drive to fishing reccomendations

[Zenfish]

Greetings fisherfriends. I'm from the states (MI) and am planning a trip for 3 of us. My buddy won't fly and we want a multi-species trip. In order of priority; brook trout, pike, walleye. lakers. Any reccomendations on drive to options? Lodge or camping would work. We can bring a boat or kayaks or rent a lodge boat. We're willing to put some miles on the tires to get where we need to be. Thanks for any ideas!

[smitty55]

My first suggestion for a drive to location would be Kipawa, specifically the central part of the system at Alwaki Lodge which is a 14 mile boat ride, but the are many lodges throughout the whole water system. It is an absolutely gorgeous water body that yearly draws in many Americans from as far away as Texas. Walleye, Lake Trout and Pike are the main species fished for.

Here's a quick story. Chris, a new member this past summer in the Kipawa fishing forums took his first trip up there after getting a ton of info from members. He was so impressed he went back up in September again. After that trip he went out and bought a new boat, had someone fabricate some  real nice downrigger mounts and has now rebooked two trips for next summer again. He certainly caught the Kipawa bug big time.

If this sounds appealing to you I would highly suggest visiting and even joining the forums at http://kipawafishingforum.net/index.php 

Members there are very helpful and there are tons of trip reports to check out as well. I can guarantee that you will be super impressed with the beauty of that area. You didn't say what time of the summer you wanted to go, but my suggestion would be July to mid August so that the bugs are way down and the water is warm enough to swim in. For me it just makes for a more enjoyable vacation.

 

Cheers

Edited November 27, 2017 by smitty55

[DRIFTER_016]

Lake Nipigon would be my first choice.

Some nice places to stay up there too.

[Zenfish]

Thanks to both of you. Nipigon is definitely on our radar. We were considering camping on an island. Just worried that weather could wreck the trip on that big water. I had not heard of Kipawa. Are there any brookies up there Smitty 55? Also, is it practical to jig for the lakers? Not really into the downrigger game. 

[adempsey]

Drive to Brook Trout will be a challenge.

Totomenai Lodge might be worth looking into. You'd have to hit some of the back lakes for Splake or Brook Trout though. The same could probably be said for other lodges in the area.

http://www.canadafishingguide.net/a-tale-of-four-fishes-a-trip-to-air-dale-lodge/

[smitty55]

On 11/24/2017 at 7:53 PM, Zenfish said:

Thanks to both of you. Nipigon is definitely on our radar. We were considering camping on an island. Just worried that weather could wreck the trip on that big water. I had not heard of Kipawa. Are there any brookies up there Smitty 55? Also, is it practical to jig for the lakers? Not really into the downrigger game. 

Yea no Brookies in Kipawa. I have no idea if any of the lodges have outpost lakes for Specks. There is a good laker population,  and a very good Walleye pop. The upper third of the watershed now has a very healthy small mouth fishery that is slowly travelling south. But most of the members there focus on the Walleye fishery it seems, while we were different as we were there primarily for the Lake Trout, but over the years spent more and more evenings for Pickerel. My largest was over 11lb. Some guys used riggers for lakers, while a lot of us dragged gang trolls behind leadcore or copper line. That being said, jigging is certainly an option as there is a ton of structure everywhere up there and the long narrow layout of the waterbody and tons of islands means you can almost always get out of the wind somewhere. There are also plenty enough trolling methods with mono available like 3 way rigs or a light diver like the fish seeker on 10lb line or heavier divers on baitcaster rigs.

Here's a quick glance at the whole waterway. That line is the 14 mile boat ride to Alwaki Lodge. That island right at the hub is where Corbeau Lodge used to be. It's now privately owned by Eric Lindros

 

 

Cheers

Edited November 26, 2017 by smitty55

[gordy28]

So not sure it totally fits your bill but we really enjoyed our trips to Lady Evelyn Lake

Walleye, pike and smallmouth in the main lake - and I believe some of the lodges offer portage lake options for trout

I have stayed at Island 10 http://www.island10.com/ which is full service and Ellen Island which is housekeeping http://www.ellenislandcamp.com/

Both Red Pine http://www.redpinelodge.com/ and Garden Island http://www.garden-island.com/ also get great reviews

Its a huge lake - the one thing about choosing a lodge is which basin you want to be in (most believe Garden Island is in the best area)

Also worthwhile talking to the owners about portages ahead of time - some have boat caches and some do not

Cheers

Gordy

[T-Bone]

Am very familiar with Lac Kipawa and I'll offer this; it's a massive lake and takes some time to learn. I've seen more than a few groups go into this lake thinking they're going to just whip a jig down or start trolling and the fish will eat it up. That's simply not the case. It took us at least 5-years to start having some reasonable success, and I still learn a lot from experience and what others teach me every year...with 2018 being our 19th year going there. If you're up to the challenge, go for it as the lake has spectacular beauty. If you're looking for a bit of a "sure thing" (does that even exist?), you may want to head north until the road ends...and boat-in from there. 

Coming from Michigan, you should be looking toward Wabitongushi or Esnagi Lake. Couple links below...

http://lodgeeightyeight.com/ 

https://lochisland.com/ 

 

[dave524]

With Brook Trout being your top priority , except for Nipigon,  pretty much any good lake for them I can think of is not a good mutispecies lake but Brookies only.

 

[Joeytier]

There are a few options scattered throughout Northern Ontario that are placed centrally within a chain of good brook trout, splake, and rainbow trout backlakes, and of course walleye lakes.

I'll send you a PM with some of what I would consider the better ones.

[Zenfish]

Really appreciating the feedback. We're good with hitting portage lakes. Also would be all about some walk/wade options for specks. I will definitely look into the options you guys have listed. Right now the top three on my list are; Northern Woods Lodge, Gogama Lodge, and Pasha Lake Cabins. Really hoping to hit a home run with this as we'll have my buddy's 14 year old son and this is his first trip north of the border. 

Edited November 27, 2017 by Zenfish

[BillM]

On 11/24/2017 at 7:32 PM, DRIFTER_016 said:

Lake Nipigon would be my first choice.

Some nice places to stay up there too.

You've got one place to stay on that lake for the most part, lol.   If it's windy and you aren't ready for it, you'll be fishing the river and only the river.   

[DRIFTER_016]

11 minutes ago, BillM said:

You've got one place to stay on that lake for the most part, lol.   If it's windy and you aren't ready for it, you'll be fishing the river and only the river.   

Not that it sucks fishing the river.

[Zenfish]

It looks like we're leaning toward Pasha Lake Cabins. Any of you have experience with them? 

[BillM]

On 11/27/2017 at 5:23 PM, DRIFTER_016 said:

Not that it sucks fishing the river.

Not at all.