“Lake of the Woods is over seventy miles long and wide, and contains more than 14,552 islands and 65,000 miles (105,000 km) of shoreline. It would amount to the longest coastline of any Canadian lake, except that the lake is not entirely within Canada. Lake of the Woods is also the 6th largest freshwater lake located (at least partially) in the United States- after the five Great Lakes.”
More LOTW info is here.
If one is serious about catching fish instead of simply fishing around the key to success is to go where the fish are. Most lakes have a habitat that supports a fish population but few lakes support a huge amount of large fish that receive the least amount of human fishing pressure. From there we analyze the body of water and eliminate the areas that don't hold fish. Concentrate on those few areas that will hold large amounts of large fish and determine the best tactics to place the odds in our favor. Conditions change seasonally so smart anglers understand what works best at a given time and when. Knowledge + experience + strategy + tactics = success. It works every time.
I have not made this Canadian trip for the last few years. My first trip to LOTW was in 1962 when I was nine years old with my family. Then those feisty high school and art school years got in the way and caused a brief pause.
We have been going back to LOTW for twenty-five years and know parts of that lake like our back yards. This is one huge body of water and we probably have fished less than 1% of it. Red Wing Lodge located near Morson, Ontario has been our base camp. Mike and Ann Bartlett run a clean and modern establishment compared to other affordable resorts in Ontario.
Sure, there are deluxe corporate style country club accommodations to be found elsewhere on the lake that provide all the amenities such as three squares a day cooked by a certified four-star chef, waitresses, bussed tables, a fully stocked bar and bartender, daily bed linen change, bell hops, servants, and native guides who cook shore lunch and all but put fish on your hooks, filet your catch, wipe your ass and put mint chocolates on your pillow before you go to bed after a visit to the spa.
We prefer the more rustic cabins where we can come and go as we please, fish where and when we want to, and cook our own food when we feel like it. One thing is for sure, we eat very well all week long. Screw the chef. Last week we enjoyed five fresh caught fried walleye dinners and meals that cannot be beat anywhere and we prepared them in our own cabin. We had lots of laffs and froze plenty of walleye to bring home.
There were seven in our gtoup. There was son AJ, the bro, Old Weird Harold and myself in our own boat. Two members of the SWAT team were in the other. There was Tommy the cop, his cop buddy Patrick and Pat’s dad Tony. We rented what was once a summer home that was recently purchased by Mike and Ann who own the Red Wing Lodge. Our cabin was located adjacent to the main camp but is much more secluded. It sleeps eight comfortably with a full kitchen, dining area and our own private pier.
Mike’s dad and family homesteaded this resort in 1980 on the shores of a protected smaller bay on the much larger Sabaskong Bay. They built this resort from scratch, one hell of a lot of work in this remote area of Canuckistan which is not exactly wilderness but very primitive.
Sabaskong Bay has hundreds of small rocky islands bursting with pines and generously spotted with moss and lichens creating a delightful ever-present aroma that is simply indescribable. Seagulls (of course) pelicans, piping plovers and ducks fly by freely (as if they own the place).
It was mating season for ruffed grouse and the male wing beats could often be heard while we fished near island shores.
Piping Plovers appear to be small seagulls. We could see them diving into the water to emerge with small fish. They looked like dive bombers crashing into the water, resurfacing and flying away with dinner.
But the very best show in the sky were the bald eagles.
While looking out from the cabin over our small bay one evening I watched as a large bald eagle dove out of the sky talons first and wings cupped as it easily snatched a good sized fish from the water’s surface and in one fluid motion turned and flew parallel to the opposite shore about three feet off the lake with it’s fresh caught sushi dinner. Ann Bartlett confirmed the next morning that she had also witnessed that same bird from their lodge.
On another occasion we watched from the boat toward an island as a family of mallards grew extremely nervous when an eagle appeared to be eyeballing their ducklings as it circled at low altitude overhead.
Once we watched from the boat as a mink with a small fish in its mouth scurried along the long sandy shoreline of an island peppered with rocks. Beaver lodges were present around every corner. A few years ago we drew a bit too close to one beaver lodge and king beaver approached our boat closely and repeatedly slapped it’s tail on the water as if to say GTFOOHYA.
Late in the day last week Pat the cop was outside in front of the cabin (sunset lasts over two hours up there) and suddenly came rushing back into the cabin screaming, “BEAR IN THE CAMP, BEAR IN THE CAMP.” That black bear was most likely more afraid of Pat (who is built like a pro wrestler and probably bigger than the bear) and ran the other way.
After sorting through copious amounts of photos I will post some of the larger fish we caught later this week. The largest fish was caught by son AJ. It was a Muskie that measured 44 inches. LOTW is world-class muskie waters and it is only getting better due to conservation regulations. Muskie were out of season while we were there and the keep size limit must be larger than 56 inches in season.
Then there was one walleye caught by Old Weird Harold that went over 30 inches and weighed at least seven pounds unofficially. On the very last day, a northern pike caught by Andy measured 36 inches and officially weighed in at twelve pounds. That is about as large as pike get in LOTW according to Mike. Pike share the same habitat as muskies and I believe that has caused a drop in the pike population over the past ten years.
We went. We caught. We ate. And we kicked fish ass.
Those seven days produced a decade’s worth of stories.
More to come.
4 comments:
When you are rooming with a guy named Old Weird Harold the stories gotta be good.
That's just what I call him, nobody else does.
You met him at Gunstock last year.
He's good people and a lot of fun.
It is so beautiful up there! I want to go!
And the walleye tasted like tartar sauce only if you chose to add it to your plate.
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