Fishing Report

[Russ]

What's the fishing report from Canyon Lake? How's the walleye fishing and have the bass spawned yet? How's the lake level?

[North Country Lodge]

Hi All!
Wayne and I have been super busy here at camp but I finally found a minute to get on the computer.
Fishing has been stupid. The walleye are still super hungry and the bite is still on. I got out again for the second time two evenings ago and caught at least 20 walleye myself, no big lunkers though but many between 10-22". Our guests have been reporting a lot of huge walleye though several 28-29 and this week alone the guys caught two 30" and one 32" walleye.
They seem to be in every depth from 15-35'. The water is starting to warm up so hopefully that gets the bass moving.
A lot of musky sightings and some caught by accident. One real large one spotted this week but thankfully didn't hit the walleye it was following. It is time to start watching your walleye stringer from the hungry musky!
We have had a lot of rain up until this week and the water is quite high and the temps are in the 60's.
Attached are some pictures of our big Nebraska crew that were here a couple of weeks ago. They used to keep count but said they couldn't even begin to try to count this year. I had to promise them I would get better at adding to the website faster and writing in more often.
For those of you who have been to camp already or those of you still to come, please write in and give us your input- no one wants to hear just me all the time!

[Morgan]

Well we just got back into Chicago today from Canyon Lake and I have to agree with Lydia ... the fishing was stupid. Small mouth were slow but the Walleyes would not stop. My boat alone caught at least 40 Walleye on Monday 6/15 with a vast majority of them being in the 24 to 28 inch range. We actually had problems catching walleye under 18 inches!

Sunday and Monday the Muskies would not leave our stringers alone. On Sunday we had a 45 to 50 incher stalking our stringer for about 20 minutes .... what a site. Over the 3 days we were there our group caught at least a dozen Muskies by accident, none too big but a nice diversion from the constant Walleye bite.

This was my 1st time up and I will make the trip again next year. Wayne and Lydia were great hosts .... couldn't ask for a better place to get a line wet.

[North Country Lodge]

Thanks for the kind words. I'm glad you guys had a good trip! If you have any pictures you want to share just post them on here or send them my way and I will put them on the site.

I know I have a real "way with words" but there really was no other word to describe how the fishing has been. It will have to slow down sometime but it is sure fun meanwhile.

So....no matter what I say I always seem to be wrong. After I just finished saying the bass were not hitting I found out otherwise. One of our groups just came in and they said they hammered the bass. The biggest one was 18". They didn't get but a couple all week and hit them hard just today. We have had pretty warm weather the last couple of days so maybe the will start catching up to where they are usually at this time of the year. My son is all excited to get out there fly fishing for bass. He is done school Friday so you can be sure to find him on the lake on Saturday!

Lydia

[pfessor]

Our group just got back to North Carolina from Canyon Lake. Our week started out great and only got better. We were able to find Walleye about anywhere Wayne and Lydia suggested that we try all week long. Walleyes are fun to catch and great to eat but my favorite is the smallmouth simply because of its tough fighting characteristics. Well, about mid week the smallies turned on and turned on with vengence. The last two days were wonderful with great action from the smallies, the walleyes and the occasional accidental musky.
One thing that I have noticed about the guests that fish at North Country Lodge is their willingness to share information about lures, fishing techniques, and locations. Not only did the other fishing men and women share the location on the lake, they were willing to tell which bay, which stump and rock. That was a tremendous help to my group since we were definately novices at Canyon.
Thanks to Wayne and Lydia for a wonderful week and thanks to all the other guests who were so willing to share their information to help out us greenhorns. Hope to see all of you there again next year.
I will try to attach some photos of the week.
The Redding and Martin group from NC

[North Country Lodge]

Hi pfessor,

I recognize that wind sock behind you in the picture! Now I know where to go ;)
We have some musky fishermen in this week for opening and they are doing pretty good. One group told us that they boated a 45", 38" and 36" and almost brought in one over 50". Most are still casting into the current and as close to shore as possible.
The walleye are still hitting. Wayne and I went out tonight and tried three new spots. We caught walley in all three only a couple in two of the spots but we had to ask- is there anywhere there isn't a walleye?
Wayne also went out earlier today (his fathers day pass) trout fishing with his parents. They did great and learned a new trout hole. We are surrounded by some of the best lake trout fishing you could ever find. Most lakes are a bit hard to get to (especially if you like your paint job on your vehicle) but it is well worth the ride. He is going to get the new smoker going again but I need to steal a couple of those yummy trout to BBQ.

Looking forward to seeing more pictures from everyone!

Lydia

[pfessor]

We are surrounded by some of the best lake trout fishing you could ever find. Most lakes are a bit hard to get to (especially if you like your paint job on your vehicle) but it is well worth the ride.

Lydia

The trout lakes sound like a challenge. Can you get to them in a 4-wheel drive vehicle like a Toyota 4-runner? Do you have boats there?

pfessor

[North Country Lodge]

We have a boat at one trout lake but it is a real turkey trail to get in there. We take our old black truck in there because you are rubbing up again brush a good part of the way.
There is a couple other lakes that are a bit easier to get to but you definately need 4WD and another even easier one that you may need 4WD just landing your boat on the sandy ramp.
If someone came up with thier own boat we could definately point them in the right direction for a real adventure or Wayne takes people out sometimes too.
I wish we had a couple more boat caches at other lakes but it is very hard to get one for commercial use. We are only allowed to apply for two a year and they can't have any other boat caches on them and the ministry of natural resources always thinks of another reason you can't get one.
Wayne smoked the lake trout he got on Sunday. He is going to share it with everyone at camp supper tonight. It turned out great.

Lydia

[pfessor]

As you know the Bass started hitting pretty good the last part of the week we were there, especially Wednesday and Thursday , the 17 and 18. The same thing happened last year. They started hitting as we were leaving.
Just curious, did the bass bite continue or improve the following week of 20 thru 26. I guess I'm asking which was the better week for Bass this year, the third or the 4th week of June?

Canyon Lake seems to run a little different than some of the other lakes in Ontario such as Lac La Croix, maybe a week or so later, probably due to it's depth and Northern location. I'm just trying to get a better grip on it compared to the others that I'm more familar with near the Canadian-USA border.
All help appreciated.
pfessor

[Steve Jacobs]

Russ,
Things are coming together for our trip, leaving on 7-17-09.
We will have eleven guys this year + the VanBuskirk crew will be there at the same time.

Any response on a fishing report that is a little more current from the lake?

Does it really matter? We always find a way to get 'em! The way the Eyes have been for the last two or three years, it would be impossible not to get some good ones for the camera and a few for the pan in just a few hours.

First year back in a while for the Old Man and first time for my boy Josh. Can't wait to get his line stretched a few times that very first day. He'll go crazy!

When you leaving to go up?

Steve

[North Country Lodge]

The bass are still hitting pfessor :)
Our neighbours are out here all week and are doing some fly fishing for them. Robbie caught a couple the other day with his fly rod. He is getting pretty good at it. Him and my nephew and my dad went down outlet bay and are making the trek by canoe all the way to Clay lake so they should have some good fishing along the way.
The musky are super hungry right now. There have been a lot of musky caught so far this week. One young man (age 14) who is new to the lake caught a 45" from the dock, a 38" out front and a 46" so far. That is amazing for any musky fisherman!
The weather hasn't exactly been the greatest, it has gotten fairly cold again but hopefully brighter skies are in our future. We have a bunch of kids in camp this week and it doesn't seem to bug them too much but it would be nice to let them see the sun!
The extra rain brought the lake up a couple more inches. It is a lot higher than normal for this time of year.
I will try to post some pictures next week.


Lydia

[pfessor]

Thanks Lydia for the update.
You are helping us determine our reservation dates for next year. I know we've been cutting it pretty close as to when they will first begin to "wake up".
We drive around 3300 miles round trip and want to be there when a lot of action is going on. And yes, I know it's a guessing game, and there's no guarantee on anything, and each year is different but your information helps tremendously.
I appreciate your updates and I know a lot of others do also. I will be looking forward to your next report hoping you will mention the bass, muskie and walleye in it also. You do an excellent job.
Have a great week.
By the way, your phone cards are the best deal going for Canada to USA calls. They beat regular International call cards by a mile.
pfessor