Feldtmann Lake fishing

[Backpacker534]

O.k. all you I.R. anglers, my son and I will be staying at Feldtmann Lake on our first night (August 27th) of the Feldtmann Loop. He loves fishing but has never caught anything bigger than an average-sized bluegill or bass. He would love to catch a pike or something else with a little spunk to make his first Isle Royale trip even more memorable. Has anyone recently been fishing at Feldtmann Lake. If so, what were you catching and what type of lure(s) did you find to work the best?

[jrwiesz]

Maybe check out "mrmojo" post in this thread.

http://isleroyaleforums.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=1572

He talked of fishing Feldtmann lake recently. Others in the thread had good suggestions also.

[Backpacker534]

Thanks for pointing out that link.

[Isleroyale77]

We fished Feldtmann from the shore quite a few years ago (2000?). On that trip, we had our best luck via wading in close to one of the group campsite locations, which I believe were on the northern end of the sites. If I remember correctly, the best lure was a 5 of diamonds.

Interesting note from that trip - two girls had canoed down from Washington Harbor and portaged it in from Rainbow Cove while we were there, and they caught an absolutely enormous Northern Pike. We heard them calling for help, and ran to the shore to see what was going on. It turns out the pike had dragged them around the lake for a good 15 - 20 minutes before tiring, and they had no way to land the fish. So as they brought the canoe into shore we waded in and pulled the Pike in. The largest Pike I've caught in my life was a 13 pounder, and this fish dwarfed the 13 pounder by a considerable margin. I did take a picture on my old AE-1, but have since lost it. All I know is that this fish was huge, I would guess that it easily exceeded 20 pounds.

So there are definitely some large Pike in Feldtmann, hopefully you can tie into one of them on your trip.

[Backpacker534]

Holy freakin' cow! Getting dragged around the lake by a fish?! What a wild ride. I don't need one that big, but I hope to catch something. I leave in less than a week now. I can't wait. Keeping my fingers crossed for some good weather, too.

[Backpacker534]

Well, I got skunked at Isle Royale for the second year in a row! My son and I just got back on Thursday (Sept. 1) and we didn't get any fish, not even a single bite. We fished with a variety of lures at Feldtmann Lake, Siskiwit Bay and Washington Harbor. Between the two of us we probably put in about 8 man-hours of fishing and, NOTHING!

We talked to one of the rangers when he hiked in to Feldtmann Lake the morning we were hiking out and he said they were wondering if VHS was making its way into some of the inland lakes because they know it is in Lake Superior as well as the Spiny Water Flea which is also in Lake Superior and Siskiwit Bay. He also recounted for us a story of someone who just caught a pike in Washington Harbor that was covered in red spots (VHS). The ranger also said that the weather has been pretty funky this year and they wonder how that may also be affecting the fish/fishing.

Oh well, we'll try again next time.

On a more happy note (for someone else, at least) we heard from another hiker that wen he was at East Chickenbone there was a guy who was pulling pike after pike out of the lake and that he brought back a rather large one to eat.

I think Chickenbone Lake is on the agenda for me whenever I make the next trip!

[Gravelier007]

Too bad I wasn't a member when you posted. I have been to IR 5 times. Just returned on 8/4. Caught mainly northern, with a few very small walleye. And a few perch. We have always had really good luck with large spoons - over 3" for just the spoon. Bent the barbs down or broke them off. Required on the island. Also made it a lot easier to get the fish off and back to catching more. The dare devil (red and white) is a good bet. The heavier the better it seems. The last trip, I had really good luck on a white and pink spoon with black markings like a perch. My buddy was fishing with mainly large mepps with yellow plastic worms attached. Nearly as good as my large spoons. Also had good luck in the past on a large copper stippled spoon with a flourescent orange stripe. I think that large is the key. We put in a McCargo cove, then Chickenbone, Livermore, LaSage, Richie, Intermediate, Wood, Whittlesey, and finally Chippawa. Caught fish in every lake. Had the best luck in Livermore and LaSage. All as above. Also, caught about a 5.5 lb northern in Chippawa on a small white spinner (rooster tail) while trying for walleye, tolling deep. Go figure.

[Isleroyale77]

We just got back from a 9/12 - 9/18 trip that saw us portage through from McCargoe Cove to Malone Bay.

Chickenbone wasn't the greatest, but the fact that a thunderstorm came through might have made the fishing a little unsettled. No Walleyes, 1 perch, and a handful of Northern.

We didn't fish Livermore, but did hit LeSage on our portage into Lake Richie. We did really well with the Northerns on Livermore using a Gold & Orange Loco spoon. Had a bit of a scare when the forest fire plume from the BWCA fire came rolling in at mid-day while we were fishing. We thought that perhaps there had been a lightning strike initiated fire via the previous night's thunderstorm, but then the smoke cleared out and we assumed it was from the BWCA fire. Probably 10 - 15 catch and release northerns.

We did really well with the northerns on Lake Richie, as well as on Intermediate. I'm guessing close to 30 fish between the two lakes, several of which were probably appraoching 28 - 30 inches. An interesting note from the first of our two nights at Lake Richie (canoe site) was some yipping and yapping at around 06:00, which we attributed to the new wolf pups. Pretty amazing sounds, I've never heard domesticated dogs carry on like that in the past. Also very, very close. But good to hear as I know there was concern regarding if/when there would be any wolf pups on the island due to the shortage of females.

Fishing on Wood Lake was considerably slower, although I did catch a pretty sizable Northern that I'm guessing weighed in at around 10 lbs, probably around 36 inches. We caught this one on the end of the lake that's opposite to the channel to Siskiwit. I'll have to get the picture uploaded - if I can get it from my buddy.

The moose appeared to be getting a little "bothered" by what I assume to be the start of the rut. They were grunting and mooing at dusk while we were at the Wood Lake site. We could also hear them crashing through the trees, although it was a good thing that the crashing appeared to be taking place across the Wood Lake - Siskiwit Lake channel.

All in all a very good trip, the same as all of the other ones I've made to the island.

[Capt Don]

The big northern from Feldtman that was mentioned was caught by my sister-in-law, it went over 20lbs. and is hanging on the wall. As far as this "ranger" using VHS as a reason for not catching fish, he is talking way out of turn. VHS has only been confirmed once in St. Louis Bay, (Duluth harbor), never on Isle Royale or anywhere else in Lake Superior has it been reported or confirmed to my knowledge and I speak regularly to the fisheries biologist here in Grand Portage about it. I have caught many northerns over the years that have red lesions that resemble sores/scrapes/wounds, this can be attributed to spawning activity, not VHS. If the virus gets to the island, which someday it may, there will be a fish die off of certain species, (die off mind you, not extiction) and then the living develop an immunity to the virus and life goes on as it has for decades in areas where the virus is carried. It has been explained to me as similar to a new strain of flu, there is a slight mortality rate, generally affecting the sick or elderly equivalent of the fish world, the species quickly develop the immunity and populations rebound. Granted, we don't want to see it happen, but it is not fish armegeddon as some would profess. Spiny water fleas have been common on and around the island for at least 20 years and I have noticed no marked change one way or another in their numbers, nor has their presence had a negative impact on my fishing success.