Brilliant sunshine met Kevin Stobbe and I as we headed east to the Whiteshell Provincial Park this week.
This was to be my annual pilgrimage to Crowduck Lake Camp. Kevin, who is the publisher of Hooked Magazine had signed up for this Charity Fishing Event with Boston Pizza owner Denis Paulhus. As editor of the magazine I got to go along.
It seems I make at least one trip to this great walleye lake every year and this day did not disappoint.
In fact, it was one of the better days I have on the lake as far as size of fish caught. Many of the walleye we caught were in the 19 to 22 inch range with the large fish topping 23 inches. By the way, this was the last fish of the day, caught while I was packing up my gear at the end of the day. I had stuck my pink jig tipped with a big shiner minnow in the portable rod holder I had brought along. All of a sudden it double over from the weight of a heavy fish, with line disappearing off my spool at a pretty alarming rate. Once out of the rod holder, I leaned a bit on the fish, which only made it more determined to take out more line. I was wondering if I had a big pike on the end of the line but it was making all the classic walleye moves so I didn’t think so. Sure enough after a memorable struggle this real nice walleye appeared out of the depths in this beautiful clear lake and into the waiting landing net.
While Crowduck Lake does not kick out the big walleye like it did in the mid seventies and early eighties, this fishery produces many a hundred fish days per boat in an eight hour fishing day.
It is a great spot to come out with novice anglers or your kids, because they will get bit. Speaking of which, Kevin ended up catching the most fish. He was very good at keep his jig straight up and down and waiting for the fish to commit to the bait. His hook sets were solid and he lost very few fish.
All in all a fantastic day for a great cause. It doesn’t get any better than that.
For more information on boat rental rates go the Crowduck Lake Camp website at www.crowducklakecamp.com
Bill Kolansky runs a great camp.
