wantabigone

fantastic pics. I really enjoyed the article,well done as always.

Here are a few pics from my next day out. Largest was 28 pounds. My forearms actually hurt the next day!

Nice colours on those fish. Congrats

Cool underwater beaver pic!

I have not been fishing much but finally went out this weekend. 4 on Saturday, 2 on Sunday (no pics for these)

Nice write up. I am missing my annual trip this year so these stories will have to keep my satisfied!

nice

awesome!

Thanks Mike. That definitely rules out a new spot I was going to try this weekend. On to plan B.

fantastic

is this time of year a productive time? i went out recently to a spot I have had success and neither myself or others were catching. I normally have fished May/June though.

Thanks Gordy! . That must be the spot. I had seen this site but completely missed the description " mouth of the Meta/Ara lake channel " . I guess i was just focusing on a map location. Time to add this to potential spots for 2019.

Hello OFNers. I have lost all my tabs when my hard drive recently crashed. I am looking for the camp located between ARA and Meta lake. There was a cabin on the point in the channel between the 2 lakes. I think this camp was sold recently. Perhaps it is no longer being rented?

well crap.....now I have to drop more money on more lures..... what a "drag". (pun intended) If you get a reliable supplier Chris let me (us) know. This lure seems to have quite the recommendations from members here.

nice video-thanks for taking the time. I have had NO success in my 2 carp outings this year-much to my sons dismay. (and mine)

Thanks for the report. Did you target pike for any period of time? Man, after seeing the one at the end of my stringer I'd be hammering the water with everything i had! Glad to hear the fishing was good. Good luck in your future trip plans. Days with ours sons are never bad.

Fantastic report-thanks for posting (and for moosebunk to resurrect). This area is on my bucket list-likely will not happen for another 7 years. What week did you go to the lodge?

Thanks for the reply MJL. (great pictures!) As my son does not have hip waders (size 4 feet) will he be able to assist in any way?

Hello Ron. I would like to participate with my 12 year old next Saturday. We have some plans later that afternoon and am wondering if our help is required up until noon or is it not really worth it?

The water was indeed low but I have been there when the water was even lower. My dad likes the lake a lot. I would like to try some different lakes but comfort has become more of a requirement due to my dad and Glenn's age. I have been to Nagagami, ,Esnagami, Muskrat lake, The "Kag", North Caribou Lake, Beteau Lake 2X and my favourite...... Lake Athabasca 4X. Next year I have no plans as funds are dedicated for other things..... well, unless some fantastic fishing deal gets offered that I just cannot turn down!

Ogoki Lake We flew into Ogoki Lake Outfitters June 25-July 2nd. This was a special week as I had my 11 year old son with us on this trip. We were a party of 4, including my dad and our friend Glenn. This is my 4th trip to this location over the past 10 years or so. I have always wanted to bring one of my sons on a trip while they were young and as John and Gloria provided a discount for my son I was able to cross this bucket list off! (Thanks guys) We had decent weather but a lot of wind. The wind would keep us off the main lake but this really did not effect the quality of fishing. The main bay where the outpost cabin is located allows one to fish even in windy conditions. We had cold nights (7C) which made sleeping nice and the wood burning stove John had built heated up the cabin in the mornings very quickly. The boats were dry and the motors ran perfectly. The walleye fishing was very good with the average being around 20”. We did not catch any monsters with the biggest being 25” if memory serves me correctly. We trolled body baits mostly which would always bring in the larger fish. If we wanted the 16 inchers we would switch to bottom bouncers. The highlight of the trip was on the day we arrived. My son (who turned 12 while we were up there) had never caught a pike larger than 16 inches. On the day we arrived I explained to him that we would try for pike for fun at the top of the bay which has a soft muddy bottom with sparse weeds close to shore. Close to this is a rocky island dropping into deeper water quickly. Well, we came into the bay and we start casting spoons and much to my sons joy, we start catching hammerheads on almost every cast. He was having a blast and I was getting a kick watching him. After an hour of this I finally convinced him that we should try over by the island (he didn’t want to try a different spot) and all the rocks as we likely could catch something bigger. He hooked into several more pike and some decent walleye using his spoons. I suggested he try casting to a certain spot and then, bang, he started fighting a decent pike. When he brought it to the boat he had caught a 31 inch pike. His biggest pike to date. Oh what a grin he had. We fished the island thoroughly with no larger pike and I then had to convince him that we should try a different location. (ya right) He finally consented and we went to another location where he cast out and, bang, he had another decent pike on. When we measured this one it came to 34.5”. He was just beaming. At this point he started feeling bad that I had not caught one yet and offered to give me his rod if he hooks another one. I felt so proud he was willing to do this but explained to him that I truly was enjoying watching him catch the pike more than I would in catching them myself. We fished the area thoroughly with some smaller pike and walleye and moved off to fish for some walleye. We had fun for several hours catching many walleye along the shoreline. On Wednesday we went back to the first island we had gone to on the day of our arrival. As we drifted past the point close to deep water I threw out my Johnson silver minnow and a large wake missed the lure. We both saw it at the same time and my son did not waste any time casting to the same area. He too then had the pike make a hit and miss his lure. He was so pumped (as was I). As he was reeling back to the boat the pike missed his lure 3 more times. I then cast out only to have the pike miss my lure again. Geez this fish needed glasses! After this, the pike had lost interest and sank slowly out of sight past the boat. We tried many types of lures and colour combinations to coax this fish to bite. My son started casting to other areas while I still tried different lures until finally I pulled out a heavy deep diving spoon and cast it to the depths. BANG, finally she bit properly and I brought her to the boat. The tape in the boat went to 36” and the fish was at least 2 inches longer so I will call it a 38”. The rest of the week was very relaxing and many walleye were caught and we enjoyed a few fish meals. One thing I have finally decided on with preparing fish. I much prefer my walleye to be fried in butter or bacon fat then deep fried in oil. It just tastes better IMO. We had a beaver tail slap us much to my sons delight and we saw 2 moose grazing in the shallows. He also enjoyed trying to feed the chipmunk and squirrels but none came close enough to feed out of his hand. I am grateful to say my son survived without his video games and he suggested that he would like to earn some money so he could pay for his trip next year! Now that says to me he had a great time! I couldn’t have asked for a better comment from him. I didn’t get any pictures of my son and his fish as he did not feel comfortable holding them yet. That is my only disappointment. We are happy to say though that they are all still swimming and getting bigger for next year! Tight lines all. http://www.ogokilakeoutfitters.com/ Here is a link of the outpost. (apparently I have one shaky hand….sorry about that) One of the nicest outposts out there IMO. Very comfortable. I have taken a page from Mike’s book and have started taking videos of the outposts I go to. https://youtu.be/qTg4lvIAaMo

I guess I have to brush up on my writing skills! I would love a trip like this. I need to better my 32 pound lake trout record! This could be a place to do that. (of course)

Great report as usual Mike. Thanks for taking the time. It really is a spectacular lake. I hope I will get back there one day.

You can also try fishing depot. It is 2 minutes off of 401 west of 400. http://www.jbsfishingdepot.com/ The minimum flat they will sell is 500. Enjoy your trip!

Thanks for taking the time to post this great report Mike. It was a pleasure to have met you and your family. I would also like to thank you for giving us the opportunity to fish this lake at the same time you were there. In case any of you were doubting, the fishing really is that good. This was the best walleye trip my dad and I have been on both for numbers and average size. The fish were just everywhere. I would like to emphasis just how nice the boats are. The swivel pedestal seats made for great comfort and the electric starts were a blessing. While we did not fish as hard or long as Mike we certainly had 100+ fish days. I certainly hope to be back there some day.