Generally the first week upon arrival is the slowest fishing of the 3 weeks due to first or secondary mayfly hatches, but not this year. The fishing was outstanding as soon as I wet my line right from the get go. The water temp was 63 degrees and the big eyes and smallmouth were in the mood to chow.

 

Most days I fished by myself since my bride can't handle the hot sun. Therefore I wasn't able to take photos of the fish on those days, but still managed some great shots so you can appreciate the quality of this fishery. In the first week the water temps went up 10.5 degrees and the biggest eyes had begun their seasonal movement to the tops of the reefs.

 

During the second week the winds began to switch to the north bringing in heavy rains and a cold front with a loss of 10 degrees in water temps. This quickly scattered the fish and northwest winds refused to give in for about a week. Most of the larger fish were suspended and off the feed bag. This was quite frustrating since I could mark them suspended daily. We still managed some dandies from the ones we pick off hugging the bottom.

 

I ran into Dr. Bob (Bob Dahl) from Gilbert MN. and he was camping on Basswood for 4 or 5 days with his family and pets. Bob let me hijack his son Jake for a few hours of fishing in my boat and it reminded me of fishing with my boys at his age (thanks for the loan Bob!). Jake managed to pick off 2 nice eyes and fat smallie (see photos section) during our brief introduction.

 

Our 3rd week the winds were near nonexistent and temps were on the rise with clear skies. The wife and I each managed a 9 lb walleye and my best smallie was 5 lb 11 oz with her beating me out with a 5 lb 13 oz.

 

The last week we were there I contacted Dr Bob and offered a last minute chance to fish together. Bob quickly threw some junk in the trunk and broke the MN. land speed record to arrive on time. We had a blast fishing together and Bob went home with with some nice walleye meals for the family. 

 

*All of the lunker size fish were photo and release as usual. Many of my awesome fish were caught when alone so I couldn't get photos of them. Most of my fishing was done back trolling in waters averaging from 16 to 43 ft. Lindy rigs with 6 # test line and & # 8 hooks accounted for most of the trophy size fish. 22 inch smallies & walleyes up to 29.5 inches.

 

 Basswood is an outstanding body of water, but the fishing slows down rapidly as the sun creeps up toward the noon position. That's generally the best time for a lunch break, site seeing, or a nice swim. Depending on the wind and cloud cover you can experience exceptions to this pattern. Late afternoon fishing usually begins to pick up as the evening approaches.

If you would like to see some of the fish photos along with some other shots of interesting sites from my 2007 July Basswood trip click my web-page. I'm looking forward to next years trip with hopefully some cooler weather. My wife Kathy managed some dandy fish on the days she fished with me and were both looking forward to next year.