Home Forums Fishing Freshwater Suggestions? Northern Minnesota or maybe Canada.

I'd like to take my Dad up to do some Northern or Walleye fishing and would like some suggestions on where to go in the mentioned areas. We will be needing to rent a boat and cabin. Is early September a decent time to take off on such a venture?

Thanks.

After Labor Day, you don't need reservations for camp sites in places like the Boundary Waters, if you are looking to do it yourself. It starts snowing by October 1.

Are you looking for DIY, or guides, or a lodge like Wollaston Lake ( that's in SK)?

Call Wilderness Outfitters in Ely, MN. They are cool with setting you up for whatever you want, and know other guides elsewhere.

Northern's should be pretty active in September. Walleye are up and down so much that it can be hard to predict. Very dependent on the weather. There may be a lot less mosquitos if you go later in the fall, ie: after the first major frost. There are a lot of good places in Northern Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and Ontario for pike and walleye. Figure out what kind of trip you want, like Lee24 said, and then it will be easier to pick a place to go. The Red River in Manitoba is known for huge walleye, especially in late fall. Not sure about pike. I know a few places in Northern Saskatchewan that have cabins and rent boats, but they are drive-to, not fly-in. If you are interested, let me know and I will pass on the names to you. (Not affiliated, just trying to be helpful.) Wherever you go, have fun.


SS

Thanks guys.

I'm looking for a drive-to, rent a boat, and DIY kind of place. Not looking to spend a big pile of money or else I'd be thinking more of a fly-in type of a trip. Late September could probably work, very early October maybe. We both farm and usually start harvest around the second week of October so that'd be pushing it. I'd like to spend 4 or 5 days on the water and hopefully under a day and a half driving each way. I'm about 650 miles due south of Winnipeg, and would hope that would be within half way to the destination.

I'd be interested in any suggestions or tips that might come along.

Your probably best off finding somewhere north of the 'peg then. Since the Canadian Shield drops down so far in Manitoba and Ontario you don't have to go as far north to find lots of rocky lakes with great fishing. I'm not familiar with any resorts in that area though. Might be best just to do a search and see what you can find. I did pull out the Outdoor Canada Fishing 2005 magazine and it lists the Red River as the number 1 place in Canada for Walleye, specifically the area between Lockport and Selkirk (North of the 'peg on Hwy. 9) . They say that the best time to go is between Sept and freeze up so your timing would be good. They also list Cedar Lake as the No. 4 place in Canada for Pike. North of the 'peg on Hwy. 6 to just north of Grand Rapids, then east and follow signs to Hobbs Resort (Phone: (204) 639-2266). Best time is late August.

Hope that the info helps you. Try www.travelmanitoba.com too if you need some other info.


SS

For something a bit closer, you could check out the Northwest Angle Inlet MN.... (on lake of the woods). I think there are a couple outfitters running from there. It's north of Warroad, but you have to drive through Manitoba about an hour to get to it. Being on the west shore of Lake of the Woods, it has good walleye fishing, and there are lots of islands/bays for other species and to hide from the wind. It's pretty remote for a drive in place. (one gravel road in/out)

SS,

Do you know anything of this Hobbs Resort? I called them yesterday and talked to a sweet old lady who told me $80 would rent me and Dad a cabin, and another $80 would get a boat, motor, and a tank of gas, Canadian of course. Does that sound about right? Seems reasonable enough to me.

Muleshoe,

I have never been to Manitoba, so I can't say that I have had any experience with Hobb's resort. I would think that if they are recommended by a magazine like Outdoor Canada (which is fairly reputable around here) they would be pretty good. Without having been there I can't really say. $80 CAD is about $65 US at the typical conversion rate of 1.20 CAD=1 US. Check and see what the cabin has. Some of the cabins at fishing lodges are just plywood shacks with an outhouse, and others are pretty nice with a kitchen and woodstove, etc. If they have a website with some pictures it would be the best way to see what the joint looks like. As far as the boat goes, I'm guessing it is a 14'-16' Naden or Lund with a 10-15 hp Johnson/Evinrude on it. They are pretty indestructible boats and as long as the outboards are well maintained and the lake isn't too huge you should be fine. Sounds like not a bad deal to me, but it's your money... <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />


SS

SS,

As for the cabin, she said it had a tub, shower, and kitchen.

As for the boat, 16', 20hp, and a tank of gas.

So do you think the $160 per day for cabin and boat is typical?

Thanks!!

It sounds about right to me, but I have my own cabin and boat so I haven't rented in a long time. Maybe try a couple other lodges too and see what they charge.


SS

Okey dokey, the reservations are made and the plan in motion.

Next question. What lures would you be using for Pike? Walleye? I'm planning on taking two rods/reals. Both spinning reals, one rigged with 6# and the other...?

It's been thirty some years since I've been up fishing for these kinds of fish, not sure what to expect. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Well, I guess lure selection would depend somewhat on the lake. If the lake is pretty weedy, and since you are going in early fall the pike will likely be in the weeds for the most part, you will want some weedless hooks like a Johnson Silver Minnow in various colors and sizes. Len Thompson spoons (00-2 sizes work best) in things like yellow five'o diamonds, red & white, green frog, yellow frog, brass, etc work really well if you are trolling along weed beds. They are heavy enough to cast into the wind pretty good and cheap enough that I don't cry too much when I loose one. I like Rapala Rattlin' Raps too, which I have also caught walleye on. One that you can get in the States that you can't get here which works pretty good is the Mann's Baby 1 Minus. They only go down about a foot so they work well over the weed beds, and they rattle, which drives the pike nuts. I've caught my personal best pike (17.5 lbs) on a orange and red Canadian Wiggler. They have good action, but they can snag up really easily. Spoon Doctors work good, as do Williams Wablers and Trophies. Silver and blue is the color I have been using this year with pretty good results. Make sure you bring a few big plugs too. Sometimes they are good. For walleye, I use a lot of Mister Twister's with about a 3/8 oz. jighead. Try and get a lot of different colors and get a bunch of each. There is nothing worse than finding what they want and only having one or two of that color. I go with anything from pumpkinseed to chartreuse. The yellow five of diamonds (with black diamonds) seems to work for walleye too. I'm not sure about bait restrictions in Manitoba or even that lake, but if you can use live minnows, they work great to put on a jig head by themselves. Some deeper running crankbaits like the Cotton Cordell Walleye Minnow and the Rapala Shad Rap work well also.

As for the actual gear, I use 8# line for pike with a 6-10" wire leader. For walleye, it will depend if the pike are mixed in with them. I like to use a light line, 4-6# would be good, with no leader, sometimes just a swivel clip to make it easier to change hooks. If the pike are in with the walleye though, you will likely loose a lot of hooks that way. Try to find some 30-50# flurocarbon to use as a leader in that case. It isn't that visible, but it will help if a pike decides to have some lunch.

Just a note, but it will likely be pretty cool in the mornings/evenings but still fairly hot in the mid-day. Try and bring along some fleece for the cooler times, and if you layer your clothes you can shed them and add them as the temperature fluctuates. Also bring lots of mosquito spray. Manitoba is notorious for them. Of course, if there is a good frost before you go that will knock most of them down. It will also make the leaves start to change which can be very beautiful. Hope you have fun. Catch some big ones, but be sure to leave some for the rest of us...



SS

I was in the angle inlet area a few years ago. We fished out of the Flag Island Resort. With the guides from the lodge. Our trip was a full service trip. . . complete with a bar on the island. We were there in late August, and the fishing was ok, but the guide told us if we were planning a return trip that mid July usuall has better fishing. We fished walleyes, some others fished norterns, didn't do that good. I,m not sure about the DIY plan, but it would be worth checking out.
Bob

The trip went off pretty well. We had good weather for the most part, a bit windy most days and rained the last, but all in all a good time.

We caught no Walleye and saw only one caught from another party there, they said it was the only one they caught in three days of fishing. We did catch quite a few Pike every day, none were very big though. A 6 and 5 pounder were the two largest we caught, we each caught gobs of smaller Pike. Out of the arsenal I took up there, I only caught fish on one specific spoon. A dimpled silver and blue Daredevil. Dad caught all his on a plain silver dimpled Daredevil. I slung lots of other stuff at 'em, but they weren't too interested in anything but silver.

For anyone that's interested...Hobbs resort is a decent place to fish out of. The cabin we stayed in had two bedrooms and a bathroom, and would sleep six. They were clean and dry and all we needed. The boats were really nice! A 16 foot Alumarine(?) with a very dependable and quiet running 25hp Honda. We battled some sizeable waves at times with no problem at all.

Hobbs Resort is on Cross Bay of Cedar Lake, a sizeable chunk of water. On one day we saw two other boats, the rest we saw only one. It was nice to get away from the world.

If me and Pop do this again, I may hunt around for a bit smaller lake and maybe a fly in type trip.

Suggestions?

Thanks to SS and all who helped me.

Sorry that you didn't do better. Did anyone there catch any decent pike? After my experience this past fall I am beginning to wonder if spring is the best time to catch pike in these northern lakes. I think by fall there are likely more baitfish around, so the pike don't have to work so hard to eat.

Hope you and your dad had a good time together at least, even if the fishing wasn't so hot.

SS

The best we saw caught that week was a 10 pounder by another party there. I'd have been tickled with that, but we were still happy with what we did catch. Maybe our expectations are a bit too low? Every time I hear my Dad talk about the trip he says we caught a lot of fish so I guess he's happy.

It looks like it was a good year for us to do this. We are right in the middle of our harvest and this past week my Pop started having chest pains and shortness of breath. He went in for a stress test...quadruple bypass tomorrow(Monday) morning.

Prayers sent buddy.


SS

If you go again next year consider http://www.totemresorts.com/ . I've been there in early June for a long weekend for the past 5 years, and have had a great time. They're not cheap, but they are top-notch, and the fishing is fantastic. This year I caught a 49 inch Muskie, and last year my friend caught a 31 inch Walleye. We never fail to catch a number of very impressive fish, and that is a great testimonial to the fishing in the area, as I am no champion fisherman.

I hope all came out well for your father.

J. Fehr

muleshoe,

How's your Dad? Where did he have his 4pass done??

My Dad is doing just fine, feeling much better and glad to be alive. Out of the four they bypassed, one was completely blocked and the rest were in the 90% catagory. Dorhiem(sp) at Methodist did the surgery. Heard of him? Since this ordeal I've run across half a dozen folks who have had his paws inside their chest. I'm hoping you or someone you know isn't headed in for the same.

As for a trip next year, we're talking a bit about it. I'm not real interested in spending a big pile of money to catch wallhanger sized fish and stay at a fancy place. More interested in getting away from nearly everyone in this world for a week and catching a gob of just about anything.