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| Current accommodations |
Anybody who has ever visited Pointe du Bois and fished the river above the dam will attest to its rugged and wild nature of both the river and the landscape itself.
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| Exploring the river again in 2006 |
It’s an area more and more Winnipeggers are becoming aware of. Once visited and fished, most are back for many more trips to come. There’s only one drawback to this area; most of the angling is from boat. You don’t have one? Well your in luck, because Trail End Camp will rent you a one or if you want to splurge for a day to get a feel for the river you can hire a seasoned guide to show you the hot spots and cook you a delicious shore lunch.It was in the early 1980’s that I had spent three years navigating this same water as a guide at Eagle Nest Lodge, one of three lodges on the stretch of water above Lamprey to the Ontario border.
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| Family holiday in 2002! |
While known for an abundant walleye population, there are a myriad of back bays on this section of the Winnipeg River. Pretty much all of them hold northern pike at one time of the year. Given the diversity of forage and the amount of cover for these fish, they get big, very big!
A number of Master Angler pike are landed during the open water season with some truly monster pike registered in the hard water period, fish in excess of thirty pound or 14 kilograms. Vance Hrechkosy says one of the best times of the year to catch the true monsters of the Winnipeg river is late August when the trophy pike target mooneye as their main forage, using a Mepps Cyclops in a silver pattern. He targets steep banks that drop off into the main river channel and casts and trolls for the monster pike that are trying to corral mooneye in these areas and drive them up against the sharp drop-offs.
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| Nice pike are there to be caught |
Another big pike pattern comes to mind at this time of year. Back when guiding at Eagle Nest as the nights cooled off in late August, big pike would also move in bays with deep water in the middle and some deep cabbage growth. They would hunt mooneyes and other forage in these spots as well and an early morning venture into these bays using spoons, buzz baits and big Mepps spinners would produce some tackle busters.
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| You can dock your boat! |
In comparison to other camps on the river, Hrechkosy says road accessibility really helps cut costs. That, combined with a philosophy that says it’s better to be more affordable and have the camp full all the time. Trail End Camp offers light housekeeping packages where the customers takes care of themselves or if you want a full service package which include all the meals, boats, motors, guides and accommodations. Maureen and Vance have 11 full service cabins, done in pine, with all the comforts of home. Vance started working on the river full time in 1986 and then spent some time in Northern Ontario, returning to the Winnipeg River in 1990 after his family purchased Trails End
If you can’t afford to own a cottage and you want to go to a remote area of Manitoba head up to Pointe du Bois and give the Winnipeg River a try. Operations like Trail End serve to give the consumer a chance at a first class experience while keeping price in line. Visit them online at www.trailendcamp.com
