In these week’s special fishing report we highlight our recent fishing trip to Canada North Lodge! Canada North Lodge is located near Ear Falls on the Woman River system in northwestern Ontario. Fishing opportunities include the system itself as well as multiple portage lakes.
While I was out exploring this fishery, Mason and Chris continued to have great success on their home waters as well. We’ve got it all covered, so let’s get to it!
Woman River System
Regardless what lake we fished, the main takeaway was there was forage everywhere! The minnows were all over, they were in both the shallow weeds and also along the shallower rocks. Just walking down the dock you could see minnows and young-of-the-year fish everywhere. It was really cool, but you know that is going to make fishing a challenge!
The main two lakes we fished out of the main lodge were Little Bear Lake and Bear Lake connected by the Woman River. Little Bear Lake is closest to the lodge itself and offered a different style of fishing than Bear Lake.
Little Bear Lake
The main bite we found on Little Bear was the shallow weed bite. We found dozens and dozens of eater class walleye up in the weed lines in about 5-9ft of water. The best way to target these fish we found was jigging your standard leadhead and minnow. Our best jig colors were orange, pink, gold and white.
Along with these walleyes were of course plenty of pike as well. When we had some good wind and cloud cover I would throw crankbaits and jerkbaits up into the weeds in hopes of sticking a nice walleye. While I did catch some walleye, the pike were the main customers for this presentation.
While jigging was the best plan of attack in the shallow weeds, we found some nicer fishing pulling bottom bouncers and Mack’s Lure Smile Blades on the rock and deeper drop offs just off these weedlines. Hannah can confirm this to be true!
We also were able to get some fish pulling these bouncers right on the outside of the weedlines. The poster child of this was a dandy smallmouth coming in at 19 1/4 inches!
Between walleye, pike and smallmouth Little Bear produce some tremendous action fishing! Our nicer fish certainly came off of further up the system, Bear Lake.
Bear Lake
It was about a 12 mile ride up the system to get to where we were fishing on Bear Lake. The water was cooler up here and we found some nice fish in just a little deeper water.
We had two really good spots on Bear Lake. While Little Bear we could pretty much catch fish in every shallow weed line we found, we stayed pretty committed to our spots on Bear.
The first spot was a rocky shoreline that dropped to deep water. It was classic walleye structure. The shoreline had some moderate to large rocks/boulders and there were minnows scampering all along the rocks. The shoreline quickly dropped out to about 7-9ft, but gave enough of a flat for us to bottom bounce along it. The depth then stair stepped down to an 11-14ft ledge and then dropped out into 17-19ft of water.
The key for this spot was to find the depth they were at. The structure itself wasn’t very large so doing several passes at varying depths until fish were contacted was key. Wind was the best medicine here. If there was some wind and clouds the shallower passes were key and the fishing was really firing. If the wind was calm and the clouds were high, fishing was tougher and more fish were caught out in the deeper water.
There really weren’t small fish here. Generally, if you got a bite it was going to be in the 16-18 inch class or it was going to be a good one. Those fish under 15 inches just weren’t there.
The best presentation here was pulling those Smile Blades again. Pink, silver and gold were the top colors. With so much bait in the system, the flash and vibration provided by the blade was really beneficial, but the fish didn’t want too much as the larger size Colorado blades just weren’t doing the job.
Our other spot on Bear Lake was an island with a weedline, but deep water right off of it. Bottom bouncing in that 9-13ft depth right on the outside of the weedline was critical. If we got too shallow all we caught was small fish and pike. If we could stay in that slightly deeper water, but still close enough to strike the weeds that is where the nicer fish sat.
The same presentation of bottom bouncing and pulling Smile Blades was the key here too.
Snakeweed Lake
Snakeweed is one of Canada North Lodge’s portage lakes. Connected to the Woman River system, Snakeweed is only 3 miles from camp and there are boats waiting for you to explore. Snakeweed is a relatively small lake and offers plenty of structure, making it a walleye angler’s playground!
The same situations were presenting themselves. Up shallower in the weeds there were plenty of fish to be caught. Jigging continued to be the key here. The same colors of pink, orange, gold and white shined.
My favorite spot to fish was a main-lake hump. Surrounding the hump was 40ft of water, then the hump topped out with some large rock just below the surface. It then dropped to 8ft of water, then stair stepped down to 10-12, 14-15 and then out to 18-20ft.
Jigging was the best way to work this hump. We found a lot of smaller fish in less than 10ft of water and the nicer fish were out in the 14-19ft range. Some clouds and wind fueled the bite, but even in still conditions those bigger fish could be found relaxing in that deep water.
Drifting along the depths with jigs was the most effective way to fish this area. There were plenty of fish to keep you entertained, but there were some real good ones out there too!
Fish could be caught all day long, but the fishing got better and better as the sun dipped lower in the sky. This resulted in gorgeous sunsets and big walleyes with them!
Overall, I can’t say enough good things about the trip. Chance runs a fantastic lodge. The food was amazing, cabins were nice and the lodge offered all the comforts of home including wifi connection and gorgeous views of the lake. The fishing was amazing too. If you’re looking for a Canadian fishing destination, I highly recommend Canada North Lodge!
Missouri River
While I was off on my adventure, Mason and Bob Propst of Propst Professional Anglers were putting on a real show too!
Lake Oahe
The fishing on the lower end of Oahe is off the charts, but the fish are beginning to take the plunge for out deep. Now is the best time to get out there and take advantage of a red hot bite!
Bottom bouncing with half crawlers has been the bait of choice as of lately. The deeper water rip jigging bite with baits such as Phantom Lures Tillys is starting to turn on for big fish as well!
Look for good fishing still in the Spring Creek and Bush’s Landing area, but get out there now! In a few short weeks, we’ll be competing in the South Dakota Elite Walleye Series championship up on Mobridge!
Iowa Great Lakes
Chris Seylar was also out enjoying a terrific bite on the Iowa Great Lakes as well. It’s the same old same old as previous reports, which is good news because those were quite positive!
The walleye fishing isn’t as red hot as it was, but fish are certainly still catchable. The perch fishing on Spirit Lake is also continuing to pick up. The largemouth bass fishing also continues to make anglers happy!
The panfish action is still strong. Look for panfish on flats off of weed line breaks. Once you find this, you’ve got a money spot!
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