Sioux Lookout Part One

In my 36 years in the sport fishing industry I have sampled a lot of water and heard about a lot of great fisheries. So when Hooked Magazine contributor and guide Ben Beattie talked to me about coming and fishing Lac Seul and area I  didn’t have to think twice before I agreed. Lac Seul is noted for its gargantuan muskies, some of the largest in the world. Linda Rice owns the record for the largest muskie ever caught by a woman, an incredible 57 inch fish that was estimated to be 57 pounds.

Linda Rice with the replica of her record setting catch

She also happens to own Moosehorn Lodge on the shores of Pelican Lake, with the town of Sioux Narrows a five minute boat ride away. When friend Jim Price I arrived Thursday afternoon after the five hour drive from Winnipeg, we were greeted by a friendly staff who immediately got us checked into one of the nine guest cabins on the property. Down below was a long dock that housed the camp boats and one house boat. Soon Jim and I were unpacked and launching the boat for a tour around Pelican Lake itself. This was to be the first of five lakes we were to fish in the next four days of our visit.

Getting ready to trail to Hudson and a day on Lac Suel

We started out by drifting the bar, just to cover some area to see were the largest concentration of fish might be. Once we caught more than one fish, we would drop anchor and fan cast the area in water from four to 12 feet in depth. Using light jigs tipped with lively minnows, we spent almost five hours working this one area with pretty much nonstop action.

Dan landed the longest fish, probably about 27 inches, while Jim caught one pretty close to that. In order to give our jigging arms a rest we headed to shore and enjoyed some fresh walleye for lunch. It was a beautiful sunny day so after lunch we once again dropped anchor to enjoy the fast walleye action that Lac Seul is noted for. All too soon it was time to head back down lake.