PickerelHunter

Nakina is amazing, going last week of June...we have one remote lake that we camp out on for a week and catch loads and loads of nice pike and walleye. Bringing my girlfriend on this trip though and the drive would probably do her in way out there. Thanks for the feedback

Hey guys...my previous topic of fishing lodge recommendations didn't spark much interest...I'm assuming it was much too broad Still hoping for some insight here... I spent hours last night researching nearly every lodge in Ontario and Quebec that I could find on the net (hundreds to say the least!!). And have narrowed it down to a few in each of the areas listed. Please respond to the poll if you have a chance and drop a message about outfitters etc. if you can Thanks guys! (oh and if anyone ever needs a good list of fishing lodges in these areas with rates and other info in a spreadsheet let me know, the research is done for you! lol )

Thanks for the recommendation...I've heard good things about Lady Evelyn as well and that's closer then where I've been looking. As for the odd request for #'s...I'm trying to get her into the sport and she's done amazing with it in the last year...wanted her first northern experience to be 'busy'

Great pics, love the fog photo...beauty dark colours on the pike!

Hey guys...hoping for a little advice from the experts. I have a great lodge that I go up to a couple times a year near the Timmins area and will be doing so again on multiple occasions this summer. An extra week has opened up for me at the end of July and I really wanted to try something new. I have done a significant amount of research and have a few lodges in mind both in Quebec (Laurentians), and Wawa/Hornepayne areas as of now. I'm interested in the Quebec area or Northern to North western Ontario (10 hour drive is fine and I'm sure I can even convince the girlfriend of driving further if need be...Longlac/Greenstone would probably be absolute max though). Remote/secluded area would be great. We need a place that includes boat/motor/gas in their price. Meals are not necessary but obviously a bonus. Accommodations can be as rustic as they get, just a place to sleep in between fishing time really. Can be cottage or room in a lodge. Primarily we would like to fish for pike (numbers over size of fish) and walleye as the secondary target. We are really looking for something affordable (fly-ins are out of the price range for sure). Word of mouth is the best way to decide on these new places. Anyone can put up a bunch of pics up and make an expensive website. But it's what the real fishermen feel about a place that is what's most important. Thanks for any input you may have. Pete

PM sent

Just chatted with him. The general plan is to launch out of the key river on Tuesday and head out to fox bay area to set up camp. From there the fish will basically determine where we head etc. But our general area will be Fox Bay and west to the main outlet of the French, and south to the Bustard Islands. He wants to shoot up to the Dalles rapids one of the days and work our way down. Other than that we don't have a specific gameplan. Once I get that chart (found one in orillia) and all his maps we'll have a better idea. He has a decent boat 16 or 18 footer with 40 hp I believe so if we stay out of the wide open water we should be alright.

4eyes thanks a lot for you info. This will no doubt help us along the way. I have found on the Hydrographic Website chart #2204, but the name has changed to 'Byng Inlet to Killarney'. Geographically this look like the correct map but since the name is different I just wanted to make sure. Any ideas where I could find this particular map? You can't order directly from the website. I found some dealers in the Barrie/orillia area but I doubt they have all maps, I guess a few phone calls will be in order. Irishfield Great pics...clearly it is a very typical canadian shield rocky area. Looks gorgeous though!

Thanks for the heads up John...I know that entire area is brutal for rocks. Out in McGregor Bay within the first 15 minutes we had to change props! We will be keeping our eyes open for sure.

Absolutely amazing. We've just started venturing out on Simcoe ourselves (one of our buddies finally got a boat!). We've fished the northern end, strawberry island, trout shoal etc. and found a couple decent sized smallies but our inexperience on the lake is catching up, not much to show for it. Great to see so many quality fish!!

Hey Guys...heading out on Tuesday to the French river where it meets Georgian Bay for 4 days of camping/fishing. The guy I'm going with has a cottage on the Key River so he knows the area around the river mouth fairly well but hasn't gone out much further west of that and has always wanted to. I've done a couple days worth of research on the area on the web and on this website and found quite a bit, but most of it is about sections of the river further inland than we planned on going. Our main focus area will be from the Bustard Islands up to the Dalles Rapids. I've attached two pics of the areas we'll be fishing. We have 4 days of fishing so we can cover a lot of water, but it seems like there is A LOT of water to potentially cover. Pike is our number one target and from what I've read seems like they are pretty abundant in the area. I'll be dragging tubes around the smooth rock islands we run past as well for smallies like I've had a lot of luck doing in McGregor Bay near Manitoulin. Obviously some walleye would be a bonus as well and we'll be looking for them in the evening. The area is so large I was hoping someone could direct us in the right direction for some pike action. Also some walleye areas in the main outlet of the French itself. It's impossible to tell from the maps where the weeds are etc. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

The Whirlpool is always a decent place to start if you only have a few hours. Haven't fished it much myself but heard the smallies get in there during this time of year. Watch your step though!!

I cringe when I think about the winter right now with this gorgeous weather and our soft water season in full swing. But last year I missed out on a trip because of planning way too late. I'm in Barrie and we're looking for something within 2-3 hours of here, Nip is the logical choice but we're open to any body of water you guys would recommend within that 2-3 hour distance. I've been to Bear Creek and Waltonian and enjoyed both although the fishing was slow. I've thought about the on ice bungalows some operators have as well. I've researched a lot and there is a lot of operators so I thought word of mouth would be best at this point and find out where you guys would recommend and had a good ice fishing experience. Any suggestion would be great, thanks guys.

Nice fish...gotta love the top water action! Are you fishing the senko's wacky rigged or weedless?

I am new to the trolling technique and posted recently about rod selection etc and got great feedback from you guys. I'm now wondering about the benefits/limitations of these two types of divers. I'm mostly going to be trolling in the 20-40 range for walleye and hopefully some larger pike now that the water has warmed up. The main difference I find, aside from obvious appearance, is the directional capability of the Dipsy. I've used the Jet in the past but I seem to hear a lot more about the Dipsy which is why I'm asking in the first place. What type and size divers do you guys use for the type of fishing I mentioned? Thanks for any feedback.

Thanks for the help guys...the trip just got cancelled...looks like only Gogama then manitouwabing in the next two weeks

It's been a while since I bought any new equipment for myself and feel I deserve some! I currently have 3 medium rods 6'6 with accompanying reels (2 have power pro, 1 has pline fluro/mono) and a couple ultralights with smaller appropriate reels...with different line combo's etc they cover most of the fishing I do with great success and ease. The one and only problem area I come up against is when I'm trolling larger pike/musky lures. I don't really know how to explain it but it just feels off with my 6'6 medium rod and reels...it feels like there is a lot of strain on the outfit itself and it just doesn't feel comfortable. What type of setup would you suggest in terms of rod action and length, reel, line etc. to troll these larger/heavier lures a bit easier? I can't really justify spending the money for anything top of the line at the moment but do have a bit of $ to play with. Thanks guys

Thank you, I hope so!!

Hey Guys...heading to Bear Lake just outside Noelville for the long weekend under a tent. Looks like a smaller lake and doesn't seem to connect to French River directly when looking at Google Maps. Haven't fished the lake before and an extensive search on here produced nothing. I've found very little info on the internet about it aside from two campgrounds on the lake and even that didn't help much. Has anyone ever fished this lake and can give me any info about it, depths, species (from what I read looks like musky along with pike pickerel bass)etc? Any info would be great guys, only heading there for 2 days with the girlfriend before with hit Gogama for a week so would like to have some idea of what to do out there!

Great pics and video! What were you using out there to catch em? I fished 3-4 hours on pigeon lake on Friday with a Mepps Giant Killer but absolutely nothing to show for it. I have never focused an outing on Musky and the first one obviously wasn't too successful! Thanks Pete

Wow, thanks for all the help guys...I'm just heading out in the next half hour and will report back when I get back in. Very interesting information no doubt. Thanks Pete

We will mainly be targeting smallies, but wouldn't be disappointed to see a walleye either. Thanks for the wind suggestion...the shoal is oval shaped, running in a southwest to northeast line. Would you suggest jigging tubes or grubs in the areas you suggested?

Hey Guys...I have shore fished since I started fishing more seriously about 6-7 years ago. I rarely had access to a boat, and when I did it was often a canoe. Just recently my friend got a boat and I've been fishing from that much more often. I've learned all the new language that was foreign to me as a shore angler...rocky point, dropoffs, deep weedbeds, shoals etc. It is that last one that I have my question about, I'm fishing a lake east of Parry Sound for the next 3 days and will have a boat with me. After researching on here and the web, there is a very pronounced shoal in the middle of the main lake...ultimately goes roughly from 100 feet, up to 10-20 (my map is a bit fuzzy). It isn't very large, but seems like a good place to start on a lake that I have never fished. My question is, how exactly do you fish a shoal like this? I know it is a good place to hold fish, but what do I do once I find it with my fishfinder? Any help would be great, I'm really trying to strengthen my tactics now that I have regular access to a boat. Thanks Pete

Thanks for the help! Would you suggest a fluoro leader or the wire leader you mentioned? I've used fluoro for all my fishing, but haven't fished big pike so don't know if it would hold up.

After writing the title I realized it sounded like a post about clothing lol...anyways... I'm heading up to northern ontario for a couple weeks and fishing a bunch of lakes for monster pike and aggressive walleye. I have two 6'6 medium action spinning outfits, one with 15lb powerpro and the other with 25 lbs powerpro. I think I'm set for the pickerel (or should I go with a mono reel???), but I think I need something heavier to launch the big pike baits we have. One of the guys recommended a medium heavy rod with a baitcaster reel for ease of casting and hauling them in. What would you guys recommend for a rod/reel/line to cast bigger lures and catch these larger fish? Thanks Pete