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Posts: 93
Location: Minneapolis, MN | I know this is a FAQ on this board, so I have read through many of the previous posts and recommendations. Very helpful! I also just attended the All Canada Show this past weekend.
But now our group is narrowing down the lake choices. This is where I need your help. We are a group of 4 guys that have never muskie fished in NW Ontario. For that reason we thought starting with a moderately sized lake would be smart. (LOTW, Lac Seul, Eagle, Wabigoon and other big names will have to wait until next time.)
We are considering lakes like Canyon, Roughrock, Manitou, etc. Specifically, we are looking for lakes that aren't huge, hopefully less pressured, and offer a decent return on the numbers vs. size scale. We are not looking to break any size records but wouldn't mind hooking into a 45" either.
Timeframe will be in early August '07. Any thoughts you have will be greatly appreciated! Feel free to message me if you don't care to repond to this thread. Thanks very much for your advice!
-Greg |
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Posts: 162
Location: East Troy, WI | Northwest arm of Eagle lake is great to fish... not that big either.... stay at Andy Myers Lodge.... you will be on fish on day 1
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Posts: 484
Location: St. Louis, MO., Marco Is., FL, Nestor Falls, ON | Don't be scared off my the size of LOTW. It's just a bunch of moderate sized lakes joined together. If you decide to fish out of the camps in Nestor Falls, I'll be happy to show you around and mark up your maps for you. Been fishing muskies here for over 50 years. Just give me a shout. |
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Posts: 32926
Location: Rhinelander, Wisconsin | I agree with Bob, don't let the overall size of LOTW scare you off. There are areas of LOTW no larger than 4,000 acres I've fished, and never had to wander further for numbers and quality. Same with the Goon, you could fish 2,000 acres and be on the big girls the entire time. |
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Posts: 1996
Location: Pelican Lake/Three Lakes Chain | Steve and Bob are right on.
I have never been to the Goon, but know from Steve that it is a place I will see soon. Any advice you get on the Goon from Steve can be stamped in gold, it is right on.
As far as LOTW goes, it is a gargantuan body of water, but it still fishes small. Islands everywhere act as windbreaks to always allow a guy to be on the water in nearly any wind, and the islands all hold fish. Thousands and thousands of spots to catch muskies out there, no need travel too far.
Don't automatically rule these waters out, they are quite manageable.
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| If i did have to pick a smaller lake though I would go to Canyon. Lots of muskies, less pressured and good sizes as well. Clear water too which makes the fight a lot more entertaining.
Andrew |
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| I have been going to Canada Musky fishing for almost 10 years, been all around to just about all of the lakes...For smaller lakes...
Manitou....thats trout water. Numbers are not high, but size is. Very scenic, very unpressured, but a very difficult place to learn muskies....wait on that one til later
RoughRock...Is that the Winnipeg River system I assume? home of my personal best, I personally am a big fan, it might not be the best "beginner" canadian lake though
Canyon...awesome place to fish. You will see a lot of fish, guaranteed, Great topwater lake. Only negatives I can think of is the shape of the lake causes a lot of the water to be unproductive and clear water can SOMETIMES cause fishing to be slow. I love this place though
For what you are looking for, I would also look closely at the Indian Chain which is down the oad from Canyon. Sick numbers of fish, amazing topwater lake, only possible negative is size, have never gotten or seen an over 44" and have caught many,many fish out there.
( If you bring your own boat you can bounce back and fourth from Canyon and Indian  )
Hope that helps, Email me at [email protected] if you have any specific questions. |
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Location: Athens, Ohio | I'd put in at Nestor Falls and follow Bob around, stay one cast off his trolling motor!
You could spend all week just fishing that area and never cross big water. m |
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Posts: 93
Location: Minneapolis, MN | Thank you all for the great input. I'll see what I can do to convince the guys to consider the bigger lakes. Thanks Bob for the very generous offer! We will be putting all this to a vote so we'll see what happens. Thanks again everyone!
Great fishing in '07! |
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Posts: 7084
Location: Northwest Chicago Burbs | As much as I am a big fan of big waters, I can see where you're coming from in wanting to hit some small stuff. My suggestion would be to check out resorts on the Indian Chain, the Little Vermillion Chain outside of Sioux Lookout, Thaddeus, Canyon, etc. etc. I've fished the Indian and Little Vermillion chains and can say that the numbers are fantastic, but your shots at fish above 45" are somewhat limited. Those fish are there, not as many as you would think from the sheer number of fish you're going to encounter.
Another way to go, instead of starting on a smaller body of water (though the chains above arent small, just lots of small lakes linked together) is to find a resort that is situated on trophy water, that can put you on smaller waters if the big ponds are kicking your butt. I know Andy Myers Lodge offers this http://www.andymyerslodge.com and others have to also. OR, find a resort on one of the numbers systems, and venture to the trophy waters when you have the urge. Depends, I suppose on your boat situation. |
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Posts: 785
| I fished Canyon 2 years in a row and can say the numbers of muskies in that lake is unreal, the very first afternoon I went out on the lake we caught 4 muskies. We also didn't have marked maps or anything. You could literally go there (if conditions are good) and catch 5+ muskies a day. Like everyone else who replied though there are fair numbers of 40-45 inch fish caught there but rarely anthing larger. The average size I encounterd was 33-35 inchers. The opener also shows lots of 28" males which is fun, but gets old quick. If you wish to go there I'd suggest the second week of the opener or later becouse fishing pressure drops and the size of fish seems to increase. I would be happy to mark a map with every spot I know if thats where you decide to go.
To second the other posts however I am going to LOTW this year so what does that tell you. Canyon is a beautiful fun lake, but not the trophy water that keeps me comming back for more. |
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Posts: 434
Location: searchin for 50 | Red Wing Lodge is also a good place. Sabaskong bay is an awesome place to fish. Lots of spots and you can follow the channel markers so you can never get lost. Mike at red Wing will probably point out a few spots too. They catch a lot of fish there too.
www.redwinglodge.com
Edited by Raider150 1/9/2007 7:15 PM
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Posts: 1237
Location: South Portsmouth, KY | Raider150 - 1/9/2007 8:14 PM
Red Wing Lodge is also a good place. Sabaskong bay is an awesome place to fish. Lots of spots and you can follow the channel markers so you can never get lost. Mike at red Wing will probably point out a few spots too. They catch a lot of fish there too.
www.redwinglodge.com
YES PLEASE follow the channel markers up there. Before we new what the channel markers ment and that they had a number on them, they was the only thing that saved us from still being up there right now. We took off from red wing headed east and somehow we ended up going about 15 miles north. Looked at the channel marker number after we finally figured out what they were for and we was up by hay island. By the way we hit a rock and tore up the motor which pretty much sucked!! |
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Posts: 14
| We've been going to Canada for the past 8 years and have fished Canyon the first 4 years and were very productive. You won't find any Northern in it, but the Smallie and walleye fishing is good as well. We actually stopped going there the last four years because we know we can catch fish there and decided to fish other bodies of water in the area. We've fished Wabigoon last year in August and got skunked on muskie, but did well on all other species. We've also fished Eagle Lake and did alright. The Indian Chain is nice, that's the body of water that feeds into Canyon Lake. Kevin and Karen are great hosts at the Indian Lake Lodge! Recommend staying there if possible. We are headed back to Canyon this year as the fishing elsewhere has never matched what we could do in Canyon. We'll be staying at the McIntosh Lodge opening week. We've stayed at Blyth's in the past, but have never been to North Country. All the lodges on the lake are basic without American plans and all the amenities as some lodges on other lakes. If you do decide to go to Eagle, we stayed at Cedar Point Lodge which is a great place to stay if you are looking for Satellite TV and air conditioning and nice boats to rent and hospitable hosts. I've heard good things about Andy Myers, also, but have never stayed there.
There are only 3 lodges on the Canyon lake so the pressure is low, it's a very easily navigable lake. There are plenty of places to escape out of major wind, which is never really a factor anyway. We were battling 3-5 foot swells last year on Wabigoon and there are hazards all over the place. The same goes for Eagle where there are many submerged rock reefs, so if you're bringing your own boat or are novices to the rental boats, then I would suggest a smaller and easily navigable lake, such as Canyon or Indian.
As for the size of muskies, there are plenty in the 30's range you can ocassionally hook into a 40's size fish. I have for one, seen several 50" fish follow, but have yet to hook into one. One was following a blade of grass spinning around on the trolling motor, but couldn't get it to bite.
Let me know if you decide on Canyon, I can help you with some spots to fish for all species. You can email me if you have any more questions. [email protected] |
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Posts: 1767
Location: Lake Country, Wisconsin | also have seen multiple 50" Fish on Canyon, and boated a 47".
I will also second the awesome service you will receive at Indian Lake Lodge.
I noticed you mentioned above about getting skunked on Wabigoon in August. I also got skunked there in August, did you ever actually see any fish? I have never been so frustrated Musky fishing in my life as I was that week, I just Can't believe I couldn't get ONE freeking fish to come out, no matter how slow it was. I must've been doing something wrong but for the life of me can't even imagine what I could have done differently. |
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Posts: 1636
| Brian... lay off the Labatt
If you go to Canyon, don't for get your weagle |
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