Canada Info

this isn’t exactly a swap per se.
I’m looking for recommendations for places to fish in Canada.
looking for spots within a 8 hr drive from Minneapolis. targeted species would be walleyes/ smallies first and Northern/muskie second. looking to rent boats instead of hauling mine all the way up there. doesn’t seem like it costs much extra. looking for mid-level accomodations. running water, electricty etc.. looking at a five day jaunt, excluding driving time. 3 guys and looking for when you guys like to travel to the North. best time of the year?
got personal faves? please share. hate to just pick one off the internet or sportshows.

Steve,

I have been going to Canada for 6 years now and have had very good fishing in the month of June. We are heading to the Cobham River system June 1-8 this year.

Have never driven to a lake but if you wanted a reasonable fly out for walleye and pike I would recommend the Cobham River. The website is http://www.canadianflyinfishing.com

Tom,
checked out the website and it looks great.
is early June the time you think is the best?

Steve,

Last year was my fisrt trip to the Cobham and we went in Last August. The group I went with has been going there for 15 or 20 years and they said fishing in the spring is much better. I averaged 50+ walleye and 30+ Northern a day so I thought it was good. However the others in the group said fishing was much better in June.

I would be happy to answer any other questions about the Cobham, Ganglers or North of Sixty those are the places I have been.

Since we are on fishtheriver…how about the English River.

a river system would be just fine. I fished the Waterhen River in northern Manitoba and had a great time. don’t want to go that far north this time and we caught mostly eater size walleyes.

I’d suggest the Cat River System by Souix Lookout in Ontario. Good place. I fly out from there every year to further north, but have fished the lakes in the area as well.

I did the English river 2 years ago. Great place. right out of ear falls. I think it was 20 miles of river system running through about eight lakes. Get the best of both worlds. Had some cool rapids and a hydro dam to fish. Naughty pines was the resort. English river system is a six hour drive into canada. Worth the trip but passed alot of nice lookling places on the way there.
Hey Steve. I have been looking for a group to head back up there with. Let me know if you would like a forth.
I went the week before labor day. They had the first frost so the bugs where gone. If I went back I think I would shoot for this time again.
My dad went to a place on the canada side of lake of the woods. He liked it so much he went twice this summer. It was a full survice place that sounded very modern. Price was a little more than Naughty pines but i guess you where well taken care of. I could check into the name if yolu would like.

Mike,
the more the merrier. let’s keep in touch throughout the winter. gettin’ some great tips on times and locations.

Steve I have a very good spot for early spring trophy pike/lake trout. I have caught lakers up to 33 lbs, and pike up to 21.5 lbs. This spot can produce pike over 30# and lakers over 60#. Early season walleyes here does not exsist but mid summer walleye is unreal. Drive time is 8 hours from Eau Claire. Also this area is known for trophy Speckeled(Brook) trout(up to 13#-true trophy water). Big water, very primitave, very cheap, if you are interseted in more info drop me a line and I can give you info if this is what you are looking for….

Hi Steve, A few of my friends hit this system every year. I can find out about spots to fish ect and can probably even have a hot spots map made up for ya. It’s a river that dumps into a lake, so you get your choice of what type of water to fish, (moving or not). Check out
http://www.SeineRiverLodge.on.ca/photo.htm
I belive its about an hour from the border. Lots of photo’s on their site also. Steve

you da man Steve.
looks like a great spot. thanks again for all your effort on helping me on Menomin.

Hey no problem on the help. It’s something that everyone on FTR and FTL does. Nothing like looking under a pic-nic table for a copy of a lake map stapled to the bottom of the top all marked up with known good spots to try. We will have to get after them on of these days. If you decide to head that way let me know and I’ll get some tips for you even though the folks at the resort will share a lot of info with you.I think there’s a good chance for some really nice smallies in that river. Your friends that you were fishing with on Menomin were probably wondering what the heck you were doing looking under the pic-nic table. Then when you showed them the map they probably were wondering who would we crazy enough to staple a map under there. Steve

I have a place in Sioux Narrows on LOTW. We have everything but indoor toilet. Also nice sand beach, boat ramp, fishhouse etc. Sleeps 6 easy, also has deck and screen room. Fishing is great all year but my favorite time would be August. Early to mid June can be great within mile of cabin. We’re on Lobstick bay- if you have a map. I usually head out to Yellow Girl are (approx. 20 miles) or Whitefish Bay for the big ones! I’m looking to get 2 or 3 groups to come up each year (regulars). I’m willing to discount rent as I’m just trying to get a little money to defray costs and upgrade (electric toilet) etc. If you’ve never been on LOTW you will love it once you get used to it- it’s huge!!! Would also consider a swap such as day or 2 on pool 4!! Check out my site for idea on my rental. lyberghomes.com
Thanks! Dennis

dlhomes,

checked out the website. very impressive. my wife and I spend a lot of time in Hayward over the summer. be interested in staying at your rental property up there.

I’ll be in touch. if you want to really enjoy Pool 4. I’d suggest Turk, James, Dustin or fireflick (Jarrad). those guys know the water down there just about better than anybody.

thanks for the info! places look very nice from the website.

Try Mahkwa Lodge (boat in) on Lac Suel. It is a boat in lodge and not fancy but the Walleye Fishing is the best I have ever experienced. They have housekeeping cabins and rent boats/motors. The service is so-so but the fishing more than makes up for it. We caught hundreds of walleye including one at 9 1/2 lbs and three Northern between 15-20lbs and this was our first trip. We went in late July.early August and despite the time of the year the fishing was great.

Does Mahkwa Lodge have a website? Can you bring your own boat? It seems like what I hear about Lac Seul is that the “good” fishing is 50 miles from anywhere and you need a big boat to fish it. What is your take on it?

We stay at a small resort on an island on Lac Suel that is a 3 -5 minute boat ride from the boat launch. It is called Lost Island Lodge. The cabins are extremely clean and the service is excellent. We usually go up the week of Labor day and catch hundreds of fish each day. I can honestly tell you that our minnow bill was more than our cabin bill. My advice is to bring some crawlers up with you. Some of the best fishing we had was within 5 to 10 minutes of the Resort. To get to the resort you go to Dryden, then up towards Souix Narrows. it’s very easy to find. The boat launch is right outside the small town of Hudson. the resort will have someone meet you at the boat dock and will escort you into town to park your truck and trailer in a secure place. It’s a very well run outfit. The guides are very good and everyone there wants you to catch fish and have a good trip. The cabins are $50 a night per person. they have gas and everything right there. Hope this helps you out.

Thanks for the reply. I will check that out and see if it works. Thanks again

Be carefull crossing the border with crawlers, if you have “american dirt” they will make you leave them in america, if you have store bought crawler bedding you will be OK. Just an FYI……

Good advice! I know several people that had to leave their crawlers in the good old U.S. of A.

Hey steve i went up to the seine river lodge last year for 4 days.We caught a decent amount of eater walleye and a few northern and smallies but we were facing alot of wind/rain.
But the service was awsome carl and his wife were great.And the price was right we paid $242 for the cabin.If you want any more info or see some pics from there would be happy to help you,just pm.

Kevin Budny

Check out Heliars Resort on LOTW the first week of June. BFD runs a clinic out of there that week. He is so good even I catch fish

The good fishing was about 100 yards in back of our cabin and we never went more then 5-10 miles from the lodge. I think they have a website at http://www.mahkwa.com but if you want send me an e mail ([email protected]) and I will give you the phone number.

Ironically, we are headed for Rainy Lake this year bcause m son decided there has to be some challenge when fishing
and at Mahkwa it was imply one fish after the other.

If you are looking to catch a lot of walleyes and some big walleyes you should check out Eagle Lake in Ontario. It is between Dryden and Kenora, it is approximately 3 and a half hours north of I-Falls, MN. I went there last summer and the walleyes are numerous and big! They have a slot limit of 18-23 inches, all of these fish must be returned to the water immediately. This slot limit has been in effect for over 10 years now and it has payed big dividends….like I said you will be hard pressed to find action this hot and plus you can tie into some real hogs. Just make sure you bring nightcrawlers, those Eagle Lake walleyes love nightcrawlers, I stay at a place called “Pine Beach Lodge” http://www.pinebeachlodge.com….check it out…you won’t be disappointed

World Class Muskie Fishing also! Northern are numerous and Smallies are plentiful

check into sioux lookout, ontario. got all you need right there for 420.00. take a look at http://www.pickeralarm.com if that doesnt work let me know and i will get back to you. wallies, smallies and northerns. fun trip the last two years. just started going with a guy who has gone there the last twenty years.

For the past 3 years we have been going to Red Lake, Ont., to a place called Bow Narrows Camp (bownarrows.com). It’s a great camp and lots of fish- walleye,pike,lake trout. The camp is 20 miles out on the lake, kind of secluded. They supply a 16′ lund with a 20 hp motor, 6 gal gas per day, they clean and freeze the fish you take home in individual packages. A very clean camp, with nice cabins- electric-running water-kitchen-indoor bath.

I had a great trip for mainly smallies and BIG pike on topwater 2 years ago on Rainy Lake. Great knotty pine cabins, Deep 16′ Lund boats with Honda 4 strokes w gas and oil inc, and three phenomal Gourmet meals per day….$600/week!! Heres a link..

http://www.campnarrows.ca/fishing.cfm

As far as the crawlers go. I have heard that if you bring in flats they either have to be in paper or you have to have them in that nitro worm bedding that turns your crawlers green. Just make sure that when you cross your crawlers are green. Has anybody else heard this?

Good point. When you bring crawlers across the border, they can’t be in dirt. Any type of artificial bedding, including but not limited to the Nitro bedding, is OK.

You can buy a whole flat of crawlers from Vados in Fridley, MN, in a cooler and packed with artificial bedding. It’s called their Canadian Pack or something. Otherwise, all of the other sources I’ve found for flats of crawlers come in dirt and you have to re-pack them.