Sabaskong Bay Ice Fishing

Me and some buddies will be heading up to Ontario to do some ice fishing on the canadian side of LOTW. We are staying on Sabaskong bay near Nestor Falls. We will be going January 18-25, and I was wondering if anyone here had any tips regarding safety. We are looking to roam the islands and maybe wander up to whitefish bay some days, but I am extremely concerned about driving snowmobiles all over the lake. I do know that there is current in that lake and certain areas of the islands have sketchy ice even in the heart of winter. The resort we’re staying at mentioned that our stay is pretty early in the ice season and it’s even a possibility we will have to push our trip back a week or two. Does anyone have any tips on what we can do to best judge where it will be safe for us to operate our snowmobiles? On a normal lake I’d usually go with “ask the resort for ice conditions” approach but I feel like there’s no way a lake like this will have each thin spot marked. Is there some common logic that can be applied to this area of the lake so that we can spot dodgy areas on the fly?

If anyone has a hint or two where the fish are that’d obviously be appreciated but we’re pretty confident about our ability to find em out there. Really just looking to have a safe trip.

The best thing you could do is have the resort mark up the current areas on a paper map. If it’s an extreme neck down area chances are there will be current. January 18-25 on that part of the lake will be just fine minus the current areas. Where are you staying? I haven’t navigated that area much in the winter, but 2-3 areas come to mind that could have poor ice. I guarantee that if they are poor ice areas, there will be portages to get around them.

Best thing to do is ask the resort if they can provide you with a map where they mark bad ice with a red sharpie.

Thanks for the reply Pat, really enjoy the show.

We will be staying at Sunset Cove Resort. It is right off of Highway 71 near Nestor Falls. I’ll definitely take your advice and find a paper map of that part of the lake and ask the resort if they could point out some sketchy spots. I’ll have a helix 7 up with me and a LOTW chip in it to help with navigation, so I think the plan will now be to transpose the marks on the map into waypoints on the electronics.

I assume the neck down areas are pretty easy to notice. Hopefully there’s enough traffic on the lake to see where others have passed safely.

Looking forward to this new body of water! I’m from Ottertail county so I’m used to smaller glacial lakes. This should be a new challenge, but that’s why we’re giving ourselves 8 days to figure it out.

Those guys are good, they will help you out. Theres probably only a couple bad areas heading west out of there if at all. They will be able to fill you in i’m sure.

Lots of good walleye, crappie, and perch fishing not too far from camp there.

I was up there this fall, same resort.
They were very helpful in finding the current that we were looking for.
They were very helpful.

Steve

Thomas Brynildson wrote:

The resort we’re staying at mentioned that our stay is pretty early in the ice season and it’s even a possibility we will have to push our trip back a week or two.

They might be thinking you’re wanting to drive trucks on the ice road and possibly fish out of their permanent houses. 90% of the time there is more than enough ice to run snowmobiles around with caution on Jan 1 for trout opener. Sabaskong freezes even earlier than Whitefish Bay where the trout live, so you guys will be just fine. Use caution and talk to the guys at the resort. They will help you out. Good Luck!

Like Pat Said, ask Mike “the owner” to mark you out a map of areas not to cross. Mikes a great guy and there is great crappie action around there. Also same goes at whitefish Bay. I always use Crawfords camp for my resort. Ask for a map. Good Luck!

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Pat McSharry wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Thomas Brynildson wrote:</div>
The resort we’re staying at mentioned that our stay is pretty early in the ice season and it’s even a possibility we will have to push our trip back a week or two.

They might be thinking you’re wanting to drive trucks on the ice road and possibly fish out of their permanent houses. 90% of the time there is more than enough ice to run snowmobiles around with caution on Jan 1 for trout opener. Sabaskong freezes even earlier than Whitefish Bay where the trout live, so you guys will be just fine. Use caution and talk to the guys at the resort. They will help you out. Good Luck!

This makes much more sense, as I had a hard time believing that water that far north wouldn’t be ready for snowmobiles by late January. I’ll be sure to consult with the owners before going off on any adventures. I plan on staying dry!

Thanks for all of the good input everyone. It is great to hear that there is great fishing, and the fact that you all have good things to say about Sunset Cove Resort is very reassuring. My entire group is in their early 20’s, myself included, so our lodging was pretty much selected based off of price. It’s good to know we found a place that is both affordable and well respected. I’ll post some pictures after the trip!

Live in the area and by that time of the year there is usually over 10″ of ice if not more. Ponds are starting to freeze and 3″ of snow on the ground now 16F outside and looking cool but the lake will not freeze until Dec. Often early season crappie fish from sunset ,fishing is best before the winter road goes on.