Trying again

Tom and his buddies are flying into Seseganaga Lake tomorrow to try and beat the Northern pike Tom caught there last June. 

Good luck Tom.  50 inchers is hard to beat anywhere.

Why sit at home?

In the US it is Memorial Day weekend.  In Canada our May holiday weekend was last weekend.  It is officially called Victoria Day in Canada celebrating the Queen’s birthday, I understand, but since falls on the third weekend in May and that usually is near May 24 and there are 24 beer in a case… it is now somehow referred to as May 2-4 weekend.  Any ways, I digress. 

This weekend, being Memorial Day weekend which was first recognized to memorialize the fallen in the American Civil War, brings many anglers to Canada.  Many stay home. 

I on the other hand, am working hard getting camps ready for soon to arrive anglers. 

With an airplane load to unload at the destination, and other staff doing other jobs, I am sometimes left to recruit new blood to help out.  Vern, a friend in Ignace, “volunteered” to assist.  Somehow our fishing rods got mixed up with the load on board.  I learned over the years, it is only right if the owner of the outposts occasionally fishes the outposts, if for no other reason than to know what he is talking about when describing fishing that most can not imagine.

Less than 30 seconds after dropping our lines Vern reeled in a nice walleye.  

Many many walleye later and with a few walleye in the boat for supper, Vern had to make one more catch.   As you can see in the picture, we never left sight of the cabin.  Both these fish were returned unharmed to the lake.  Total time to test the waters; about 1 hour. 

A few 15 – 16 inch walleye are now ready for the frying pan. 

Why sit at home?  Book your Ignace Outposts trip now for a later summer date with a few walleye and northern pike.

again

Nick brought up another big walleye on Metionga Lake. His dad has been bringing Nick on an annual trip for many years.  I suspect it won’t be long and he’ll be bringing his dad. 

Seeing 28 inch walleye caught and released certainly makes a father proud.  Sharing time in a boat away from the distractions of our busy lives is better yet, creating memories that will last a life time.  It is times like this that will be the memories talked about for many years. 

Remember when…?    How big was that walleye again…?   That’s what it is all about.

Reel ‘em in

I real life Dar is usually the boss.  On Metionga Lake, he takes the front seat and lets someone else drive.  It gives him more time to kick back and reel in the big ones. 

Sure beats working eh Dar!

Who got the piece of tail?

“Hey Brad,

How big do you think the pike was that took the bite outta this guy’s tail??  Had a great time this year at Flindt, fishing was phenomenal.

Dave J

Bedford, Indiana”

Makes you wonder eh Dave

Walleyes?

Even though we don’t push Irene Lake as a walleye lake, it does produce nice walleye. 

These trophies are normal for Irene Lake but you just don’t catch a lot of walleye.  It is a clear water lake with trout and bass as well as northern pike.  The walleye are there but can be fussy sometimes.  The catching of one of these is rewarding. 

Book it for the northern, bass and trout fishing and if you are determined and moderately lucky, you can boat a trophy walleye too.  Just be sure to let the big hogs or hogettes go to keep breeding more ‘eaters”.

How would you measure success?

Metionga Lake offers some successful catching as well as great fishing.  Yes there is a difference. 

Dad can do it too

I am sure some of the rods and reels Jeff and Jeff (father and son) brought to Metionga Lake a few weeks ago needed a little maintenance when they got home.   Nothing like field testing the equipment in the real world.

With fish like these being cranked in you’d almost think axel grease would hold up better than light reel oil.

50 incher - THE BIG ONES ARE STILL HERE!

No need to photoshop or stretch this one.  There is nothing worse than seeing a 30 incher described as a 40 incher. 

For those who think you need to go to Northern Saskatchewan for lunkers, here is a 50 inch Northern caught and live released on Dove Lake a portage lake off Metionga Lake.

The photo op

The release

It happens that this is my 600th blog post.  I can’t think of a better topic than catching a releasing such a fish.    Jeff and his dad have been making the trek to Metionga Lake from Minnesota for several years.  No doubt this trip will provide dinner table talk for many years to come.

I would never tell anyone that they are guaranteed to catch a fish like this but it is great to positively say great fish are still in these lakes. And you can have a chance to catch it or one similar yourself.

My personal advice; skinny dip (or chunky dunk) at your own risk in an Ignace Outposts Lake.

Irene Lake bass attack

Irene Lake may be a fair haul from Eastern Tennessee, but when the boys get together, it is the smallmouth bass attack that keeps them busy.

Sour Gummy bait?

Brad,
Here are some pictures from our trip last week on Seseganaga Lake.  The northern was 39", caught by my brother Jack.  The big walleye was 29".  Look carefully at the picture of the smaller walleye--caught it on a pink-and-blue sour gummy worm on a jighead.  Those Canadian walleyes will eat just about anything!
Mike

Not bad

It seems that Seseganaga Lake just keeps on giving up lunker northern pike. 

Hang on to your rod when fishing this lake.  These fish fight like they would rather not visit with you.  They will attack most anything that looks like a meal. And that seems to be anything smaller than themselves. 

Reel them in, carefully remove them from the water, quickly photograph and release.

Great Seseganaga Trip

From Indiana, the trip to Ignace Outposts may seem like a lengthy drive.  To Leigh and the crew, the annual trip flies by as fishing stories are rehashed and anticipation grows. 

Leigh had a great trip on Seseganaga Lake with more than one fish that would make a trip.  Great to see the pictures and even better knowing that the fish were live released to fish another day.

Flindt Lake Northern Pike

Dave works in an office all day in real life. When away from the office, Dave finds relaxation hauling in lunker Northern Pike. Dave and the guys, mostly family, spent a week at Flindt Lake earlier this month and now the fish stories are flowing in.

There is no need to enhance the story when pictures like this are the proof.

See you next year Dave. Am I ever glad there is no beer in this picture.

Catch and Consume Policy:

 

At Ignace Outposts we are leaders in conservation practices. We insist our guests kill only those fish they are going to eat and limit eating fish to the smaller tastier ones. It is our policy to live release ALL large fish. Walleye over 22”, northern over 27”, bass over 18” and trout over 24” must be released. We ask that you don’t take fish home but if you choose to do so, please take only the smaller ones and return all trophies to the lake. We encourage you to pinch down the barbs on your hooks and handle the fish you release as little as possible. To safely release trophy fish, it is best not to remove the fish from the water and pop out the hook with pliers or just cut your line. Try replacing the treble hooks on spinners, spoons and plugs with single hooks and it will make releasing your fish much easier. We wholeheartedly support shore lunch as a tradition on fly-in trips. We hope to maintain a World Class fishery on our lakes and trust that you will do your part in preserving trophy fish. Bring your camera to capture your trophy for posterity and let the fish live to fight another day. Graphite mounts are available from most taxidermists and can provide a wall mount without killing the fish. The taxidermist requires length and girth measurements as well as a picture of the fish to create a replica mount.

Moose On

Our fishing parties are officially over for the season. This is unfortunate since the fishing is nothing but exceptional right now.

We have a few archery moose hunting parities out now. The rifle hunters arrive in a week or so. Besides moose hunting they can partake in some great walleye fishing. The northern are hitting too.

It is hard to believe these photos were taken in mid Sept at Seseganaga Lake. Fall fishing is definitely worth the trip. Sometimes the weather is really this good. I don’t think the past June had weather this nice. It sure beats the snow we had yesterday.

It is time to start thinking about 2010. Give us a call or check out our web site and plan your 2010 trip now.

She baits her own hook too!

We are seeing more and more couples on fly in vacations.  It seems that the women love the fishing just as much as the men. 

At Hilltop Lake we caught and released many nice walleye.  Karen has been very good at baiting her own hook (with minnows) and  releasing her own fish.  She has even progressed to baiting her own hook with leeches.  That was a big step.  Now we are working on night crawlers. 

Releasing the big one

Jon Loth has the right idea.  The big walleye are better off in the lake.  The smaller ones provide a tasty meal and the larger walleye can be turned to the lake to breed more feisty, tasty little ones. 

Our camp policy is that all walleye over 22 inches are retuned to the lake.  We’ve seen an increase in walleye productivity over the years by this conservation method.

Great trip

Paul Loth has been fishing with us for many years.  I think the reasons for a return trip if evident when we see some of this summer’s catch and release. 

Still Hungry

This walleye took a temping jig, while he still had not finished his last meal.  The walleye at Ignace Outposts are voracious.  It is hard to believe that having a partly digested burbot (ling) still hanging out of his mouth is not enough for lunch. 

We often see Northern Pike with suckers or walleye from their last meal still present and often have northern take a walleye when it hooked and being reeled in.