Lost Lake Lodge report

[setomonkey]

Well, I mentioned in another thread that my buddy and I stayed a week at Lost Lake Wilderness Lodge, between Elk Lake and Gowganda, on the recommendation of Lew, who had stayed there a few years ago. Thanks Lew!

 

We were really happy with the lodge. Very clean, comfortable cabin, service with a smile, and the owner’s son, Brian, was always helpful and friendly. Can’t say anything about the meals because we did the housekeeping plan, but some of the other guests were going for meals and they seemed happy. Met bronzeback, an OFC member on the second or third day, maybe he can say something about the meals if he gets a chance to post a report.

 

The lodge is on a smaller lake (Lost Lake), but what attracted us to this lodge is that you can fish a number of other lakes by portaging or by a short drive. The biggest lake is called Hodge, and to get to it you have to drive across Lost Lake, do a short portage using wagons left by the lodge, drive across the next lake (Dinny), go along a river channel for about 20 minutes, do a longer and hillier portage by wheelbarrow, and then drive along another channel for 20 to 30 minutes! We only fished Hodge one day and I figure it must have taken us over an hour and a half to actually get a lure in the water (though we did bring way too much stuff).

 

Hodge is a catch & release lake so we figured we had our best chance at big fish here. I got my biggest bass of the week (20") on this lake, but we caught some nice 16 to 18 inch smallmouth all week in different lakes. We mostly fished for bass, but my buddy got a pike in the low 30 inches and I caught some decent pike too. Only a few walleye, but we didn't spend any time fishing for them.

 

We didn’t have any big numbers, except for one day where the action was steady all day, but we got some decent sized smallies and pike. I mostly fished with spinnerbaits and crankbaits, though some of my fish came on plastics. The most exciting fishing was when we saw bass feeding (only happened a couple of times during the week), you'd see a boil and you'd catch a fish for sure if you cast near it. My only regret is that I wasn't willing to take the time to switch to a topwater during these times, that would have been amazing.

 

Here are some pictures of fish:

 

first fish of the trip, on Lost Lake

 

decent smallie - no I was not drunk in this picture

 

typical bass

 

big bass of the week for me

 

25" pike

 

And here are some pictures of scenery:

 

view from our cabin deck

 

one of the channels to Hodge

 

rapids into Dinny

 

The weather was all over the map, it rained all day on our second day, then it was hot and muggy in the middle of the week, with the occasional thundershower, and then a cold front moved in on Thursday and the temperature must have dropped 10C overnight.

 

I had two first-time experiences on this lake. The first was that I hooked what felt like a small bass on a jig and was reeling in when it suddenly felt heavier. At first I thought a good-sized bass had hit lightly and was swimming toward the boat, but then I saw that a pike had grabbed the bass while I was reeling in, and didn’t let go until it was boatside.

 

The second experience I had was seeing a moose live for the first time, on one of the drive-to lakes (Everitt). She was swimming across the lake when we came upon her and then swam back to the shore where she started. The pictures aren’t great because the zoom on my digital camera isn’t very good. We also saw osprey, eagles, blue heron and other wildlife during the week.

 

Moose swimming

 

Moose coming on shore

 

It was a great week, I'm glad we went. Probably my favourite thing about this lodge is that you had to book which lake you wanted to fish, so you could sometimes be the only boat on the lake that day. Not counting Lost Lake, we only one other boat on a lake with us during the week (Dinny). The other days we didn't see any other boats, which made for quiet and peaceful fishing.

 

Hope you enjoyed this report,

 

Mike

Edited July 7, 2007 by setomonkey

[oxcowboy]

very nice, i love the moose pics. looks like ya got into some nice smallies and pike as well. i will be in the elk lake area in a few weeks, staying closer to matachewan. it sure is beautiful country up there.

 

jason

[addict]

sweet pics.looks pretty serene thanks for the post.

[Greencoachdog]

Excellent report and pics Mike!!!

 

Looks like a beautiful place up there, but I don't know why you chase those nasty ol' Bass?.. heck!... I can catch those down here!!!

[Joey]

Top notch report Mike. That must have been some experience having the pike hanging on to your bass while reeling in. I love the moose pictures. I think they turned out great.

 

Thanks for the information on that lodge and the lakes. Nice bass too!

 

Joey

[ehg]

Nice report!

Alot of big smallies and pike up there.

Sounds like you got some solitude as well.

 

ehg

[Golfisher]

Great report! Looks like you had some decent smallie action; thanks for sharing it.

[Rich Clemens]

Very nice report Mike. Lost Lake sure does look like a quit place to get away and do a little fishing. Glad ya had a great time.

[aplumma]

Thanks for sharing mike it looks like a great place to go.

 

 

Art

[Roy]

Well, that report added sunshine to my rainy day here. Thanks for taking the time to post of your adventure, Mike. Great pics too! Glad you had a peaceful time.

[b2kptbo]

Great report Mike, glad ya had a good time...

[lew]

Mike, it's really great to hear you & your bud had a good week up there.

 

I'm sometimes hesitant to recommend a place to someone incase the trip doesn't turn out well as mine, but that doesn't seem to be the case here. There's another OFNer heading up there soon too, so I hope he enjoys it as much as you boyz did.

 

You got into some nice fish, saw some gorgeous country, and seeing that moose swimming across the bay was definetely a bonus !!!!

 

The folks that run Lost Lake are excellent and really take care of their guests.

 

We didn’t have any big numbers, except for one day where the action was steady all day, but we got some decent sized smallies and pike. I mostly fished with spinnerbaits and crankbaits, though some of my fish came on plastics. The most exciting fishing was when we saw bass feeding (only happened a couple of times during the week), you'd see a boil and you'd catch a fish for sure if you cast near it. My only regret is that I wasn't willing to take the time to switch to a topwater during these times, that would have been amazing.

 

When my brother & I were there in '96, it was....and still is.... the best bass fishing I've ever seen, but the ONLY bait we could catch them on was top-water plugs, specifically Chug-Bugs, and they wouldn't touch any other bait.....strange eh ??

 

Anyways Mike, I've been waiting for this report and it sure wasn't a disappointment, thanks for taking the time to post it, and I'm VERY happy to hear you enjoyed the place

[pikeie]

wow great report! looks like some amazing fishing was had as well!

[redfin]

:thumbsup_anim:

 

Looks like a great time, a piece of paradise on earth for you for the week. Thanks for the great report too Mike.

 

:thumbsup_anim:

[dustink]

Great post......thanks for sharing!

 

dk

[ccmtcanada]

Great report Mike! Loved the detail...almost felt like I was there. Great pics and commentary. Some nice looking bass there and a nice chunky pike as well.

[TJQ]

Sweet... now your in my neck of the woods... making me homesick!!!

[Whopper]

Great report Mike!

Glad you had fun!

 

Whopper

[setomonkey]

Thanks guys, glad you enjoyed the report.

 

Glen: I like fishing for bass, anywhere, anytime! I like fishing for other species too, but Lew had mentioned that the smallmouth fishing was excellent when he was there before, and it did seem that the lakes were best for smallies (but I don't know about the walleye i.e., pickerel fishing).

 

Lew: It was a great recommendation, you can't promise anything of course but it helped me narrow down my choice because there are quite a few lodges in the area. I'm thinking of going back, and will have to make sure to spend some of that time using topwaters...

 

Mike

[Raf]

Good job Mike. Looks like a great place.

[Stoty]

Great report.

Some nice fish there!

Good job.