It was an exciting holiday weekend of wild storms packed with lightning and high winds that blew through the evening hours and into the next day. Big lightning and loud thunder typically shut down the bite for a few days, and the Labor Day storm would prove no different.
Walleyes and bass were biting great prior to the violent weather, even immediately after it passed, but the following days were tough. Northern Light Lake walleyes became finicky and the fish on Saganaga were hard to find, and even harder to catch. We managed to boat a few fish each day after the big weather, but it was a dramatic change from the action-packed days we had been experiencing.
I was camping on Saganaga over Labor Day weekend, despite the forecast, and the storm was packing enough wind to partially collapse my tent while turning the rain fly into a parachute. Supporting the tent walls from my cot with both hands and feet became my only option and resulted in a sleepless evening. Water slowly infiltrated from the unprotected screen windows and resetting the stakes proved useless in the soft ground. I have always sympathized with campers during big storms but have never experienced it first hand—and never want to again!
As the walleyes make their annual descent into depths ranging from 20 to 35 feet, they are beginning to favor minnows. Both walleyes and bass are eating minnows of all sizes as they pack on calories for the cold months ahead. Saganaga Lake has a large population of dwarf herring and they seem to be the prey of choice by predatory fish each fall.
It always amazes me to see a 13-inch smallmouth bass expel a 5-inch dwarf herring while breaching the surface after being hooked. They are not particular about the size of prey they target which makes them fun to target by throwing a variety of large deep diving crank baits.
Fall is the best time to experiment with large crank baits fished aggressively with wire leaders to keep the toothy pike from cutting off those expensive lures. I make long casts with quick retrieves to get the crank bait deep enough to entice fish into hitting. Long profile crank baits like the Rapala Tail Dancer are more effective than the short squatty baits like the Shad Rap on Saganaga and Northern Light lakes, but it never hurts to experiment with everything.
Hawg Report
released
. Cory Christianson
28-inch walleye
Northern Light Lake
September 7, 2015
Cory Christianson has worked as a fishing guide on the Gunflint Trail since 2000. If you have any fishing or wildlife reports or stories to share, send an email to: christiansoncory@hotmail.com or call 218- 388- 0315. You can also visit Cory’s website at Gunflintfishingguide.com
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