Mixed Bag July 13th-14th, Slowly learning more about our lake...

This is a late post, a few photos from this past weekend up at the cottage. Didn't get a chance to get out on the water as much as we would have liked but still managed to land a few fish.

Saturday morning, my first natural (all fins intact) lake trout caught from the lake. A healthy juvenile fish, an encouraging sign for the future. Released after a quick photo in the net:





Got out later in the afternoon targeting walleye by a shoal surrounded by weed beds and ended up getting on a school of black crappie. First crappie we have ever caught on the main lake.



Sunday morning we headed to a bay that we have been tracking the movement of whitefish throughout the season. So far, they have remained relatively close to their spring location.

On our way to the bay, we decided to scout some main lake structure, before the channel leading to the bay. We marked a fish near bottom on a ledge in 35'-40' that comes up quickly from a deep basin. Almost immediately after hitting bottom, my cousin landed this whitefish. Caught on a chartreuse vibrato, note the wound on the side of the fish. A bite from a larger fish? A prop scar?



Once we arrived in the bay, it wasn't long before we hooked into another huge whitefish. This one was caught on a 2.5" soft plastic minnow, rigged on a high hook about 5' from the bottom over 35'. Quick photo and released.



We marked several other fish and missed a few more before calling it and heading home. All in all, a successful weekend of fishing despite the limited rod hours.

Looking good! Jealous of the crappie! That one whitie is a Neanderthal! Look at that forehead!

Might be the biggest forehead/shoulders I’ve seen on one.

That's awesome! Looks like a fantastic weekend. Those whities are beasts - and surprisingly shallow compared to summer whities on Simcoe.

I was expecting them to have pushed deeper as well!

Like the pictures of the lake trout. Very nice crappie as well. If that shoal you were on has deeper drop offs, those crappie will be there during the day, all summer. Many anglers have a hard time finding crappie during the day once the summer gets hot. You found a great area to return to, for years to come. It may even be a great spot to ice fish for them. It just depends if that area is close to the deeper water. My guess is, we will be seeing more crappie pictures from you in the future.

Thanks for the reply C-man, always appreciate your input especially when it comes to crappie. The shoal is surrounded by deeper water of varying depths. It’s located in the middle of a wide channel that drops down to 60’ on one side and ~30’ on the other. Is there a specific depth you would recommend targeting for crappie this time of year?

We caught the 3 crappie at dusk, probably in less than 10’. Steady retrieve on a 2.5” charteuse soft plastic minnow rigged on a nedhead.

Thanks for the reply C-man, always appreciate your input especially when it comes to crappie. The shoal is surrounded by deeper water of varying depths. It’s located in the middle of a wide channel that drops down to 60’ on one side and ~30’ on the other. Is there a specific depth you would recommend targeting for crappie this time of year?

We caught the 3 crappie at dusk, probably in less than 10’. Steady retrieve on a 2.5” charteuse soft plastic minnow rigged on a nedhead.

Sorry didn't see your reply. You said 60 feet on one side, and 30 on the other. I don't use electronics but I know most of you do. Find the thermocline near that hump, do not fish below it. The crappie will be suspended just above the thermocline and where the weeds stop growing on the hump. I would say 15 to twenty feet down. That channel would have some movement to it I am guessing, hard for me to tell by not seeing it. So during the day the crappie will be very active just off the hump waiting for the minnows in the slightly warmer water just above the thermocline. You caught the crappie later in the day, so as it gets later the crappie will come up even more shallow on that hump. If there is a close shoreline the crappie will take off for that around dark o'clock. Crappie never stop eating from my experience, they never stop moving either. After the water warms up from June until the fall fattening season it's 15 to 20 feet daytime depth. Then from sunset to sunrise they are on the move in schools up and down the shoreline. Crayfish, minnows and lots of bugs. On a night with no wind you can here the crappie slightly breaking the surface for bugs. They are the only fish that make this sound on the top of the water. It sounds a refrigerator door opening, and I am being totally serious. On a full moon you can see the water move and the ripple of rings the crappie make as they suck in a bug. As for the moon, there is going to be some great fishing tonight, tomorrow and Saturday night with the moon and cool out, with just a bit of wind.

Thanks for the reply C-man, always appreciate your input especially when it comes to crappie. The shoal is surrounded by deeper water of varying depths. It’s located in the middle of a wide channel that drops down to 60’ on one side and ~30’ on the other. Is there a specific depth you would recommend targeting for crappie this time of year?

We caught the 3 crappie at dusk, probably in less than 10’. Steady retrieve on a 2.5” charteuse soft plastic minnow rigged on a nedhead.

Sorry didn't see your reply. You said 60 feet on one side, and 30 on the other. I don't use electronics but I know most of you do. Find the thermocline near that hump, do not fish below it. The crappie will be suspended just above the thermocline and where the weeds stop growing on the hump. I would say 15 to twenty feet down. That channel would have some movement to it I am guessing, hard for me to tell by not seeing it. So during the day the crappie will be very active just off the hump waiting for the minnows in the slightly warmer water just above the thermocline. You caught the crappie later in the day, so as it gets later the crappie will come up even more shallow on that hump. If there is a close shoreline the crappie will take off for that around dark o'clock. Crappie never stop eating from my experience, they never stop moving either. After the water warms up from June until the fall fattening season it's 15 to 20 feet daytime depth. Then from sunset to sunrise they are on the move in schools up and down the shoreline. Crayfish, minnows and lots of bugs. On a night with no wind you can here the crappie slightly breaking the surface for bugs. They are the only fish that make this sound on the top of the water. It sounds a refrigerator door opening, and I am being totally serious. On a full moon you can see the water move and the ripple of rings the crappie make as they suck in a bug. As for the moon, there is going to be some great fishing tonight, tomorrow and Saturday night with the moon and cool out, with just a bit of wind.

Going to apply this knowledge next time out- thanks again!

That is quite the assortment. Very nice

Is your lake stocked with splake?The fish in your first two pictures doesn’t have a deep fork in the tail. Could just be the way it’s sitting in the net. Just curious.

It’s funny you mention that, I did a double take myself when I first saw it. The only officially stocked species in our lake are lake trout.

Awesome looking whities…. Looks like your cottage is on a great lake fishwise.

Nice fish, Mike!

Haha...when you mention Crappie, you've got to know Crappeeeman will be posting soon.
Not disappointed.

Nice pics, enjoy your dinner.


Cheers,