Belated fathers day trip report to Grassy Lake

[Netman]

Over the father's day weekend my son and I made a last-minute trip to Grassy Lake to celebrate his 30th birthday and enjoy some much needed off grid rest and relaxation. The fishing was great! we were able to catch many walleye over the slot limit with the largest in the 24-25 inch (2.5kg/5lb) range. The Largest Pike was the 36-37 inchs. The weather ranged from cold and windy to Hot and calm. the bugs were almost nonexistent with only a few mosquitoes on the warmer days. James had a video made of the trip that I thought y'all may enjoy. https://youtu.be/GfaMGSbFUAg?si=7iDkZGR6IeYI7I_c

I hope all of the north of the border members had a great Thanksgiving!

[Jay Thomas]

Hi Netman,

Thanks so much for your trip report. You and your son landed some nice walleye over a couple of days. I really appreciated watching the you tube video that James produced. That video permitted me to see Grassy Lake and the surrounding area for the first time. No wonder you have returned so many times.

Jay

[Netman]

Thanks Jay, we did have a great time and the Walleye were cooperating once we found them. The video was special and I thought James did a great job describing the trip and the area. I am hoping Jimmy keeps the camps running for many more years. It's a special place to us and a lot of others I'm sure. Most weeks we are the only boat on the lake! We really enjoy the solitude.

[Jig and drift]

Thanks for the report. The video is really good. We have been going to Dumoine for 30 years and have driven  that "road" many times.  We talked about making a video ourselves just for memory purposes.  To see it on film is fun. Once you pass the big bridge the quality of the road just declines quickly. I have seen the Grassy sign at the turn off but didn't realize how close it was until looking at the map. Do you go up to that northern large end of the lake? Is that where you have to find the channel to get past the rocks and grassy bottom?   Kipawa outfitters use to have that on their fly in list when I first started going up there.   Thanks again.

[Netman]

Hi @Jig and drift

The road has deteriorated over the years, but it does limit the amount of people who make the trip in past the Kipawa river bridge. We do usually fish the norther end of the lake, and yes you do have to run a specific line to get past the shallow weedy area just south of the kipawa river entrance into Grassy. The rocky area he describes is just as the channel opens up into the larger norther Lake section. Grassy has a lot of submerged shoals and rocks and careful slow navigation is advised until you get familiar with the hazards. I talked to another individual this summer that also said that Kipawa outfitters used to handle all the cabins on Dumoine, Grassy and Watson. That must have been a lot of work!

Just a quick note on the Video - My son James is a Physical Therapist (DPT), Personal Trainer, and competitive natural body builder. This video is one of a series that he created describing his year long journey in preparing for this year's competitions.

I hope everyone is enjoying the fall. It is beautiful here in Western Maryland!

[Jig and drift]

We have been told that since they aren't logging past the Kipawa river the grader doesn't cross the bridge so the road stinks. As for all the bent trees they said there was a heavy snow early last fall before the leaves fell and once the birch bend they don't come back up.

[NortonJoe]

Looks like you guys had a great trip.  We have been going to Watson Lake for over 40 years and love the Grassy/Watson/Wolf lake system. Ove those years we have gone up on Grassy a number of times. We are already looking forward to our trip this year! 211 days and counting down!

[Netman]

Looks like you guys had a great trip.  We have been going to Watson Lake for over 40 years and love the Grassy/Watson/Wolf lake system. Ove those years we have gone up on Grassy a number of times. We are already looking forward to our trip this year! 211 days and counting down!

My son and I did have a great trip. Since it was a short trip we stayed at the cabin next to Jimmy's place. I was also able to make a longer second trip from August 16th to the 24th. That was the first time the weather kept us off the main lake. We managed to make it out but soon realized fishing was going to be impossible. My buddy and I are very experienced fishermen and boaters and when we both started going for the life jackets we laughed and decided ther are no fish worth swamping a boat. That north wind blew for 3 days strait, but only kept us off the main lake one day. The fishing was good, but not great. We did double up on 40 inch pike while trolling one windy day. That sure made things interesting in the boat for awhile. The evening bite was as good as usual, but we had to hunt them down with crawler harnesses behind bottom bouncers during the afternoon. We have never made it down to Watson - the water is usually way to low when we are there. I hope you had a Merry Christmas, and I wish you a Happy New Year.