To those of us who love the appeal of an outpost cabin Dawn is one of those typical properties that Wilderness North maintains in their large list of units.

Wilderness outpost facilities require you to put in a bit of extra work organizing your food and gear, but the tradeoff is that you are by yourself in this marvelous environment with the sights and sounds it offers you. Time and what you do with it is your choice since there are no schedules to meet.

This is our 4th trip as a family to Dawn Lake. We arrived on the 15th of July and didn’t leave until the 22nd of July. As in other years, fishing has been good to great, but this year the fishing was amazing. Our total fish catch was over 550 fish with 113 northern pike and 459 walleye. Several of northern were over 30” with the largest at 39 ½”. A majority of the walleyes were in the 17” to 21” range with the largest at 24”. (The old man caught the largest in both categories).

We varied the bait and presentation depending on what was happening and the time of day. We trolled with shallow and deep running crankbaits of various types and jigged with worms on a ¼ oz. light colored jig. Trolling we often found walleye in the 10’ to 14’ depth range. Trolling around some rock outcroppings we pulled them off at 6 foot depth. Jigging we found them in a few different places in the north leg of the lake in around 20 feet or so and one evening our two sons jigged 60 walleye in a few such spots in a 3+ hour period. Like any fishing on new or familiar lakes you need to search for spots that produce and mark them. Dawn being laid out like an “X” or a plus sign provides easy access to all parts of the lake, and offers 4 large options for shelter on a windy day.

Even better than the fishing, though, is the opportunity to spend time with the ones you love. This offers the time to catch up, reminisce about previous trips, and help forge or solidify the family bonds that can so easily slip away in today’s busy society. The excellent fishing and the comfortable accommodations helped us thoroughly enjoy our week, whether we were out on the lake, or back at the cabin playing cards or just spending time together.

Coming back to Dawn is like coming home. The staff at Wilderness North do an outstanding job of maintaining the cabin, boats, and motors, which adds to the overall positive experience. We look forward to our next trip!

Gone fishing in the Weades, literally! Ronnie and Casey Weade each earned master angler status this past week fishing at Wottom bay and releasing two GIANT northerns! Ronnie reeled in a 43-inch monster and Casey landed a 40-inch pike. Congratulations gentleman!

Water levels seem to have leveled off a bit while temperatures have been a constant 73 degrees around the lake. This has faired well for fly anglers and the use of topwater baits for targeting northen pike in shallow water (when they come up to feed). The walleye haven’t retreated to their deepest haunts. For walleye, jigs tipped with leeches are driving the fish crazy, and for pike, spoons are key. Check out Wottom Bay, Mim Falls and walleye mine for best results coming up this week.

We also had a group of Veterans with Project Healing waters up this past week and with a mix of fly and spin casting they caught and released quite the haul. Stay tuned for details and pictures in next weeks report. For now you can see their smiling faces in the group photo below.

-Kate and Brian

“Well to sum it up, it was one word: Ridiculous!

We love Ogoki, and so have fished the lake about 6 times now. And we don’t know why, but this year the sizes were bumped up a notch!

There were 8 of us there, and we took more of a laid-back approach, not waking up at the crack of dawn, and ending mid-afternoon. And yet, we were landing hundreds of fish a day! We enjoy catching walleye the most, and were blown-away by the sizes reeled in. The average fish was 18-24 inches, with a few 26 inchers as well! The fish seemed to be anywhere from 3-19ft of water. They responded well to a jig and green or white twister tail. We also caught our fair share of northerns!

The wind often picked up late afternoon, but by then we had caught enough to head back to the cabin and enjoy a relaxing afternoon.

An incredible trip to say the least.”

-Jeff and friends

Walleye fishing is still pumping, early risers will see them rising all over the lake eating mayflies (bring a fly rod) and long- time friend of SPL, Par was saying there’s more action than he has seen in previous years! (bring a fly rod) There have been plenty of pike caught around the mid-30 inch range with a 40 plus fish released this week. Remarkable considering no one is REALLY targeting pike! Water level is getting low and some of the creeks and bays are getting harder to access. Water temps are still 70 and a bit higher in the bays! (bring a fly rod!)