Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Manotak Master Angler Winner July 16-23

Another week has past and another winner has won our Manotak Master Angler Award. This past weeks winner is Bill Rathke (picture on right). Everyone caught big fish for the week but Bill was hard to beat. 28 inch Walleye & 36 inch Pike are a pretty good combination. The weather is still quite dry and there are still alot of fires north of us. We have had a small amount of rain but nothing that will remove the fire ban that is currently in place. The fishing has been very consistent with big Walleyes being the norm. Quantities of fish are decreasing slightly but the size of Walleyes are remaining on the larger size. The reefs are definitely the place to be with early morning and evenings being the best time for Walleyes. The Sandbar is in full swing with last evening being very good. One boat caught 7 Eyes in 13 minutes. I am not sure why they were timing themselves but that is a good catch. Pike are still very active and there are some larger Pike being caught but the big boys are being found on the reefs alongside Walleyes. We did have one group that caught quite afew Pike on jerk baits and we have since started working them along weedlines and reefs. We will let you know how they work out. Bass are still one of the most active fish biting right now. It is common to see a number of 15-18 inch Bass caught in a short period of time. Leeches are definitely the best choice for the larger Bass.
The Jumbo Perch have been elusive. We are catching Perch but the bigger ones have been harder to find. Will keep you posted if we find the pattern for big Perch. Musky are being caught on a more frequent basis as of late. Most of our guests have been keying in on Walleye, Pike & Bass but they are catching a Musky or two in the process. August & September are always our best months for Musky so with the warmer weather to date we should see more action. Our remote Walleye/Pike lake has been on a good run lately. Big Eyes are the norm and the walk is very dry with our current weather.
We have recieved a few business cards for our Manotak Business Center Board at the dock so keep sending us any information regarding your business, or items for sale, etc. We also hope you are enjoying our live Webcam. So far it has been alot of fun hearing the positive comments from family and friends back home watching the fisherman here at the lodge.
Stay tuned for more updates shortly.

Friday, July 15, 2011

Manotak Master Angler Winner

Another great week fishing at Manotak Lodge and another MANOTAK MASTER ANGLER WINNER. This week we are congratulating Chris Alberts for reaching the pinnacle of the fishing world: "Manotak Master Angler Winner July 9-16". We might be laying it on alittle thick but none the less a great achievement. Chris caught some nice fish and also benefited from our unique handicapping system. We might change it up this next week. Any suggestions are appreciated. The intent is to make it fun and at the same time allow everyone to at least have a shot at the big prize.
It is also worthy to note that Chris's wife Jean has been coming to Manotak Lodge since 1959. It is extremely fascinating talking with them both to hear all of the stories such as the guides who fished for Manotak Lodge, or the boats and motors used at that time. And even the first private owners, King & Marge Johnson. Times have sure changed (a GPS unit in those days was an anchor dropped over the side of a boat to a certain depth until it hit something. An underwater camera was the guide telling the youngest in the boat to dive down and see what is underwater for fish). We might be spoiled in that regard but we still cannot make the fish bite on command.
We hope all of you have found our new WEBCAM on our website and have found it to be a fun thing to use. All of our current guests have found it to be a great thing just to call home and have relation or friends see them live at our lodge. Kinda strange to see people standing in the yard talking on a cell phone waving in mid-air.
Fishing this week was very good and also interesting. Walleyes have been very big almost to a fault. Guests are trying to catch shorelunch size Walleyes and are catching alot of "Eyes" well over 20 inches consistently. This is a great problem to have and we are not complaining. Manotak's policy about releasing all Walleyes over 18 inches is really paying off big time. Our guests have really become great stewards of promoting the release of big fish and they are reaping the benefits. We hope this is happening at all lodges.
The reefs are producing the most Walleyes at the moment and the best bait has been Leeches and Nightcrawlers. Dragging a Bait Walker, Crawler Harness, or Spinner rig is the best option.
Pike are being caught in good numbers but the size is down slightly this week. Mid-30 inchers were caught but the 40 inch plus Pike were elusive. Rattle Traps, Spinners and Spoons are still working best. Why change when they are working, right?
Bass are really on a roll at this time. Leeches are working great but Rattle Traps, Tubes & Flukes are still a good choice. Deeper reefs are now starting to kick in for Bass and we know that Walleyes are always right behind.
Jumbo Perch are being elusive at the moment. We are cathing Perch but fewer larger ones. This has been the pattern for the past two weeks. We think they are going slightly deeper and we have been fishing too shallow. Will let you know.
Our remote Musky Lake has been up and down for success. One day we will catch 5-10 Muskies and the next day 1 or 2. This is fishing and there is no predicting what will happen on any given day but the fisherman who hit the lower count day are being worked over pretty hard by the larger count fisherman. Fisherman don't have egos do they?
On a side note: we will be selling some older 20hp Yamaha 2 stroke engines. They range in the 1995-1998 vintage. They run great but we just do not use them any more as we have mostly all 4 stroke. If you are interested let me know and we can discuss via phone or email.
Keep watching the WEBCAM and we hope it keeps you excited to fish Manotak Lodge. Tune in on Wednesday evenings around 9:00-9:30pm and see our latest Master Angler be crowned).
Until next week: Hooks Sharp, Lines tight, Net ready, Camera focused!

Sunday, July 10, 2011

Manotak Master Angler Winners/Fishing Report

Finally the weekly update for the past two weeks (I know that does not make sense but based on my schedule and workload it kinda does).
The Master Angler contest is still going strong with Matt Rau winning the last week of June and Ken Smith taking the honors this past week. Congratulations to Matt & Ken and to all the anglers who fished hard.
Walleyes are on an interesting bite right now. We are having absolutely moments of unbelievable fishing at times and then a slow period. As an example, last Wednesday the daytime was fairly slow but the evening saw catches of over 40 Walleyes in a 2-3 hour period. These different patterns are happening each day where the bite is really slow in the morning and then fantastic in the evening but then the next day it might switch. We know this is the way fishing is sometimes but we are trying to get a good handle on a pattern. The even better news is that the size of Walleyes are really big. Chris & Jean from Chicago this past Friday caught "Eyes" of 27", 24", 22", 21" & 19" in just one spot in a short period. This is a recurring theme. Baits of choice are still live bait with Leeches & Minnows being the first choice with Nightcrawlers a close second. Cranking for Eyes with small baits such as Fat Raps, Hot"N"Tots, are still working well but not as fast as live bait. The early evening has been best time for cranking Walleyes.
Pike are on a consistent bite at the moment. This pattern is more normal where we are finding them on the weed edges cruising for Perch and on the deeper reefs chasing Bass & Walleye. Perch colored baits such as Rattle Traps and Mepps spinners are working really well in addition to any crank bait that is Blue & Silver. Consistent Pike in the 30-40 inch range are very common. One interesting fishing story from last week was Mark from Illinois had tagged into a monster Pike over in Grassy Bay and had it fly out of the water acouple of times. Another boat from over 300 yards away saw the fish and came over to watch the fight. Unfortunately, the big brute Pike won the battle when it snapped Mark's line. They all said this fish was way over 40 inches. I am sure the fish story now being told has this fish now estimated at probably 60 inches plus(not that fisherman lie about length of fish).
Bass are still on a fantastic bite right now. Topwater is still in full swing along the rock piles. Our Master Angler contest had Bass in the 16-18 inch range consistently. Leeches are the preferred live bait but the smaller Rattle Traps and Crank baits shaped like a crayfish are working well.
You probably remember when we said that this has been the best start to Perch fishing in our 11 years of being at the lodge. Well, I should have kept my mouth shut. This past week was more spotty for Perch than previous weeks. Some fisherman caught a mess of larger Perch but they really had to work for them while others were only catching the smaller ones. Numbers of Perch are still good but the larger slabs were more elusive. This is our best time for Perch normally so we will keep you posted.
Musky fishing has been about average this past couple of weeks. We had a couple in the mid-40's but did not crack the 50 inch mark. We had 2 musky "hunters" this past week and they caught a few and had a couple nice follows but it was not over the top. August & September are usually our best months but our waters are warming up pretty quickly so we think the action for Musky will speed up. Our remote Musky lake however is on a fantastic run right now. Catches of 10-14 Muskies caught in one boat in a day was not unusual. We highly recommend a day at this lake when you are here at Manotak Lodge for your vacation.
Speaking of remote lakes, our walk-in Walleye & Pike lake is unbeleivable at the moment. Huge size and lots of quantity is the norm on this lake. We hope that all of our fisherman take advantage of this remote lake and experience Canada fishing at its best.
I mentioned in our last Blog that we had some exciting news coming in the near future. Well, we are confident that Monay or Tuesday we will be able to announce what it is. Keep an eye on our homepage on our website of http://www.manotak.com/ We hope you will enjoy it.
In addition, we have our Manotak Business Center board up at the dock for our guests to promote their business or if they want to sell something. You are more than welcome to send me an email: (manotaklodge@gmail.com) stating your business that you offer, or of something that you would like to sell. I will print it off and post on the board at the dock. Remember, we have people from all across the country here at our lodge so if you have something to offer, someone else could be interested.
That's all for now. Stay tuned and check our website Monday or Tuesday. I might even send out an email with the news.