Bucket List Fishing Trips: Why you absolutely need to do a fly-in fishing trip in Manitoba
OutdoorHub Reporters 04.25.19
As a youngster growing up in very rural Northeast Texas, I remember reading about fishing remote lakes in Canada in outdoor magazines with awe. The image of a group of fishermen sitting around a campfire, enjoying a shore lunch of fried walleye or pike stuck in my mind as something I had to experience. I longed to one day cast a big spoon up into a shallow, reedy cove and hook onto a big northern pike, or enjoy nonstop action on walleye that have never seen a lure.
In the mid to late sixties, I watched one of the first outdoor TV shows called “Wallace Wildlife” and drooled at the episodes Don Wallace produced in Canada. Throughout my younger years, I dreamed of one day finally making the jaunt ‘up north’ and experiencing this bit of outdoor heaven for myself. My first trip was a long time coming, but a few years ago, thanks to some good information and help from a friend who is also a Canadian outdoors writer, I learned that fishing in Canada was well within my means.
Information is the key to success for any endeavor, especially when embarking on an adventure to another country and fishing waters you know very little about. To date, I’ve made a total of three fishing trips up to Manitoba and I’m planning a return trip this June. My goal is to give you enough information to help you plan your first trip but beware, it’s a good bet that the north woods with its crystal-clear lakes and rivers will keep calling you back year after year.
With all that said, I believe a fly-in fishing trip to Manitoba is truly a bucket list trip for anglers of any experience level. There will be very few experiences in your life that will transport you back to a place in time where life was slower and outdoorsmen were not only fishing for sport, but for dinner as well.
Getting There
When planning a trip to Manitoba, you will have to make a very difficult decision. Do you opt for a lodge that is more accessible, many of which can be found between lake Winnipeg and the Eastern border of Manitoba? Or will you choose a destination much farther North that will truly put you in to a wilderness that will seem almost untouched by time? No matter which you choose, getting to Manitoba will be your first step.
Winnipeg is the primary hub for travelers to Manitoba who are flying in from the United States. From here, anglers can opt to rent a car and drive to their float plane destination or schedule a local airline flight. Most of the outfitters that you will look at will offer help and advice on the best way to plan your travel. Don’t be shy about contacting potential outfitters to find out if they offer transportation options beyond the float plane ride to their outpost or lodge. Upon arrival at their float plane departure lake, you head out to one of the many lakes accessible only by air.
There are dozens of fishing lodges and rustic outposts scattered across the province. Some are full scale, catered operations, that offer 5-star meals and dedicated guides. Others are designed more for the average fisherman that wishes a “do it yourself” fishing experience. I’ve fished with full-service outfitters and also several of the DIY operations. The choice depends up on your skill level and, of course, your pocketbook. Personally, I enjoy fishing with the DIY outfitters where we do our own cooking and ‘fly in’ our supplies. Of course, corn meal, flour, cooking oil, beans and potatoes were staples; we vowed to enjoy fried, baked or grilled walleye or pike every day!
Once stocked up on food, supplies and a few “must have” items, it’s time to enjoy a very scenic road trip to your float plane departure lake. The drive to your float plane destination provides some awesome scenery which often includes bull moose in velvet and black bear. We usually spend the night upon arrival in Manitoba at a hotel convenient to the float plane departure site and make the flight to the distant lake the next morning. We are almost always settled into our cabin and fishing by the afternoon of arriving.
WE ARE THERE!
Once we settle in to our cabins, we’re soon out on the water. On my first trip I was a little concerned about finding our way around on the lake but after a look at a map of the lake map, it was clear it would impossible to get lost. A good GPS is always a great idea.
My concern of getting ‘turned around’ was quickly dispelled. The first day of our trip followed a series of stormy days and the plentiful walleye were on a “soft” bottom hugging bite. The first morning we struggled a bit because of lack of experience fishing these gin clear waters but by the afternoon, we had learned to use a “bottom bumping” rig that consisted of a piece of lead molded onto a bent wire with a swivel attached. We snapped on a Mepps drift rig that consisted of a spinner with primary and stinger hooks and a light floater that gave the bait just enough buoyancy to keep it drifting a foot or so up from bottom. This technique proved lethal for catching the lakes plentiful “jumbo” size walleye.
The fish averaged 3 pounds up to about 6 and we caught and released a ton of them. Of course, we kept a few for our shore lunches and evening meals each day. Our lodge provided both 14- and 16-foot V nose aluminum boats with dependable 20 HP engines and fuel. Slow trolling with bottom bouncers is a very good way to catch walleye. Some of the more experienced walleye fishermen preferred to cast soft plastics, but trolling is a sure-fire method to quickly catch your shore lunch and enjoy a lot of catch and release as well.
CATCHING THEM
Walleye, northern pike and lake trout are the target of most anglers. As mentioned, trolling with walleye rigs or casting grubs on light jig heads will keep you busy catching walleye. Walleye transition from their spawn in the shallower bays, usually by early to mid-June and disperse into deeper water. We have found that nightcrawlers or scented artificial worms on a ‘stinger’ hook often makes an already good bite even better, especially when trolling. Your outfitter will most certainly stay current on seasonal patterns and will direct you to the best areas to fish depending upon when you plan your trip. Fishing begins in early June and will last until the onset of really cold weather, usually in September.
Northern Pike prefer weed beds in the shallows in the little pockets around islands or along the shoreline. Big spoons in bright colors or oversized Mepps spinners are deadly for Northerns but after the first year, we learned that weed less spoons kept us in the action when fishing the really heavy grass beds. While I enjoy catching walleye, I have become hooked on the fight the bigger northern provide. A few years ago, I hooked a 16 or so inch walleye and had it almost to the boat when a 43-inch northern grabbed it at boat side and provided me with the fishing battle of my life.
Believe it or not, that pike stayed clamped down on my walleye until we finally netted her. We release all the bigger pike but have found the small ones are excellent table fare. I like eating them every bit as much as walleye. Fish cleaning is typically part of the deal at a lodge and I’m always thankful for the help, especially when it comes to filleting pike! I am pretty handy with a fillet knife but removing that Y bone in pike requires the skill of a surgeon, a skill this ole southern boy has yet to acquire!
COST
Through the years I’ve fished a few remote fly-in camps and I have a pretty good handle on the cost of traveling to fish at these destinations. With two or three buddies sharing the car rental costs and food, should you choose to fish a DYI camp, total cost, including airfare is usually a little over $2,000 US dollars. There are other lodges that supply guides with a lot more amenities where the cost runs around $3,000 and that doesn’t include the cost of getting there.
The truth is, you cannot put a price on the memories you will come away with, which is why a fly-in trip to Manitoba should be on your bucket-list, no matter the cost!
For more information on planning your trip, visit https://huntfishmanitoba.ca/.
