Another phenomenal trip to Lake Nipigon!

After a couple much needed weeks of time off the water following the end of our show season spent catching up on family time and various chores that had piled up I finally got a green light to head north to Pasha Lake Cabins to fish pike out on Lake Nipigon.

The last couple years I’ve made this mid-June trip with Marcus Quam from South Dakota. Marcus guides on the Glacial Lakes around Webster, SD and he stays incredibly busy guiding clients this time of year so it takes a pretty special bite for him to leave SD during the peak of his open water guide season and head north. Thankfully Marcus shares my love for catching big pike in shallow, clear water so we’ve both made time to add this trip to the calendar the last two years. Based on our results this year I think we’ve got ourselves a full-blown tradition on our hands! I know I don’t plan to miss this trip in years to come, that’s for sure!

One of the things I love about this trip is it is a trophy pike destination that doesn’t require flying in. Basically you can take the same boat you use at home, trailer it right to the lake on 99.9% paved roads, and hit the water. The down side is Nipigon is a really big lake. As in BIG to the tune of 780,000 acres. It is common to run 30 – 40 miles, one way, to get to a “pikey” looking area and most of the lake is classic Lake Trout water that isn’t suitable for pike meaning you can cover a lot of ground between spots. If the wind blows things can get nasty in a hurry. In fact, two of my most harrowing boat rides ever have come on Lake Nipigon!

Of course the caliber of the fish available and the experience make it all worthwhile. Most fish will be caught in shallow, clear water with sight fishing a possibility when the wind doesn’t blow. Our best baits on this last trip were #12 BX Swimmers in Firetiger and Gold, #14 Saltwater Series X-Raps in Hot Head and Glass Ghost, and Rippin Raps in Firetiger and Gold Chrome.

The number of quality fish available is nothing short of unbelievable. It is common to roll into a shallow bay early in the AM before the wind starts to blow and spot dozens of 40+ inch gators finning lazily in 3′ of water. One of my favorite moments from this last trip was eyeballing a 45″ pike off about 20 feet off the bow of the boat, putting a #12 BX Swimmer out in front of it with a flip cast, and having that big pike hammer the bait and go absolutely nuts in 3′ of water!

Here’s some pics from our trip. One our best day we had 15-20 pike over 40″ with our best two fish at 45″. The number of 42″ and 43″ fish in this system will keep me coming back for years to come! With a little luck I’m hoping to add a fall trip yet this year to go back to chase these pike and make a serious attempt at figuring out the huge lakers.

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Dude. Very nice fish!!

Don’t forget about those Brook Trout either. The world record was caught up there a century ago.

kwp wrote:

Don’t forget about those Brook Trout either. The world record was caught up there a century ago.

What he said! Huge thick Brookies in that system.

S.R.

Looks like a great trip.

Great looking horizontal holds fellas!

Mookie Blaylock wrote:

Great looking horizontal holds fellas!

1st thing I thought of too…. nice job on the toothies guys

James.

Thanks for the nice report. It brings me back to the early 70’s when we used to go out of MacDiarmit then boat to the bay near the outlet and stay in an old loggers shack. In our 14 foot boats we would motor through the dam and jump the log jams into the bays where the water was crystal clear and we would cast exclusively for northerns as one could see them among the flooded tree stumps. I was 16 and the guys I went with were focused on bringing back the biggest northerns to show off to the guys in town. We always left Lake Nipigon with a 46 incher or better, right or wrong that’s the way it was back then. I remember getting into a lake off the south shore and trolling as we wind through the channel and catching a walleye on a black and white daredevil and the guy in the boat just threw it back, that wasn’t what we were here for! Thanks for the memories of 47 years ago!

David Anderson wrote:

James.

Thanks for the nice report. It brings me back to the early 70’s when we used to go out of MacDiarmit then boat to the bay near the outlet and stay in an old loggers shack. In our 14 foot boats we would motor through the dam and jump the log jams into the bays where the water was crystal clear and we would cast exclusively for northerns as one could see them among the flooded tree stumps. I was 16 and the guys I went with were focused on bringing back the biggest northerns to show off to the guys in town. We always left Lake Nipigon with a 46 incher or better, right or wrong that’s the way it was back then. I remember getting into a lake off the south shore and trolling as we wind through the channel and catching a walleye on a black and white daredevil and the guy in the boat just threw it back, that wasn’t what we were here for! Thanks for the memories of 47 years ago!

There’s definitely some true giants left in the lake that’s for sure! We’ve spotted some giants, upper 40- 50 inch class fish, that nearly leave a guy speechless when you get close to them in shallow water. We filmed this trip so we’ll share the footage some time next year when everyone’s dying for an open water show.

James – you realize you’ve spent more time on Nipigon in the last 24 months than I have. Something about that doesn’t seem right!

Fun to have the boys and you up. Great times, big fish, more memories. Can’t wait til next time.

Hey James, I’m not sure if I love or hate these posts. Tons and tons of jealously Just posted my Rainy trip report and don’t have pics like those to share.

I keep saying every time I read one of these that should get this from the bucket list to reality. Thanks again for sharing!

One technique question – can you share how you find “pikey” spots and locate fish in a giant lake like that? Not asking to give the secret sauce away so feel fee to not answer.

patk wrote:

One technique question – can you share how you find “pikey” spots and locate fish in a giant lake like that? Not asking to give the secret sauce away so feel fee to not answer.

The most honest answer I can give you is gas… lots of it. Our last trip we averaged 45 gallons/day.

In my opinion the available maps for Nipigon are awful. Basically they provide outlines of the shorelines and islands and not much else. Our approach has been to pick a bay or large island, even the bays up there are massive and the islands are so big some of them have fishable lakes on them that can be accessed by boat that people in Southern MN would consider “big.”

Each day we allocate significant time for exploring. We’ve honestly drove into and fished nearly every small bay or arm that several of the larger bays have to offer and we’ve gone around large islands like Shakespeare and fished anything and everything that even remotely looks like it would hold a pike. Most of the areas we check are a bust but when you find a good spot, shallow water with a soft bottom and often weeds, the fish will be in those areas thick. Using your eyes to look at shorelines from a distance to spot shorelines that slowly taper down to the lake shore can narrow the search. Shorelines that plunge steeply into the lake often indicate very deep water tight to shore. Early in the season those areas just aren’t “pikey.”

I hope this helps. A very detailed map of Nipigon sure would help but honestly I hope one never becomes available as the absence of a detailed map will help keep this fishery special for a long time to come.

Chad Thompson wrote:

James – you realize you’ve spent more time on Nipigon in the last 24 months than I have. Something about that doesn’t seem right!

Fun to have the boys and you up. Great times, big fish, more memories. Can’t wait til next time.

This was the first time up that you couldn’t make time to get out with us, at least for part of a day. When we come back this fall hopefully things have settled down so we can go exploring together.

Thanks for having us up!

Anyone looking to try out the pike fishing on Nipigon, or any of the smaller surrounding lakes, give Chad a holler. He’s got his finger on the pulse!

Pasha Lake Cabins

James Holst wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>patk wrote:</div>
One technique question – can you share how you find “pikey” spots and locate fish in a giant lake like that? Not asking to give the secret sauce away so feel fee to not answer.

The most honest answer I can give you is gas… lots of it. Our last trip we averaged 45 gallons/day.

In my opinion the available maps for Nipigon are awful. Basically they provide outlines of the shorelines and islands and not much else. Our approach has been to pick a bay or large island, even the bays up there are massive and the islands are so big some of them have fishable lakes on them that can be accessed by boat that people in Southern MN would consider “big.”

Each day we allocate significant time for exploring. We’ve honestly drove into and fished nearly every small bay or arm that several of the larger bays have to offer and we’ve gone around large islands like Shakespeare and fished anything and everything that even remotely looks like it would hold a pike. Most of the areas we check are a bust but when you find a good spot, shallow water with a soft bottom and often weeds, the fish will be in those areas thick. Using your eyes to look at shorelines from a distance to spot shorelines that slowly taper down to the lake shore can narrow the search. Shorelines that plunge steeply into the lake often indicate very deep water tight to shore. Early in the season those areas just aren’t “pikey.”

I hope this helps. A very detailed map of Nipigon sure would help but honestly I hope one never becomes available as the absence of a detailed map will help keep this fishery special for a long time to come.

It’s interesting to compare this thread to the current “New Technology” thread. It’s fun to see that the old methods still work. If you listen, the lake will tell you what you need to know. Look at the shape of the shorelines, look to see where the waves change shape (weedbeds!), look for Ospreys, Eagles, Kingfishers, Loons. Look for minnows jumping out of the water. I look at the lake a lot more than I look at my electronics.

That lake is definitely on my bucket list.

S.R.

James Holst wrote:

patk wrote:
One technique question – can you share how you find “pikey” spots and locate fish in a giant lake like that? Not asking to give the secret sauce away so feel fee to not answer.
The most honest answer I can give you is gas… lots of it. Our last trip we averaged 45 gallons/day.

Thanks James, that’s helpful. Just old fashioned scouting and hard work. Not much different than what we did last week on Rainy except we know the lake and the maps are decent.

James

What were the dates that you were on this trip???

fishthumper wrote:

James

What were the dates that you were on this trip???

June 12 – 15.

Hey James, how much do you keep up with other online fishing…’personalities’?

Specifically, a guy like Mike Borger. He seems to be a pretty renowned world class big pike fishermen/finder, I’ve read through his trip reports numerous times as they are super insightful.

I wonder if he’s ever fished Nipigon. Either way, the question about finding ‘pikey’ water reminded me of him as he talks through his strategies/beliefs on how to eliminate ‘unproductive’ water quickly using topo maps, depth maps, good old fashioned eyeballs, etc.

If you haven’t read through any of his trip reports, everyone should go and look through them! He has fished some pretty incredible lakes and caught some behemoth pike, all while taking really good photos and writing in-depth journals/reports.

https://www.canadafishingguide.net/

Sorry if that came off as like a one-upper type thing, not my intention at all! I’m always just curious how much you guys that make a living off of fishing keep tabs on each other.

Nipigon looks awesome, but man that big water would scare the crap out of me.

philtickelson wrote:

Sorry if that came off as like a one-upper type thing, not my intention at all! I’m always just curious how much you guys that make a living off of fishing keep tabs on each other.

Nipigon looks awesome, but man that big water would scare the crap out of me.

Some cool stuff on that site. Great pics and reports. I saw Dutchboy on a post so we might have ourselves a controversy!

I don’t deal in controversy.

Dutchboy wrote:

I don’t deal in controversy.

I believe that is your internet currency.

philtickelson wrote:

Sorry if that came off as like a one-upper type thing, not my intention at all! I’m always just curious how much you guys that make a living off of fishing keep tabs on each other.

Hey Phil,

I didn’t take your question that way at all.

For me, the less social media I consume the happier and healthier I feel. This is the only fishing site I spend any time on outside of a rare two-minute drop in on Facebook when a friend tags me in something. I do have a tight group of guys that I stay in touch with by text – Dean Marshall, Cal Svihel, Marcus Quam, Justin Soffa, PJ Vick, Dave Koonce, and a few others – basically the guys I fish and film with during the IDO TV season. Outside of that small group I guess I’m pretty isolated by choice.

Bucket list !!!!

Dean Marshall wrote:

Bucket list !!!!

Get me dates for September! I already talked to Chad and he’s got lodging for you, me, and Steve Vick. I know you’re really looking to catch a big brookie. I’ve got that pretty well dialed. The number of 22″ – 25″ brookies we’ve caught up there in the fall on past trips is mind-blowing!

You you know its rough water when james was sketched out lol..

Yup on my road trip list now.

We were also up at Pasha lake the same week as James. Cant say enough about Pasha lake, the service and fishing. One of my fishing buddies is a crazy flyfisherman and hire Ian, the Pasha lake guide for a day on Nipigon. He got his personal best northern as well as Brook trout. Yep, those pike is shallow water sure got him going.

I do have a question about fishing for big northern using jerk baits. What would you suggest I use for leader material.

fred bartling wrote:

I do have a question about fishing for big northern using jerk baits. What would you suggest I use for leader material.

Heavy Fluorocarbon 50 – 80 lb. We use 80# and make our own with crimp sleeves.

What an AWESOME Report James !!!

Love those Monster Pike Pix !!!

Can’t even imagine what it’s like to sight fish them !!!

Maybe someday !!!