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Ogoki - it’s a word that resonates within me. One of Ontario’s most storied waterways, the Ogoki River rises in a series of large lakes northwest of Nipigon then flows northeast for over 480 kilometres before finally spilling into the Albany River at the native community of the same name. Its waters teem with fish - mostly walleye and pike, but colourful brook trout can also be found in its rapids and spring fed tributaries. For me it’s a river of memories. I’ve paddled its entire length, camped along its shores and caught fish in its waters until it became monotonous. I vividly remember dragging my canoe up the north channel of the river just downstream from Patience Lake in the middle of the summer. It was a low water year and it seemed all of the fish were concentrated in the pools directly below rapids. In one spot the river flowed smoothly over a flat sheet of bedrock before dropping over a small ledge. As I approached the pool below I thought at first it was filled with bits of debris swirling around in the turbulent water. It was fish. What I’d thought was debris was actually hundreds of walleye nosed up into the fast water with their dorsal fins sticking out. For a good hour I caught fish on every cast with a simple jig and white twister tail. It’s also a river with an interesting history, perhaps none more intriguing than the construction of the Ogoki reservoir back in the 1930’s, a herculean task at the time. In an effort to divert the water flowing to James Bay south to Lake Nipigon the Hydro-Electric Power Commission of Ontario built two large dams, one on the Ogoki River and another at the outlet of Mojikit Lake. Once finished in 1942 it flooded a vast area of land including three existing lakes creating one massive fish filled body of water in the process. Prior to the construction of the reservoir Mojikit was already a large lake of substance. Unlike the reservoir itself which flooded large tracts of forest, only a bit of land along Mojikit’s fringes were enlarged. What this means is unlike the reservoir there is very little sunken timber lurking in its depths to snag a lure or lose a jig. I’ve paddled the entire reservoir but Mojikit Lake which is connected to the south via a large channel was unknown. I’ve heard plenty of stories about the fantastic fishing in its waters, but to date I hadn’t explored it. As always when choosing a fly in destination one of my main criteria is size. I love the challenge of fishing big water and in my experience there are usually larger fish to be caught. Mojikit is definitely big. According to Adam Dempsey’s research in his article on Ontario’s 30 largest outpost lakes Mojikit sits at number 13. It has over 21,000 surface acres of water and 286 kilometres of shoreline and that alone makes it impressive. In addition you have direct access to the Ogoki reservoir and another 30,000 acres of water - combined it’s absolutely gargantuan and precisely the type of large and diverse water I seek out. With the destination chosen the next question was which outfitter? There are a couple of other outfitters operating in the Mojikit channel where it connects to the reservoir, but only one in Mojikit Lake proper - Mattice Lake Outfitters. I had a fabulous trip the previous September with Mattice Lake when my group fished their Whitewater Lake camp further upstream in the system. Great fishing, first class facilities and a level of professionalism and service that may be unmatched. Already a fan it was a no brainer choosing them for our September trip once again this year. Joining me on this adventure were friends Chris Brock, Eddie Misiak and Jason Louvelle, a good group of guys and all excellent anglers. Mid September in Ontario’s north can sometimes be dicey especially if the weather doesn’t cooperate. I knew we’d be treated well and the camp would be a good one, but how would we fare on the big waters of Mojikit? Time would tell… Lasting Memories And A Northern Utopia Fortunately for the rest of us Jason left the hustle and bustle of southern Ontario behind a few years ago and now calls the small northern Ontario town of Manitouwadge home. Fortunate because we flew to Thunder Bay and rather than rent a van for the week Jason picked us up at the airport - in style I might add. Standing in front of the terminal with a mini mountain of duffel bags and rod tubes he cruised up in a brand new Wrangler Unlimited pulling a large trailer. Sweet! A large number of my trips begin at Thunder Bay and the routine has now become old hat. After loading our gear in the trailer and engaging in some friendly banter we hit the nearest Metro supermarket armed with a shopping list. Even with a detailed list it never fails to amaze me just how much food one can ring up at the register for a week long trip. In our case it was three very full carts - enough food it seemed to bunker down and survive a zombie apocalypse. Parked off to the side in the lot it took us a bit of time to sort through everything and pack it into the large totes Jason had brought from home, but we were in no rush. Soon enough we were loaded and ready to roll north. Mattice Lake Outfitters is located just south of the rail town of Armstrong Station roughly three hours northeast of Thunder Bay. The gateway to Wabakimi Park and a hub of fly in outfitters, Armstrong has long been a favourite jump off point for me and as always it feels a bit like coming home. It’s an easy drive from Thunder Bay - there’s virtually no traffic, and we rolled into Mattice Lake’s yard at 5pm under clear skies with spirits running high. I’ve said it before but these guys run a tight ship. As we entered the drive and followed the winding lane down to the office Jason marvelled at the neatness of it all. First impressions always matter and this was a good one. Don Elliot the main man behind the operation was there to greet us and we chatted briefly before settling in to our digs for the evening. Just like the year before we were staying in one of the guest cabins located right at the airbase, a huge bonus in my estimation. Just like the rest of MLO’s operation these cabins are something special. Sparkling clean, well appointed and 10,000 times better than any motel. These guys truly care, of that there is no doubt. I realize that some of this is a virtual repeat of last years Whitewater Lake trip, but it merits repeating! Just like last year there were freshly laundered sleeping bags waiting for us in the cabin for the three of us that flew to Thunder Bay. With airline weight limits being so stingy Don provided us with the sleeping bags for our trip. It might seem like a small thing but it really was a huge help. On the kitchen table was a small note for our group along with the cabin key. Details like that are noticed and appreciated. After settling in we drove into Armstrong for dinner at E&J’s diner. There’s not a lot of options in town but this place was surprisingly good. In general though the town is a lot different from my younger days when I used to frequent it on a regular basis. Tall weeds were growing up through cracks in the pavement and rough pieces of plywood were nailed up over many of the windows. It had a tired, sad feel to it like an old car left to rot in a field. Once someones pride and joy, now an afterthought. Still, if you dig deep enough there are stories. We cruised by a boarded up hotel that I remember staying at more than once in those bygone days. Back then it was a happening place, always busy and full of life. I had dinner there years ago with a lovely young female cop after creating a bit of a stir earlier that same day. I’d arrived in town after a lengthy three month canoe trip and went straight to the police station where I’d registered my route and left a small gym bag with clean clothes for the trip home. The door was unlocked so I walked inside only to find no one there. Odd because there were firearms everywhere. Obviously someone had forgotten to lock the door. Not wanting to cause any alarm but wanting my clothes back I called the OPP in Thunder Bay to alert them of the situation. Didn’t take long. Within 10 minutes a cop car came tearing up the dusty street at high speed and Karen popped out with wet hair, wearing sweats and in a total panic. That’s how we met. I’m getting side tracked now, but suffice it to say the small town of Armstrong holds some memories. Looking at the boarded up hotel now suddenly made me feel old… Life goes on especially when there are fish to be caught. We were slated to fly at 7:30am so the bunch of us were up long before that. Being an unapologetic coffee snob I busied myself with the task of brewing some java with fresh ground beans and my trusty press - I don’t go anywhere without it. Stepping onto the porch with our coffee we scanned the sky. While it wasn’t raining this morning it looked like it might. The ceiling was leaden grey and there was a stiff northwest breeze. If we were going to fly the sooner the better in my estimation, it looked as though the weather might close at any moment. Backing the Wrangler down to the dock we quickly unloaded. I knew we were overweight (not us, our gear) but figured we’d deal with the situation if need be. Don to his credit never said a word. He’s one of the few outfitters I’ve dealt with over the years where overweight cargo is taken care of with no extra charges. Thanks Don! I’m sure there is a limit but in two trips there I have yet to reach it. While helping Don’s son Austen load the plane I said to him “Sorry about all the gear, if I’d have known we’d have packed differently”. He smiled and said “I don’t even know what that means!” Understandable. What it means is last year we flew in the Otter which has a huge payload and that’s what we assumed we’d be flying in. This time however it was the Beaver being loaded to the max, a much smaller plane along with a tiny Super Cub that Don himself uses to service his camps. It all fit in so it’s a moot point, but the honest truth is we’d have brought less stuff if we’d have known. Needless to say the Beaver was a wee bit cramped as we squeezed in then roared north under the low clouds towards Mojikit Lake. What I haven’t mentioned yet is just how special the outpost itself is. Located at the south end of the lake a good 17 kilometres from the next closest camp in the Mojikit narrows, it sits on a point with a commanding view of the lake. Even better the sandy point hooks around creating a perfectly sheltered cove for the dock. Honestly I’ve never seen anything quite like it. As usual I shot a short video of the flight in. It’s worth watching as near the end the pilot banks directly over the outpost giving a birds eye view of what really is a perfect northern utopia. Take a look! Easing In Slowly And A Cauldron Of Fish As always it takes a bit of time settling into camp. Unpacking bags and coolers, organizing the kitchen, stocking the fridge and most importantly readying the tackle and boats. The camp as mentioned is a good one… While we puttered about getting things ready the plus side was the weather cleared. What was initially a solid blanket of grey overhead was now scattered puffs of cumulus cloud racing past in the brisk wind. That was the downside as the wind had picked up considerably and was now blowing strongly from the northwest. The lake, big and mostly wide open was a sea of rollers. There were however two larger 16’ Lund boats on the beach that Don had recently flown in from an older camp on Troutfly Lake. The existing fleet of boats were all 14 footers so we spent some time swapping out the motors onto the larger boats. It was a good move. Finally ready to fish at 2pm we ventured out onto the lake. To give you a better idea the lay of the land here’s a couple of maps. First is a depth map with deeper water being dark blue. Second (and I may be getting ahead of myself here) is a topo map with some of our better spots marked on it. Typically we discuss a game plan before heading out but this afternoon our main concern was simply staying out of the wind so we opted to ease into things slowly. Tacking into the waves both boats made for the west shore of the lake which was somewhat protected. Looking at the map there were a number of prominent points that begged to be fished. Idling up to the first spot Jason dropped a 3” green twister tail and caught a small pike. I dropped a plastic paddle tail minnow and caught a walleye. Then we had a double header, both chunky walleye. It was a good start and a sign of things to come. It quickly became obvious that Mojikit Lake was infested with walleyes, one of those special lakes where if you chose to you could catch them at will all day long. Here’s a short video highlighting some of the great action from our first afternoon: As is usually the case I prefer to target larger pike so we also spent some time trolling fast breaking shorelines and points with a variety of different lures including 8” Depthraiders. Considering the fact it was our first day on a large unknown body of water I thought we did okay! Eventually we worked our way over to the east shoreline and Jason caught a particularly memorable fish as the wind blew us past a rocky point at the entrance to a small bay. It was a nice fish although not super huge but he caught it on light spinning tackle and it fought like a tiger… Already pleased with our success we could have easily called it a day. It was 6pm, the sun was starting to sink low in the horizon and frankly we were beat, but some things are impossible to pass up. As we worked our way south down the eastern shore back towards camp we nosed our way into the outlet bay where the diverted water flows south to Lake Nipigon. Passing a pinch point with heavy current we stopped and jigged up a dozen or so walleye from the swirling pool below before continuing onwards. Rounding a corner we spied marker buoys and the Summit dam just beyond which Ontario Hydro uses to control the water flow. In my opinion it’s pretty unlikely the water below the dam gets fished very much - why would most people bother when the fishing on Mojikit is so good? In addition there wouldn’t be anyone accessing that water from downstream as the nearest camp is on Zig Zag Lake with several rapids blocking passage to the water upstream. We could hear the roar of the whitewater below as we nosed our boat onto a grassy landing and pulled it up on shore. Grabbing a couple of spinning rods and a box of jigs we walked around on a wide clear trail that skirted the dam. Obviously well used it was clear that hydro workers were there on a regular basis as we passed a helicopter landing pad then a small wooden shack with a pad locked door right next to the dam. It took less than 3 minutes all told and were standing at the base of the dam casting jigs into the pool below. Heavy current blasted out in the middle, but a slow swirling back eddy right in front of us was money. Cast after cast after cast we caught one thick backed walleye after another. It literally was a boiling cauldron of fish. Most often you didn’t even have to reel in - you’d toss the jig into the eddy, close the bail, let it drift 5-10 feet and BAM a fish would hit. They fought like crazy in the strong current as well, and after 50 odd fish landed we’d had our fill. At the base of the dam was an old tin boat, probably used by hydro workers, pulled up on shore. That raised an interesting possibility as the prospect of fishing the water further downstream held some allure. As you’ll see later in my tale that opportunity was seized emphatically… We pulled up to the dock at 8:30pm tired but happy. Chris was already starting a campfire with some driftwood they’d collected and the rest of us unwound with a drink while I fired up the bbq. Thick juicy bacon cheeseburgers followed by a campfire on the point under clear starry skies. It doesn’t get any better than that… Baffling Fish And Big Waves As always before every single trip there’s homework to be done. Admittedly most of the places I travel to the fishing is easy, but the key to enjoying really great angling is the ability to quickly eliminate unproductive water. Even on remote lakes there are key high percentage spots. Studying the map prior to our trip one spot jumped out: Moose Crossing on the Ogoki reservoir. There’s a pinch point here where the reservoir bottle necks down before spilling into a deep basin at the junction where Short Lake angles down from the northwest. On a body of water like the reservoir itself this spot stands out. It didn’t hurt that I spoke with a Mojikit veteran before my trip who had this to say, “Friends of mine have fished Mojikit for 10 straight years and weather permitting they make the run to Moose Crossing every day”. It’s a long run - slightly more than 30 kilometres one way, but we had to check it out. At some point during the night the strong winds had died down and blessed with a cloudy but almost perfect morning Jason and I decided to make the long run. Chris and Eddie had their own game plan in mind wanting to check out the outlet dam on the Ogoki reservoir - a run just as long as ours but in the opposite direction. Loaded with provisions for the day both boats sped north skimming across the placid waters of the lake all of us excited at the prospects. Jason and I took our time stopping to fish likely spots along the way. We were in no rush. The Mojikit channel itself is almost 6 kilometres long - a body of water than itself merits some attention. Overall though most of the channel is quite shallow and my feeling was it’d likely be more of a spring spot. We caught fish here and there on our way through but nothing spectacular. Direct proximity to deeper water is always a big plus in my books, especially in mid September. By the time we reached the reservoir the sky was perfectly clear and we were breaking out the sunblock. Stretching out before us as far as the eye could see it was an inspiring piece of water… Arriving at Moose Crossing it was an almost perfect spot. The original river bed was easily located right in the middle of the neck down with depths of well over 50’ in spots although it varied wildly. Along the fringes was a forest of flooded trees standing in 8-12 feet of water. An ideal little shelf for fish to feed then deeper water right next to it where they could slip back into on a whim. Perfect! Oddly enough on this day the fish simply weren’t there, it was baffling. I wish I could tell you otherwise, but that’s the truth. We trolled deep diving cranks in the channel, drifted heavier jigs through its depths and caught nothing. Well, not nothing - we did catch a handful of fish, but we really worked for them. Thinking perhaps they were lurking in the shallow fringes we fished that as well and once again drew a blank. I’m still not quite sure what the issue was but in talking with the same Mojikit regular after our trip the amazing fishing they experienced in that spot was always in June. Even on world class waters some spots are only seasonally good and perhaps that was the case here? By mid afternoon the wind had started to pick up, this time blowing strongly from the south and pounding fiercely into the north shore of the reservoir. Motoring across we began to work a series of small bays being battered by the wind. Not too surprisingly things picked up and we both began to catch fish, mostly small to mid sized pike but the odd walleye as well. Right at the entrance to one of the small bays there was a small patch of sunken cabbage - 30 plus feet of water on one side, 10’ on the other. Almost “expecting” something special I fired out a brown and orange spinnerbait and burned it across the weeds as the wind whipped us past the spot at break neck speed. I was lamenting the lack of a drift sock when a healthy mid 30” pike suddenly boiled behind my lure and smashed it boat side. “This” I said “is more like it!” Unfortunately the darned fish gut unbuttoned almost instantly, but maybe, just maybe we were onto something. At least that was my hope. Working that wind blown shoreline for another hour or so we caught fish almost at will, but unfortunately none of them were large. The other boys had an interesting day themselves fishing their way down the reservoir towards the outlet dam. By all accounts they did well although much like Jason and I no larger pike came to net. On the walleye end of things they did capture a number of slightly larger specimen’s and thoroughly enjoyed exploring the area… It was a long wet ride back to camp as the entire length of Mojikit Lake was a sea of rollers and we were ploughing right into them. I did my best to tuck in behind islands and points along the way but it was still a bumpy ride. Once again the other lads were just ahead of us as we finally reached the shelter of our cove and tied off the boat at 8:30pm. We were tired but it was a good tired, the kind if tired that makes you feel alive. Nothing beats long days on the water, especially on beautiful remote bodies of water in the company of friends. Pouring drinks we rehashed our day on the deck while we once again fired up the bbq. Tonight it was steak, baked potato, caesar salad and garlic bread. And let me tell you, it was good! Continued...