“Just a quick note that we had a blast this past week. It’s just like it was in 2006 when we first visited Dawn Lake. We caught a lot of Walleye and Pike. We had 6 in our party, myself and two sons, two grandsons and my son in law. Very awesome group of young men to be in “the bush” with. We all took pictures in each boat so I have a ton that I can share, more to come!”
-The Slater Party
Water is warm at Mim with temperatures creeping into the higher 70’s. A bonus phenomenon to help keep walleye and pike shallow is that the annual Mayfly hatch just went off on Miminiska Lake. Walleye can be seen early morning and late evening “sipping” flies off the surface. Whitefish are also in that mix as well, so fly anglers, match size profile and bring a couple of different mayfly patterns to fool the wary deepwater devils on top. Note – fly people, the brook trout fishing is still fantastic on the tributaries of the Albany; however, as discussed with all who are heading in search of brookies, they have now moved from the pools and runs of the entire river to select spots that are spring fed and have significantly cooler water! They are there and will be competing for your offerings!
Many good size pike have been released this past week from our Project Healing Water’s guests as were numerous walleye! Consider Upper Falls, Snake Falls, Walleye Mine and Wottom Bay for these wonderful adversaries.
Our group had a very memorable and wonderful time at the Musgrave Lake Outpost last week. The cabin was in great shape, and we were all impressed with the stone walkway from the dock to the porch. The boats had plenty of room and the engines ran flawlessly. That is the most important ‘appliance’ for any fishing party.
We started the trip by staying overnight at the McKenzie Lake cabin, where Jackie and Regan hosted us. I have to give them special thanks since they were so friendly and outgoing.
We found within the first day one of the best walleye producing spots I’ve ever come across fishing in the Albany River watershed over the last 20 years. We caught a few 25 inch walleyes, but most were a healthy (and fat) 18”-20”. This spot was almost directly across the lake in 12’-16’ of water. The bait we did best on was a pink sinking jig-head, with a white twister tail and a piece of night-crawler.
The pike typically hit well on red and white daredevils, as well as a silver ‘Williams Wobbler’. Sometimes the pike were very active, and sometimes they were not.
We caught a lot of pike 20-26 inches in the north-west end of the lake as you go through the channel into what looks like ‘Popeye’s Arm’. There’s also a large weed bed just to the South-East of that channel where a lot of pike and walleye were caught.
About ½ mile from the cabin to the South on the Eastern shore, there is another large stretch of weeds where the pike were bigger, and we caught about ten 30-36 inchers. The last day there three 40+ inch pike were caught, and one which was 44” and estimated to be in the 20+ pound range.
We saw (2) moose, several otters, and a family of (4) mink during our stay there.
I would like to thank the Wilderness North team for your attention to detail, your responsiveness, and friendly approach to the customers.
-The White Group
There are times in July at Striker’s Point Lodge on Whitewater Lake where everything just clicks. This past week was one of those times. The Mayflies went off this past week and the walleye are officially “fat and sassy!” Not only are they sipping flies from the surface, but they are also fattening up subsurface on the bugs coming to the surface. The walleye are distended, yet are still easy quarry for anglers at SPL. All pike caught were incidental this past week, but we should have a good pike show next week as our upcoming guests are there to target northerns!
The Watters group departing today had an absolute blast this past week! They had great success at Seagulls Islands, Cheryl’s Rock and the beaver dam. They landed two master angler pike and plenty of chunky walleye! See the Watters group below:
Additionally, we had relatives of Wendell Beckwith up to visit for fishing and a tour of the old cabins. A full story of their experience will be shared shortly, but for now here is a taste of how their trip went:
“The whole experience far exceeded my expectations and your professional handling and organizing everything was frankly, impeccable! Our cabin was perfect including an adequately equipped kitchen. The beds were really comfortable. The staff was extremely cheerful & friendly and attentive to our every need. In addition to everything else, we all appreciated the access to the internet, which we found reliable and very useful. (I might mention that we were amused to find the WiFi signal was “just” strong enough to reach the West window our cabin #3!).
My two sons and I are not skilled and hardened fishermen, but we do wet our lines from time-to-time when the opportunity presents itself. So I was a little concerned about our fishing experience on Whitewater Lake, meaning it could have been a complete bust not being familiar with the lake or the bottom structure. (we did not hire the help of an on-board guide) However, the quality of the map provided at the lodge and the advice given by the staff at the time of our fishing experience, we found ourselves catching abundant fish, releasing many but keeping plenty for the meals we had hoped to enjoy from our bountiful harvest! That, in itself, was the frosting for our wilderness experience. We found the boats to be incredibly versatile, well equipped and very stable for the three of us in our outings. The electronic depth/fish finder was easy to use and provided adequate visual feedback.”
-The Lawton Family.
Two beautiful fish reeled in at Zig Zag Lake!
