Where to in Western Ontario?
 

Hello guys, I'm new to Muskie Central and hoping to get some advice on where to go for Muskie in Western Ontario. When my Dad was a young man he had a big muskie follow to the boat in the Kenora area but not take the lure. 60 some years later he is 84 and still has never caught a muskie. We lived in Winnipeg and even though he always had time to take the kids fishing or hunting every weekend a trip for muskies would be too time consuming and expensive for a guy with 7 kids.
Recently I asked if there was anything he wanted to do or anyplace he wanted to go and he said catching a muskie was at the top of his bucket list. That big muskie must have haunted him because he said he thought of him often and when he describes the scene its like it happened yesterday. A week long fishing trip with Dad sounds great to me.
Anyone have experience with the lodges in the Dryden or Kenora areas? We're not looking for luxury, but good boats, well cooked meals, and decent cabins or a suite would be nice. Since neither of us know much about fishing for muskie a day with a guide would be a good start. Thanks if you stuck with this long post so far. Any advice or references would be appreciated.

If you just want to catch a musky look for resorts in the NW Angle portion of lake of the woods or Sabaskong Bay portion of lake of the woods. A couple smaller water options would be the Indian Lake Chain or Canyon lake near Vermilion Bay. LOTS of muskies available in those waters. The LOTW options mentioned also offer a chance at a BIG fish. Canyon and the chain offer big numbers but big fish aren't real likely.

I have only fished the NW angle of the options mentioned but lots of research on the others. Sandy's blackhawk island would be my #1 choice to catch a shield musky. Bill is 2nd to none on LOTW and the island is in a great location. I assume he has other guides as well. Never stayed there but would like to someday.

I fish the winnipeg river every year from a do it yourself lodge that is cheap which is what I want. Plenty of fish and plenty of big fish but less #s than the angle or sabaskong. If your budget is a bit higher I would recommend Roughrock Lodge as well. Super nice place, great rental boats, and we did housekeeping but I have a hard time believing the Kuglers didn't serve great food as well. If I went on one fishing trip a year that would be my choice.

Suggest Cedar lake chain
 

You might check out the Cedar Lake (Perrault lake) chain of lakes that have very good Musky fishing, without the large water that your Dad may have a tough time with (if the wind is blowing).

Several camps you might look at are:

[url]http://clarksresorts.com/northern-lights/index.html[/url]

[url]www.sportfishin.com[/url]

[url]http://www.cedarpointresort.ca[/url]


Good luck and have a great time with your Dad this summer.

Safe travels,

Rich B

I would hit Canyon Lake as mentioned in a previous post and stay with McIntosh Lodge (I have stayed with them 3 times). Tons of muskies no pike, tremendous walleye fishery as well. If you decide to go there send me a pm and I will tell you everything I know about the lake before you go. [URL="http://www.mcintoshlodge.ca"]www.mcintoshlodge.ca[/URL]

Wabigoon and eagle lake in Dryden both have hudge muskie.My freind caught a 57 inch muskie last summer on Wabigoon,its featured in the Feb/march isssue of The Musky Hunter magazine.Pg 14 i beleive.Aperently it was the biggest caught in Ontario last year and largest reported to The Musky Hunter magazine.Google Travis Tourond and look at the pics.This thing is scary big.Indian Point Camp is a nice place to stay on the Goon,and probably be able to go to Eagle Lk for day trips (only about half hour away).Check out Indian Point Camps web site.Lots of fish pics including big muskie pics.good luck

Thank you everyone for the recommendations. There are a staggering number of fishing lodges in northwestern Ontario. I attached the websites of your suggestions as well as a few I came across and forwarded them to my dad. Heidicke, we may take you up on the offer on info for Canyon Lake. The McIntosh camp looks nice, but I don't mind catching big pike too. Thanks again.

Back again with a few more questions. Does anyone have any experience with Colgrove's Eagle Lake Lodge? It seems to have the flexibility in meals and equipment that my dad and I were looking for. I left it a bit late for booking a cabin so quite a few lodges were booked up. Any opinions on the musky fishing or effective baits for the northeast area of Eagle Lake? We planned to go the first week of July. How is the fishing at that time of year?
I may haul my boat down and use it rather than the lodge boats. It's a decent boat for northern Alberta, a 2005 1750 Crestliner Fishhawk with dual bubble windshields. It has a Yamaha F115, 2 LMS 332s, and an 80lb. Minn Kota with AP and co-pilot. It has fairly large front and rear casting decks so I hope it will work well for musky fishing. With my own boat we can trailer it to other musky lakes or the northwest part of Eagle for lake trout if we want. I can also bring alot more gear if I drive rather than fly. Is there a good hydrographic map chip out there for Eagle Lake? Thanks again for the information.

[QUOTE=Northern Bob;1437649]Back again with a few more questions. Does anyone have any experience with Colgrove's Eagle Lake Lodge? It seems to have the flexibility in meals and equipment that my dad and I were looking for. I left it a bit late for booking a cabin so quite a few lodges were booked up. Any opinions on the musky fishing or effective baits for the northeast area of Eagle Lake? We planned to go the first week of July. How is the fishing at that time of year?
I may haul my boat down and use it rather than the lodge boats. It's a decent boat for northern Alberta, a 2005 1750 Crestliner Fishhawk with dual bubble windshields. It has a Yamaha F115, 2 LMS 332s, and an 80lb. Minn Kota with AP and co-pilot. It has fairly large front and rear casting decks so I hope it will work well for musky fishing. With my own boat we can trailer it to other musky lakes or the northwest part of Eagle for lake trout if we want. I can also bring alot more gear if I drive rather than fly. Is there a good hydrographic map chip out there for Eagel Lake? Thanks again for the information.[/QUOTE]

Bob.......you really need to consider hiring a guide for your whole trip, not just one day if you are serious about your dad catching a muskie...on Eagle or any other lake. Eagle can be a challenge for muskie, and even for navigating hazards and such....especially on the east end of the lake. It's not something you just tackle on your own if you have no experience. Believe me, you will be much happier having someone along who can give you a real shot at catching fish. Your boat would be fine, as would Colgroves.......it is a great spot, but you are going to need some help. Hire a guide!

Colgroves
 

I was at Colgroves in July of 2009 with the family. We are heading back this year and will be at the lodge from June 30-July 7th. I fish musky frequently, but had three young children along last trip and only fished musky about 9 hours total. In that time we saw 8 muskies, had three hit, and boated a 50 incher. I have thought about that trip daily since we were there and can't wait to go back.

Some of the fish that followed we unbelieveable, the size is incredible. We were fortunate to see good numbers too. I highly recommend Eagle Lake Lodge. Nice place and the hosts are second to none.

Gord, I think we'll just go with a guide for a day, if that. I checked my Hotmaps Premium chip and the Eagle Lake map isn't too bad. The contour lines are only at 5 foot intervals, but there are a lot of navigational hazards such as sunken rock piles marked. Between that and the maps the lodge gives out we should be okay. From what I understand the lodge map has hazards, fishing spots, and waypoints marked on it.
Slugchucker, that is great to hear about how good the fishing, camp, and hosts were last time you were at Eagle Lake. Did you spend much time fishing for walleye? Any suggestions for lures we should bring? We'll be in camp the same week as you. I hope we have the chance to meet.