Lake Nipigon

[oldschool]

Folks,

 

I am just wondering why I never hear of anything about this lake. It is very large and would seem from my perspective to be an excellent outlet for any number of fishing desires.

 

Why is it not discussed? Perhaps it is mentioned but it has regional names or is mentioned in the context of local bays or regions and I am just not tuned in.

 

I am driving up to Armstrong next week for a fly-out to a small lake, Gosling, in the general area and the road follows along the west side of Nipigon for many miles, thus the curiosity. I will post some results after I return home as I expect to have many pictures and even more memories of a fantastic experience up north.

 

Thanks much,

 

Roy

[Roy]

Have a great trip, Roy. We have a number of folks on the board who fish the Nipigon and one expert in particular.

 

Roy :-)

[scuro]

This recent thread discusses Nipigon.

 

http://www.ofncommunity.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=9679

Edited July 28, 2007 by scuro

[oldschool]

Scuro,

 

Thanks for the response. Yes, I did read that report and thought that it was one of the finest that I have seen on any board. The pictures, the fishing results, but also the family connection throughout was just great.

 

But I thought that this was the town of Nipigon, and fishing on Lake Superior, correct? I am wondering about the Lake Nipigon fishing as it appears to me to be a prime competitor for fishing time to Superior as well as some of the other area lakes. I guess that I am just fascintated by big water and the mysteries found beneath the surface.

 

Thank again for responding, and please know that I may have misread your trip report.

 

Roy

[bucktail]

There are no fish in Nipigon

 

 

I posted a report 3 weeks ago. Still have to add the pike pictures I finally recieved.

[bigbuck]

Nipigon and general area are fantastic for fishing. The father in law went on many a fly in trip in the area over the years and slayed the walleye and lakers.

[danc]

and the road follows along the west side of Nipigon for many miles, thus the curiosity.

 

You won't actually see Lake Nipigon as you travel north on 527. There is little access from the west side of the lake. Unless you turn in at Gull Bay IR. I've launched there several times and it's a good place to access the middle west side of the lake. It's not a far drive if you just want to go in and have a look. About 10 minutes or so. You might find some cheap gas while you're there as well.

[scuro]

Having only fished the smallest part of Nipigon I can't tell you much. The fishing was unremarkable at that time(see earlier posts). Yet even on this small arm along highway 11 things were different. To begin with there was a major current that would run both ways in this section of the arm! The wind blowing across this huge lake would move huge amounts of water. When the wind blew north you could actually see the the current rolling over a point like on a river. I marked all sorts of fish against that point but was stupid enough to call it day seeing that we hadn't met the relatives yet. The wind never blew north again. Near the resort is a bridge and the current would change directions sometimes several times within an hour. This attracted fish and I have to say that our easiest fishing on this section of the lake was by this current. As I mentioned before the main lake is cold. You would have spring conditions well into the summer, then I started checking out the incoming water. Remarkably one source was 15 degrees warmer then another source. Fishing was hot by the warm incoming water because it was a cold summer. Later in the summer the other river would be a magnet. Who knows how warm the main lake gets.

 

Mostly I got an impression of Lake Nipigon in hearing people talk about it. You know a place is good when people get that far off look as they visualize what they are about to describe. They told me enough so that I want to go back again....Lakers for sure...brookies if you come at the right time...walleye all over the place...and pike that are completely overlooked. That sounds like a great multispecies fishery.

 

I also walked and fished the shores of Superior. Just standing on the shore I got the impression that I was in BC on the southern coastal islands...rolling hills on islands and a vast plain of water. It was remarkable to catch brookies so close to shore. In fact other people in our party were casting from shore with cleos and catching good sized brookies. I'm sure there is good fishing in Superior too. Charters out of each town.

 

The thing that impressed me the most about the area was once you got off the most beaten path, the fishing gets better exponentially. Better yet the area is stunning.

 

 

There is so much water to fish...even on the most beaten path, we saw maybe one fishing boat for two 1/2 days.

Edited August 1, 2007 by scuro

[danc]

I can fish Nipigon tomorrow morning if I really wanted to. But your description, scuro, reminds me of what I take for granted. Thanks for that. I've never heard anyone describe the currents over the rocky shallows of such a huge lake like you just have. Yet I've seen it countless times before. It makes me wonder why the water would rush through a narrow area when there's 5 miles of open sea on the other side of the tiny island that creates the narrows. It's an incredible body of water. It's probably just as all the great lakes were 500 years or so ago. Maybe longer than that. And yes. The fishing is decent too.

 

Really nice photo of Ouimet!