G’day folks! Aussie Dave from Miminska Lodge, here with the end of season fishing report!
2018 saw some fantastic fish being caught with dozens 40+ inch pike being landed; at least 4 of them caught on fly!
August pike fishing ended on a high with Wottom Bay, the Outflow and the Walleye Mine producing the big gators! 2018 favourites included the good ole faithful, Daredevle spoons, as well as Rapala jerk baits, 4 inch red head/white streamers (for our fly fishermen); we even had a few greedy northern pikes scooped up in landing nets while they were holding onto walleye as they were reeled in.
The walleye fishing was incredible all year round. June we saw huge numbers of these fish being caught from the honey hole! Only a 3 minute boat ride from the lodge got you there and it wasn’t uncommon for a boat to land a few hundred fish per day!
As the season progressed and the water levels dropped, the walleye hotspots changed, with the appropriately named Walleye Mine being a favourite (where you also had a chance of a giant pike trying to steal your fish) the outflow picked up in July/August and the deep waters of Wottom Bay fished well all year round.
We had 2 master angler walleye (26 inch or longer) landed this season, with the largest being a solid 28 incher with the second coming in at a close 27.5inches. Best lures for walleye were 3inch mister twister tails (white, orange and yellow) combined with 1/2 oz jig heads.
Now let’s talk about Brook Trout! Miminiska Lake and its surrounding rivers has some incredible fishing for these “jewels of the north”
Wilderness North’s 100% catch and release policy over the years has insured that the stocks of these beautiful fish flourish.
The 2018 season saw at least 8 master angler Brookies landed with two 24.5inch monsters caught and released on the Keezhik river. June to mid July was the best time of the year for fishing the lower Keezhik but as the water levels dropped and started getting warmer, the fish moved upriver to find deeper pools and colder water.
For those who put in the effort and had the opportunity to try our fly out options on the Freestone and Cohen rivers, were NOT disappointed, with 16-20 inch trout being the average size.
Near the end of the season the trout started returning closer to the lake with the rapids at Mim falls producing good numbers and sizes!
All in all an amazing year of fishing here at Miminska Lodge with so many fish of a lifetime being landed and some amazing fishing tales being made. This was my first year fishing the wild waters of Northern Ontario and I’ve fallen in love with the place, looking forward to the 2019 season already.
~Dave
