Mike Cline
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John,
Thanks for the email. My experiences with MN involve 15 two week vacations during the summers of 1992-2002. Every summer I’d drag my bassboat up from either Alabama or Virginia to Lake Kabetogama and stay in the same small resort. http://www.moosehornresort.com/index.html. There are dozens of good camps and resorts at Kabetogama, Ash River and Crane Lake in the Voyageurs National Park area.
In general Kabetogama was a great base of operations for two weeks of non-stop fishing. Although Kabetogama is essentially Walleye country, I went for the bass and pike and found plenty. Whether you bring your own boat or rent one, here are the possibilities if you base out of Kabetogama. BTW, June is an excellent month to fish there as the bass are begining to bed and the pike are still shallow. We always went in June or late September/early Oct.
Kabetogama has good populations of Smallmouth and Pike and neither species gets much pressure. Just east of (and connected to) Kabetogama is Lake Namakan. This is smallmouth water par excellance, especially the Canadian side. It can only be reached by boat from Kabetogama or Crane Lake and the Canadian north and northwest shoreline is smallmouth nirvana. In June, the big footballs line the rocky shoreline for miles. Its actually pretty easy to prepare to fish the Canadian side. You can get both an Ontaria fishing license and a Remote CANPASS with a few emails and simple application. The Remote CANPASS allows you to travel legally from US to Canadian waters without having to check-in anywhere. (There’s no where to check-in anyway). Namakan also has unpressured pike that averge 5-10#.Kabetogama is also a great base of operations to visit several lakes on the Voyageurs peninsular. At the east end of Kabetogama there is trail access to several lakes within a mile from the shoreline that have excellent populations of Largemouth Bass and Pike. These are perfect float tube or canoe lakes. Jorgen’s lake, one mile from the trailhead is loaded with 3-4# bass and 5# northerns and as many times as I fished it, I was alway alone.
The other lake on the Voyageurs peninsular that warrants consideration is Shoepack. The NPS maintains some boats and canoes on the lake, but its a bit of a hike. Shoepack contains the Shoepack strain of Musky and in June, the lake is alive with em. It is a real adventure to get in there and nab a few of these fish.
One of the downsides of big water like Kabetogama and Namakan is that weather can make them too dangerous to boat at times, so we always had alternatives within an hour from the resort.
One of my favorite was Black Duck lake. Black Duck is an isolated lake just northeast of Orr, MN and is loaded with Smallmouth and Bream. Its just the ticket if the Winds are up on the big lakes. Best of all, just down the road on the way out is a great little resort on Elephant Lake that has a super bar and dining room.
The other alternative that proved exceptionally productive was the Rainy River in International Falls. This isn’t scenic fishing, but the 1st 5 miles from the dam downriver holds an incredible number of large smallmouth and northerns.
Mike, it looks like these are collections of short stories. Is that correct? I was just wondering if there is a need to read them in any order. Since the first one is a little harder to come by I thought I might read the second third to see if I like it before going and trying to find the first one that is out-of-print.
Indeed these are each standalone novels, but they all have the same characters and locations.
I want to take my first trip to Montana this year and experience it all. I am not naive and I know that I am new to this and do not have all of the requisite skills and experience to be truly successful on the water.
Shane,
There’s one thing about Montana that eludes many who have never been here. The place is enormous–not only from sheer distances, but from the amount of total miles of quality water avaiable to anglers. From March to November, the available mileage of fishable streams (including those in Yellowstone) has to number in the 1000s. The only way to manage expectations is too focus on a few select areas and really learn about what they have to offer during the season you plan to visit. The season or month that you want to visit is important to your selection of area. Not all are in there prime year round.When I was young and stupid in the 1970s, I tried to cover too much Montana water in too short of time. I missed a lot of good opportunities to learn about any given water–I spent too many days driving from point A to B and not fishing. Over the years, I learned to focus my trips on a few closely related streams at the right time of year. I learned to set my expectations based on the area and time of year and really focus on fishing a few streams.
Guides are a great way to get introduced to new waters in a new area and will improve your probability of being successful on any new water. In 2007 I spent two weeks in October in Montana on essentially new water. I took four float trips. Two were great and two were mediocre. Regardless of the time of year in Montana–Wind, Rain, Snow, Low Water, High Water, Finicky Trout will conspire to give you great days and poor days on the water. Guides and outfitters will definitely improve the probability that your trip will be memorable and productive and they’ll generally turn you on to truly productive water you can fish on your own.
I’ m waiting for the good ole days when fly fishing was this easy!
Even though I am going to get to spend a month during the summer, my wife has agreed that I can have a separate fishing only trip in the fall to Montana. I want to go in late September or early October. I have watched some shows that were filmed at places like McCoys Spring Creeks and Ruby River Lodge. I would love to try some places like that. Does anyone have any experience with those places? Would it be best to try and go the lodge route or find my own accomodations and just get a guide for a day and try different spots? Any recommendations along these lines is appreciated as well. Thanks!
For your Sept-Oct trip give the Twin Bridges, Montana area a hard look. Especially http://www.thestoneflyinn.com/. Rooster runs a great operation and you can certainly tailor accomodations, food and guiding to your budget. He’s got access to a fair bit of private water if that’s your thing. There’s a lot of wade and float water around Twin Bridges in the Fall (Ruby, Beaverhead, Big Hole and Jefferson) and this fishing is always good. Additionally, Twin Bridges isn’t all that far from the Madison or the Park should you want to fish a few days there as well. The Stonefly and Twin Bridges are a bit more laid back than Dillon, (and better located). It is certainly not as pricey as some of the local lodges and a great place for a simple do-it-yourself trip.
I think you only wind up losing money by buying the kits, and moreover the materials usually kind of suck in them. Zach
I wholeheartedly agree with Zach on this one. Kits suck for a myrid of reasons. Last year while I was still in Alabama, I wrote this little piece on beginning fly tying:
http://www.alabamariverfishing.net/articles/In%20The%20Beginning-II.pdf
After tying my own flies for over 45 years: IMHO – Don’t Buy A Kit
My local river is large, but mostly slow with the occasional II or III
I cut my teeth learning to kayak (SOT and Ultimate 12) on the Coosa River tailwater: http://www.alabamariverfishing.net/Descriptions/Coosa/Coosa.htm and the Tallapoosa River tailwater: http://www.riverfacts.com/rivers/10067.html. With the exception of Tallassee Falls (Class IV), the Ultimate 12 was a sweet boat for these waters. Your NJ river is probably similar.
Anyone ever float a Nu canoe?
The question should read: Anyone ever float a barge? 82lbs versus 55Lbs is no comparison. The NU canoe at 82lbs is always a two person operation. It has great stability but is a real load to handle.
nothing worse than watching a box of flies float down stream.
I just use velcro strips on the bottom of my fly boxes attached to velcro strips on the boat. Never lost one yet, even when I forget to put the box away before I put the boat on top of the car.
Who makes the Ultimate 12?
Native Watercraft at Legacy Paddle Sports: http://www.legacypaddlesports.com/
I had a similar experience several years ago with a guide and studded boots on the Snake River out of Jackson, WY.
How is the sit on top in the river? I’m looking at yaks for river fishing and have been assuming I should get a sit-in with a spray skirt.
The Ultimate 12 is really a unique hull design, more like a canoe than a SOT kayak. You’ll note that mind has a bow spray skirt which allows you to easily move through up to Class III water without taking on much water in the boat. Its not a whiterwater boat, but its a superb fishing platform. The traditional problem with SIT In kayaks for fishing is that they are tedious to get into and out of–something that you would do regularly on a stream or river. Traditional SOTs work just as well for fishing, but are a bit heavier than the Ultimate boats.
Regardless of the type of yak, kayaks that are suitable for fishing will give you great personal mobility on small, medium and large streams.
Were you drifting that bugger or stripping it?
My typical year-round robotic cast and agressively stripping Gallop style.
