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Posts: 1169
Location: New Hope MN | I'm planning my annual summer trip to Canada (late July/early Aug), and this year we are crossing Crow lake off the bucket list.
I'm finding information about this lake fairly difficult to come by. Can someone help point me in the right direction.
Map: Where can i get my hands on a decent paper map? From what i have read, there are hazards everywhere. Are there any map chips for this lake?
Guide: We're considering hiring a guide to show us the basics, as well as show us how to safely navigate. Who are some more notable guides for the system?
Research material: Articles, links, books, etc. I know i need to pick up Dick Pearson's book, but any advice here would be greatly appreciated.
General location: Which end of the lake should we focus on? Are there resorts close by?
Resorts: Any suggestion welcome. We like housekeeping, cheap, minimum has to have internet access. Otherwise, nothing fancy is needed.
Thanks in advance,
Dave |
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Posts: 480
| Muskie Bay Resort |
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Posts: 357
Location: Duluth, MN | I second Musky Bay.
PM me if you'd like, spent some time up there. |
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Posts: 51
Location: Mound, MN | PM sent. |
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Posts: 140
Location: Scandia MN | Me Too on Muskie bay - There is only one map I've ever found and Paul has it enlarged with all the main hazards marked at the lodge - VERY clear water which can be challenging but you can watch follows from the moment your bait hits the water - There's a YouTube video with some Country singer being guided by Mr. Ronnestrand from a few years ago which although not overly informative is fun to watch - PM me and I'd be happy to share what else I've learned - - - - |
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| D174
I see you live here locally,,,if you come to the next twin cities chapter MI meeting there are a lot of guys who have been to crow,,,some every year,,,in fact our club did outings there a couple times to Musky Bay "great place". You would get a lot of helpful info if you attend. |
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Posts: 116
| I am a big fan of maps. Regional topo maps are always helpful but too large to effectively use while on the water but good to study the region you plan to recreate in, especially if you plan to portage. They are available from Natural Resources Canada and map 52-f/4 gets you most of the lake. Map 52-f/5 will get you the rest. These are land maps, not lake maps. As far as I know the only lake map is the shaded explorer series (I got mine at Thorne Brothers) which does not have contours but does have SOME of the hazards marked and is waterproof. Keep a pen in the boat and mark hazards when you find them, and a waypoint of course. Get your maps in advance, availability is iffie locally up there. I did get a paper map from Figure 8 Baits in Kenora that had contours and a few rocks marked but I found it to be very vague and a poor choice for on the water navigation. That one says www.canadamapsales.com on it. No map chips for Crow yet but use the basemap on your gps. |
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Posts: 2753
Location: Mauston, Wisconsin | dtaijo174 - 1/23/2016 10:05 AM
I'm planning my annual summer trip to Canada (late July/early Aug), and this year we are crossing Crow lake off the bucket list.
I'm finding information about this lake fairly difficult to come by. Can someone help point me in the right direction.
Map: Where can i get my hands on a decent paper map? From what i have read, there are hazards everywhere. Are there any map chips for this lake?
Guide: We're considering hiring a guide to show us the basics, as well as show us how to safely navigate. Who are some more notable guides for the system?
Research material: Articles, links, books, etc. I know i need to pick up Dick Pearson's book, but any advice here would be greatly appreciated.
General location: Which end of the lake should we focus on? Are there resorts close by?
Resorts: Any suggestion welcome. We like housekeeping, cheap, minimum has to have internet access. Otherwise, nothing fancy is needed.
Thanks in advance,
Dave
Kagagi is big water, with lots of structure, incuding unmarked hazards that are not on maps...be very careful. Its a beautiful lake with some really big fish.... Use flash earth to explore it or google maps.
This is a flash earth snapshot, there is a huge amount of structure (complex) along this entire string of islands, including saddles, points and submerged reefs. Beware the lighter colored spots in open water, those are typically submerged reefs.
http://www.flashearth.com/?lat=49.232494&lon=-93.925724&z=14.7&r=0&...
If you put the + symbol on the spot and look at the left hand menu, it will give you precise longitude & latitude for your GPS maps. For example this reef and the little one just south of it are in the middle of nowhereville and marked wrong on the maps as south of where they actually are..they will take your lower unit off!
http://www.flashearth.com/?lat=49.221421&lon=-93.950308&z=17.1&r=0&...
Here are three of my Kagagi spots..besides the huge complex above. I have only explored a small portion of Kagagi. This island point has A nice reef on it. I caught my first Kagagi fish here.
This is the link.
http://www.flashearth.com/?lat=49.223992&lon=-93.964782&z=15&r=0&sr...
Opps - wrong link below. Is a nice island complex, we saw ~ 10 fish her in an hour.
http://www.flashearth.com/?lat=49.243253&lon=-93.920709&z=17&r=0&sr...
and
http://www.flashearth.com/?lat=49.244607&lon=-93.903446&z=17&r=0&sr...
PS. we saw multiple muskies using the north shoreline above as a travel route. None would look at lures.
This is an excellent spot - because of the beaver dam, it oxgenates this spot and there is a nice cabbage bed here because of the sand the water from the dam brings in, and it was holding fish everytime I visited it. Approach spots with caution - trout water fish can be spooked by the boat- use long casts as you move in w/TM.
http://www.flashearth.com/?lat=49.257604&lon=-93.880476&z=18.5&r=0&...
This spot is another place where there's water coming in and a beaver dam, actually a beaver house right where the + is, we had a ~50" fish at the boat 3x, she was lurking in the beaver house structure.
http://www.flashearth.com/?lat=49.2584&lon=-93.868456&z=17.8&r=0&sr...
A guide will help if you've never fished Kagagi...its big water and can be overwhelming. I started by picking spots close to the government dock where I launched. This is a beautiful saddle, I would fish the windward side when wind is from either north or south. I've only been on Kagagi for three days.
http://www.flashearth.com/?lat=49.223992&lon=-93.964782&z=15&r=0&sr...
Its still one of the most beautiful trout water's I've been on...read Dick Pearson's book! Especially the section on trout waters -read it multiple times...There are supertankers in there!
Have fun,
Al
Edited by ESOX Maniac 1/25/2016 3:18 PM
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Posts: 306
| I've been to Musky Bay Resort twice. Love the resort and the lake, but it's scary to navigate because it can go from 100' to 20' in a hurry. Thorne Bros map was the only one I found, and the best advice I can give is to slow down when you approach the white parts on the map.
If you get a calm, clear day take your time and look around. You'll be able to see the hazards from a mile away due to how clear the water is, with a good pair of polarized glasses. Mark them on a GPS! And then fish them 
It's unbelievably clear water with very little vegetation. You are either going to love it or hate it. |
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Posts: 559
| Check the oil before you leave home and bring an extra lower unit and prop |
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Posts: 238
| Crow Lake is a beautiful Canadian trout-water system offering all kinds of muskie fishing and navigational challenges, many of which have already been mentioned; huge lake with lots of deep water, tons of islands, no accurate contour map, dangerous rock reefs, crystal clear water, almost no weeds, a surplus of similar muskie habitat, and low fishing pressure making it difficult to know where to even begin. Having spent some time muskie fishing there, it's comforting to have discover that muskies can be found in much of the lake. Time on the water is the only thing that will help you discover what Crow Lake has to offer.
We stay at Boreal Bay Lodge and I'd highly recommend considering this resort. The owners really cater to your comfort. They are very nice and are always there to help when you need something. While we always do a housekeeping stay, I think they offer meal plans if you're interested in that. The cabins are clean and well kept. Free phone access in the lodge to allow you to call home . WiFi. All the comforts of home plus a spectacular view of the lake. They have electric hookups on the docks and fuel fill-up at the main dock. All the resorts on Crow offer access to fish on Lake of the Woods, too, so when you loose confidence with the muskies on Crow's crystal clear water, you can head over to fish weeds that most of us are more familiar with.
Edited by d2bucktail 1/26/2016 10:33 AM
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Posts: 42
| The bait shop in Nester Falls has detailed paper maps of Crow lake |
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Posts: 480
| Paul Trinkner, owner of Muskie Bay resort, will likely mark up your map to get you started. He wants you to be successful and have an enjoyable stay. You will do well that time of year. |
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Posts: 37
| I fished it in the early 70's with a top guide (Lawrence Cottam). He said the best time was early in the season before the muskies went deep. I had multiple 3 fish follows and caught several small ones. He said they pretty much leave the shallows by mid summer. |
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Posts: 117
Location: Northwest Wisconsin | We have been on Crow during that time for the last two years. We have seen the majority of our fish on main lake points and main lake reefs. Fishing the ones with current have produced the most fish. If you find some weeds, there should be some fish around also. This lake is beautiful and extremely clear. Like others have said, go slow and be careful in areas you haven't been before. We will be there again this year and look forward to exploring the far east end of the lake. |
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Posts: 306
| Be careful out east! I call that the Bermuda Triangle area. All my electronics stopped working, both times I ventured out east. As I headed back west, they started working again. |
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Posts: 559
| Booch - 1/28/2016 12:05 PM
Be careful out east! I call that the Bermuda Triangle area. All my electronics stopped working, both times I ventured out east. As I headed back west, they started working again.
Dave the east end sounds like it is right up your alley. you should blast East and jet from spot to spot. don't look back, just tell Mike to hang on.
Maybe 2 lower units and 3 props are in order |
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Posts: 217
Location: ladysmith, wi | Have fished crow several times , mostly on Canadian opener and stayed at musky bay, great resort and people. Did my best on red bucktails with brass blades, what's nice about crow is that if it slow there across the road is sabaskong or a short trip to whitefish. |
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Posts: 1169
Location: New Hope MN | my gosh guys... Thank you! I didn't expect this much You guys went above and beyond. I know the big secret is night trolling. If anyone wants to share the details on that send me a PM
Louie, Dryberry 2017? |
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Posts: 257
Location: Madison, WI | Dave,
Only fished it for 2 nights in the summer (late July) of 2012. Caught 5 muskies in two nights of trolling, including a double header.
Here is the video..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aNNtAJSWTug
In addition to the topo map, there is a map made by AW Coldstream that shows deep water in dark blue, and shallower water in a lighter shade of blue.
Daytime: Explore the water, and take detailed notes to set up your trolling runs.
Nighttime: Troll crankbaits.
That would be my advice for maximum efficiency. We didn't wet a line at all prior to sunset. But spent a lot of daylight hours mapping / strategizing, and plotting GPS coordinates for trolling runs.
Only fished for maybe about 6 or 7 total hours, but landed 5 muskies.
Crow was kind of an afterthought on our way home. Just decided to check it out quick, and ended up being very impressed.
Musky Bay Resort - Paul and Chris Trinker. They will treat you right.
PM me if you want more details. I am always happy to talk musky fishing.
Good Luck!
"Jackpot" John Schroeder
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