Atikokan Ontario

Staying at Finlayson Lake Resort and Campground, first time fishing Canada. Looking for any tips fishing this area. Bringing my 1890 Warrior, so I need lakes that I can get that boat into. Marmion lake will be one of our target lakes as I see some tournament results showing 6lb+ Smallies. We will mainly be fishing Smallies but I’m not opposed to Walleye, Trout, or even pike. Trying more for trophy sized fish over numbers. I would appreciate tips of any kind.

I stayed at that resort 8 or 9 years ago. Was a decent place and enjoyed my stay. I only fished Finlayson for one afternoon with limited success for pike and smallmouth. Mostly fished Marmion. I was there a bit too early and the smallmouth had not turned on that great. At that time, the electronic mapping for Marmion was rather limited and what was available did not shows hazards at all – and there are a lot of them. Hazards included standing timber that has rotted off at the surface making it extremely difficult to see until you are on top of it. Plus there are a lot of rock hazards that are not on the map. The resort owner had a paper map that provided more detail on location of the hazards. I stayed mainly on the south side of the lake and caught some decent fish but was not lights out. The ramp at Marmion was sandy and a bit shallow making it a challenge to launch/recover solo. Unless they have improved the ramp, I would not try it without 4×4. I should probably give Marmion another try someday.

Good luck.

I fished Marmion on 3 separate trips in 2010, 2014, and 2018.

We stayed at a private cabin (friends’ friend) each time.

Agreed on the hazards, there are both wood and rock that are not going to show up on mapping.

The first year we took a Creatliner Sportfish 1850, and used 2 14’ Lunds that were already up there. The next 2 trips we trailered up 16’ tillers with a 40 and a 50hp on them and they were about perfect for maneuverability and shallow areas we adventured through. We primarily fished walleyes with a pretty novice group and had mixed results. One guy that was in my boat did land a 30.5” that went on the wall. I do remember lots of smallmouth in the areas near the falls and any place where you got near timber that was shallow. Biggest I think I recall was 21” and maybe 5#?

Tom Berry wrote:

Bringing my 1890 Warrior, so I need lakes that I can get that boat into.

I haven’t been up that way for many years and I don’t recall all the lakes we fished, but just to say be careful.

Just my opinion, but a rig that big and heavy is going to severely limit your choice of lakes or potentially cause hassle. Lots of drive-to lakes in that area have shallow gravel landings or the other way it can go is very steep landings where getting in may be okay, but pulling back out with a loaded rig that heavy on sand or wet gravel/rock can be a real problem.

Obviously, some landings will be fine and if you have the right water conditions, everything is easy, but it can go the other way as well. Last summer in the far north of Ontario, it was so dry I was backing boats in so far that my trailer would have been under 4-5 feet of water in a normal year.

Bring lots of tow straps, and shackles, and if traveling alone I never went anywhere without an off-road jack that can be used as a winch. I have had to winch trailers out of steep landings before. Just saying be careful and have a safe trip.

I’ve been up to Finlayson the last couple of summers and will again this summer. Finlayson can be challenging to find fish. Lots of deep water with steep shoreline breaks. Not much for offshore hazards to worry about, just give good distance from islands and shore.

Marmion has better fishing but as others said quite a few hazards. It’s a popular lake and the landing is perfectly fine as there are plenty of bigger boats that are used out there. There are other good lakes in the area that can accommodate your boat just fine, but 4×4 would be good to have as others said since the landings are all earthen.

If you are up for a bit of an adventure for a long day trip just a short distance north of you is Browns Clearwater West Resort. Clearwater West has great Lake Trout fishing with really big ones taken every year. Also Walleye, Bass and Pike. I don’t fish it so no first hand knowledge. Browns has a boat to vehicle portage into White Otter Lake which is where I fish (annual tent camping trip). WO also a really great trout fishery but good walleye too and now lots of smallies. 20 years ago it had none and now its loaded.We are walleye guys and the bass have become really bothersome :-). There are now people who go there just to fish bass. These are big, deep, extremely clear, and beautiful lakes. That combo makes for a pretty steep learning curve on the walleyes (bass don’t seem to care) plus the wind/weather considerations. Google White Otter Castle – its the only structure on the lake and worth seeing if you go. Navigating there is pretty safe, little to no midwater reefs on that arm of the lake. The Browns folks can provide guidance. Also, WO is a fish sanctuary that does not open till June 15th so it depends on when you are up there.

Thanks for all of your input