The Ely area has started to show signs of the changing seasons. Cooler temperatures, and shorter days are starting to change the colors of the leaves. Fall is in the air! This change in season has brought some struggles to some of our anglers, while other, more experienced fisherman have still been able to catch their limits of walleye and bass.
The walleye bite has been slow on Fall Lake, most Packsack anglers have made use of their day use motor permits, and trekked over the portage into Newton Lake and had better luck. Those that portaged all the way into Pipestone, and Jackfish had better luck as well. Leaches and crawlers are still the bait of choice, but I am seeing more and more minnow buckets trolling along the side of boats as well.
Smallmouth bass have showed no signs of slowing up. I chatted with a paddler coming from Wednesday Bay who reported the smallie bite was” fantastic”, he was able to catch a 4-5 lb. bass one right after the other! For most of the state, smallmouth bass season comes to an end on September 10th. But if you’re fishing North and East of HGWY 53 from Duluth to International Falls and Pelican and Ash Lakes in St. Louis County the season to keep fish remains open. Ely lies in that area, so the smallmouth fishing on Fall Lake remains open until Feb 25th, 2018.
Northern Pike fishing has just started to heat up in the Ely area! We have had numerous reports of large toothy pike chasing after large spinners and Rapalas being trolled behind the boat. If you’re looking to fish the Ely area this fall, I would suggest trying large sucker minnows on a large slip bobber set up. Fish along the entrance of rivers leading into lakes, and be ready with the net!
We have one more month of our season here at Packsack. There is still plenty of fishing yet to be done. If you are in need of a Fall get away, be sure to give us a call. We still have limited cabin availability, and plenty of room in the bunkhouse, or as always feel free to stop in and chat about the fishing.