After seeing group after group come back from Makokibatan Lodge along the Albany River bragging about their many trophy walleyes, I had to go check it out for myself. I have heard from numerous guests that this is the very best overall fishery that we have on our list of great lakes. And now I can see why they think this. Not only did Eli Baxter (Native Guide) show Bernard (Makok Mgm’t) and myself some of the secret walleye holes that he located over his 40 seasons of guiding on this large body of water, but he also took us down river for some unbelievable brook trout fishing. These little “rod benders” put up a great fight in the current and an even better show when they dance completely out of the water. The river trip is a must for all guests headed that way as you get a chance to catch all 3 species in the same area. You can bounce a jig/worm combo down the rapids and haul in a 40-inch northern, a 26-inch walleye and a nice fat 20-inch brook trout all in the same hour. Eli also pointed us in the direction of “Bauer’s Bay”, which is 10-minute portage that holds what he calls “monster” walleye. This little lake has not been fished in over 3 years and is just waiting for someone to give it a try. When Eli thinks a fish is a monster that is saying something.
We have also had some great action over the last week with our returning outpost guests. Both Opichuan and Dawn lakes produced some good numbers of better than average fish. The Long party’s Kent Long landed a 43-inch trophy pike along with some nice 23 and 24-inch walleye. While the Stapleton group came up just short with a 39 incher at Opichuan, they also reported countless numbers of double headers while trolling for ol’ tasty. Congrats also to Terry Rowland for his 44 inch pike from out at Dawn Lake.
…Joe Pichey