Caples camping trip 6-19 to 21

Took some friends and the kids camping up to Caples.  We caught a lot of fish, son got his first Brookie which was his first kayak keeper, and made his first solo trip.  We had a blast and ate all kinds of fish and crawdads.  The dads were HUGE and in both traps on an over night soak in only 5 feet of water yielded about 40 per trap!  

Here is Cody's first Brookie and first ever keeper in a yak, caught at Red Lake

Sounds like a good time.  Were you trolling deep for big Macks?  Are there big fish left in there after the drain and refill?

Where's the pics of the 'dad feast?!   

yeah man, lets see that dad feast, i love the dad's

DAD-FEAST-PICS! DAD-FEAST-PICS! DAD-FEAST-PICS! DAD-FEAST-PICS! DAD-FEAST-PICS! DAD-FEAST-PICS! DAD-FEAST-PICS! DAD-FEAST-PICS! DAD-FEAST-PICS! DAD-FEAST-PICS! DAD-FEAST-PICS! DAD-FEAST-PICS! DAD-FEAST-PICS! DAD-FEAST-PICS!



Thanks for the report

Hella huge dads, this is from one trap, and averaged 7 inches.  Trap was at the spillway, in about two-5 feet of water.

At caples I was toplining rapalas and panther martin spinners.  I would just trol the cove at the spillway, and hammer rainbows and small to medium browns.  The browns were congregated by the big rock outcropping.  Some people caught macks on kastmasters, I tried a while for them, actually marked a lot of them on the sonar, but was tied up with the group and keeping the kids in the fish.

nice dad plate!!!

the fishing was that hit huh? how were the crowds?

Lots of bankies, and very few boats.  The resort charges 20 bucks to launch a boat, and does not open until 8!  I launched off the damn, for free.  Gotta love kayakin!

That's awesome...think I'm going to take a couple friends up there and try to hook fishface...
Any recommendations on fishing/camping?

The host said it was very slow.  Even father's day, there was available spots at caples.  I recommend that spot, however, Kirkwood has very few spots, and is much quieter, but caples was absolutely fine.  Trolling Red lake is a must!  Remember though, it is 5 brookie limit there, every other lake has the 10 brookie bonus limit above your regular limit.  I trolled spinners, small ones, but my friends did well with gold or silver Kastmasters.  At Caples, I trolled panther martin spinners, and toplined rapalas and did fantastic.  They used dodgers and crawlers and did equally as well.  Pretty easy limits in a few hours, and very relaxing paddling compared to fishing the bay!

Thanks for the detailed report, Montana. Looks like a great time, good job getting the youngsters on fish, they'll remember that forever, guaranteed.

Caples is bangin' right now.  The lake filled to the brim after being drained last fall, and was heavily planted.

Caples lake is an awesome place.  But, how is the fishing down the road at Silver Lake??

Shucks,

Cody has the same boat I do and looks to be fishing the same water, competition is heating up  .

Above Red Lake is some great backcountry skiing in the winter as well, haven't fished there yet.....

What kind of traps? Colapsable? Bait  ?  40 per trap that is darn good.

Thanks for the post,

-Tsuri