The Lac Seul Aura by Brian Kaiser

Bear, birch, pickerel & chamberlain narrows, wapesi bay, merit point, and pine island. These are just a few places you will hear about when you visit the northeast section of Lac Seul.

Trophy muskies, walleyes and northern pike abound in these tea stained waters. And as you begin to explore these waters you will inevitably come to the conclusion that there are literally dozens of good spots to fish.

I won’t spend too much time discussing the particulars of walleye fishing, as I’m kind of a muskie guru. But I can tell you for the most part that catching walleyes is not usually overly difficult. Put on a jig and a minnow and you’re in like flint. I usually start out on a point of an island and work my way towards sharp edges & transition areas bouncing my jig off the bottom as I go. If you keep moving around in a slow methodical manner you will catch walleyes! No need to troll walleye size crank baits up here, you’d probably get snagged anyway as there is a ton of lumber in the water.

Now, if you are anything like me you will have a natural desire to spend most of your time chasing pike and muskies. After all Lac Seul has a famous reputation of putting out large muskies and I will give you my word that reputation is well deserved! Maybe I’m right and maybe I’m wrong but my theory has been that single huge muskies (say up to 60 inches) seem to roam near the rocks and not to far away from deep water while the midsize muskies (say up to 48 inches) inhabit the weed beds. Did I say 60 inches? Yes! There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that there are 60 inchers swimming around.

On one very hot August afternoon my two buddies and I were fishing up near pine Island, we were in about 3 feet of water when I yelled out to my partners about a huge muskie swimming around just a few feet from the boat. After numerous attempts at trying to get the fish to hit one of our lures at no avail the three of us gave our best estimate as to how long the fish was. My guess was in the neighborhood of 54 inches while my partners guessed the fish somewhere between 53 and 56 inches. Now that is a big fish in any ones book, but the following year on my return visit I was fishing up near merit point and I had what I thought was a sturgeon follow my bucktail. This fish absolutely dwarfed the fish I had seen the year before. The fish was at least 6 inches longer and at least 3 inches deeper in the belly. I actually started to freak out!

When fishing Lac Seul I highly recommend fishing well after dark, up to at least 10:00 pm. Last year I witnessed two gentlemen boat a 54 incher at just a few minutes after 10. My two personal favorite windows to fish are the hours of 7:00 am to Noon and then again from about 4:00 pm to 10:00 pm. This gives you 11 hours on the water per day with plenty of time in-between the windows to recharge the batteries. And I’m not just talking about the batteries in your boat, I talking about "your" batteries. Four hours gives most people enough time to kick back, eat dinner, take a load off their feet, relax and maybe even catch a power nap. Through the years I have witnessed people push themselves beyond there limitations and become mentally and physically burned out and then blow a big fish that comes in at full throttle chasing there lure. If you are not mentally sharp it is very likely you will fail at doing the most basic things such as figuring eighting after the cast. As far as presentations and lures are concerned I keep it pretty simple. I like throwing "Marv’s Viper" tandem spinner baits in a black/chartreuse color combination. I also keep a handful of "Slammer" top water baits as well as my old reliable "Bobbie" baits.

Although I cast 95% of the time trolling certainly has big rewards. Try trolling in the narrows. Big chamberlain and birch would be my first two choices. I personally know of a huge muskie that was taken in the fall a few years back trolling in birch narrows.

The scenery is absolutely great, one day last year while fishing wapesi bay I watched a big Bull Moose wallowing around for hours. On another afternoon I watched a black bear swim all the way across big chamberlain narrows.

There is a kind of aura to fishing Lac Seul, perhaps it comes from knowing that your next cast could be the fish of a lifetime, maybe it’s the peacefulness and tranquility or maybe it’s something in the air? Lac Seul is a world-class fishery and after my first visit back in 1997 I vowed to come back again and again and again. If you have not yet felt the aura of Lac Seul, give it a try, you most likely will not be disappointed.

More Articles

Mille Lacs Lake Esox by Brian Kaiser

Are You A Tail Addict? By Brian Kaiser

What to expect from a Guide...A Guides perspective...By Brian Kaiser

Brian Kaiser
Phone: 218 841 3534
Email: brian@kaisertail.com