Amik Outposts - Springpole Lake

[fishinfritz]

Has anyone ever used Amik Outposts and flown in to Springpole Lake out of Ear Falls? I have a fly-in booked for the end of June and am wandering if anyone has had any experiences they can share. Thanks.

[superbee]

It is a big lake with pretty decent fishing. The only down fall is that there are 6-7 cabins and big mining camp on the lake. The mining camp is almost right across from the outpost you're talking about if I'm not mistaken. I don't think most of the cabins get used much, but we didn't like that.

[Hawks]

Superbee --

I don't think many of those cabins get used on Springpole. From what I have heard, there are only 2 outposts that are active on the lake. All mining is conducted on the hardwater so there will not be any activity there.

I have fished the lake for 8-9 years now and rarely encounter anyone on the lake. You will see a few natives cruising through but they seek to portage all over the place in search of Moose.

How has the fishing been for you on Springpole?

[superbee]

The fishing was pretty good for walleyes, we got a few decent northerns and didn't try for any trout. We just didn't like seeing all the other cabins, and they mostly mine in the winter, but they have no restrictions as to when they can. We didn't want to chance it ever going on when we are there, so found a different place. We go with L&M Fly In and have had some great trips. We enjoyed Springpole, but it just didn't feel remote enough for us with that much development around. Can't wait for our trip this year!

[fishinfritz]

Thanks for your responses. This is my first fly-in trip, so am just wondering what things are like.

Thanks.

[superbee]

you'll have a good time, it's hard not to when you're fishing. Post how it went after you get back.

[fishinfritz]

I will do that, and thanks.

[fishinfritz]

Well, I thought I'd post my report since we got back from Springpole a week ago. Fishing was great. We really enjoyed the trip. It was a little rainy, but we were prepared for that. Walleyes didn't run really large. I think the big females were still in transition, and were pretty deep. I caught a 24" in 57' of water while fishing for lake trout. Walleyes 16-20 " were very plentiful. I caught a 35" northern while fishing for walleyes. A couple of guys in my group concentrated on northerns, and caught many in the 26-32" category. 2 other guys fished for lake trout, and caught 5, 4 just under 30", and 1 37". What a fish! We only saw a few other boats on a couple of the days, but had the lake to ourselves most of the time. I would definitely recommend Amik Outposts, and Springpole Lake as a great fly-in trip.

[Hawks]

Glad to hear you had a good trip. Did you get a chance to fish the rapids coming into Springpole out of Cromartie Lake? That is one incredible fishing spot! Cool to hear your group had such good luck with the Lakers. That 37" must have been the highlight of the trip. Were the Lakers in the super deep water at this point? When I was up the second week of June we caught all of our Lakers fishing for Walleyes in 20' or so.

I can't wait to get back up there!

[fishinfritz]

Yes, Cromartie was definitely the hot spot for us. Both sides, although the Cromartie side was unbelievable. I've never caught so many 16-20" fish in one spot before. My father-in-law and I also had real good luck in the far north end of Springpole. We went there after an all day south wind (the others in our group didn't think thre were any fish close to camp; they had to go to Cromartie). In less than 2 hours we caught 11 fish in that 16-20" range. The same was true the next morning. But then it cooled down. There was a may fly hatch (there was larvae all over the dock - the water was really high), and I think between that and the plentiful bait fish supply, there was too much to choose from. That didn't seem to affect Cromartie, though, because of the current I suppose.

The lake trout were deep. I know one of them came from 120', but was probably 80' down.

I would definitely go back. There were alot of spots we didn't get to because of Cromartie.

[Hawks]

Those Cromartie falls can really eat up a trip. The numbers are incredible. Every couple of years someone in our group pulls in a big one amongst all of those 16"-20" fish. Most of the large Walleye and Pike we get come off of island points. The current holds lots of fish but it seems like the big boys head for deeper water.

My brother and in-laws are up on MY annual trip right now. They left yesterday. Hard to sit here because of work when those guys are in the best place on this planet!

We must fish the same spot for Lake Trout also. Never had the luck you guys did, but we have caught some nice fish there. Would you mind sharing what the trout were caught on? We've caught most of ours with Large, bright bucktail jigs with big salted shiners.

Glad to hear you like Springpole...not sure how someone couldn't! I will let you know how my brother and the guys do this week.

-Hawks

[Hawks]

Did you happen to notice the 7-8 cabins on the lake that Superbee was referring to? I have never seen that many. I know of 2 others. The mining camp, Amik's and what looks to be a private cabin possibly for hunting only. Did you see any others?