through the rib cage technique choosing to stick by the traditional over the rib cage cleaning taught to me by my Father and Grandfather before him . Starting on the smallest fish I clean as I thought was correct only to be corrected post fillet by Reggie . I left the pelvic fins attached but failed to leave the pectoral fins .One for the frying pan .Two in the freeze (filleted correctly ) . I have to admit I find the new technique a pain in the bass .
The rest of the week , fishing our usual "Hot Spots ", we struggled only bringing home a total of 28 eyes between the 6 of us by week's end . 
We caught far more white fish than any of the previous 19 years.All caught in 25' - 6' of water while targeting walleye.
I never saw a large scale mayfly hatch .
We had some pike success but they seemed off as well
A few lakers were caught but none large enough
A total of  6 chunky smallies were caught despite not being targeted
Other than a massive storm early in the week our week consisted of bright sunshine with  fairly hot temps and limited to no wind  .Not a recipe for good walleye fishing with the lake being smooth as glass many days 
The surface water temp on our last night registered at 70'F . A 12'F rise over our week       
The bugs ,both mosquitos and black flies ,were evident but not anywhere near as bad as I had expected
As always Reg was an amazing host and the camp was in tiptop shape
A wonderful mid-week camp-wide pot luck meet and greet was a highlight . Thanks to the organizers
Watching a sunset-splashed cow moose take a bug relieving swim on last night fishing was a treat as well 
Till next year "Au revoir Bonsoir"

[pike mike]

PS -We left lots for you Rhybak

[T-Bone]

The rest of the week , fishing our usual "Hot Spots ", we struggled only bringing home a total of 28 eyes between the 6 of us by week's end . 

Thanks for the report. But wow...that's some tough fishing. Wonder if the cycle is just 'late' or the fish are 'off' for some reason....

[Fort Wisers]

Great report...
The weather has been all over the map this year so it's no surprise the fish are messed up too!

[pike mike]

 I believe ,like the spring we had ,the cycle may be delayed but ,an almost full week of still bright sunshine didn't help .  The bite may have started  at  1230am or 2 am ...who knows .Only the fish know for sure .We had a great week none the less 

[wvmedic]

Thanks for the report.

[Jay Thomas]

Thanks for your report. Sorry to read about the tough fishing. Did anyone else in camp find the secret or was the tough fishing universal?

Jay

[pike mike]

Jay : With no conceit involved in my response to your question , I will say that despite our group's tough sledding finding eyes I noticed no more success from any other other boats  fishing around us . In fact I would say most were less successful . No disrespect to any of them .

[SgtCrabby]

Sounding like tough fishing is widespread so far.
Makes me apprehensive,  I will be there next week. 
Hope it cycles back into hungry eyes when we get there.

[Oarin]

Thanks for the report Mike. We've had weeks like that too. Capt. Guy always said weather trumps everything else.

[Balsams]

I see there are some comments on the slow fishing so though I would add this on Kipawa. Had a trip wknd after Cdn May long wknd to Temagimi River system lake north of North Bay. Fishing was good. Spoke to a few other groups who went to ZEC Kipawa lake and the fishing was fast and furious as per usual from other years...same time of year. There are lots of theory about "the weather" or "a late spring" or "things are behind this year"...I'm not sure it's not time to implement some more stringent measures on possession limits. I know this strikes a nerve with lots of folks, but resources need to be preserved. Outfitters need to get together and impose just a small concession, say 4 from 6 in a slot size. Let the provincial be what they are but outfitters should go one better. That would save 2 fish per fisher and would make a difference.
JUST AN OPINION.

[pike mike]

Having fished the north end of Lake Kipawa for 19 years and only read on this blog about other  areas of the "Kipawa Area" and surrounding lakes I do not believe fish stocks in the north of Lake Kipawa are an issue .I cannot speak for the Laniel area or other surrounding lakes as I have not witnessed the fishing pressure in these areas .I see very little fishing pressure in the north of Kipawa .To compare to a complete different  river system ,ie Temagami from a scientific viewpoint is not viable . Once again only my opinion . Seeing a 57'F surface temperature for June 11th was more of an indicator of the week to come for me . Even the pike were not the most active despite a week of bright sunshine . Water temperature is King and weather is Queen when it comes to spring fishing success.