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.