Best Trophy Northern Lake

[JPenny]

I have fished Nungesser many times. Stayed at Nungesser Lake Lodge and had some great times there. There are some huge pike swimming in those waters. Still, I'd rate it a 5 star walleye lake and a 3 star pike lake. My Weber grill is still up there!

[RK]

I'd second what Jack says about Nungesser. Actually had the pleasure of being up there with Jack and Mary Penny and Jack Burns, on what will forever be known as the "Not Quite Ice Out Ice Out Pike Trip." Great walleye fishery and good pike, but comparable perhaps to a lot of other drive to Canadian resorts. I do have to say the service at the resort Jack mentioned is about as good as any you'll ever find. If you want a multispecies deal with great accommodations, NLL is a great one to consider.

[Fish Head]

My temperature starts rising just thinking about one of these trips.

Fishuhalik- I have 2 sons, 21 and 30. Once they were about 10 years old I started taking them on trips to Lake of the Woods, Lac Seul, Rainy, and the boundary waters (and I still do). The memories are absolutely priceless. Your son will never forget them and you're in for a great time!

Jack- What would you say is the best time of year to go to Lake Athabasca or the Taltson River for the best chance at a true trophy?

Has anyone ever fished Last Mountain Lake Saskatchewan? I've had some great northern and walleye fishing there.

[JBMasterAngler]

I've always said my 1st canadian trip is going to be Lake Nipigon. Of course it's known for it's giant lake trout and trophy brook trout, but also has some big pike. Anyone ever been there to experience it?

[RK]

JB - I have some friends who make the Onoman River an annual trip. They're mainly there for walleyes, which is insanely good, and big brookies, but they do fish pike some too and get some fish in the 20 pound range each trip. I honestly don't know how hard they fish them though.

[JPenny]

Rob, I'll never forget the great time we had with you and Jack up at Nungesser. Lots of good memories came from that trip. Remember that little creek we chainsawed through to get to the hidden lake? I went back in there several times and even though it looked like paradise, I never did get a good one out of there.

Fish Head, Congratulations and kudos for being the kind of father who takes his kids fishing. My daughter is now 28 (is that possible?) and we're taking her along to Lake Athabasca this year. Nothing better than doing it with family.

The fishing can be good at either place if you know the game pretty well. But it is different between these two. One is a lake and the other is a river. Concerning Athabasca, it is far enough North that the pike remain fairly shallow all year. This is a very good thing. But even in more southernly located lakes, if you fish the deepest weeds hard, most likely you'll find the big girls eventually. All that aside, for Athabasca I believe the pike are on better earlier in the season and as time progresses the lake trout fishing begins to get the nod. And man those lakers are something else!

Being a river, the fish on the Taltson only have so many options for habitat. And they are all easy to find. I've never had a bad trip here. sure, some were better than others, but none were bad for fishing. Early in the season can be tremendous for numbers of big fish plus the bonus of huge walleyes in the river. I'm not especially a walleye fan, but Mary and I got into some in front of Snuff Channel and the smallest one went 4 lbs. We caught a couple that might of went 7 or 8 lbs. All caught on pike spoons. But I have caught my heaviest pike there in late fall. And last year the numbers were terrific. Another nice feature in late fall in the Northern Lights. Mary and I watched them every night but one from the porch of our cabin. Priceless!

[RK]

Hahaha.. I do remember that. I remember telling Jack "If we hear a banjo, I'm out of here..."

Also remember a couple of the guys from the resort trying to catch walleyes for dinner back in there and not doing much. I marked some fish on the depth finder and said "those have to be walleyes." Burns and I put shad raps on the lightest pike rods we had, trolled about 300 yards and had two limits of walleyes...then we drove across the lake to the guys from the camp, pulled up to them with walleyes flopping all over the bottom of the boat and said "Want these?"

[Spike76]

When there is a study of the diet of predator fish, how many of the large fish will be used? To make it legitimate, I would guess many. For this study that will be done on Millelacs, it would be best if they could do the study on the fish that are netted by the tribes. I feel there are many trophies that could be spaired this way. I'm not trying to start anything here, just trying to have everyone work together. My favorite lake is Wind. First cast one summer was a 15 pounder. Just a halfmile portage to get there, and the fun begins.

[theinsideoutlaw]

Reed Lake in Manitoba is definitely one of the best trophy pike lakes in the world. There has been 3 50" pike recorded from reed lake in the last five years. My brother landed a 46" pike from shore as well.

Check out the master angler list if you want proof.

http://www.travelmanitoba.com/master_ang...=1&d=search

[Nick Kuhn]

What about some cheaper destinations? Maybe a place in Ontario where you can get a steady diet of 30" plus fish and let muskies serve as the trophy esox for the trip?

[theinsideoutlaw]

I guided a group of pilots up to ash bay on the north side of rainy lake. We trolled raps along shore and caught big pike all day.

[20lbSloughShark]

I'm hoping on having a few day trip to Leech lake. Cheap (as long as you stay in the campground and eat sandwiches), lots of walleye to eat, and hopefully big pike.

[RK]

I'm hoping on having a few day trip to Leech lake. Cheap (as long as you stay in the campground and eat sandwiches), lots of walleye to eat, and hopefully big pike.

If you're camping and heading to Leech anyhow, I'd think hard about Upper Red instead. Big Bog state park is right there. Beautiful campground. If you get blown off the lake and feel adventurous, there are fish in the river too. River fish bailed us out filming a TV show there once when the big lake was too rough to get out. Caught 2 20 pounders right in the river in the middle of the afternoon...

[CANOPY SAM]

It's almost scary how many big pike inhabit the Tamarac River at any given time. Some of the biggest pike I've ever seen have been inside the first couple hundred yards of that little river, just off the lake.

[theinsideoutlaw]

It's almost scary how many big pike inhabit the Tamarac River at any given time. Some of the biggest pike I've ever seen have been inside the first couple hundred yards of that little river, just off the lake.

This is very true. Three years ago, my dad landed a 44" northern right at the mouth of the tamarack river while fishing for walleye with a jig and a minnow.

[Musky Buck]

Definitely Red is my call if you want to stay in MN. I have red listed as the # 1 # 2 and # 3 in my book. Then Mille Lacs. Sure the Rainy. But red from my observations and personal best pike was red fishing crappies and watching the boat next to me release a good 44". I could fish thousands of other MN waters and likely never break that 40" length.

[shawn200m]

I know this thread is 6 years old, but it's one of the only places that I've seen mention of the Warpath River.  My group goes on a pike trip every year to Athapapaskow near Flin Flon and have caught over 80 40"+ fish with a handful over 45" and the biggest 47.5", not bad for a drive in lake with good access.  We heard last year about the Warpath and that 60"+ fish were not unheard of.  We'd love to take a day and try it, but the logistics are a little concerning...it looks like about a 40 mile run on Lake Winnipeg from Dauphin River and I've heard horror stories about how dangerous Lake Winnipeg can be.  We were thinking if there was either no wind or light west wind we could do it, but just wondering if anyone out there had actually been there?