Wabakimi Lake, Ontario

[Bluff]

Thanks good to know. Mike has stayed with us a few times - nights before flying out. Good fisherman.

[TexFly]

Sorry I never thanked everyone for their help, especially Pikeslayer. We had another great trip. The weather was quite a bit warmer and more wind than normal. We caught a bunch of walleye, but overall they seemed smaller this year. Maybe the weather?. We did have a 26" walleye and a 38" northern. We didn't venture West of Rusty's outpost because of the wind. Most of our fishing was in Lower Wabakimi. Rusty's back door held quite a few fish as did the outlet on the East, we call it "the Lower Unit". We have a 6 day trip scheduled for next July. Hopefully I'll be able to get more fly fishing done. I caught some nice northern on flies, 20-30". I had a monster nail a smaller northern right at the boat that I had caught with a fly. Thanks again for all the help. Yes, the cabin was in great shape, thanks Innova.

[Pikeslayer8]

Originally Posted by TexFly

Sorry I never thanked everyone for their help, especially Pikeslayer. We had another great trip. The weather was quite a bit warmer and more wind than normal. We caught a bunch of walleye, but overall they seemed smaller this year. Maybe the weather?. We did have a 26" walleye and a 38" northern. We didn't venture West of Rusty's outpost because of the wind. Most of our fishing was in Lower Wabakimi. Rusty's back door held quite a few fish as did the outlet on the East, we call it "the Lower Unit". We have a 6 day trip scheduled for next July. Hopefully I'll be able to get more fly fishing done. I caught some nice northern on flies, 20-30". I had a monster nail a smaller northern right at the boat that I had caught with a fly. Thanks again for all the help. Yes, the cabin was in great shape, thanks Innova.

Lol... "The Lower Unit" I think that might stick. Thanks for the report, too bad about the wind. Doesn't take a whole lot of wind to rile up the main lake.

[waywardsoul]

Hello All,

I'm heading to Wabakimi for my first time, in 4 weeks. To say I'm excited would be an extreme understatement. I'm a BWCA & Quetico vetran, and have been meaning to get up to Wabakimi for years now. The BWCA seems to get more crowded every year, with the usual consequences. The same, but to a smaller extent in Quetico. I will be trekking in via canoe and sleeping in a hammock, rather than flying in and staying at an outpost (I guess I'm old fashioned). I've been reading through this thread, and marking fishing locations on my planning map. It's clear there is a lot of knowledge about the fishing in both Wabakimi Lake and Lower Wabakimi Lake. I'm really curious if any of you Wabakimi vetrans have done much fishing in the (what appear to be?) unnamed lakes, directly to the north of Wabakimi (north of the three northern bays), and to the west/southwest of Kenoji lake? As well as the fishing in Kenoji lake/surrounding area, and Smoothrock area?
Fishing is not the primary purpose of any of my trips into the northwoods, but having fresh fish with breakfast, lunch, or dinner, really compliments the experience.

until next time,

ws

[Pikeslayer8]

Originally Posted by waywardsoul

Hello All,

I'm heading to Wabakimi for my first time, in 4 weeks. To say I'm excited would be an extreme understatement. I'm a BWCA & Quetico vetran, and have been meaning to get up to Wabakimi for years now. The BWCA seems to get more crowded every year, with the usual consequences. The same, but to a smaller extent in Quetico. I will be trekking in via canoe and sleeping in a hammock, rather than flying in and staying at an outpost (I guess I'm old fashioned). I've been reading through this thread, and marking fishing locations on my planning map. It's clear there is a lot of knowledge about the fishing in both Wabakimi Lake and Lower Wabakimi Lake. I'm really curious if any of you Wabakimi vetrans have done much fishing in the (what appear to be?) unnamed lakes, directly to the north of Wabakimi (north of the three northern bays), and to the west/southwest of Kenoji lake? As well as the fishing in Kenoji lake/surrounding area, and Smoothrock area?
Fishing is not the primary purpose of any of my trips into the northwoods, but having fresh fish with breakfast, lunch, or dinner, really compliments the experience.

until next time,

ws

Hey Waywardsoul,
Mighty cool trip you have lined up, I have always wanted to train in to Allenwater Bridge and paddle in from there. I suspect that is your plan... Let me know if want input on Wabakimi campsites. I have some strong ideas where I would do this.

As far as the inland lakes, my bushwacking days are over, but I talked to some guys that stayed at the Pipestone camp last week and they did bushwack there way into the teardrop lake a half mile west of River Bay and a half mile north of main lake. It was Wednesday of last week that most of us were blown off the lake, they said they got a 37" pike for their troubles.

[waywardsoul]

Originally Posted by Pikeslayer8

Hey Waywardsoul,
Mighty cool trip you have lined up, I have always wanted to train in to Allenwater Bridge and paddle in from there. I suspect that is your plan... Let me know if want input on Wabakimi campsites. I have some strong ideas where I would do this.

As far as the inland lakes, my bushwacking days are over, but I talked to some guys that stayed at the Pipestone camp last week and they did bushwack there way into the teardrop lake a half mile west of River Bay and a half mile north of main lake. It was Wednesday of last week that most of us were blown off the lake, they said they got a 37" pike for their troubles.

hey pikeslayer,

i'm actually headed in from little caribou. will hopefully be entering via allanwater bridge or kopka river next year. we're going to be hoofing it to get into wabakimi lake by day 2.

i would love some input on wabakimi campsites. we're trying to steer as far away from outposts/lodges as possible. our plan is to make a basecamp for 5-6 days in the wabakimi/lower wabakimi lake area, and explore/fish the surrounding area.

are there most of these inland lakes pretty remote? i.e. no established portages/little foot traffic?

[Pikeslayer8]

Originally Posted by waywardsoul

hey pikeslayer,

i'm actually headed in from little caribou. will hopefully be entering via allanwater bridge or kopka river next year. we're going to be hoofing it to get into wabakimi lake by day 2.

i would love some input on wabakimi campsites. we're trying to steer as far away from outposts/lodges as possible. our plan is to make a basecamp for 5-6 days in the wabakimi/lower wabakimi lake area, and explore/fish the surrounding area.

are there most of these inland lakes pretty remote? i.e. no established portages/little foot traffic?

Awesome, so you will paddle from Caribou, through Smoothrock and into Lower Wabakimi. From there, I believe the most ideal spot would be the southern entrance from Lower into Wabakimi past the long Chute. There is a nice relatively flat rock space there with plenty of room to build your basecamp with a little jaunt of fast water running through it. All 3 outpost camps are on the east end of Wabakimi with Rusty Meyers being the closest at about 2 miles.

There aren't any portages to inland lakes that I'm aware of... It's like why would ya bother?

[TexFly]

Sorry it's taken me awhile to reply, I don't check email regularly. We are going back to Wabakimi at the end of July. If you are exiting Wabakimi through the outlet at the SE, then that is a great place to fish. The "Lower Unit" always produces a great shore lunch for us. Walleye seem to be easy to catch between 12-20' throughout July.

[TexFly]

Are there any casting spots North of Pipestone cabin that warrant a look with a fly caster, thanks.

[Pikeslayer8]

Originally Posted by TexFly

Are there any casting spots North of Pipestone cabin that warrant a look with a fly caster, thanks.

Funny thing is, I was talking with the Pipestone group that was there the same time as us, and they were telling me what the group ahead of them related. Rumor has it that they took 20 40"+ outta Duckbill Bay running shorelines with planer boards. Duckbill Bay is precisely where you described and is obvious on the map. I have fished it a couple of times with moderate success, but never a WEEK after ice out. Should be ideal for your fly rod.

Side note: I took my brother on a fly casting adventure and spent an hour chauffeuring him around a couple of bays last week without any success.