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Fishing near Windigo in Washington Harbor

Posted: Mon Aug 06, 2018 10:18 am
by plk
Two of us will be camping on Beaver Island and at Washington Creek Campground from Aug. 12 - 17 while the rest of our group does a 5 day loop hiking. Our fishing will be from a canoe that we are taking over to the IR and would like any tips about fishing, lures or gear please.

Re: Fishing near Windigo in Washington Harbor

Posted: Mon Aug 06, 2018 11:35 pm
by Midwest Ed
I have never fished Washington Harbor but I think it would be difficult to NOT catch Northern near any of the shallow weedy areas, especially near Washington Creek outlet. Here is a link containing a picture of a local Islander's collection of lures. It is a high enough resolution photo so that you can zoom in. The huge paddle spoons are for deep Lake Trout using a down-rigger setup but the rest of the collection looks useful for you. I would pay most attention to the colors. The old stand-by for Northern has always been the red and white Dare-Devil spoon (lower left corner). If you have a sonar "fish finder" you could locate reefs to improve your chances for Lake Trout using jigs just off the bottom (or a deeper diver Rapala). Their location depends a lot on water temperature. Make sure you have Michigan fishing licenses as they are needed for Lake Superior waters. Even though it sounds like you plan to stay in the Harbor, I would make sure you have a compass (in addition to the regular safety gear). You never know when a heavy fog might roll in. Terrible thing not knowing which direction to paddle when there's a chance of heading toward open water. You will appreciate having a weather radio or even marine transceiver. A steady southwest wind could make things rough especially out towards the opening of the harbor but Beaver Island is well protected.

Re: Fishing near Windigo in Washington Harbor

Posted: Tue Aug 07, 2018 11:04 am
by plk
Thanks for the helpful info.