Lake St. Joseph: Big Water - Big Pike - And A Walleye Beat Down!

[solopaddler]

Easing back on the throttle I tacked into the waves making for the lee of a mid lake island. Aaron Shirley as always was poring over our map as I slowed then stopped the boat in a sheltered cove. “Well” he said, “what do you think?” It was our first afternoon on Lake Saint Joseph in far northwestern Ontario and we were attempting to formulate a game plan. We’d flown in earlier that day with Slate Falls Outposts based out of Sioux Lookout and were on the hunt for fish.

Sioux Lookout in the heart of Sunset Country and surrounded by water is an odd dichotomy. Signs of civilization like a new looking and very busy Tim Horton’s exist, but it has a definite frontier town feel and it’s my kind of place. We had dinner at the Fifth Avenue Club the night before. A tired old brick building with a surprisingly fresh look inside and darned good food. At the back of the building was a wooden door with a small sign above it advertising nightly dancers. Not something we were interested in, but the option was duly noted.

Grabbing my old metal thermos from the bottom of the boat I poured a cup of coffee. Surrounded by wind whipped white caps with low dark clouds racing by overhead our initial foray on this inland sea was a challenge. “What I think is, I need a break”. Grabbing the map from Aaron I studied it while he casually dropped a jig over the side of the boat. Almost instantly his rod arched under the weight of a thick walleye. Never one to question why I grabbed my own rod, lowered a jig and hooked one of my own. The fish it seemed had found us.

The lake we’d been told is a bonafide fish factory and it was living up to its name. Almost 100 kilometres long and over 154,000 acres in surface area it’s a mammoth body of water. I’ve always been partial to big water and Lake Saint Joe is an absolute giant. Looking closer last fall I researched every single operator on the lake before settling on Slate Falls Outposts. They operate the only camps on the remote western end of the lake and by all accounts are a first rate operation. Over 95% of their clientele is repeat which speaks volumes and in speaking with owner Verne Hollett they’re also extremely loyal. Having dealt with a large number of outfitters over the years, some good and some bad - it was obvious I’d found a gem and booked the trip for late August.

Aaron, always up for an adventure was immediately on board. Not long afterwards we filled out our group with good friends Jimmy Valeriote and Rick Filman, both great guys and even better sticks. Sometimes the cast of characters can make or break a trip and this motley crew of fish hounds was first-rate. It bode well…





An Engaging Exchange And Angry Wavelets

Having talked with Verne a number of times on the phone I was looking forward to meeting him in person. We were slated to chat at his office before flying in to get the lowdown on his operation as well as the lake. Some people, for reasons you can’t even quantify instantly put you on guard. Verne is not one of those people. He is honestly one of the more likeable, intelligent and witty people I have met in this industry. And he can talk. The following two video clips, 10 minutes in total, were edited down from 45. That was 45 minutes of straight gab without stammering or missing a beat - all of it fascinating. The man could easily have another career as a public speaker…











It was easy to see that Verne runs a first class operation and why his customers keep returning year after year. On our end the little talk only heightened our desire to get going, all of us were eager to fish. Rick backed our loaded rental van up to the weigh scale and we set about ridding it of its cargo. It’s amazing to me what you can stuff inside a full sized mini van and we soon created a small mountain of tackle, food, drink and duffle bags on the dock.











After helping to load the plane I settled into the co-pilots seat while the boys chattered happily in the rear buckled securely into their small folding metal seats. The plane, a Dehavilland Otter was also a contradiction. Bright and shiny on the outside, austere and functional on the inside. The quintessential work horse of the north, these planes have carried me to many an adventure over the years. Glancing over at our pilot - Verne’s son Clayton, I was momentarily taken aback by his youthful appearance. The apple as they say doesn’t fall far from the tree and Clayton was just as impressive as his old man. He very well may be the youngest Otter pilot I have ever encountered. After taxiing up Pelican Lake for 5 minutes Clayton eased the throttle forward and the old plane roared to life, lifting us off the lake and heading northeast to Lake Saint Joseph. This part of Ontario is awe inspiring, almost more water than air and the flight in was a good one. As often as I do this it never gets old…



 




Slate Falls operates two locations on the lake, Root Bay at the extreme west end (a single cabin outpost), and Eagle Island 25 kilometres to the east. Eagle Island has three guest cabins on site, each one operated independently of the other each as a distinct outpost with total privacy. There’s also a caretaker on site to clean and gas your boats, stock the wood box and take care of any other need you might have. Verne had us slotted into his largest central cabin and it was impressive to say the least. Lots of comfortable furniture both inside and out, solar electric appliances and lighting, bathroom with flush toilet, 3 bedrooms with great beds, docks with actual boat slips and excellent boats with Honda outboards. It was clear we wouldn’t be suffering.























We had a somewhat late start fishing that day, and as mentioned the weather played a role in the outcome. Every forecast had been calling for severe thunderstorms with copious amounts of rain and wind, and unfortunately they were correct. Weather in mind, Jimmy and Rick stuck closer to camp while Aaron and I pushed the envelope. All four of us started directly in front of the camp at a couple of rock humps and picked off a number of fish, breaking the ice quickly and taking the edge off.







Jimmy and Rick, typically much smarter than us, caught plenty of nice fish without straying too far.















Being greedy and wanting more we pushed onward about 10 kilometres down the lake battling a fierce headwind the entire way. Eventually Aaron and I found ourselves next to the aforementioned island with its pod of hungry walleye. We probably should have just stayed there but of course we didn’t. Looking closer at the map after boating 20 or so walleye we eyed an enticing neck-down area. Compression points are always good spots, they’re a natural migration route for the fish and tend hold concentrations of them. Besides that we knew it’d be totally protected in there, an appealing thought. Battling the waves once again for another 10 minutes we finally entered the narrow confines of a lengthy channel between an enormous island and the mainland. Throwing out diving crank’s we began a zig zag trolling run and began hitting fish consistently.

Here’s a short video of some of the first days action…











Thoroughly enjoying the sport we were oblivious to both the time and what was happening around us. At first. “Man!” Aaron said, “look at that!” Sounding both incredulous and mildly agitated I swivelled in my seat to look behind me. A massive dark cloud was rolling towards us like a tidal wave. Disturbingly tiny bolts of lightning were shooting out of it almost cartoon-like in appearance. Suddenly the wind died right down to nothing and angry little wavelets appeared on the surface of the lake. With the extreme low pressure pushing down on the water it almost looked like it was boiling. In all my years I’ve never seen anything like it.
Battling headwind to get to this spot I’d assumed the ride back would be easier. Wrong. In the moments it took both of us to don our lifejackets the wind did a complete 180 and we were right in the teeth of it again. It was already 8:30pm and growing dim, it had been a very long day and we both wanted to return to camp - badly. Five minutes in a virtual wall of water descended on us blasting me directly in the face and the lake transformed into a boiling cauldron of rollers and whitecaps. Aaron, no stranger to big water and waves sat bent in the bow with his back to the deluge. He glanced up and shot me a grin as I tacked over to a nearby island. That was our saving grace. That part of the lake is dotted with islands and I was able to dart from one to the next escaping the worst of the it. Not a straight line back to camp but a safer one and it was with huge relief that we finally eased into the boat slip. From start to finish it was about a half hour run and by the time we tied off at the dock there was 6” of water in the bottom of the boat. Jim and Rick naturally concerned, offered words of encouragement from the shelter of the porch, drinks in hand. We were not long before joining them.

Bacon cheeseburgers, caesar salad and a movie capped off our evening. Yes, a movie. I’d brought a tiny portable projector with me, bluetooth speakers and a bunch of flicks downloaded to my phone. With a bed sheet tacked on the wall and the lights dimmed the quality and size of the image was amazing! Aaron set things up just as dinner was served.











Did I mention we wouldn’t be suffering on this trip?






Heartbreak Ridge And An Open Window

The next day we awoke to grey skies, warm temperatures, high humidity and very little wind. While not as volatile as the previous evening, this system had the look of one that had kicked its shoes off and was here to stay for a while. Still, we were undeterred. Loading both boats with provisions for the day we donned our rain gear and all of us headed north to Johnston Bay. The Cat River pours into the lake here and studying the map it seemed an obvious spot. Aaron and I were both keen to target some larger pike, but the question was where and how? It was late August, we were on a massive body of water and the weather and barometer were not in our favour. “As much as I love casting” Aaron said “I think we’re going to have to troll”. Great, we were on the same page. Not just blindly dragging a lure around the lake though, we had a few key spots in mind. Key spots for me boil down to one thing: deep water directly adjacent to structure of some kind, whether a rock pile, weed flat, main lake point - whatever. Of course there was an unlimited amount of spots on the lake just like that so we had to break it down further. I was looking for spots that were adjacent to an obvious spring spawning bay.

I have a number of theories when it comes to big pike, especially on large northern shield lakes where they’re not likely to be chasing schools of baitfish suspended over deep water. One of them is these large predators aren’t going to stray too far from their spring haunts - especially when deeper cooler water and lots of food is easily attainable.

In most of the far north pike waters I fish small walleye are the number one source of protein for larger apex predators. Hanging out in the cooler depths they’ll slide up onto these shallow walleye laden shelves and mow down like a fat man at all you can eat buffet. Of course they can still be caught in deeper water and sometimes that’s where you have to target them. Often if I’m fishing a hump that for the sake of argument tops out at 15’, I’ll troll a lure that runs at 15’ directly adjacent to it, sometimes far out into the lake. When the big girls are on the prowl they’ll often suspend laterally off these pieces of structure. I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve caught large fish trolling lures that run 15-20’ deep over 40 to 60’ of water. In my opinion these fish weren’t chasing bait, they were relating to a shallower piece of structure, cruising the fringes waiting to pounce.

We had a rough game plan in mind, but no specific spots for a starting point. For the moment I was just following my nose. Arriving at the entrance to Johnston Bay a prominent point beckoned. It might as well have had a flashing neon sign on it saying “fish here!” We did. Jimmy and Rick continued on past us to troll and jig a pinch point about half a kilometre away while Aaron and I readied our trolling gear. Both of us snapped on substantial lures, 8” Depthraiders that trolled at roughly 18 to 20 feet on a long line. I was on the inside, Aaron was on the outside and it didn’t take long. As soon as we cleared the point Aaron had a heavy hit while his mouth was full of sandwich. Bread and lunch meat flying everywhere, he battled our first quality fish of the trip to net.

I love it when a plan comes together…









We made another pass across the point and this time I hooked up, although mine wasn’t nearly as big. For the next few hours we worked our way further into Johnston, a large piece of water almost a lake unto itself. Slowly and methodically trolling and occasionally casting every likely looking piece of water, we caught a lot of fish. Mostly small to mid sized pike, but a lot of girthy incidental walleye as well. Jim and Rick broke out the jigging rods and and were laying a beat down on the walleye. Based on the amount of commotion emanating from their boat they were having a grand old time in the process. A deep trench where the Cat River poured into the bay was particularly good, with the fish literally falling all over themselves to snap at their jigs.


























It had been raining off and on all day, and it was raining when “it” happened. We were trolling a large open expanse of the bay parallel to a large underwater ridge that topped out at 14 feet roughly 400 yards to our left. The ridge ran for a good half kilometre and was literally crawling with walleyes. Exactly the type of structure I like. Rod in the holder I had a bump. A quick check of the graph showed 40 feet of water so I knew it wasn’t bottom. I quickly reached forward and grabbed my rod, sweeping it forward in an attempt to trigger a strike. The second I dropped the rod back a heavy fish slammed my lure like a sledgehammer. Now I don’t say this lightly - that was EASILY the heaviest hit I’ve ever had in my life. Instantly popping the boat into neutral I leaned back into the fish and it took off. Aaron can attest to this, but it peeled off 50 yards of line in the blink of an eye, as fast as any steelhead I’ve ever hooked, and there have been plenty. This was not just a fish, it was a gargantuan fish, perhaps the fish of a lifetime. In full panic mode at this point I stood to gain better leverage when the unthinkable happened. The fish surged powerfully again ripping off another 30 yards of line and my 30 pound braid snapped like sewing thread. I was stunned. It didn’t rub on any rock and I’m pretty sure there no weak spots. I ALWAYS check my line religiously while fishing and often retie if I suspect the line has been abraded. The power of that fish will haunt me for a long long time. Literally sick to my stomach it took me a few minutes to shake it off before I could continue. That spot now has a name - Heartbreak Ridge.

Like every avid angler Aaron has experienced his own share of heartbreak, but upbeat as always he put a positive spin on things. “At least we know there’s real giants to be caught Mikey, and we sorta have things figured out. Don’t worry bud, we’ll get more!” As it turns out he was right.

At the entrance to the bay Jim and Rick commiserated with me then bid us adieu. They headed south back towards camp leaving Aaron and I to our own devices. At that point it was 7pm and the sky was growing even more ominous by the minute. The flat sheet of featureless stratus cloud we’d been under all day was starting to break up. Small openings in the ceiling showed massive dark bottomed towering cumulus clouds billowing thousands of feet into the air. The wind, calm all day had begun to pick up a bit - something was happening.

Following a hunch I navigated several kilometres away to another large bay. The map showed a number of islands clustered right at its mouth with deep water directly in front of them. As we pulled into the first spot, a reed point right at the mouth of a saddle between two of the islands we heard thunder rumble far in the distance. “This” Aaron said “could be our chance.” With a front rapidly approaching we both knew there might be a small window where the big girls slide shallow and feed. The second part of this equation is of course picking the correct spot. We found out soon enough the answer to that question.

The first decent pike caught casting…










After landing that one we worked our way into the saddle - 8-10’ deep, tons of cabbage and lined with reeds on both sides. If you look up “prime pike location” on Wikipedia you’ll see a picture of this spot.

Grabbing my second rod rigged with a weedless spoon I casted towards the reeds as thunder once again rumbled - this time a lot closer. If a large pike is shallow and on the hunt they don’t often pussy foot around. Normally if you put your lure in front of them they’ll smash it. Seconds after my spoon hit the water a large fish hammered it moving a bathtub full of water in the process. Instant pandemonium. While Aaron scrambled to reel in his line and find the video camera the fish was racing around the boat in a semi circle sything large swaths of vegetation with my line. “Good fish bud - grab the camera!” I was in a state once again. At that moment the fish cartwheeled completely out of the water right in front of us and shook the hook. Our best guess was 42 inches, thick and very fat. At that point I just laughed. One thing was becoming abundantly clear though, these large late August pike fight nothing like their early spring counterparts. Their metabolism is at its peak, they’re muscular and strong as heck! To this point they’d been kicking my butt. It was however pretty gratifying to see your ideas bear fruit. There’s zero doubt those fish had slipped onto that shelf to feed as the storm approached. Small windows of opportunity to catch them shallow exist, but you need to place yourself in the right spot to take advantage.

Thunder rumbled once again this time a LOT closer. Not wanting a repeat of the evening before we packed it up and headed back to camp. Thankfully an uneventful trip this time.

We’d kept a few walleyes this day and back at camp we fried them up to perfection utilizing the newly built cooking gazebo that Verne had provided. Good man that Verne.





Aaron had brought along his own special breading for the trip. I’d enjoyed it a couple of years previously on our trip to the Attawapiskat and it didn’t disappoint this time either. A homemade concoction that he’s developed over the years, I can tell you it’s darned good. Funny thing is he refuses to give up the recipe, I kid you not. The man will gladly pinpoint his favourite steelhead pool or give you gps co-ordinates to a prime walleye hump, but he won’t divulge his breading recipe.

Priorities.






Facing The Front And A Hole In The Wall

Arising early in the pre-dawn gloom I quietly set about brewing coffee while the others slept. That’s one of the nice things about Verne’s cabins. Unlike most of the outpost cabins I’ve visited this one had complete walls stretching all the way to the ceiling creating total privacy and blocking any unwanted light or noise. The only exception to that rule was Jim’s unearthly nightly emanations which could likely be heard through 3 feet of titanium coated concrete. Jim himself was the next to emerge looking disgustingly refreshed. “What’s shakin’ slim, is the coffee ready?” I wanted to punch him.

The rest of the crew soon joined us and with coffee in hand we surveyed the situation from the cabin porch. “Wow” that was Rick’s only comment as all four of us scanned the lake. The trees were bent under the strain of a heavy west wind, dark clouds scudded across the sky and rain lashed down in waves. Worst of all it was cold. The temperature the previous evening was 18 celsius and it was now 6 with a projected high of 7. “We just can’t win, can we?” Aaron grouched. No kidding. Still we forged ahead with our plans, none of us willing to concede defeat.

After a much more leisurely breakfast than usual we prepared ourselves to battle the tempest. Long underwear, fleece, Gore-Tex, rubber boots, wool hats and gloves. It was hard to believe this was August, but as I learned long ago you need to be prepared for anything in Ontario’s far north. Heck I can remember seeing snow in July once.

Jim and Rick headed east riding a tail wind to fish walleye in the shelter of some islands. Aaron and I headed west directly into the teeth of the gale. Not far down the lake was a major bay, one we’d been told was a spring hotspot. Key for us, its entrance was sheltered by a maze of small islands and channels and we knew it’d be a calm haven - relatively speaking. Once again tacking into the waves I slowly made our way over there, our tiny aluminum boat being tossed around like a cork in the massive swells. The final scene from The Perfect Storm flashed before my eyes as we forged onward surfing the huge rollers. Arriving at our destination and prying my fingers away from their death grip on the throttle we began to fish. As bad as the weather was there were still fish to be caught, and catch we did, although nothing big. Not too surprising considering the enormity of the cold front…

Discretion, they say is the better part of valor and after punished ourselves for the bulk of the morning we’d had it. You know it’s time to quit when reeling in a fish becomes a chore and we had reached that point. Reeling in a small pike I twisted the hook out of its mouth with pliers then packed away my rod. “That” I said hunching deeper into my rain coat “is it for me, I can’t take it anymore!” Aaron concurred.

Back at camp we stoked up the wood stove and hung our wet clothes to dry, instantly transforming our cosy abode into a steaming hot sauna. This was more like it.

The only photo I have from this day is a huge bubbling pot of butter chicken simmering on the stove which we all enjoyed later that evening with warm nan bread and a caesar salad.







Highlight of the day for sure.


The next morning saw Aaron and I studying the large wall map in the cabin. Once again a slate grey blanket of cloud covered the sky and the wind was blowing strongly, although this time from the northeast rather than the west. On the plus side it wasn’t raining and the temperature had climbed a wee bit. Even better according to the updated weather forecast I’d received on my Delorme inReach device it was supposed to clear by the afternoon. Finally a forecast in our favour! Wind always plays a large role and looking at the map I once again had a hunch. Several kilometres to the east of camp Moose Island spans almost the entire width of the lake creating some interesting options. As noted before pinch points and neck downs are natural hotspots, especially so when the entire flow of the lake is compressed into several such small areas. Beyond the obvious these would be natural migration routes for fish. Just south of Moose Island another large island lay parallel. According to the map passage was restricted by shallow water in the middle and there would almost certainly be weeds. With a strong northeast wind we knew the wind would be pounding into this spot, always a good thing where big pike are concerned and we made that our starting point.





Navigating east past Moose Island through a deep cut called Geislers Gut on the map, I rounded a point to my left and rode the waves into the back end of the large bay. As predicted it was lined with reeds with 8’12’ of depth in front and plenty of cabbage. Best of all the wind was stirring things up nicely. There are certain times when you just KNOW it’ll be a good day and both of us had that feeling. “My esox senses are tingling Mikey!” Aaron said with a smile.

Easing up to the first reed point on our left I popped the motor into neutral and we began to cast. Almost instantly Aaron hooked up…









We pulled several more thick pike out of that spot before finally continuing on. Feeling pretty good with ourselves we headed east out of the bay to a prominent point at its entrance that jutted way out into the lake. Another obvious spot that begged to be fished. With the wind still pounding pretty hard that piece of structure was just loaded with walleyes and we caught them at will. Not on purpose mind you - they were slamming our 8” trolling lures with gusto. As fun as that was it wasn’t what we were after and we continued on. Heading north past the point the northern tip of Moose Island beckoned. At its apex another tiny island created two minuscule channels where all of the lake’s water flowed through: North and South Hole In The Wall. The wind was blowing directly into our chosen spot as I slowly cruised into the south Hole In The Wall. Glancing at the graph I could barely contain my excitement. “Dude, it’s 30’ deep right here!” At that point we were maybe 50 yards from the cut and closing fast. Right at the entrance the bottom rose like a wall to an 8 foot flat lined with scattered cabbage. Making things even better it was an intimate little spot. I’ve always found large pike prefer to utilize confined little nooks and crannies as ambush points if they have a choice and this spot was exactly that. Directly adjacent to deep main lake water, wind pounding right in and a perfect shelf for a big fish to slide up on feed. We both suspected the large marshy area in behind was a prime spring spawning locale to boot. This tiny expanse of water had it all.

Once again it didn’t take long. Casting a copper and orange Doctor spoon that he pilfered from my box (they’re an all time favourite of mine!) Aaron hooked up instantly. This short video is kind of funny. I’m blabbering away about the spot and the fish when Aaron suddenly realizes just how big the fish was creating instant panic and a call for the net. I obliged…










I’ve already said this, but I can’t tell you how gratifying it is to succeed on such an overwhelmingly large body of water, especially when faced with such tough conditions! At that point we were on a high.

We fished that entire spot thoroughly picking off numerous fish but no more giants and we pushed further east, happy to explore more of the lake. The other boys joined us enroute after I’d messaged them. I had two Delorme units with me which allowed us to communicate with each other while on the lake - a big plus especially for safeties sake. By that point the skies had cleared and we enjoyed a banner evening of angling, basking in the long awaited sun.

 

 

Continued...
 

[solopaddler]

A Lengthy Tour And A Walleye Windfall

A crystal clear sky and calm lake was the back drop as Aaron and I skimmed across the placid surface of Lake St. Joseph early the next morning. With ideal weather we finally had the chance to explore more of the lake and we were taking full advantage. As always there was a plan. A good 30 kilometres east of camp another large, very obvious spring spawning bay summoned us. The structure directly in front looked great - lots of deeper water, and we made a beeline for it. The plan being we’d make the long run over there, fish it, then methodically work our way back to camp. As plans go this was a good one.

Jim and Rick were in for a treat of their own. Early that morning a plane flew in delivering Ryan Runge to the camp. Ryan is a 20 something fishing fanatic and Verne’s right hand man. He’s spent several years guiding and fishing the lake and was slated to fish with the boys on this day. I spoke with Ryan several times over the winter and came away with some seriously good vibes. He’s an impressive and likeable young man. Verne is lucky to have him on board, but I suspect he knows that already.

Idling up to our chosen staring point I mulled things over before making a move. Directly at the mouth of the bay was a large weedy point that jutted sharply into the lake. Perhaps half a kilometre south of the point a large island loomed. As I often do when faced with a new spot, I don’t fish, but rather cruise around slowly getting a feel for the topography below the water. Puttering about the structure watching my graph things began looking better and better. There was a very large and well defined shallow flat between the point and the island that ranged between 6 and 12 feet deep. On the east side of the saddle the water plunged quickly into 30 feet which was ideal. The west side was a wee bit shallower with 15 feet of water rising up to the flat in a more gradual fashion. A light west wind was blowing as well allowing us to drift slowly directly across the saddle.

“Man oh man this looks good Mike!” Aaron said echoing my own thoughts. We worked it several times, each drift taking at least 15 minutes, slowly and thoroughly working over every inch. Every drift we’d also switch lures. Just like a pitcher throwing a change up, sometimes the fish need to see something different. We caught pike, after pike, after pike but none were overly large. Plenty of fantastic sport, but not what we were seeking. Still, we persisted. “Mike, this spot is TOO perfect. There might not be a big fish here right now, but at some point there WILL be. Guaranteed!” Fishing with such an excellent angler and one with such a positive outlook was a pure joy for me, Aaron’s enthusiasm was contagious. It wasn’t that I didn’t agree with everything he said, but sometimes simple words have the ability to inspire and we fished on.

On roughly our 10th drift across the saddle just as we were nearing the deep eastern edge I fired out a super long cast with my spinnerbait landing it right next to the drop off when all hell broke loose. The instant my lure hit the water and before I even started to reel in, the water erupted in a shower of spray and my casting arm was literally pulled forward. I couldn’t get a hook into it try as I might and the chance evaporated. Still, we’d had our shot and that was good enough for us.

That was pretty much how the rest of the day played out. We toured a vast amount of water thoroughly covering a ton of great looking spots in the process. We caught more fish on this day that all the others combined and loved every single second of it.
















To date the other boys had no problems catching fish, but Ryan’s guidance was invaluable. He took them on a milk run of his best walleye spots and they caught fish at every one. As Ryan told us later they could have put some really crazy numbers of fish in the boat if they’d sat on them instead of moving. The kid had a counter in his boat that read 175 at the end of the day between the three of them. Most were not tiny dinks either, they were thick backed fatties that pulled like the dickens on light tackle. Ryan said it was a slow day…























Ryan stayed with us that night and once again we enjoyed an amazing fish fry. Not quite sure why, but it’s true. Those fish seem to taste that much better when someone else does all the work…





There was a lot of laughs and a whole lot interesting fish talk that evening - great times!








A Good Tip And Sore Arms

The evening before Ryan had offered us a couple of suggestions in our quest for larger pike. A few kilometres southeast of camp was Miniss Bay, an enormous convoluted body of water connected to St. Joe by a relatively narrow channel. To date we’d been avoiding it simply because it seemed too far away from the cooler main lake depths. There was a major river pouring in though with rapids at its south end and looking closer at the map with Ryan there WERE a couple of isolated deep trenches. “See that point right there? We picked off six big pike there last June”. “Right along the opposite shore”, he said pointing at the map, “there’s a really deep trench. I’ll bet those pike are still there!” Ryan’s philosophy mirrored my own uncannily. Marking our own map Aaron and I both decided we’d hit that spot first thing, and the next morning that’s just what we did.

Following my hand held gps I navigated through a maze of narrow channels before it finally opened up to a broad expanse of water. To our left was Ryan’s point and straight ahead was the fast breaking shoreline with the deeper water. The rest of this bay was quite shallow, probably less than 10 feet deep, while the very small, very confined cleft in the lake bed plummeted to more than 40. It was late summer, it was hot and sunny, and water temperatures were still quite warm. It stands to reason if there was a big predator nearby he’d choose the cooler, deeper water to hang out in.

We both chose larger 8” diving baits and began to troll. As always it didn’t take long. Before we’d finished our first pass my rod arched over in the holder under the weight of a heavy fish. I actually had some trouble getting it out, the pressure was so great.

The following video looks a little funky but you’ll get the idea…









Thank you Ryan!

After that we poked around here and there finally making our way into the large basin east of Moose Island. To this point we’d caught plenty of walleye, but unlike the other guys hadn’t really focused on them. That was about to change. Switching tacks we picked up our lighter jigging sticks and began to drift across every likely looking piece of structure. We caught fish everywhere. Lots of them! I’ve fished many great northern walleye lakes and I can say quite easily, if you don’t have an issue with big water you would LOVE this lake. The average size of the walleye is impressive and they’re pretty much everywhere. Just like big pike though, some spots are better than others and we soon began searching for, then keying on mid lake humps. A good graph is a must as many of our best spots were found cruising the lake watching the screen like a hawk. Anything less than 20 feet in depth was money. We’d circle back, toss out a marker and catch fish till our arms got sore.















Early evening we were racing back across the lake returning to camp when I glanced at my finder and did a double take. 14 feet. Moments earlier it had been 37 feet and we were literally in the middle of nowhere a good kilometre from the nearest shore.

Quickly stopping we dropped our jigs and had an instant double header, then another, then another. I dropped a marker and we capped off our day with some of the fastest walleye fishing I’ve ever experienced in my life.

It was incredible.











The other boys had enjoyed a banner day themselves. Ryan had flown out in the morning and armed with the new found knowledge gleaned from the lad they put well over 200 fish in the boat. Jim was counting.

I can’t remember the last time my right arm was actually sore at the end of a day from battling walleye. This was a first.





Storm Chasers And Apex Predators

The smell of bacon wafting into my bedroom roused me from my slumber - it’s better than any alarm clock. Slipping out of bed I stumbled into the kitchen to see Jimmy bustling about with a mountain of maple smoked bacon piled high on a plate in front of him. “Mr. Borger, you’re up!” “Breakfast is ready and the coffee is hot!” Despite Jim’s nightly cacophony he’s a great guy - one of the best. Grabbing my mug and pouring a cup I settled back into a chair to contemplate things. These trips always seem to fly by in the blink of an eye and here we were on our last day already. Life offers a great many wonderful and amazing experiences and all are cherished in their own way, but these trips…well, they’re something special. As an angler the chance to focus on nothing but fishing for an entire week, not worry about shaving, wear the same filthy sweatshirt for days on end and share a lot of laughs with some very good friends is priceless. Without a doubt the best of times.
To date the trip had been an overwhelming success - especially considering the weather we’d faced. But this was our last day and everyone wanted to make it count. Jimmy and Rick were eager to continue their beatdown on the walleye population. Aaron and I had other plans.

“So what do you think Mike?” Aaron asked as we both stood in front of the big wall map. There are a number of angling mantras that I’ve followed over the years and one of them is never leave to fish to find fish. The bay and neck down where I’d hooked and lost a giant on the second night beckoned. We’d been purposely resting it all week waiting for just the right moment and it was now or never. Fifteen minutes earlier I’d received an updated weather forecast from my wife on the Delorme and it sounded promising. Cloudy with sunny breaks, brisk west winds and a 40% chance of thunderstorms. Most intriguing was the possible storms. We both knew darned well that if we placed ourself in the correct spot as a cell moved through the chance for success would skyrocket.

The sky, a dark matte of clotted grey cloud looked ominous as I maneuvered our craft around the west end of Eagle Island and headed north into the waves. “I have a good feeling about this bud” Aaron said as he busily honed the hooks on a Doctor spoon. So did I.

Just as I entered our chosen spot we heard a low rumble far to the northwest. Now you have to understand something. Aaron is perhaps the most accomplished and fanatical angler I’ve ever met and he wanted to catch big fish just as much as I did - maybe even more. As we idled into position he did something remarkable. He put away his rod and picked up his camcorder. “Everything is almost too perfect Mike, I’m going to see if I can get some good footage for you!” The expression “falling on the sword” came to mind. I’ve filmed countless video snippets of big pike being caught, but never once had an entire scene been caught on tape right from the cast and hookset.

That was about to change. Not more than 5 minutes after starting I hooked an absolute TANK of a pike, by far the largest of the trip.










It was incredibly gratifying to succeed after putting in so much hard work, and on our last day to boot. Aaron was just as stoked as I was and I owe him a big thanks for the video footage. I’m not sure if anyone else would have done that.

I could have quite easily quit at that point and been perfectly content but of course we forged on. About fifteen minutes after catching the big fish we rounded a corner and eased up to a subtle reed point jutting out into deep water. We’d fished this spot twice before and caught nothing, but the fish seemed to be switched on at the moment. Flipping my spoon along the edge of the reeds I had an immediate hit and was fooled at first. The pike, a bigger girl in the 40” class swam directly at the boat tricking me into thinking it was smaller. 10 feet in front of us it surfaced and thrashed wildly throwing the hook. I almost dropped my rod it startled me so much. Don’t think I ever really got a good hook into that fish.

Perhaps 15 minutes after that the sky cleared, and all traces of stormy weather vanished. The big pike followed suit. With the sun now shining strong and hot we both knew that our small window to capture a big girl casting was gone. Of course we didn’t slow down, and throughout the rest of the day caught oodles of small to mid sized pike as well as la ton of walleyes.

Round about 6pm found us on a now glass smooth lake fishing a mid lake rock pile. We’d been catching walleye and smaller pike hand over fist when we noticed the sky. Large, dark thunderheads had moved in overhead and once again we heard thunder rumbling in the distance. Thinking as one we both began to don our rain gear and had only one thought in mind: make a run for our prime spot for a last shot at big fish.

As you’ll see in this video we didn’t make it…








With another major storm cell rapidly approaching we finally decided to call it a trip and return to camp. This time we were able to stay ahead of things and we made it back unscathed. The sky however was something to behold…








The boys once again had spent the day terrorizing the walleye population putting over 170 in the boat using the counter. According to Jim many of them in the 3 to 4 pound class - they were happy.











It was the perfect capper to an almost perfect trip for everyone involved.

The next morning murphy’s law struck and our 7am departure was delayed until 11am due to dense fog. It did however clear and once the fog burned off it was steaming hot and sunny. Almost right on cue the otter flew in and in no time at all we were loaded and winging our way back to civilization.

Another great trip in the books…







A Comfortable Camp

In closing I need to thank a few people, first and foremost our host Verne Hollett. If you watched the two videos at the beginning of this tale you already know he’s an interesting individual, but after spending a week at his camp I’m even more impressed. I’ve dealt with many outfitters over the years and in a lot of ways Verne’s operation is unique. He truly cares about his customers and he’s now on my permanent short list of outstanding outfitters. Thank you!

Second I need to thank both Ryan Runge and Jeremy Mailloux. Ryan was introduced earlier and as I said then he’s an impressive young man, thank’s for the assistance my friend! Jeremy on the other hand hasn’t been mentioned and I’d be remiss if I didn’t. He’s been the caretaker at the Eagle Island facility for 5 seasons now and he made our trip a whole lot better because of it. I haven’t mentioned Jeremy yet simply because we barely saw him. Every morning our boats were magically gassed and cleaned and on the couple of cold days he kept the fire stoked in the wood stove for us. He’d pop by occasionally to make sure we were okay then he’d disappear into the background giving us our space. In my estimation he’s just about the perfect man for the job. Thanks bud!

Finally I need to thank my companions on this trip, Jimmy, Rick and especially Aaron. You guys made a good trip great and I hope we can all do it again sometime!

As always I filmed a video tour of the cabin we stayed at. Because Eagle Island has 3 cabins at this site I’ve included short videos of the other two. All three are outstanding, but if you’re interested take a peek at the East cabin, it’s pretty remarkable…













Hope you enjoyed the story, until next time…

 

 

[Gallie]

Wow, those are some serious pike! I gotta get a trip organized through you soon!

[mr blizzard]

Words cannot due justice to your posting except wow

[TennesseeGuy]

Great trip. Super report.

 

Thanks for sharing with us.

 

It seems that a bit of nasty weather excites both fish and fishermen. Certainly not a time to be sitting in the cabin.

[solopaddler]

Thanks guys!

 

You're right about the weather Connie, but you already know that. Sure hope you're on the mend and gearing up for your fall trip!

[gordy28]

As always awesome report. Was a great way to spend time w a cigar on the deck after work

Love that you take the time to explain your thoughts on the pattern and how you found fish.

Ahead of the few trips ive done i go back to your posts and read to give myself some things to try/look for on my outings. (Hence my dissapointment that you didnt fish Shekak this year as we are booked for next August) lol.

In all seriousness your reports are awesome both entertaining and educational

Gordy

[chris.brock]

With you and Aaron in the boat, those fish didn't have a chance.

 

It would be cool to sit around the campfire with Verne, well, maybe not. Very sweet operation he's got going. That's a lake I hope to get to someday, with a little better weather.

 

Who knew you were friends with Tom Selleck.

 

So, who's giant was big fish of the week? A couple tanks there.

[solopaddler]

As always awesome report. Was a great way to spend time w a cigar on the deck after work

Love that you take the time to explain your thoughts on the pattern and how you found fish.

Ahead of the few trips ive done i go back to your posts and read to give myself some things to try/look for on my outings. (Hence my dissapointment that you didnt fish Shekak this year as we are booked for next August) lol.

In all seriousness your reports are awesome both entertaining and educational

Gordy

Thanks Gordy, I've been trying to make an effort to impart some wisdom in my write ups. Glad to hear you appreciate it.

 

Cheers

 

 

Who knew you were friends with Tom Selleck.

 

So, who's giant was big fish of the week? A couple tanks there.

 

Was bugging Rick about the stache all week LOL! But then you know him, he gives it right back LOL! Good guy.

 

Mine was bigger. Aaron's looks bigger because I took the picture LOL!

[emjay88]

Great report as usual Mike!!! Not just the size and numbers you always get but I love reading the outdoor adventure style of writing that you are clearly gifted with. It makes the reader feel like they are part of the adventure!

Cheers,

Jonesy

[manitoubass2]

Awesome report mike!!!

 

Stellar fish!

 

Cant believe the average size of the walleyes!!!!

 

And where was my ianconelli reaction? ???

[manitoubass2]

Oh ask aaron about nw bay on rainy lake

 

He filmed a show there with my bud harv years back.

 

Average walleye there is like 5lbs

Edited September 9, 2015 by manitoubass2

[solopaddler]

Great report as usual Mike!!! Not just the size and numbers you always get but I love reading the outdoor adventure style of writing that you are clearly gifted with. It makes the reader feel like they are part of the adventure!

Cheers,

Jonesy

Thanks Matt! (I'm not going to call you Jonesy unless you're wearing a fedora, carrying a gat and being chased by coppers)

 

Awesome report mike!!!

 

Stellar fish!

 

Cant believe the average size of the walleyes!!!!

 

And where was my ianconelli reaction?

You asked me that AFTER I returned from this trip LOL! I leave tomorrow for Armstrong, I'll see what I can do about not editing my clips.

 

Oh ask aaron about nw bay on rainy lake

 

He filmed a show there with my bud harv years back.

 

Average walleye there is like 5lbs

He talked about that Rainy Lake trip, it sounded pretty good!

[FLEX ROD]

WOW, what a fantastic report Mike!!!

 

Your reports are always so detailed, that one almost feels that they were on the trip with you and that this is just two people re living the trip, thank you.

 

Mike, I know that you spend countless hours / days planning trips like this, I think that this report must have taken you almost as long to put together.

 

Thank you for sharing the trip with us.

 

FLEX

[solopaddler]

 

Mike, I know that you spend countless hours / days planning trips like this, I think that this report must have taken you almost as long to put together.

 

Thank you for sharing the trip with us.

 

FLEX

 

Thanks John! The report, took me precisely 62 hours to put together in just a little over a week.

[FloatnFly]

jeez.....im gonna need 3 days just read it all! pictures look amazing though

[Dozer]

MEGA SPAM!! ADVERTISE MUCH BORGER?!?!?!

 

... just so I don't get banned that was a joke - but yeah, killer report with some dope pics dude.

[Steelheadphycho]

Yah yah. Another stellar report......

 

 

Now back to that super hot thread !!!!!

 

 

 

I'm kidding!! Man, how could someone have a problem with that?

 

Thanks again Mike!!

Edited September 10, 2015 by Steelheadphycho

[leaf4]

Another on the bucket list.... I think I have 10 of your reports bookmarked, I need to win the lottery!

[manitoubass2]

Another on the bucket list.... I think I have 10 of your reports bookmarked, I need to win the lottery!

Yeah no doubt!!!!!

 

Im thinking the exact same thing!

 

looking forward to your next trip mike and "print"?

[adempsey]

I dunno, looks like only 61 hours of work to me.....

[gordy28]

Mike,

One other question re patterning. How much would you say is instinct, time on the water, prep before hand?

Are you generally relying on time on the water over the years or do you find map study, research etc is equally important? Magasines or books you refer too? I have the in fisherman walleye series books and find them helpful but interested in what you would pick up.

[limeyangler]

 

Thanks John! The report, took me precisely 62 hours to put together in just a little over a week.

 

WOW…..fantastic job Mike…those pike are huge!

 

Thanks for taking the time…great read.

[Ronzo]

Wow, really impressive results! A trip like this is something that I'd love to take my father (65) on one day. Along with the awesome pics, I also appreciate the various tips about how you choose and scout your spots. I'm really glad to see that you guys didn't let the weather get you down, rather you took it as an opportunity to find the bigguns!

[Rod Caster]

I'm only giving one reply, but, I did view this thing 5 times....

 

I must say, you guys eat well on these trips. I bet you've become a meal time pro as a bi-product