Trophy Pike Scored at Whitewater Lake
You have often heard us talk about big Whitewater Lake. It is home to our Striker's Point Lodge on the east end... and Whitewater Lodge on the west. Whitewater Lodge is a rustic old world collection of cabins - clean and accommodating with electric power (diesel generated) and a common lodge cabin. It is the part of the lake where the Ogoki River flows into Whitewater Lake - sometimes a trickle - but last week a torrent thanks to the torrential rains.
However, Wayne Sernneke, of Neehah, Wisconsin zipped up his rain suit and ventured forth in search of the big Pike ( photo in header.) Well sometimes the words of guest tell the story best:
I was part of the Clemmons' fishing trip that was at Whitewater Lodge June 16th until June 23rd. I caught a 40 inch Northern Pike on a spinning reel with 8 pound test line using a pink jig head with a white twister tail on it on June 19th. It had been raining on and off all day and around 3:00 in the afternoon there was a break in the rain and we were jigging by one of the islands when I got a heavy hit on the line. Setting the hook I realized that this was no ordinary fish but a large one as when I set the hook, the fish didn't move. It took a while to bring the fish in as it was going where it wanted to. Where it went I followed. After a brief period we managed to net the fish and the pictures are the result. Fishing was great during the week in spite of the rain with large numbers of Walleyes and Northern's being caught. As usual camp manager Dan was extremely helpful and took good care of us.
Congrats Wayne, your Master Angler pin is on the way.
Makokibatan Racks Up Another Half Dozen Master Anglers
Like our other destinations, the big storm created a lot of challenges at Makokibatan Lodge, but the hearty were rewarded with great catches - adding six names to the Makok Master Angler Roster.
Steve and Ed Ford from Alabama came North for a summer relief from the heat, and caught a lot of Walleyes in 5-10 feet of water. Good size Walleyes and some Pike - mostly hammer handles - for the Pikes. They angled with jigs, green and orange, spinners, and even fly rod and dry flies.
The Hugh Ryan group from Michigan, long time guests of Wilderness North, had a pretty good time, even though the weather was a challenge. They spent a good part of their time at "the cut" outlet to the river, sandy point, and the back bay. They were catching mostly - 18-20 inch Walleyes in 8-12 feet of water - on jigs, orange, yellow, and pearl, deep divers, cleos, spoons, and crank baits. Jim Barrett and Doug Wanty both caught Master Angler trophy Walleyes, with both being 27 inches.
Rob Dock from Thunder Bay's sister city Duluth Minnesota, and Jim Liston from Mendota Heights Minnnesota stayed the whole week and had a good time. They fished at both ends of the big lake, the river inlet, and the cut. They reported catching fish - mostly Walleye - in about 7 feet of water. They used Rapalas ,and Shad Raps, preferring the chartreuse colours.
Paul Toohey - a Buckeye from Berea, Ohio and Wolverine Jeff Pearson, from Laingsburg, Michigan covered most of the lake reporting dozens of fish every day - everywhere. The depth of the water was about 10 feet and the lengths of the fish were 18 inches for Walleye and 22-25 inches for Pike. They used flys, spoons, jigs - red , orange, and black, and crank baits.
Ontario's Jim Lovell, Don Desmond, and Charles Sarkis stayed at the Makok Outpost and found plentiful fishing in 3-15 feet of water. The average length was 18-22-in for Walleye. They used jigs, chartreuse, orange, and twisters. Both Don and Jim - are now Master Anglers in having caught a 26 ½ in Walleye, --- Oh and Jim caught two.
guide at Makokibatan Lodge for decades, passed away this spring. We sent out a special newsletter at the time as a memorial.