First Time to Taggart Bay Lodge-Advice Appreciated

[10ring]

Heading to Taggart Bay Lodge the last week of June for a family fishing trip this summer. I have never been to Lake Kipawa so I am pretty stoked to join this forum in hopes of gathering information to help us get up to speed once there.  With a few youth going along, I am hopeful to learn some tips and tactics etc... that might save us time figuring out how to catch walleyes/smallmouth/pike on the lake.  What, in your opinions, do we need to have in our tackle boxes and what are some of the techniques that work for catching walleyes etc... that time of the year. What should we be looking for once on the lake to target fish that time of the year.  Thank you in advance for any help!

10ring

[Oarin]

Hi 10Ring, I've been going to Taggarts  for over 20 years. It's a really nice camp. I'm currently out of state on a vacation but I'll PM you when I get back and we can hook-up by phone. Jot down any questions and I'll tell all I can. Which cabin are you in? Oarin.

[Jay Thomas]

Just some general suggestions:

1. Study the depth contour map - see the Depth Map Sticky provided by RHYBAK in the General Discussion section. You can zoom in to see as much detail as you wish. Typically, at the end of Jun, you'll find walleye in 20 FOW or less.

2. Medium light rods and reels.

3. Gear for jigging or bottom bouncing

4. Gear for slip bobbering to catch suspended walleye.

Explore and enjoy Lake Kipawa. It's a beautiful place.

Jay

[T-Bone]

First time at Kipawa, put some patience in your tackle box. Keep working it when there...and good luck.

Happy New Year to all...

T-Bone.

[limacharley]

Call the owner of the lodge-they know all the spots, they know what works at each given time of year ...!

[10ring]

Thanks for the information!  I appreciate the insight.

10ring

[Hodgey1]

I have never been to Lake Kipawa so I am pretty stoked

10R,

You will be impressed with the beauty and most notably, the peacefulness of Kipawa. Last year was my first trip and enjoyed it so much, I went twice.

As far as tips, I'm a newb, but 6-8 lb test on a med-light rod reel combo, tied to a 1/8oz  chartreuse jig head, baited with either half a crawler or a live leech worked to land lots of walleye in my boat.

[50fish]

I will be there that same week. It will be my first time there as well.

[10ring]

We'll see you there 50fish.  Thanks again to all who have been so generous with information regarding fishing Lake Kipawa. 

[BigChief]

10ring
I have been going to TBL since 2002. You definitely picked a great lodge to start with especially having young ones going along. The accommodations are top notch and there are lots for the kids to do. I will actually be up there that week but we are trying a new lodge out, Two Moon Lodge. It is just through the Narrows so not too far from TBL. We will be coming back that way to hit some of our old spots. So if you see a blue pontoon boat say hi. We are usually the only pontoon up there so everyone knows who we are.

For fishing here are some tips I can give but take them for what they are worth:
As far as species:
Small Mouth- we never specifically target them but have been catching more and more every year while fishing for walleye. The small mouth population is exploding up that end of the lake. I caught about 30 or so while walleye fishing last year. And most are 2-3 pounders with a great fight. One place I do know of is the back side of the Islands at the mouth of Deep Bay, which is the bay that TBL is located on.

Walleye- I have slowly transitioned over the years from regular jigging to a slip bobber with a 1/16oz chartreuse jig. And we almost extensively use leeches now, which can be bought by the pound at Kipawa Bait or other places. Although half of a free night crawler from TBL will always work also. The slip bobber is great for the kids because you are not constantly re-rigging them if they get a snag regular jigging so you actually get more time on the rod. Plus my sons have caught many a walleye while having their rod in the rod holder because they were bored. And the walleye basically hooked itself. We use 4-6lb test on medium action spinning rods. For depth that time of year we are usually at 10-12 feet for the slip bobber. They should still be back in the bays in the shallow water in the early mornings and late evenings. We usually fish with the sun, when it comes up and when it goes down. As for places the TBL side of Bug Island is not bad. It is right in Deep Bay. The mouth of Hidden Bay and between the islands in Snake Bay are usually not bad then too. I can't give my other spots as my sons will throw me off the boat but

Pike- we have also caught a few while fishing for walleye also. We will use any lure that is shallow running and makes some noise when targeting them. We often try the sunny shallow shores for Queens Bay and Wolf Bay in the afternoons when the walleye are not biting.

Also TBL provides rods for Lake Trout that you can borrow although that is the one fish I have never caught up there yet.

Lastly TBL has the small bass and pike lakes that are fun to take the kids to also. You can usually catch a bunch of fish in a short time in the afternoons when you are not walleye fishing.

You may also be able to catch walleye in the middle of the day if it is overcast or you fish a lot deeper but that is usually our time to rest/relax while waiting for the sun to go up/down.

Good luck and I am sure you will love the place. We didn't do very well our first time up there in 2002 because we had no idea what we were doing or where to go. If it wasn't for a crusty old veteran taking us out our last night there we may have never gone back.

Good luck and hope the kids have fun!

[Oarin]

I've been going there for more than 20 years and Big Chief hit it right on the mark. Slip bobbers are the way to go for kids. There are videos that can show how to use them. As it gets closer PM me and I'll help all I can.

[10ring]

Thanks BigChief, I appreciate the insight and I wish you good luck fishing out of Two Moon Lodge.  I have piles of jig heads poured, painted, and ready to go.  After talking to a few people on here, I did purchase a few slip bobbers.  Never used one, but it looks fairly simple to rig up.  It makes sense to try that with the kids. 

[Greg]

Just another thought...

All great "technique" advice for anywhere on Kipawa really!  As this was focused on jigging or drifting, I'll throw in a little bit about trolling - any kind of 4 to 8 foot diver, chrome with blue always seems to do well.  As do worm harnesses, with and without bottom bouncers.

Use a leader (I've been bitten off by pike more than once and lost that nice new shiny $15 live target lure).
Stick to about 2mph (plus or minus .5mph).

Trolling in the evening hours along a nice shore is a great relaxing moment I look forward to every year.

[10ring]

Thanks Greg.  I have a bunch of silver and blue hot-n-tots and Rapalas ready to go.  I'm open for a bit of trolling or any method that will put fish in the boat.  We are a little over a month out from our trip so it's time to get the tackle bags and boxes in good order.

[crackers42]

10ring,

That time of year I would troll with a worm harness to cover some water.

1/2 ounce to 3/8 ounce lead sinker about two feet up from the spinner.

Red, black/white, brown spinner colors with a worm.

They tend to be in shallower flats that time of year and feeding heavy.

It is a late year so you it the nail on the head for fishing.