GRINGO LOCO

I am quite surprised as Mattice has a solid reputation. I have been considering a trip with them since I read Mike Borgers trip to Whitewater Lake with Mattice two years ago. He praised their fishing and facilities. This report removes them from consideration. I fly almost every year with the outfitter next door to Mattice called Thunderhook and fly from the same lake. We go to Smoothrock and their facilities are top notch with indoor plumbing, toilets, showers and full time electricity. The boats are 16 foot Lunds with 20hp four stroke push button starters. You can attach your fishfinder directly to the battery. They provide all the bedding and change your towells every other day. The fishing is outstanding and like Vick Lake it is possible to catch 100 walleyes yourself on a good day. We catch a few big Northerns every trip. The price is within $100 of Mattice prices. They are usually booked 100% each year because just about all come back the next year. The camp has several attendants that exchange your full tanks every day and for a wilderness trip it is quite comfortable.

It took me nearly 2 hours to read and it was worth every minute. Your closing would have been much better if you poked Truck Tire in the nose as you departed.

Mike, if you could only fish one camp from Mattice, either Mojikit or Whitewater, which would you choose? I know the Whitewater camp is exposed to a Northeaster by a large body of water. Would that be a consideration? I plan to go to one or the other next year. Finally I noticed that when you jig fish that you do not tip the jigs with pieces of nightcrawlers, leaches, or minnows. I have fished the Wabakimi area many times and found that live bait, even in small cut up pieces, will increase your catch rate substantially, any comment?

Mike: Speaking for myself your reports are the primary reason I check this website almost daily. Your reports allow me to evaluate different outfitters from a source that has fished numerous locations. Not there are not other reports I enjoy here as Moosebunk really has a flair for writing. My guess is the negative feedback you received may be from a competitive outfitter not liking one of your more favorable reports on their competition. Keep writing!

My wife, Elsa and yours truly just returned from a fishing trip to Smoothrock Lake with Thunderhook Outfitters in the Wabikimi National Park. I have been there many times on previous occasions and the fishing has always been outstanding. We didn't fish a lot, but about 3-4 hours in the morning would always allow us to catch 50-100 walleyes jig fishing. Most walleyes are 16-18 inches but every day there are a few over 20 inches. The bugs, especially black flies are having a banner year and were especially tough on Elsa who wore a headnet on some days .We only casted for Northerns on 3 occasions for about an hour and caught numerous small fish. We did land 4 Northerns of 30-32 inches and one that was 40 inches plus. The accommodations at Smoothrock camp are excellent with full time electric, indoor showers, and toilet facilities. More important they provide 16 foot Lund boats with 20hp four stroke motors.and you can hook your fish finders up directly to their batteries. I am going back in a week with guys that will put a lot more time on the water, bugs or no bugs. Sorry about the lack of pictures but I haven't figured out yet how to do that. .

Mike: I communicated with you on the Ohio Game Fishing website and advised you on my two Smoothrock trips in July. I am considering an August trip with the wife and Brace Lake is very interesting as the fishing looks good and your video showed inside toilets (she will like that). Maybe a modified American Plan that includes breakfast only as I want to eat fresh walleyes every day when I can. I know August will not provide those big Northerns but the walleyes should be easy pickins. It seems that with a GPS we could easily fish the three lakes? What do you think and how would this compare to North Star? Dave Gregory

Mike: How would you compare Abisabigo to Whitewater for walleyes. I recognize that Whitewater is many times bigger and better for big northerns. I fish Smoothrock (same area as Whitewater) a lot and 100 walleye days are not out of the question. I would like to find excellent walleye fishing around Wawa or White River as it would reduce my mileage about 400 miles.

Yes, but he has a felling of true happiness!

I was going to reply to this but decided I might lose my posting privleges.

A great read and pictures on a cold November night!

Mike Great report as usual. I regularly fish Smoothrock Lake in the Wabakimi Park about 20-30 miles south of Whitewater Lake. Smoothrock is a huge area that is really many lakes and rivers of great fishing connected by waters that flow in and out of Whitewater and Wabikimi Lake. The outfitter is Thunderhook located next to Mattice who also has excellent facilities and they fly out from the same lake as Mattice . I have many times considered Whitewater because of the reputation for big Northerns and your trip confirms the reputation.

Moosebunk, I don't know what you do for a living, but you should be a writer. Good stuff!

Gordy, it was our pleasure to meet you guys just before you flew out. Our flight in was scheduled for 8 AM but due to fog we flew at 2 PM with White River Air. On the flight back all our gear did not make it so we waited for the next plane and that's how we met you. When the next plane arrived there were no fishing rods and after two weeks we are still waiting for them. This was not White River Air that dropped the ball but the lodge which left them on our cabin porch and assured us that we would get them on the next plane out. The lodge advised that a trip just to return our rods was $500 so they would ship them the following week. Our numbers on the walleyes were maybe a little better than yours and most of our fish were 15-18 inches. We didn't catch any walleyes over 20 inches as you did and our pike fishing was not good. We would only catch one or two northerns per hour and they were small. Based on conversations with other fishermen in camp we were catching many more walleyes and fewer pike than they were. This I believe was due to the Lindy Rig and night crawlers when they were fishing jigs and minnows. Also we lucked on to a couple of hot spots unknown possibly to the camp. I have been on 40-50 fly-ins and in my opinion the fishing is better in the Armstrong area but it is 350 miles further and more expensive. Considering that I might still go back as I generally go twice a year and I am retired

Mike We stayed at PK Lodge on Granite Hill and fished both Buck Lake and Granite Hill. Buck lake was only ten minutes from PK. White River Air is only two miles out of White River and the flight was only 20 minutes. We easily could have caught many more walleyes(caught over 300, my partner counted his and caught 173).Nearly all our fish were caught in two hot locations, but we spent a lot of time scouting the lakes.(Buck Lake is advertised as three different Lakes with two lodges).

Mike; I look forward to your report. I talked with you before you left about a fly-in and ended up with White River Air to Granite Hill lake and Buck Lake. I found a fishing partner and caught plenty of walleyes (over 300) once we figured out to forget jigs and minnows and fish Lindy Rigs with crawlers.