fishing in a remote lake north of thunder bay

Question
Hello,

On monday I am going 3 hours north of Thunder Bay to a remote lake for a fishing/family trip. The Lake has mainly pike and walleye. The pike are quite big(16-30") although most are in the low 20's. As for the walleye not sure but biggest i have caught there is 26". The water is full of leeches a and is murky. I was wondering what lures or setups i should be using to fish up there, during the day and the night. Let me know preferably before i leave, i know its short notice and you might not even get to check your emails.

thanks tons,
jordon


Answer
Jordan; Lucky you going to a remote lake fishing trip.  I have never been fortunate enough to fish a remote lake.  I have spent several summers fishing lakes in Northern Minnesota and Northern Wisconsin and have caught a good many pike but not very many walleyes.  From what I have heard about fishing remote lakes is that the best bait to make certain you have several Daredevil spoons.  However I have not had much luck with these in the more heavily fished waters that I have fished.  My best lure for pike has been a large minnow lure such as the Rapala or Rebel at least six inches long.  I have also caught pike on spinnerbaits like the ones used for largemouth bass.

What walleyes I have caught have been on similar lures as above.  Trolling the Rapala or Rebel or now the big Bomber minnow lures.
I have also caught a few on jigs or a small jig with a spinner like the ones used for crappie.

My biggest pike was about 43" long and weighed about 13 pounds.  I caught it on a white marabou jig with a small spinner like I used for walleyes.

Most of my fishing up north for the past several years has centered on Muskies or Smallmouth bass with a few walleyes tossed in now and then.  Mostly for the walleyes and smallies we used tiny jigs tipped with a 2 inch minnow tossing them into wood along the shore.  My biggest walleye was only about 3 pounds.

I have never fished at night for either walleyes or muskie or pike so I probably shouldn't tell you how to do that.  I have heard that walleyes like night crawlers but where we were the bullheads would grab the worms before the walleyes could get to them.  If bullheads are not present night crawlers might work well.

I have caught pike on crankbaits at times especially a deep running silver color one.  I had a pike pull the hooks out of one one time. I don't know how big he was but pulled real hard.

Check with the people who live in the area where you are going.  They will likely have some lures that they have found good in that area.

I hope this has been of some help.  I can only give you limited info on these fish since we do not have them down here where I now live.  We have big largemouth bass, large crappie and sunfish and catfish and now and then a large pickerel.  I still try to get up north once a year for a week but not like I used to when we stayed all summer.

Thanks for calling on me to answer your question.

I am
Jack L. Gaither    (JackfromSeminole)
Lake Seminole, Georgia