July 24 to 29th

[Ozzy30]

So we just got back yesterday from a extended weekend at Alwaki.  Les and I got into Alwaki just before dark on Friday night and got settled in to our cabin.  We spent most of our time fishing with the walleye bite on fire.  It didn't matter if trolling or jigging.  The jig bite I didn't even try my 2 most productive spots.  I marked pods of fish while trolling so I would mark on the graph and once trolling bite was done in morning Les and I would setup on the mark and catch fish one after the other.  Lakers were a little slower this trip with only catching 8 or 9.  I did manage to catch a 9.3lb laker and 1 walleye trolling a random shore line around noon on saturday that was around 6lbs.  Did not get an exact weight on him.  There was one evening Les and I trolled and caught 26 walleye in 2 hours.  We had 5 doubleheaders that night.  It was another fantastic trip to Alwaki.  Thanks to Brian and Tina for being such great hosts again.  All but 1 cabin was full when we pulled out on Wednesday morning.  Booked again twice next year.  Thanks to Lima charlie for letting us stop in and say hi on Saturday. 

[Greg]

Wow - great success Ozz - thanks for the report.

Greg

[TBIRD]

WOW - great few days OZZY - anything happening near Sunnyside?

[Jay Thomas]

Hi Ozzy30,

Thanks for your report. 26 walleye over 2 hours is fun fishing! Would you mind sharing what you perceived as the most productive depth to fish walleye (we're departing 12 Aug for 9 nights on a lake in ZEC Kipawa). Usually, in mid Aug, we start doing s-curve trolling runs in 25 FOW.

How many walleye are in a pod? Routinely I see 1 to 3 walleye in close proximity to one another near the bottom. Only occasionally have I saw "pods" of walleye (say 6 to 10 walleye) in very close proximity to one another.

In your experience on Kipawa, would you say that the harvest limit is demonstrating positive results (i.e. more larger walleye being caught). The COVID stuff resulted in us having some difficulty in confirming our scheduled destination. As a consequence, we were working on returning to Lake Kipawa as an alternative. However, the guys were asking me whether or not the average walleye caught had been increasing in size since the implementation of the harvest slot.

Thanks in advance.

Jay

[Ozzy30]

TBird I very rarely fish sunnyside when I'm up there but I can tell you I probably only seen 6-8 boats on this trip fishing anywhere between alwaki and corbeau island and not one on sunnyside.  Probably lots of fish there.  No pressure. Jay  I troll primarily in 20-25 fow with the exeption of 2 shoals I hit that top off at 11 fow and 18 fow plus I never stop troll so I catch lots making my turns in 60-80 fow.  The hot n tots I use dive between 11 and probably 17,18 feet down depending on how much line I have out.  The lack of pressure and the slot size have definitely made a difference on quality of walleye.  For pods of walleye the 1st one I pulled up on I caught 17 before leaving and there were still walleye there and the other les and I caught 19 and still marking lots of walleye.

[TunaSandwich]

Thanks for the great report Ozzy.  I am headed up tomorrow and will hopefully get into some lake trout.  I will be fishing around Hunter lake i believe its called near Kipiwa lodge.  Not looking for any spots or anything, just curious what depth you think i should be targeting up there ?  I decided not to bring my riggers, but have steel/lead core and dipsy equipment in its place.  I was thinking of running gangs with a spoon, but sounds like you may have picked up a few on cranks ?

Tuna

[smitty55]

Thanks for the great report Ozzy.  I am headed up tomorrow and will hopefully get into some lake trout.  I will be fishing around Hunter lake i believe its called near Kipiwa lodge.  Not looking for any spots or anything, just curious what depth you think i should be targeting up there ?  I decided not to bring my riggers, but have steel/lead core and dipsy equipment in its place.  I was thinking of running gangs with a spoon, but sounds like you may have picked up a few on cranks ?

Tuna

Tuna my recommendation is to first find the thermocline by cranking up the intensity of your sonar. It will show up as a hazy band because of the rapid temp change. More than likely 25- 30 feet on the sonar. Just below that is where the low 50° water temp is that Lakers prefer. The later into summer it gets, the lower the oxygen levels get in the deep water while the lake remains stratified.  I would start at those depths paying attention to structure nearby and baitfish schools for sure. Sometimes it pays just to do a quick 5 minute recon run in big water too, just to see if there are any open water baitfish clouds you can target.

Just for a quick reference I found Hodgey's post from last year Aug 7 with his Fishhawk depth/temp readings. Enjoy your adventure.

10’- 73.8
15’- 73.5
20’- 73.4
25’- 69.0
30’- 51.9
35’- 49.2
40’- 48.8
45’- 47.4
50’- 45.6
55’- 44.9
60’- 44.7
65’- 44.5
70’- 44.2
75’- 43.6
80’- 42.8
85’- 42.8

[Ozzy30]

Hopefully this is in time tuna, I don't check the site at home, what else would i do at work.  lol.  40 feet seemed to be consistant depth for fish.  I was using silver lucky strike spoons.  Silver gator with black and red stripes are my go to, with my new favorite lately being a toronto wobbler silver with copper back.  I did have to fish deeper than I usually do on this trip.  I found fish in 50-54 fow and I trolled downriggers down there to catch them.  I do catch lots suspended.  Where are you staying?  If Alwaki ask Brian he'll tell you where I fish the lakers.  If you want info while up there pm today and I'll give you my phone email.  Enjoy and goodluck.

[Hodgey1]

Ozzy, that sounds like an A+ trip to me. Sorry I wasn’t there to cook for you, hopefully next year. From the sounds of things the supply of walleye is great. It was good to hear that Alwaki was full also.

[Ozzy30]

It was a great trip hodgey and definitely next year.  Think we are a weekend later next year maybe.  We booked the same weekend as T-Bone and he moved weeks.  Les and I were thinking of making of name plates for you, Todd, Mattie and going over and having a couple drinks on your deck but didn't know how the family staying there would take that lol.

[T-Bone]

Great trip report Ozzy...thanks. What you need on the porch are those people cutouts like they're using in MLB games now...just our big, happy, usually-beer drunk faces!

The "week later" is just the calendar crossing over. It's technically the same week, but just 6-days later next years as compared to what it would have been this year. Either way...I'm hoping to enjoy at least two trips up next year...maybe three to make up for missing (so far) this year.

Again...thanks for the report...missed seeing the whole gang up there this July.

[Hodgey1]

Les and I were thinking of making of name plates for you, Todd, Mattie and going over and having a couple drinks on your deck but didn't know how the family staying there would take that lol.

We definitely missed this years trip bad and being there with you guys. I think the people in cabin 10 would have understood had you explained the whole situation... LOL.

I am already counting the days to next year, while also “probably fruitlessly“ hoping a September trip still could happen for us.

[puckster_guy]

Here's hoping for September...

[bucknbull]

Just returned from Kipawa myself.

Sorry I didn't get to introduce myself in person Ozzy.
After some shuffling with cabins, we ended up in #5.
Aside from the occasional "hey, how ya doing", when I walked past someone, I kept mostly to our cabin.

There were a couple of guys in the cabin beside us who I spoke to for a bit and greeted whenever I saw them. Never did get their names.

I had my cousin, his son and nephew with me. Their first time on Kipawa.
Before I could say anything, my cousin was already asking what was available for the following year.
We are re-booked for Aug 14 to 20, 2021.

[Ozzy30]

It's a strange time BnB, my wife and I were in cabin 1 in the black and silver lund.  When this crap is over we can stop and say hello.  Hope you had a great trip and can't wait for a report