Lake Kabetogoma Fishing Report, September 3-10, 2016: “Looks like a blowout” is how Mike Ganzeveld described our recent trip to Lake Kabetogoma after viewing the photos of the small walleye and pike we caught! On September 3, Gary Lindsay, Tracy Hayward, and I drove the red Suburban to the Sandy Point Lodge on Lake Kabetogoma located just below Rainy Lake on the US/Canadian border. Our hosts were Jennifer and Gordon Gelo. Turns out, Gordy is a fellow Iowa Stater graduating in 1974 from the vet med school. He worked at that profession until about 21 years ago when he purchased the Lodge and began a new career. Jennifer is an excellent cook and we were happy we signed up for the two meal a day plan (breakfast and evening) to enjoy Jenn’s wonderful cuisine! The Gelo’s truly enjoy their guests and work hard to make your stay enjoyable. We were invited up by our walleye fishing friends from Illinois, Theresa and Bill Meade. They’ve been going to Kab for over 20 years with their family and friends. But this year was different–the fishing was lousy! The walleye slot limit is release all fish from 17-28 inches with only one over 28. Judging by the number of small walleye I caught, there may be a future for the lake but our biggest walleye wasn’t caught until the last day by Tracy and it measured 16 1/2 inches! The tactics we used at Birch Lake and Lake of the Woods in July and August were not working for us. We had to use either a 3/8 ounce jig tipped with a minnow slowly drifted along the bottom or a short snell to a plan hook with a minnow held down with a Wing-It weight. We “tailpiped” Theresa to her favorite spots for the first two days then stuck out on our own. We even traveled all the way to Pike Island on Lake Namakan and back attempting to find concentrations of fish that would bite. The Ranger 620 gobbled up the water and gave us a smooth ride everywhere we traveled! When we found fish, they were on the bottom and not aggressive. Both bodies of water are beautiful to behold with numerous islands, back bays, and wonderful spots to stop and have lunch, like the Ellsworth Rock Gardens on Kabetogoma. We truly enjoyed the fine cooking, the scenery, and the fellowship we shared each day together. At the end of the week, Theresa mentioned this was the “toughest bite” she’d EVER experienced on Kab! About an hour Saturday morning on our way home, we had a trailer tire blow (I’ve never had that happen). Glad we were prepared with the right equipment and a spare tire with air! When we reached the Cities, we got caught in the slow traffic so didn’t get home until after 7:30pm. Unfortunately for me, I got to listen to Gary and Tracy woop it up for Iowa’s lead over Iowa State for over an hour! If you’ve fished Kab or Namakan and have a different take on the lakes’ fishing conditions, please let the crew at walleyewisdom.com know! This trip was humbling and reinforced the difference between “fishing” and “catching”! Thank you for reviewing our report. Spike

Sandy Point Lodge on Lake Kabetogoma 2016