Rate Your Canadian Trip

[BadgerRedd]

Just thought I'd get some opinions on how others 2008 Canadian fishing trips were in comparison to past years? For us, it was a very disappointing year compared to past years on Lac Seul and to be honest, the fishing/catching seems to be declining. Several other parties left the resort early because of tough fishing and since the resort had 4-5 open cabins during our week(July 19-26th) I'm wondering if past guests have decided to look at better/different resorts. I'm sure the economy and gas prices had an effect also. Anyhow, how did your trip go this year?

[Mike Kansas]

Where on Lac Seul did you stay?

We spent a week in early June at Black Bay outpost out of Lac Seul Lodge. This is like our 19th year there and the fishing was down a little but it was because of low water temp and wind changing several times a day and lots of rain. Still 7 of us caught around 1100 Walleye in 6 days with a fair amount being slot and over. We also did very good on Smallmouth....Rate that trip a 6 out of 10 based on past experiences at the same camp.

Went to Lost Island Lodge on Lac Seul during the first week of July and 6 of us caught around 1400 eyes in 5 days, plus a 41" Pike. Lots of nice eyes with several 28" and lots of 22" to 24". Would rate that trip a 9 out of 10 because the eyes were starting to school up with the warmer water.

When I talk to others who went to Lac Seul or other lakes in Canada this year most of them thought poor weather conditions resulted in the eyes being out of their normal pattern from spawn to late season transistion to main lake. That is why it is called fishing not catching. Maybe next year we can see NORMAL weather and normal patterns.

We were blessed to do as well as we did and we want to express our thanks to both Lac Seul Lodge and Lost Island Lodge for their great accomadations and top notch service. We are booked back at both of them next year.


Good Luck, Mike Kansas

[Golden Eagle]

I fished Little Vermilion Lake, north of Red Lake, 15 days in May and experienced the hottest walleye bite anyone could imagine. Pike fishing was also good.

We went in to LV July 25 and out August 2 and had probably the best summer bite I've ever had. I hit two large reefs really hard during the eight days. Usually I find walleyes just off the reefs in deeper water and then move into shallower water to hunt huge pike. This time I found great walleye fishing in 7' - 10' of water on the reefs. There were acres of willing walleyes.

Now I need to figure out a way to make it back up before winter. My fishing friends are having a tough time getting off work. Walleye size on LV doesn't match the lake you fished. Pike size and numbers is hard to match on LV.

[lobo1]

Lake St Joseph was awesome again - catch as many as you care to catch.

The OldPost is an awesome place to stay as well. They can fit you in if you are alone or with 10 or more and can provide you just the cabin or prepare every meal and send you out with a great guide every day - your choice - they will customize a plan for you.


lobo1

[wiswalleye]

Fished out of Evergreen on Lac Seul 19th-25th of Jul. 2nd time fishing that part of the lake. We had good fishing but not great fishing. I have fished out of Black Bay Outpost before and believe the fishing on that part of the lake is much better, less pressure. Evergreen had one empty cabin when we were there but were told the occupied ones were not at capacity. Neighboring camp owner had previously gone back to the States for two weeks and some camps, not necessarily on Lac Seul, had already closed for the year due to lack of bookings. This year's trip rates a 5.

[Wall13is]

Badger. Overall I would say a 9. We fished Lake of the Woods Ontario from 07/13 t0 07/25. The first week was OUTSTANDING and the second week was OK. Go figure, same lake, same spots. The weather was all over the place both weeks.

Once again, that keeps me going back to the solunar tables. According to the charts, our first week was supposed to the be the best in July, the second and same week you fished, the poorest. I ALWAYS schedule my trips based on those charts.

JR

[Catman59]

As I have already posted , our trip to Sturgeon was the best fishing ever. The weather was CRAP .....cold , rain and wind ----- but I guess it must have helped , because the fishing was awesome !!!!

[keith nehrke]

Even though we heard that Lac Seul was really tough immediately prior to our being there, then tough again after we left, the fishing was fantastic during our stay in late June. I attribute it to a string of warm, stable days, certainly not to our expertise, of which there is none to speak. We stupid'd into a great guide at Silver Water Wheel who put us at the top of the food chain nearly every day for five days straight. The last day we were there, we had 100+ walleye over 18", with three 27" fish...so far as I know, that's about as good as it's gotten this year. Finally, the smallmouth were all over the beds, so we took the boat out every evening and did 20 to 30 fish in the 16-20" range. The only downside was the loss of our only potential 40"+ pike at the side of the boat. Admittedly, this was my first time at the great Lac Seul, so I'm not sure how our experience compares with past years, but to us it was simply phenomenal.

Gator

[BadgerRedd]

We stayed at Gold Pines near Ear Falls and were actually told by the Four Seasons bait shop that the fishing was poor and we would really have to work for fish when we stopped to get our licenses BEFORE we actually got to the resort. Upon arriving at camp Bill and Peter both exchanged hello's to us and then echoed what the bait shop had told us, fishing had been very tough. We weren't that concerned as we had great success our very 1st year not travelling more than 15 minutes from camp, and since I had several "hot spots" saved on my GPS from previous years, we figured we would get on the fish sooner or later. It just never happened, and from talking to others in the fish house and on the dock, nobody was doing well. We certainly understand that patterns change, weather/bug hatches can influence the fish, but when we look at our "logs" from previous years and compare them to the last couple the fishery seems to be declining. Couple that with the amount of cancellations/non renewals for the resort and it seems like other groups are seeing the same thing. It's too bad because the staff/owners of Gold Pines have ALWAYS treated us well and seeing the resort at 1/2 capacity means they're hurting some too.

[Steve of Madison]

Our trip this year I was rating as a "C" or 5 out of 10. But several things factored into the overall rating. Inconsistent weather, (July 4-11), cold temps, very high water levels, very little weed growth, a rookie in my boat, and the week going by way to quickly. We eventually found fish, as an earlier post explained, but that wasn't until Monday. I have changed my reservation to July 17 for next year at Onaway and am already counting down the weeks. Thanks to Blair and Kathy for great facilities and service, and remember.....it's called fishing not catching!

[1shooter]

We were on LOTW the 2 week of June and the weather was ok but not great. We had some rain pretty much every day and the last day the temp dropped.

As far as the fishing it was probably the best for us in 5 years.

[Catman59]

....And you know the worst part ? People actually hold the camp responsible when the fish arent cooperating !!! I know there have been cancellations at our camp due to poor fishing years . I guess that just adds to next years challenge for me .

[prov1900]

We were on Minnitaki the weekend following the walleye opener. With the late ice out, the fishing was slightly tougher than the previous year, but we still knocked the heck out of them. Plus, the lake trout were abundant and huge. Twenty pounders on 6 lb test was rather fun.

[Fred_G]

We spent the week of 7/27 - 8/2 on Lake St. Joseph. This was one of the best years for walleye in the twelve years we've been fishing there. We had several large pike also, but I would have to say that the pike fishing was slower than normal. I think that was mainly due to the high water conditions causing less weed growth. Overall, another great trip and we're already looking forward to next year.

[new hips]

Just got back, I would rate fishing about a 7 out of 10. Weather was stable, fish were in the same spots each day. 11 guys in camp 3 northern over 42in, biggest walleye was 28in. The northern bite petered out the last two days for us, not sure why. Crawlers and leeches worked the same, gulp alive leech worked somewhat, the last day my partner and I caught over 100 walleye pretty much on one point, with 15 fish over 21in. Overall a great trip for a drive up lake.

[rockape]

We always catch tons of fish on Lake Minnitaki, and this year was no different. Biggest eye was 28, and biggest pike was a HUGE 45. Actually, lots of big pike this year. Much better than the last few. Walleyes were bigger earlier in the week. We went up on Lac Seul for a day, and the fishing stunk compared to years past. Burnt a ton of gas and time for worse fishing than on Minnitaki.

[Northpoint]

I would rate the trip that my wife and I took to Lac Suel in June a "9" on a scale of 1-10. We stayed at Silver Water Wheel Lodge and had great fishing despite the fact that we had unstable weather. My wife caught a trophy smallmouth which made the trip one for her to brag about at work and she also got a 28" walleye and a 36" northern along with lots of other fish. I was lucky enought to get a 28.5 walleye along with many other smaller fish. The shore lunches and breakfast and supper were top notch and honestly were better than some very expensive dinner places. The shore lunches provide options for either a fish bake that is excellent or a fish chouder or the traditional fried fish. The guides worked extremely hard to get us on fish and are all very talented. We fished from 8 in the morning until a couple of minutes before supper at 6 at night and sometimes tipped the guide a bit more for some after supper fishing. My only complaint is that SWW stays so packed all season that it is tough to find another few days with openings that ft our schedules. Next year we are planning at least one trip of 10 days to break into the 29" walleye range with a new and improved tape measure!

[logged off]

Northpoint,

Glad you and the wife had an awesome trip but great food and guides shouldn't be a pleasant surprise at high end lodges like SWWL - the meals and service should be EXPECTED to be 4-5 star - you pay the extra $$$ for it.
That being said they must do a fantastic job there b/c even in a bad economic year where most camps and lodges suffered cancellations etc - they remained booked solid.

[BadgerRedd]

Wow, I'm stunned that Silver Water Wheel Lodge remained fully booked with the amount of "openings" at other resorts. At almost $2700 PER PERSON for a week that seems outrageously expensive, factor in the costs of gas/food on top of that and the guides "tips" and I'm guessing a couple would be paying well over $6000 for a week. Nice that people can still afford it, maybe the economy is better than the news would have you believe.

[Golden Eagle]

If we end up in a recession, it will be media driven. I'll not be participating.

[way2goofy]

I would rate our week on LOTW's as an 8 1/2. It was cooler than the same week other years and it did affect the fishing a bit. I heard that the Bass Tournament out of Kenora was really slow on decent fish. We stayed in Soiux Narrows at Crawford's Camp.
We had good luck on the reefs for walleye north of Chishom in 30' of water. The walleyes ran smaller that last year though. We also had good luck in Blueberry with the crappie but had to move around more to find them. We picked up very few northern early in the week but they got better as the week went on. Maybe it was just our fishing prowless getting better. Seemed to be best for the pike in 12' of water with deep weeds running baits just over the weed tops.
My brother-inlaw flew into Kay Lake from Nestor Falls for a 3 day Sat,Sun and Mon. It has Musky, Lake Trout and SM Bass. They barely saw a bass and caught several small muskies. They had alot of follows from bigger muskies but no takers. They enjoyed the experience but would probably not do Kay Lake again. The cost of the trip was less than I figured overall. We had 3 in our group and I had estimated it costing about $1000 a guy door to door but it was closer to $800 a guy. We didn't skimp on bait, beer, or longer trips due to gas prices either. I bought 2 lb's of leeches in Ft. Frances and would definitely do that again. They were jumbo's and ran $43 a pound. One pound was for the fly-in group of 4 when they got into our camp. I was apprehensive about the trip before we left because of cost but am now looking forward to next year. I've been going up since I got out of the Navy in 1970 and only missed one year.

[Northpoint]

I noticed a comment about how I should have expected alot for what I paid for my trip to Lac Suel and SWW. Another thing that I really like about the resort is the fact that there are no hidden costs. When we check out all we have left on the bill is the tax. The guide fee, meals and bait and gas are all built in.....which makes comparing prices difficult at best.

[Northern Exposure]

I was up in Early June and fishing was slow. I would have given it a 5 or 6 but I got thinking this was my 10th year there and it was the worst or second worst year of fishing I've had. So compared too other years of fishing I'll give it a 1 or 2. Still good fishing and a great time but compared to other years it was slower.

[BadgerRedd]

Northpoint, my comments concerning the "extra costs" of gas & food were relating to the trip to the lodge and back, and you mentioned tipping the guides. I'm guessing that the PST & GST combined is about 10% which means another $540 on a couples trip to Silver Water Wheel Lodge($2700 x 2) I'm glad for you and your wife that you enjoy the lodge/fishing that much, obviously this is a special place for you two !!