Miminiska's Season Opener Delivers Trophy Pike
It was May 31st when the Atanasoff party - from Michigan - touched down on Miminiska Lodge's grass strip - on board their brand new Pilatus PC12 aircraft.
This was their fifth trip to "Mim" in the past 10 years ... and what a trip it was! The best fishing overall was at the "honey hole" just down from the lodge.
Congratulations to John Bosco - photo on the right - for landing a 42-inch Northern Pike on a white and green twister tail and received his Master Angler pin on the very first day.
The group of seven (Krist, Stanley, Kirk, Kiel, Kole, Krist Jr. and John ) headed out to Snake Falls with a shore lunch kit on their second day and had a great time. The third day was a trip to the Twin Falls where the Troutfly and Keezhik Creeks meet ... Krist and Kole hiked up the Keezhik where Kole landed a 19-inch Brookie on a silver and blue Rapala ... (He was always out-fishing the old man!) Two woodland caribou looked at them from the shores up the Keezhik and then disappeared into the bush ... not a common sight but it's great to see these beautiful animals in the wild. The Atanasoff party knows Miminiska Lake very well and enjoyed trips to the mouths of Ferguson and Waddam Creeks.
Recent heavy rains have pushed water levels up to within a foot or two of the main dock. The area's inflowing creeks are handling quite a volume of water flow, attracting those big Walleye. Krist mentioned that the boys had a wonderful time and caught some three hundred walleye in their four days here on the Albany.
Master Anglers and Much Improved Weather at Makokibatan
As another week passes by and new guests arrive at Makokibatan Lodge, the reports of our first guests of the season are in. Jim Butcher, and his group of six (scheduled to go into Ogoki Lake, but got weathered out, and thus the Makok trip), took on Mother Nature and put up a good battle against strong winds, spitting snow and driving rain. Two Walleye Master Anglers were reported in Jim's group. Congrats to Leo Mahler of Burr Ridge, Illinois, and Steven Cadle of Greeley, Colorado.
After Mr. Butcher's departure, the weather turned perfect for fishing. The sun was out for most of the time, with just an occasional rain shower, but not enough of problem to stop Frank Chisholm and his group from the greater Toronto area. These experienced anglers found the hot spots in and along pike bay and down lake in walleye alley. The Walleye were staged in 12-15 feet of water and couldn't ignore the group's jigs, red and silver, deep runners, perch coloured, and Rapalas, blue and orange. They had an unbelievable fishing trip.
The other group in camp this week was Dean Milligan's group, from Michigan, who also had a very successful week as they fished everywhere on the big lake, from the back lake to the river, where they found a variety of fish including Walleye, Pike, and Brook Trout. The average length of their Walleyes was 18-22 inches and the Pike were in the 20-30 inch range. They were catching their fish on jigs, spinners and Rapalas mostly orange and hot pink. They thought that the fishing was excellent.
Walleye Move Out - Good Weather Moves In at Striker's Point
"Wow... what a wind. On some days we were limited on where we could even travel on the big lake."
Those are the comments of Jim Kalgren, and his gang from the Twin Cities who were at Striker's Point Lodge. Jim's group of eight had one Master Angler Walleye caught by Scott Healy of Maple Grove, Minnesota. Jim tell us the service at Striker's Point Lodge - Whitewater Lake's crown jewel of a lodge - was excellent. His was the first group in so there are some learning curves, but none he observed. Congrats to the staff there.
"We caught a lot of fish in the rain - it was the wind that limited our activity a bit." Jim said, "The Walleyes are deep. Fifteen to twenty feet, where you would usually find them in the eight to fifteen foot range. The Pike are scattered. The patterns are more like late June or early July."
Now the weather is clearing, and calming down. That's good, 'cause there are plenty of guests scheduled to arrive at Striker's in the coming days and weeks.
