FISHING REPORTS & UPDATES
Lake Kabetogama Fishing Report (July 10th)
Here is our latest fishing report for Lake Kabetogama this week. Be sure to check back weekly for fishing reports, lodging updates and more.
What to Use on Kabetogama for Walleye
Time of day, conditions, weather patterns all come into play when trying to pick a method to the madness this time of year. Walleyes don’t always bite during easy hours so it’s crucial that you put in effort around lowlight hours - early morning and evening. You may have to try something new to find success - but those who put in the effort have been highly rewarded.
For tackle keep light jigs, slip bobbers, spinner rigs, and floating jig heads on hand right now. One of Kent’s favorites during the day is a 48” snell with just a #6 hook and tipped with the bait of your choice - but we are partial to leeches.
Remember to fish the wind and go slow. By slow we mean below .04 mph and don’t be afraid to drag. If that doesn’t work try the traditional vertical jig.
Finding fish is simple here - there are plenty of them. People will mark fish shallow, deep, and everywhere in-between. Not all fish are hungry when we find them so keep moving until you find active fish. If you haven’t had any action in 15 minutes or so, time to move on.
A couple of tips for this area:
Do not “fish” with just your electronics. Fish good areas too!
If there is a promising spot, spend 15 minutes working on it and then move on.
We have been catching walleyes in 4 feet of water out to 22 feet of water. Keep in mind, anything deeper than 30 feet is a death sentence.
Slow, fast, venting bladders, throwing them back head first, it doesn’t matter - it’s a probably dead fish. You don’t need to fish out deep - you can find them shallow in the weeds or along with rock piles. We love our fishery so we need to practice conservation as much as possible.
If you hook a fish you can’t free easily - cut the line. It’s better to keep that fish alive than release it only to die shortly thereafter!
Lake Kabetogama Smallmouth Report
For finding smallies all you need to do is pick any rock hazard marker on the lake. In addition, look for wind-blown shoreline and rocky points.
Cranks will work well but so does soft plastics, (especially crawfish), boohya pranks, and whopper ploppers for topwater. Smallies are a fun bite this time of year and a great way to break up the walleye fishing midday.
The Kabetogama Pike Bite Remains Steady
Pike fishing at Kab offers an awesome opportunity for action and is also another great way to break up the midday walleye bite. If you are looking to target these fish, we have an entire post dedicated to pike fishing that you can find here.
Kab Outdoors Has You Covered
Bait, gear, tackle - we have you covered! We are way more than just a bait and tackle shop, but with that said, we do bait and tackle SO well! We hands down offer the best bait selection in the area. We have a large variety of minnows, crawlers, leeches, and BIG leeches you can find in bulk. Be sure to stop by our store and check us out.
Looking for a trip? Give us a call: 218.875.2281
Pike Fishing Tips for Lake Kabetogama
Lake Kabetogama Trophy Pike
We have been getting frequently asked about finding successful trophy pike fishing on Lake Kabetogama. Therefore, we have compiled a few of our best pike fishing tips to help you find and catch these Lake Kabetogama trophies.
PIKE GEAR
Pike fishing is a serious game. If you are here for pike, put your walleye gear away. If you want to throw big baits then you need big gear. This means you have to have a rod with some backbone.
My favorite is the telescoping Prorex by Diawa match that with the Lexa400 HD. It’s a quality setup that can handle whatever you plan on throwing at these fish.
HOW TO FIND PIKE
Look for and target the submerged weed beds. I like the ones that no one knows is there, no grass or weeds visible.
Next, you will need to locate them. Find them with your electronics then back out. Start Looking in any of the bays on kab.
HOW TO TARGET PIKE
Once you find a promising spot, keep the boat out in 10-12 feet of water and cast big shallow running baits on top of submerged weeds. The goal is to be casting into 5-7 feet- any shallower you will be catching weeds most of the time.
Use Suicks, Big bucktails, big topwater. Wire leaders are the only way to go for sure. Not the cheaper plastic coated “steel/steal leaders”.
WHEN THE PIKE ARE SHALLOW
If you don’t find them deeper then try shallow, and this is most applicable in the fall.
In this instance, I recommend that you try a softball-sized bobber in about 3-6 feet of water. At our Kab Outdoors store we have some custom-made harness’s that lets the 4-12” sucker swim freely.
Be sure to swing by our store to grab your items and get the latest fishing report.
3/2/21
SnoBear yields fishing fun on Kabetogama
"Experienced open water anglers, Todd, and Reed, hailing from central Iowa, told us that neither of them had spent much time ice fishing. They said too that before reading about KAB Outdoors, they hadn’t even known how to pronounce the word Kabetogama. But learning about our SnoBear rental combos, the idea of ice fishing piqued their interest. So, they booked a trip and drove on up to give ice fishing on Kabetogama a try.
During the pre-trip run through, I mentioned that if you can run a riding lawn mower, you’re qualified to run our SnoBear. Okay, so operating the machine is simple, but what about figuring out where to go and fish, they asked?
That is simple too, I already have the key fishing depths highlighted on the Lakemaster Chart that is loaded on our Humminbird Helix 10. Waypoints for the better fishing spots are loaded on the unit too and so are my trails, marks, and other helpful information.
Armed with a little information and a sense of adventure, Todd and Reed headed across the ice and look what they did. As you can see in the photos, folks who don’t have a lot of ice fishing experience can still find and catch fish, even on their first trip to the lake!
There’s no doubt that the comfort and efficiency of the SnoBear makes it shine as a fishing machine. But we learned this winter too that not everybody needs to catch a fish to make renting the SnoBear worthwhile. Some of our guests used it for playing on the ice, sightseeing in the Voyageurs National Park, or traveling to dinner at restaurants on the lake.
We’re thankful that the weather, the ice and the snow conditions combined to make this winter a fabulous one. In fact, it is hard to think of any way that things could have gone much better than they did.
But as the walleye season came to an end this weekend, we began pulling our fleet of rentals off the ice. For us, the time has come to put the ice fishing gear away and begin preparing for the upcoming open water fishing season.
We want to thank everybody who came up for a visit this winter and thanks to all of you who are making inquiries and reservations for next winter. By then, we’ll be chomping at the bit to get back on the ice, but for now, we’ll enjoy a little break in the action.
As the weather warms and we get closer to ice-out, we’ll begin posting fresh reports. In the meantime, thanks again for your support, we’re looking forward to seeing you again! Book your adventure today Contact KAB OUTDOORS or Call 218.875.2281.