Looking for Winter Camping/Fishing Spot

[Rudderless]

Hi All,

I'm looking to get away the first week of January to do some backcountry camping and ice fishing.  I'd like to find a spot south of Nippissing to limit the driving distance from London, but I'm willing to travel farther to make sure I have good ice and good fishing, though hopefully neither will be in short supply.

My preference would be to find a place where I could park my car for 5-6 days and then hike/snowshoe to a backcountry lake to camp and fish.  I'd probably want to limit the hike in to 10-12km and I'm hoping that would get me an isolated spot where the fish are so plentiful that even I can catch dinner.  I've been lucky enough to have great success fishing in the summer but I'm sure most of that's because I route through many lakes that may not even see anglers most years. 

I've done a fair bit of ice fishing on Nippissing in rented huts, but I've just used live minnows, so I'd love some advice on what to use that I can hump in on my back or possibly on a drag-behind sled if it's worth it to bring mine.

I'm experienced with backcountry camping in all conditions but I'm always happy for advice on that front, too. 

Thanks for the help.

[grimsbylander]

January? Camping? 5-6 days? 10-12kms? Hoping to catch dinner?? If you like, I can print you off a Darwin award now and save you the suffering...

Edited December 21, 2017 by grimsbylander

[Rod Caster]

There is tons of water flanking Alg. Park, east of Hwy 11. I'd be putting all my focus on that area. Rainbow lakes, splake, year-round speck and I'm sure some pike and walleye lakes. Fish online is a good resource with good quality satellite imagery. You should be able to find some good isolation and you can probably just bring maggots/wax worms for bait. The forecast shows cold temperatures, bring a chainsaw for a good supply of firewood, you'll need it.

[Rudderless]

10 hours ago, Rod Caster said:

There is tons of water flanking Alg. Park, east of Hwy 11. I'd be putting all my focus on that area. Rainbow lakes, splake, year-round speck and I'm sure some pike and walleye lakes. Fish online is a good resource with good quality satellite imagery. You should be able to find some good isolation and you can probably just bring maggots/wax worms for bait. The forecast shows cold temperatures, bring a chainsaw for a good supply of firewood, you'll need it.

Thanks for the help, Rod, especially for telling me about Fish Online.  I was thinking of the same area but I think I'm going to play with Fish online a bit to see what I can come up with. 

[Joeytier]

You picked a cold week to go.  The park boundary area is definitely a good suggestion.  Look into the frost centre canoe routes as well south of Dorset.  As for bait, buy your minnows on the way up and just before you head into the bush, dump out the water and coat with salt, tie up the bag.  Fresh salties are excellent ice fishing bait trout and walleye

[woodenboater]

On 2017-12-21 at 8:29 AM, grimsbylander said:

January? Camping? 5-6 days? 10-12kms? Hoping to catch dinner?? If you like, I can print you off a Darwin award now and save you the suffering...

you'd be surprised that there will be a bunch of folks in Minnesota doing exactly this in the Boundary Waters. Of course they usually haul a canvas tent and stove and live in luxury

[cisco]

PM sent...

[Rudderless]

After looking at my options, I'm thinking of heading into the Lake Kawawaymog area, which is Algonquin's access point #1.  Chemical Road is now a maintained road, so getting in won't be too much of an issue and it's only a 5ish hour drive for me.  The downside is that most of the lakes in that area seem to have some cottages or road access, so they may not be as isolated as I like.  Some are stocked with Rainbow and some with Splake; would those be lakes to target or will they have a lot of fishing pressure?  I will be setting up a base camp and may do day trips to other lakes in the area if I'm not getting results on the lake I camp at.  Now that I've narrowed down the area, does anyone have any suggestions for lakes in that area to target or avoid? 

Thanks again guys for all the help.

[Joeytier]

On 12/29/2017 at 2:35 PM, Rudderless said:

After looking at my options, I'm thinking of heading into the Lake Kawawaymog area, which is Algonquin's access point #1.  Chemical Road is now a maintained road, so getting in won't be too much of an issue and it's only a 5ish hour drive for me.  The downside is that most of the lakes in that area seem to have some cottages or road access, so they may not be as isolated as I like.  Some are stocked with Rainbow and some with Splake; would those be lakes to target or will they have a lot of fishing pressure?  I will be setting up a base camp and may do day trips to other lakes in the area if I'm not getting results on the lake I camp at.  Now that I've narrowed down the area, does anyone have any suggestions for lakes in that area to target or avoid? 

Thanks again guys for all the help.

Yes, most of the stocked lakes back there are very easy access and heavily pressured.  Some good fishing to be had if you check your stocking lists and try to find more difficult places to get to.  Having said that, it's pretty easy to get anywhere back there with a skidoo, which you will see plenty of.