Place for a big group?

[Benfishin]

We have been going on a fly-in near Savant Lake with a big group, 7-10 guys, for the last 6 to 7 years. The outpost is starting to get run down and the equipment is terrible, ie motors and boats. We are looking to go elsewhere next year. Any suggestions on a fly-in that holds a big group and also has good equipment and decent accomadations? We primarily target walleyes and preferably a lake that has size over numbers.

[Finns]

Don't go to Red Lake, and don't use Green's Fly-in Service, and don't fly into Birch Lake Outpost. Why? Cause that's where I'll be. Finns.

[Big G]

Trophy Fish Outpost out of Armstrong can handle groups up to 16 very comfortably......

Remote fly-ins where you are the only party on the lake.

The lakes are HUGE..........

If you want more detail.........ask..........

Prices are fair and the cabins have hot showers, gas stove, lights, fridge, freezer, hot water sink, nice bunkbeds, couches, tables/chairs...........

Fishing is unreal...........

[Benfishin]

Bump

[Big G]

Ben;

What are you looking for exactly? Did you call Trophy outpost?

My fishing there consist of average 18 to 22 inch eyes, with my largest being 27. Plenty of fish in the 20 to 25 inch range........

He will fly in your beer ahead of the trip and only charge you the cost of the beer, not the cost of flying it in. His cabins are top notch/clean. He also has a nice fish cleaning shack.

The best lake is Machawain for numbers of walleyes........

However, for size, you want to go to Kezhik. This lake is 5 miles north/south and 15 miles east/west.

He will mark up a map for you with all the action spots. Most of it is just off the dock........He puts the cabins very close to the best fishing spots, so people don't beat up the boats, hitting the reefs.......

Do you want his number?

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Let em go, so they can grow!

[Ed Carlson]

Talk to Stu at Cats on the Red. He has very good facilities and he does groups as well as cooperate packages. He also has added a new golf & Fish program that is fast catching on. That is if you want to sacrifice any valuable fishing time whacking little white balls around that is.

September is an excellent time to get into huge catfish and if the timing is right, some of the best trophy walleye anywhere in the world today.

This September may be one for the books too Eh?

I highly recommend "Cats on the Red", the fishing is truly World Class!

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Backwater Guiding
"ED on the RED"
701-893-9107

[email protected]

[BRUNO]

Where do you stay at Savant? I have been going there for 6 years. The place we stay is not foyr stars but except for this year the fishing has been awesome. When were you last there?

[Benfishin]

Big G,

Thanks for the info. Let me know the number or E-mail and I'll contact them.

Bruno,

We've been going to Burntrock. We have talked before about Marty, Sandy and Sam at West Caribou. Those people are great and we love to continue to fly with them but would like to find a different outpost/operator. Are you still flying with them? Where do you go? Who is the owner/operator?

[Big G]

http://www.trophyfishoutposts.com/

You will not regret it. His service to his clients are top notch. If you want to get in next year, I would call now. His return percentages of existing clients is 80 or 90 percent. So, if you call now, he can put you on a waiting list for your desired date. He will have some open dates too, possibly for the times you want. You will get that date, if you are the first ones to request and the existing party that went the year before on that date chooses not to go back.

The best times to go, in my opinion are the July 4th week. The cabbage is up and the shallow reefs are hot, coming into the summer pattern. Going 2 weeks before can give you hard, post spawn fish. 2 weeks after get into a "post summer slump" if you will call it that. Both times are great fishing (before and after), but we have found the 1st week in July to be absolutely unreal.

As for quality.......Again, go to Keezhik. I caught 6 pike in one trip that went from 36 to 41 inches, in just 2 days of fishing hard for them. The other 2 days I spent walleye fishing. My biggest that year was a 27 inch. Our fishing technique is either dragging jigs on sand off the reefs in deeper water 10 to 25 feet with frozen minnows or casting rapalas to the reefs.

If you go to Keezhik, I will give you "my hotspots" as to where to go for faster action and what areas really don't produce.

If you are not catching 1 walleye every 5 minutes, it is time to move...........What we do is anchor up to a reef, fan cast every inch and 10 minutes later, drift further down the reef and do it all over again. You will pick off about 4 or 6 fish in a school, then they move out because the pike move in.........So, it is time to move, because the pike get to be a nuisance......

Most of the pike (not all) are just scrubs in the mid 20" to low 30" that you catch on the reefs. The cabbage holds the biggest pike. Our largest pike in the group was a very fat 43inch. Our group averaged between 1 to 2 pike for every person over 40 inches every trip.

We always brought our own food. Seemed to be a bit cheaper and easier. As for beer, you give him the order and he will have the beer there for you when you arrive at the camp. He doesn't charge you for flying it in, just the cost of the beer. He doesn't mark it up either.......

What to bring?
Follow his list and you will do well.
However, make sure you bring pepto or ammonioum AD (bad expirience), aspiran, bandaids, medical tape (to tape fingers from gill rake), ointment, and a GOOD RAIN SUIT.

As for tackle.
I use bass spinner baits, spoons, and large cranks for the pike.

Rapala floaters, husky jerks, and orange jigs with a variety of twister tails.

I highly recommend bringing froozen minnows for the pike and the walleyes.

Also, pack a minnow trap (net if you have it). One year, a nasty cold front moved in. At that same time, a bunch of shinners moved into the dock and were getting ready to spawn (I think, because they had eggs in them) We trapped them and couldn't keep the walleyes off the hook. We spent more time putting the minnow on the hook and taking the fish off than what we did fishing. We burned up about 200 minnows in about 3 hours.........

Make sure you use a wire leader for everything, including jigs and rapalas while walleye fishing.............the pike will bit your off!

Have fun and let me know if you go and I will mark up a map.........(I will mark up the marked up make he mails you.......)

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Let em go, so they can grow!

[Swamp Scooter]

I have been going up with Walsten outposts that fly out of Kenora since '93. http://www.walstens.com/walsten.htm Great place very nice cabins on secluded lakes. If you want more info e-mail me
weyer003 at umn dot edu

Excellent fishing. Big walleye and very good smallies and lakers too. Giant 20# pike taken every year. My biggest- eye - 31.5" 10#, laker 38", 20#+ pike, 21.5"smallie.

[This message has been edited by Swamp Scooter (edited 08-24-2004).]

[BRUNO]

We actually fish Lake Savant which is about 20 minutes north and a little east of West Caribou base. The lake itself is 89,000 acres with about 400 miles of shoreline. Been going there for 7 years while my neighbor and his family have been going for about 20 years. These guys are fishing nuts who would not go to the same place if they did not catch fish. There are 3 camps on the lake. We stay at Cliff and Roma's. Roma's mother owns another place on the lake and that place is about 1/2 mile from Cliff and Roma's. As I said it isn't four star but clean and in a good location on the lake. They are located about mid lake which gives you access to the morthern part of the lake as well. There is another place located on the south end of the lake that has a HSOforum. Do a google search for Wildewood Fly In. The only problem with their location is that the fishing gets hot in the northern part of the lake after ice out and progresses south as the season progresses. These guys seem to do a good job and last year started giving guests a map of the lake with GPS coordinates on it. Love to get my hands on it.

I like the lake not only for the good to sometimes unbelieveable fiahing, 4 years out of the times I have been there, but also do to the fact that access is limited to fly in to these three camps. Wildewood does offer an ATV drive in deal which would be kind of fun to try.

Cliff and Roma have an outpost on an island at the north end where we have stayed. Basically a fishing shack with a generator, propane refrig and stove, wood stove and a great location. It is about 40 minutes by boat from their main camp.

They have been at it since 1964. Know they lake very well. Take a look at the web site I mentioned and comment back.

[fishnutbob]

Ben, Look at Exc adventures web site, They have what you need, in Ear falls.Ont. www.exc-adventures.com Very nice cabins with good equipment.

[jjr]

Check out Moccasin Trails on the web. They have many fly-in outposts and some accomodate up to 8-12. Made my first trip to Canada with them earlier this year, and we were not disapointed. Good luck...

[ocetp]

Big G,

We've made three trips to Keezhik with a big father and son group and love it. Great lake, great accommodations, great outfitter. I understand, though, that Jim sold his outposts to Huron Air.

I'd be interested in talking to you about Keezhik. Share some hot spots maybe.

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Jarema

[Big G]

HEY!!!

Good to hear from someone else who has been on the same lake.

Yes, Jim did sell it to Huron Air. Kind of a partnership program. He had a falling out with Huron Air a few years ago over pricing.........But it seems today they have worked it out.

Most of our hotspots were right where Jim told us to fish. He was awesome about it!!! He marked up a map for everyone as to where to find the walleyes and the pike.

Our largest fish out of there was only 43", but one year, when we landed there was 2 older couples who go there 3 times a year. They were leaving as we were coming. They were in the 50s/60s. One of the women there caught a 48" pike!!!

Our trip averaged atleast 6 pike over 40, with 10 guys. Multiple mid 30" fish.

My biggest walleye was 27" on a musky bait in the weeds.

Most of our walleyes were in the 18 to 22 inch range.

For walleyes;
Most of the guys would jig the reefs, but we found bigger fish on the same reefs by casting #14 husky jerks & #18 floating raps.

Also, we found the biggest walleyes in 2 locations.
On the south portion of the lake, to the east, there are 2 large reefs topping out about 10 feet. Jim will show you where they are on the map. We jigged these reefs and caught very nice fish from 20 to 25".

Then if you go to the far east portion of the lake, then turn back to the south and head to the west bay of the east portion.......Am I making sense?
Anyways, down there in southwest bay of the east section of the lake, there are 2 islands on the north side of that bay. To the south of those islands, is a large sand flat. We pulled some big walleyes out of there, dragging jigs and twistertails. We fished from 10', down to 25', on the sloping flat (make sense???)

As for the biggest pike? Well, most of our biggest pike came in the bay where the cabins are!!!!!!! Other than that, the very south portion of the lake, in that cabbage, on the north side of the cabins, in that cabbage bed, then in the east arm (the narrows), through the rocks and cabbage.......

Man, I love that lake!!!!!!!!! If I won the lottery, I would buy it!!!!!!!

[ocetp]

Big G,

Everyone in our group loves that lake as much as you do. We're going up again next year at the end of July. (We went to Holinshead Lake this year). I heard though, that Jim Corbett sold the business to Huron Air. His name isn't on any of the correspondence anymore. Also, I heard that Huron's turbo-prop crashed last December and they lost their son Trevor, who piloted us on several occasions.

Have you heard anything about the gold prospecting in the area. If you Google "Keezhik Lake" you get a whole bunch of hits from a mining company that has done some exploration their. I even found a map showing some holes they drilled right at the narrows where you enter to East Bay.

Speaking of East Bay, I haven't fished the spot you describe, but have had phenomenal success near the entrance to the bay. Some people call it bubblin' bay, because of all the bubbles coming up from decaying vegetation. One morning I caught 42" and 43" northerns within an hour of each other.

Have you tried fishing for the whitefish in the bay near the cabin or the brook trout in the outflow stream?

We need to talk. If you'd like to trade hot spots and stories, email me at [email protected].