I'm headed to a fishing trip next week about a hours flight north of Kenora. How bad are the bugs going to be?

It various, I'd have plenty of bug spray. I'm going by past experience. We are planning on a trip to Wabigoon Monday.

I'd plan for both mosquitos and black flies.

Jim

Do these black flys bite? Anyone want to give a newbie some walleye tips?

Yes they do.

Tips, I hope a better fisherman than I will come along. I like to troll slow, and deep, spinner, and mostly minnows for bait. A friend uses a jig and minnow. I have caught walleyes/pickerel, with twister tail plastic, white, yellow, and I have some other colors as well.
Night crawlers, leeches, plugs, even a banana peel, or bubble gum on a spinner have worked.

Hot Pink jig heads with white twister tails dressed with a small piece of dew worm. Walleyes biting like stink.
Bring a Thermocell with plenty of refills and if you ain't used to black flies a head net wouldn't hurt we got a good crop of them this year.

Slow and deep with spinners and minnows will work great Richard but I hate 'em--they twist line so bad.

Mosquitos aren't bad here yet, but the black flies are terrible ! Yes they bite, you bleed & it attracts more !!

At low pressure fly in lakes, almost anything will work. I've caught walleye on just about everything you can think of, including a cigarette but on a jig !

Take minnows & crawlers & lots of twister tails !!

Jigs from 1/8 - 3/8 should be sufficient.

Pretty part of the world, hope you have a great time !

Which outfitter are you using ?

That's what quality ball bearing swivels are for !

They are now the only swivels I use.

Don't know about an hours fly time north of Kenora, but our fish are not deep yet.

I never seem to get to NW Ontario early in the season.

Priming the pump on this thread however.

Walston Outfitters. Float plane out of Kenora to Lake Nance.

Bugs aren't bad on the lake or in the cabin / tent so plan accordingly. If you're staying in a cabin, try to get everyone going in an out at the same time. What I mean is everyone going in and out of the cabin all day and night will lead to bugs in the bunk house. I highly recommend bringing a mosquito coil in case the bugs get too bad inside the cabin. Burn one for 2-4 hours and it will kill every bug in the place. Make sure you place it in a bowl or other non-flammable container before you light it. Sitting in the cabin with a mosquito coil smoking gives me a headache, but if you're good and boozed up in the evening it probably won't bother you much.

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For fishing, troll a Rapala x-rap or rattlin rap until you find them. Redfire crawdad colors work best for me and all my fishing buddies. Then anchor and use slip bobbers and a Gamakatsu hook the size of your little finger nail in either metallic green (not painted green) or a painted hot pink. Or you can just troll your deep diving Rapala's and probably get all the fish you want. I like Power Pro line on a bait casting reel for trolling as the line cuts the water and enables the lure to dive deeper.

Bring some crawlers. They work as well as leeches for me and are easier to keep than minnows. If you have a fish brain like I do, crawlers make sense as the water warms and things start to crawl out of the mud and become walleye table fare.

The stars are truly magnificent at night, so go out for a look after dark. If you look for 30 to 40 minutes, you even see one or two stars that move rapidly across the night sky. And in that amount of time you'll likely also see some shooting stars and even the northern lights. You'll also see a large band of light running across the night sky. That's our home base - the Milky Way. Look at it though a pair of binoculars and you'll see that the band of light is actually millions of stars grouped together in our galaxy.

I'm sure you'll have a great time, be sure and post some pics or the big one when you return.

I've spent some time in some pretty severe mosquito conditions and the worst has to have been in northern muskeg country, with some lowlands on the prairies a close second. Camped at the Bucking Horse campground in Northern BC and it was a struggle to get the tent up before the mosquitoes weakened us from blood loss. Late one night, up on the Fox River, I lay in a bivvy with the netting about six inches from my face. There must have been close to a hundred mosquitoes on the little bit of netting; probing in hope of getting a meal. The hum of their wings made a constant background noise which became oddly restful. GD

Man, only black flies and mosquitos? Glorious!

Spent summer up in Fort McMurray. Mosquitos, black flies, deer flies, sand flies, horse flies, noseeums. I think I'm missing something? Pretty bad stuff.

Mosquitos drill a hole in your skin, black flies bite a hole in your skin.

Themacell and a high Deer lotion or spray. Never tried a headnet.

You guys make me glad I've never been up there.

Tag

I know, damn, do I really want to fish that bad?

We plan on leaving in the morning, bug dope on board.

Burning a coil outside the door of the cabin keeps the skeeters from coming in so much when you open the door. Thermacell is a wonderous invention. Deet will melt plastic and it gives me chemical burns on my skin,but it's great to put on your hat to keep them away from your ears and face.

. Just make sure you bring a skirt so you have something to pull up when they get bad

How do you Canadians afford to drink beer? Damn, twice as much here as in the states, ay

Eat lots of fresh garlic... start today. Get that stuff so that you sweat garlic out of your pores.

It it doesn't work for the flies and mosquitoes, at least it will keep other fishermen away.

Thank goodness I don't drink any of it. A little bit of hard stuff goes a lot further.

Jim

[quote=blairvt]How do you Canadians afford to drink beer? Damn, twice as much here as in the states,


True, but it’s real beer, not watered down...

Had a great time. Bugs weren't a problem and caught Walleye until we were tired of it. Pike were a blast!