Author: Don Lamont

Moak Lodge SummaryOver the last six years I have made the journey four times this area, all with great results. While on this trip we did not catch as many trophy pike as we had in past years, part of it could be attributed to water temperature. Dan and the boys in a downpour! Surface water temperature was around 70 degrees Fahrenheit and I believe a lot of those big pike were still deeper than 20 feet of water and fairly scattered.Still there was a 52 inch pike caught there this year and that would get anyone’s attention!The walleye meantime, were still…

Moak Lodge Day Four: The captain keys in on the big fish   Given the wide variety of angling opportunities out of this resort, it was no wonder that all three boats decided to try different species on the last day of our trip. Pete, Phil and I decided to head out for rainbows on Footprint Lake. Jim and his crew were to try walleyes in the river, and then switch over to rainbows later in the day. Meantime Boyd and the Carrot River crew Perry had his big fish stroke on decided to try and pattern the big walleye…

Moak Lodge Day Three:   Pete with a nice one! With the rain behind us, and another east wind blowing at medium strength we decided to head out on Cross Bay and check out some new water. As it turns out, it was a real fun day with a lot of nice pike caught and released. Pete unfortunately lost the fish of a life time. While trolling on the edge of main lake basin in the north end, a huge pike (we assume) grabbed his Live Target lipless crankbait and headed south. Line was just smoking off his reel so…

Moak Lodge Day Two:a healthy Grand Rapids walleye! As we rolled out of bed on the Friday we were greeted by overcast skies with a stiff east wind blowing through the treetops. We had all decided we were going to the fish the Saskatchewan River in Grand Rapids, so the big wind did not faze us. Still when we launched our boats that morning, four foot swells met us as we motored out to the mouth were it emptied into Lake Winnipeg. With a current that was screaming down river, combined with the massive waves rolling in from the lake, it…

Moak Lodge 2013Jim with a Cross Bay beautyDay One, Thursday: It was the last week in August and the warm weather that had been holding southern Manitoba in its grip all month followed us as we headed up north the four and half hours to Grand Rapids. An uneventful drive for the most part we arrived at Moak Lodge just after the lunch hour. Lodge owner Chris McCuddon had reserved Cabin Ten for us…a beautiful new building that held nine anglers, the number of keen fisherman coming along on this trip. Friends Russ, Boyd and Perry were to arrive on…

Cooler nights for the last couple of weeks have moved many of the deeper fish shallow for certain parts of the day. One great option is to look for cabbage beds that grow in lakes and river with good water quality. Cabbage weeds can start growing in four metres of water and reach the surface or just below. These weeds tend to hold huge schools of minnows which means big walleye, bass and pike are moving back into these types of areas.One of my favorite presentations when these fish are holding tight to this type of cover is to a…

Walleye caught on a mid lake humpIs it really the dog days of summer when it comes to angling success? It can be but much depends on the body of water that you target at this time of year. For those fishing shallow lakes with a lot of weed cover, it can be frustrating finding any biting fish during the day. At night time, however, these lakes tend to become alive with active fish using the weed edges as ambush points. Windy, overcast days can also trigger shallow fish into feeding. Then there is current, the great equalizer! Current flow…

Rain followed friend Pete Hiebert and I as we headed up Highway # 6 to Thompson, Manitoba this past week. That was a good thing after a dry spring had made the north tinder dry. A fire near York Landing was to force evacuation of the community on our trip, thus canceling our visit there as part of the Provincial Rod and Reel program. Fortunately on Wednesday, after hooking up with Dale Jonasson from Manitoba Hydro we were able to visit the communities of Gillam and Fox Lake. After our visits Dale took us to two nearby rivers which emptied…

It happened three years ago in the parking lot of a local Winnipeg tackle store. I was walking out with my purchase when I was stopped in the parking lot. This does happen on fair occasion but I remember this conversation like it happened yesterday. The fellows name was Joe Kostecki and he hailed from Thunder Bay, Ontario. He recognized me from my days of doing The Complete Angler television show and wanted to show me some lures he and his son were making. Soon he was loading me up with custom tied jig flies from the back of his…

An extremely late spring certainly has made fish in southern Manitoba and Northwestern Ontario crazy! Crazy hungry that is! If you can get out fishing right now on our lakes and rivers, do so. On a trip this past week back to Lake of the Woods water temperatures had risen to the high 50’s, a real key to making these fish move into shallow water in an attempt to fatten up. We started out fishing in a huge bay that had extended sections of shallow water.HOW TO FIND THE FISH I have done many Complete Angler shows in remote section of…