Esser Lake

[wantabigone]

Hello all

 

I am wondering if anyone has fished Esser lake north of Nakina. I see on the website that they claim...

"There are lots of Walleyes in the 5 to 10-pound range in this lake. "

 

This sounds too good to be true and as the saying goes if it sounds too good to be true....

 

I hope someone has fished this and can comment on their above claims.

 

Thanks in advance.

 

Have a good weekend all.

[chris.brock]

I'd take the "lots of 5 to 10 lbs walleye" claim with a grain of salt.

I've never been to Esser, but have spent some time in the Ogoki river (I don't know if you guys went upstream from Ogoki Lake at all?), and kind of got a feel for it, the better fishing was in the lake

 

Esser would be alot smaller than the water bodies you've fished in the past too

 

I'd really be interested to hear how you do, if you do go, there should be some brookies to be caught there too

I think that outpost is under new ownership too

[Billy Bob]

I would also take that claim with a LARGE grain of salt....lakes up there produce a TON of fish....but something over 3-4 pounds is rare....to short of a growing season for walleyes IMHO....but I guess you never really know until you try.....

 

Back in the 80's we fish a lake north of Nakina with the nickname "ABA" and we caught over 1000 walleyes between 8 guys during the week stay and less then 5 topped 3 pounds and none over 4 pounds.

 

 

GOOD LUCK,

Bob

[curryale]

I have not fished Esser but have fished up river in Ogoki Lake and Kaydon Lake on a number of occasions. The fishing in the areas I have been was excellent.

 

I have no doubt that there are 10 pound walleye in they river. We never caught any that size but there were always lots of fish in the 18 to 22 inch size. The Ogoki River has traditionally been know for its pike fishing and there are some real monsters out there.

 

I would be careful with the water levels on that river. Apperantly they can get really high and ruin a trip.

[wantabigone]

Thanks for the replies. I am taking the claim with a grain of salt. It is a rather large claim in northern waters for walleye. I have fished Ogoki Lake twice and we caught hundreds of walleye but very few pike. I hear that mid summer July/August is better for pike fishing and I have fished only late May and early July up there.

 

I am still doing my searching for a good affordable flyin lake for my dad and I. Who knows - we may end up back at Ogoki. I just would like to find some of those big pike. Maybe we should try later in the season this time around.

 

 

 

 

 

[chris.brock]

I've been to Ogoki Lake twice also, we caught more big pike on the mid August trip than the early June trip, the bugs and weather was way better but the walleye were more scattered

 

Billy Bob, is that Aba on the Albany River? I've been there twice, what an awesome place, Frenchman's Rapids and the inflow of the Opichuan, I still dream of that place

[Billy Bob]

 

Billy Bob, is that Aba on the Albany River? I've been there twice, what an awesome place, Frenchman's Rapids and the inflow of the Opichuan, I still dream of that place

 

YES...YES....that's the lake we fished....it's part of the Albany River System....and YES, we made the trip up to Frenchman's Rapids once that week....but it's not a good lake to fish because you get spoiled and think you should always catch fish like that.....and the 8 man log cabin we had was VERY nice.......it even had running water.....you would take a bucket and run down to the lake and fill it up....then run back...LOL

 

Do you by any chance know the real name of this lake....

 

Bob

[chris.brock]

YES...YES....that's the lake we fished....it's part of the Albany River System....and YES, we made the trip up to Frenchman's Rapids once that week....but it's not a good lake to fish because you get spoiled and think you should always catch fish like that.....and the 8 man log cabin we had was VERY nice.......it even had running water.....you would take a bucket and run down to the lake and fill it up....then run back...LOL

 

Do you by any chance know the real name of this lake....

 

Bob

Aba is short for Abazotikichuan, a native guy up there said it means "banks lined with poplar" in Ojibway

 

Leuenberger's has the only camp still standing on the lake, although they haven't used the camp for quite a few years, they gave up on it when the economy slowed and somebody stole the front door off the cabin

 

I hope to get back there someday

[Billy Bob]

When we landed the party leaving the cabin of course helped us unload and we help them load the plane.....they said the Indians went through their stuff while they were out fishing....took some food and gasoline so they were warning us that they might come back...they didn't but we did see them cruising the lake a couple of times....one running the outboard and another Indian riding up front on the bow holding a scoped rifle....the pilot told us they shoot everything that they can.....but we didn't have any problems with them for the whole week...

 

We did catch a LOT of fish.......1080 walleyes and 243 pike...I had the largest pike for a while, a nice 12lb pike caught on 6# test using a black bucktail jig....but then the kid we brought with us caught a 14lb pike the next day... ....the largest walleyes did come from the Frenchman's Rapids but I don't think any broke the 4lb mark...but again a fish on every cast.....except my boat partner...he never made on cast all week...just dropped straight down in current areas using a black Mister Twister on a 1/8 oz jig head....and he caught a LOT of fish just doing that.

 

 

Bob

Edited September 17, 2012 by Billy Bob

[solopaddler]

Once upon a time I paddled through Abazotikichuan, very nice part of the Albany for sure.

 

Regarding Esser don't blame the outfitter for the wild claims on the website. The guy who designed his site has designed several others on the net, and let's just say he has a particular style LOL!

 

I do believe that Esser is likely Twin Lakes best camp and that trophy fish are indeed available. I've also paddled the Ogoki and while I can't vouch for the angling (I fished for sustenance), Esser lake is a beautiful section of river.

 

Only thing is, none of Twin Lakes camps are the ritz. They're extremely basic in every aspect. That's fine with me and many others, but it's an issue for some.

 

Value for your dollar their Abamasagi camp may be hard to beat if it's just walleyes your after. It's an amazing walleye lake. I fished it last year and had a great trip.

[C haefele]

4 of us fished esser lake sept. 2014. Twin lake outfitters did a great job at a reasonable price. The water was very low and warm and walleye were tough to come by. Drifting the river or trolling shoreline in the evening produced a few fish per day. They were nice fish. All 3-4lbs each but 25 fish in a week was disappointing. Lots of pike in shallows. Everything from 10 inch to 10lbs. The cabin was nice and totally equipped. The boats were 14 ft with 9.9 mercs. that ran fine with plenty of fuel available. With the water so low most of the lake had rocks just under the surface. It was impossible not to hit them. Many places had only 3 or 4 feet of water. The air temp for the week was in the 70's with Saturday reaching 80 with sun all week. Not good fishing weather. A group at patience lake did poor on walleye also. The water level on these lakes is determined by the hydro plant on ogoki reservoir.

[chris.brock]

That's less than 1 walleye per guy, per day! Weird. Drastic water level fluctuations from the dam can screw things up.

 

Did you have a fish finder and try the deepest water you could find when things were slow?

 

Post some pictures if you get a chance. I'm sure there's a few of us who would be interested in seeing them.