Up at the NW Angle, fishing is still FANTASTIC! It's been a very exciting week with a lot going on.

Bass fishing has REALLY turned on. This past week and this coming week will be the best we'll see all year for bass because they've been in the shallows to spawn, they are vulnerable AND they are still concentrated in those areas.

Musky opener was June 20th! We switched to fall trolling since everything is a week ahead of schedule due to the warmer weather. Muskies are on the move to rocks so we recommend looking for them around rocks, weeds and early summer spots.

FISHING TIP: Normally this time of year we would downsize (use real small bait) but bypass that this year and start with cowgirls (bucktail) and some more bigger stuff. Do some trolling since there is a lot of transition going on.

Perch have turned on pretty good. They are done spawning and the bite has been good. We are seeing the same nice jumbos as we did last winter.

Walleye fishing was also really good! Some reefs are going to be loaded up pretty good and some won't but make sure to check them out because they are starting to turn on. The largest walleye I saw was a 29" caught by Justin Lee. Justin and his father, Rex, caught 6-8 walleyes over 25 inches! So, we are getting some large walleyes in our boats!

Crappies have dispersed so we'll see them again in the fall.

On the Minnesota side, there were about 30 launches off the west bar of Little Oak Island so that area has been doing very well. The Flag Island Flats are spotty with the colder mornings. The May fly hatch was on and then off. On and then off. We need to have wind (preferably from the south) to fish this area.

On the Ontario side, the reefs at Skeet Island have been doing the best. 

We've seen lots of deer, with the mild winter the deer are starting to come back so fall hunting should be good! We also have a BIG bear on Oak Island that has been spotted by staff.

Our water temperature is at 67 degrees and we're still fishing the standard depth of 18-24 feet around sharp breaks. The fish are still feeding on crayfish and bugs.

Until next week, good fishing!
Dan Schmidt
Sunset Lodge Manager & Guide

Up at the NW Angle, fishing has been PHENOMENAL. With the nice weather, it's the BEST I've seen in years. We had sunny weather all week and our water temperature is at 65 degrees. Still catching lots of northerns under that 29 inch size which make a great shore lunch! Perch are done spawning so we're starting to catch more of those. Smallmouth bass are up on beds and fishing for them has been fantastic (in shallow, I recommend tube jigs). All groups are still getting their limit of walleyes with countless groups getting more than 50 fish per day. Some with over 100 per day. Several musky's were caught and released while jig fishing for walleye - it's going to be a GREAT musky season! Just a reminder that musky season opens June 20th. We have limited availability, call and we'll do our best to find some dates that work for your group!

On the Minnesota side, Flag Island Flats have turned on since the May flies have hatched. 6-8 feet of water. The Four Blocks area also did well - 12-20 feet of water. 3/8 ounce jig, gold seemed to be the best but fluorescent work well also. For spinner rigs, we used a 1.5 ounce bottom bouncers with a snell spinner. Normally, we don't catch crappies on the Minnesota side. The exception is this time of year. Kids were catching them right off the dock at Young's Bay since they are spawning in the creek there!

On the Ontario side, deeper reefs that top out at 5-17 feet have turned on due to the May fly hatch. Bellies are full of crayfish. 

We were in the right place at the right time to witness loons mating right near the boat! The male was dancing, rolling over backwards, flapping his wings, etc... really trying to impress the female. It was a treat to watch.

The Peterson/Van Dam Group were visiting for their annual father/son fishing trip. They had something pretty special to celebrate. Jordan Peterson (pictured here with his 24 1/4 inch walleye) had BOTH lungs replaced two years ago!

I predicted we'd be breaking the 30" mark soon. Well, this past week, the Mike Tripp Group caught one that measured 31 inches!

Until next week, good fishing!
Dan Schmidt
Sunset Lodge Manager & Guide

Up at the NW Angle, we had some more cold fronts, rain and wind this past week. With the weather constantly changing, fishing was more challenging. We were fishing quite a bit of current and reefs with shallow tops in about 18-22 feet of water. With another bug hatch, the fish are feeding mainly on insect larvae (all the fish I cleaned had bellies full of it) so I recommend trolling with leeches or worms off the points where it transitions to mud. For jigs we're still using 3/8 ounce, any fluorescent color or Lake of the Woods Gold will do the trick. Our water temperature is at about 63 degrees which is about one week ahead of where we were last year. All of our guests still got their limits and were able to land some NICE fish! The biggest fish we heard about was a 30.5 inch walleye.

Very few perch and crappies were caught since they are in the pre and post season spawn. Bass are just going up on the beds. Guests caught LOTS of nice northerns and walleyes!

On the Minnesota side, with the strong winds and rain don't overlook weed beds down in the angle in front of Fort St. Charles. This is a good back up area on days with poor weather conditions. Normand and Little Oak did well.

On the Ontario side, we were still fishing points and reefs with shallow tops. Reefs in Monument Bay warm up first.

We'll have some good blueberry picking this summer with all the rain we've been getting!

We still have a few openings towards the end of June - this is my FAVORITE time of year to fish because reef fishing really starts. June 20th is also the opening of MUSKY fishing! We had one guest tell us that he had a nice eater walleye on the line when a musky got a hold of it and held on to it all the way up to the boat so they were able to get a look at it!

Please call 218-223-8211 if you are able to join us for some fantastic fishing!

Until next week, good fishing!
Dan Schmidt

Up at the NW Angle, we had some cold fronts roll through this past week bringing rain and cooler temperatures. Despite that, the fishing has still been excellent! All of our groups have limited out and are catching very good sized fish! They've reported northerns in the 36" plus range and walleyes in the 25" range. Our high temps this past week were in the 50's and 60's with lows dropping into the 30's. The water temperature has risen to about 55 degrees. The cold temperatures pushed fish into deeper waters but 20-25 feet was still pretty consistent compared to last week. On our warmer, calmer days the morning and evening bite was good in shallower water. Crappies and small mouth bass are starting to move to shallower water for pre-spawn. Perch numbers are down due to their current spawn. Groups are also reporting catching LOTS of bass! In the coming weeks, bring your tube jigs and get on these bass! The first week of June is always a hay day with small mouth bass. 

On the Minnesota side, there were real good reports off of the points near Brush Island and the red buoy near Brush in about 15-20 feet. There isn't much happening on the Flag Island flats yet since there were no bug hatches this week with the colder weather. There is still good fishing on the NW point of Garden Island and Little Oak is also reporting good numbers. They've had good luck with bottom bouncers and a spinner in about 15 feet of water.

On the Ontario side, the popular place to be was still the east and west side of Falcon Island. Our guests were advised not to overlook the points on the little islands adjacent to Falcon out by Monkey Rocks and they were very successful in this area.

The deer are starting to make their way out of the woods and were spotted grazing along the shore lines.

The BIG news this past week, was the BIG fish we are seeing. We've had countless fish over 25". I haven't seen that 30 incher yet...but he's coming!

Until next week, good fishing!
Dan Schmidt
Sunset Lodge Manager & Guide