Canada Fly In fishing trip recomendations

Planning a fly in fishing trip in 2012. I would love to hear your recommendations on a outfitter/Lodge. Mostly interested in Walleyes. I've been on a fly-in in August that was fun but the fishing was far from terrific. Each guy probably caught 20 a day and they averaged 15-17" with no big ones over 24" I would hope that I can do better this trip. Thanks for the help

Our group has fished with an outfitter out of Red Lake, On. (Loon Haunt). We got back from our trip last week and had a good week of fishing. We caught 13 northern's over 35" with three over 40". Walleye fishing was a bit more challenging but we still caught hundred's during the week with nine fish over 24". We also caught the largest walleye (31") we have ever caught in 15+ trips to Canada.

Bill and Louise have six lakes to choose from and they provide comfortable cabins and their equipment is always in great shape. The two lakes we have fished (Cherrington and Unnamed) also have two-refrigerators and a smaller chest freezer in the cabins. It is always nice to have a lot of access to ice and room for all your food and adult beverages..

Trust me when I say good equipment is a must..We have had some negative experiences with motors not running (or worse dying in a middle of a remote portage lake) and there is nothing worse than wasting hours every day on your Canadian fishing adventure.

There are numerous great destinations in Canada..Just do your home work and talk to guys who have used various outfitters. Good luck on your search..

North Spirit Lake Lodge

going the end of July.

Great accomodations, great value, Bill is a great guest.

most importantly you will catch lots of fish.

Can't say I've done a lot of "comparison shopping" as far as outposts go. But I have to chirp in for Ten Mile Lake Camp http://tenmilelakecamp.com/index.html Richard is probably the nicest guy you'll ever meet and he's a Wisconsinite...at least in the winter. I could go on but I would at least see if Richard has any openings. I'm positive you won't be sorry. Oh, I started a thread called "Lake Seseganaga, Ontario" on the Canadian Reports/Discussions page with some of our group fishing stats if you want to check that out. Or messenger me if you'd like more specifics. Good luck!

I have looked at and investigated some of the suggestions on this thread. I have also spent alot of time in the past comparing flyins.Proceed cautiously. The range of cost/day is substantial. How many days do you get at what cost? How much gear can you take in without extra charge? Can you take in your own food? Is gas unlimited? Does body weight matter? Drop off and pickup times do matter. What are the hidden extra costs? The rule "you get what you pay for" is not always true. Also, everyone has a different idea of what is "good fishing". Get the names of others who have gone to that lake and talk to them.

I highly recommend Kabeelo Lodge outposts near Ear Falls. Great service and accomodations (www.kabeelo.com). This will be my ninth time going there in 12 years, and my fellow fisherman have gone over 20. I recommend Jeannette and Bertha Lakes for a good combination of size and numbers for walleye.

Kabeelo is a deal where you are dropped off on a lake with a cabin and boats, but you are then on your own. If you're looking for a lodge where they make your bed, cook you food, provide guide service, etc, this is not that place.

You may need to adjust your expectations for results. 15-17 inches is pretty standard for an average size walleye up there, and there's nothing wrong with getting "eaters" easily. Having fished Jeannette Lake at Kabeelo five times, I can tell you that an average walleye there is about 16-17 inches, and each boat will catch a handful over 20 inches each day. The biggest walleye of the trip is usually between 25-27 inches. One year on Jeanette, three guys in our group were in a boat and caught 14 walleyes over 24 inches in one August afternoon, with the largest going at 31.5 inches. But that was a once-in-a-lifetime event.

Call Harald at Kabeelo and explain to him what you're looking for in a lake and he will put you on the right body of water.

I highly recommend Northern Wilderness Outfitters out of Fort Francis. Large selection of lakes and their prices are great. www.northernwilderness.net We go every June and just got back from our 13th trip. They have different packages which you will see on their website. The extra charge (optional) for the food package is well worth it! And the fishing has always been phenominal. We went with Big Hook Outposts (Burnt Lake) for 2 years before NWO. They were another great outfitter, however that extra 7 hour drive to Red Lake from the border sucked, not to mention the 2 hour commuter flight north of that and THEN finally getting on a float plane to the cabin! NWO is just over the border with their airbase located on Rainy Lake.

My group has had great trips with Northern Outposts. Our regular lake was Keezhik but we are going to try Blackbirch this year. On Keezhik, we generally target pike and easily get 20 walleyes per man "on the side" - certainly enough for lunch. When I targeted walleyes, there were times that I caught one after another. I know of another Keezhik regular that gets over a hundred walleyes a day - he actually uses a counter.

A great walleye drive-to lake is Holinshead. Bring live bait though.

Gillespie showcased some day-trip fly-in lakes out of Andy Myers lodge. Those looked very interesting.

Your best bet is to go to the All Canada show. Talk to the outfitters, but also talk to some of their regulars that might be at their display. No matter what lake you go to, it will take some time to eliminate the dead water and find the spots.

I recommend Big Hook Wilderness camps. The Hartles are former Wisconsinites and have run the camp for 20 years. About 7 outposts camps 200 miles north of Red lake. $1100 to 1300/person for the week. Cabins are in good shape and the fishing is great in late June. been going there about 8 years. If you want big eyes look at South Lake.

Check out their website http://www.bighookcamps.com/

Another is Uchi Lake out of Sioux Lookout. Well run camp not an outpost

How much do you want to spend? There are fabulous remote lakes in Manitoba that have trophy walleye fishing but cost significantly more than Ontario. Budd's Gunisao Lake Lodge in Manitoba is perhaps the best walleye destination in all of Canada for both numbers and trophies but it will set you back about $4,000 for 7 days. Big Sand Lake is also very good. Heading to Ganglers in two weeks to stay at their Bain Lake outpost, I hear the walleye fishing there is spectacular. I will be reporting back on the Manitoba fishing Lodges and Outposts board when I return.

We also flew in out of Ear Falls in Ontario through Excellent Adventures. They have numerous lakes to choose from and are very good operators. The cost is very reasonable. We stayed at Blackstone lake and caught good numbers of fish with many 24" plus. Northern Pike fishing was not very good the week we were there.

Good luck, planning the trip is half the fun

Your big mistake before was going in August. If you are familiar with the lake, you can do well in August but that is when the water is at it's warmest for the year and a cool water species like walleyes will be in deeper water where they are harder to catch. No matter where you choose, go between June 1 and the middle of July in Canada. Earlier is usually better fishing but the earlier you go, the worse they weather might be.

Chimo Lodge out of Red Lake. He has about 10 different out posts you can fly into.Walleyes are best in July. He has a nice web cite. Just google Chimo. I am Happy to answer any other questions you might have. My group has been going there over 20 years.