Pine Knot Outdoors: Reservoir hogs are calling

Over the years I've fished them all. Collectively referred to as the "big four" reservoirs north of Duluth, they include Wild Rice, Fish, Island and Boulder. They all have their own personalities, and they fish a little differently, but collectively they are pumping out a lot of fish this summer.

Honestly, I stumbled onto this bite. The main goal was to escape the heat. This past weekend, I shuttled boatloads of our own kids, neighborhood kids, and nieces and nephews, along with their parents to a campsite for an afternoon of splashing around. Island, Fish, and Boulder are lined with public campsites that prove to be excellent gathering places for a day of recreation.

As soon as everyone was situated, I turned my attention toward fishing. I grabbed the first two volunteers and headed out. I would take different combinations of kids and parents in shifts throughout the rest of the day.

Having not fished the area since last summer, I decided to cover some water and troll crankbaits. The sun was high, the wind a nonfactor, and we cooked in the heat of the day. Not your quintessential walleye weather, but my expectations were high.

We popped our first fish a few minutes into our troll. No disrespect to bass or pike, but I always ask when a fish is hooked, "Is it the right kind?" What I'm really wondering is, do we have a keeper walleye that wants to ride in my livewell? As soon as I confirmed the fish was indeed "the right kind," I double-clicked the waypoint button on my graph. One solitary waypoint doesn't tell much of a story. However, as the afternoon progressed, the waypoints began to paint a picture of a solid pattern.

If we trolled too shallow, we battled constant weeds fouling our cranks. If we wandered out too deep, we quit contacting fish. The "Goldilocks" conditions were the sweet spot in between. Speed also proved a factor. We scooted right along at 2.2-2.4 miles per hour. One of the best parts about putting a pattern together is being able to repeat it. For the rest of the afternoon, shift after shift, we caught fish. The trolling passes created a thick band of lines on my graph as we worked the area repeatedly. Replicating the presentation proved equally effective in different areas of the lake. Ultimately, later in the week, it would also produce on completely different bodies of water.

When a hot bite is patterned, it becomes addictive. My boat returned with or without me several times to the reservoirs north of Duluth over the past week.

On Monday, Jamie and I visited a reservoir way north of Duluth. We spent the afternoon with our good friends, Tony and Holly Compo, on the shores of Whitewater Lake in Hoyt Lakes. I packed the crappie rods, but Joseph, my nephew Jon, and a couple of their buddies had laid claim to my boat, graph, and all my walleye equipment. I tried to replicate the pattern with what I had. I pulled cranks on a borrowed rod out the back of a pontoon. Sure enough, fairly quickly a fish hit. I cranked and cranked on Holly's push-button Zebco reel the size of a grapefruit trying to pull the fish from the depths. A northern pike surfaced behind the pontoon with the crank sideways in its mouth. The "wrong kind," I thought to myself, as I slid the net under it.

Shortly afterward I got a text from Joseph, wondering if we could have another fish fry?

I didn't need to ask if the walleyes were still cooperating.

Bret Baker is a lifetime resident of Cloquet. He is a proud husband, father, educator and outdoorsman. Bret began guiding fishing trips when he was 16 years old. Today, in his 40s, his passion is to introduce people to the tremendous outdoor adventures available in our region.