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My rod was doubled over. The tip lunging and pulsating towards the smooth surface of the river as the headshakes from the beast below increased with intensity. My line strained from the pressure as I quickly loosened the drag. The hidden treasure below fought to remain unseen and in control. But wait............(insert your best sound of tires screeching to a stop here) lets back up a bit and get the rest of the story from the beginning. Lets back up a bit and discover where the ending and the beginning collide. We slipped our sturdy craft into the mighty grip of the Kaministiquia River that first day not knowing what to expect. Most of our Walleye fishing over the last 25 years had been done at Lac Des Mille Lac but with wanting something different with almost zero travel time the choice was clear. This year turned out to be the beginning of what I called a fantastic 5 month long fishing trip, one which my wife and I were able to experience World Class Fishing minutes from our back door. As we both like to cover water and find the aggressive fish trolling is our preferred style. Initially the bait of choice was the tried and true Little Joe type spinner tipped with a juicy minnow or worm. We also offered an assortment of Rapala's, Cordel divers, jigs and plain worms by the bubbler which you may have heard about. By the end of the season though our top producing bait and tactical crank of choice was the Berkley Flicker Shad. It was impossible to ignore the success we had trolling with the 2 tigers. Firetiger and Redtiger. When the river was not looking like chocolate milk from heavy rains and area runoff and the treacherous mistress stopped sending logs, trees, parts of docks and other obstacle to avoid the fish seemed to be everywhere in the stretch from the Neste Launch up to the Old Fort. Whether it was the corners, straight stretches, weeds, transitions, drop offs, tucked in tight, shallow, even that 20' deep hole under the Hwy 61 bridge it didn't matter. It almost seemed like the fish were following us everywhere we went some days. There were spots/locations we found where we knew we could catch two or three before the school spooked out. A few days we had to look for em but those days were far and few and in-between. There were locations, like the invisible island, that always seemed to hold trophies. See some nice Walleye and the Walleye Treasure Map in the video below. Anywhere in the world this would be World Class Fishing. One trick we used with the Flicker Shad's was to let the bait drop back for a second then rip it forward. That seemed to get em excited and the strikes were hard and fast on many occasions. A guest I invited for a day was also a happy camper catching his personal best. We never felt the need to rush to get to the river. We usually launched between 10am-11am and had enough fun for one day by 3pm-4pm. Most days there was no problem catching fresh Walleye for a family fish fry. Many times we were doubled up. I can't even remember how many went back to grow bigger. Lots that's for sure. Your experience may vary. The real surprise was when the Chinook Salmon appeared on September 9th sharing the space with trophy size Walleye. We weren't geared up for that exciting experience, that's for sure. We had a lot of bent and straightened out hooks as they took off like missiles when they saw the boat. The Salmon bite lasted 10 days and my wife who named herself the "Salmon Whisperer" was fed up catching them. They interfered in her Walleye quest apparently and fighting them took too long and was hard on her wrists :). I still feel proud on the way she fought and handled them. After all was said and done we landed 7 of these behemoths and lost several more. The angling symphony we experienced in 2017 on the Kam River never really stopped for us and as I sit here in front of the fireplace and think back over our many years of great fishing I can only hope 2027 treats us equally as well. October 20 was the last trip of the season for us on this fish highway and my wife asked the voice of knowledge "Where are the fish today? Where should I cast papa?" I smiled and said "just keep it between the banks my baby, just keep it between the banks..................... I hope you enjoy the video. All the best to everyone in 2018.

Happy 2018 everyone! Roger

Fished sand point Thursday and Friday caught 17 picks all between 13 and 15 inches 3 pike . Lots of ice,bite was slow but did catch jigging with small movements.Most were caught on tip ups.

I follow solar lunar but not so much for its predictions as to what times be best. But I like to watch moon rise set and phase. Moon rise and set differs from sun. Some nights moon is out all night , others not at all.. and everything in between. On a fuller ish moon and clear sky . You can expect most targetted game fish had a farily successful night time hunt . So will be less apt to eating and a slower bite. Cloudy or moonless nights tougher eats due to less light , following those I tend to observe more active daytime munch. Obviously not an exact science beacuse weather wind , water temp .blah blah play a part too. But I usually won't head out early or at all for a morning fish if the moon was out on a clear night. I can sleep in spend the day on the beach getting vitamin B. So 1/4 waning to 1/4 waxing are darkest nights and potentially better days I use same mentality with hunting. And use an android app called " time.to hunt " Here is a screen shot.

I was out last Monday sand point area and caught 3 ling overnight. Morning to mid afternoon was good. Managed 14 wallys and a fat perch.