God's Lake Manitoba

[onemore]

Any one have any information on God's Lake Manitoba?

I am considering a trip to Elk Island resort the 1st week of June.

I am especially interested in the Brook Trout fishing.

[manitobawalleye2]

i have fished with the owner....of gods lake lodge

he's a nice guy...

have never been to gods lake though....

you can visit his HSOforum and it lists master angler brook trout

and you can then compare it to manitoba's quantities of master brookies....

seems like a unique fishery as walleyes...lakers...nortons..

whitefish and brookies are all available in trophy sizes...

send lee an email and ask him some questions....

i think it is gods lake lodge

have never heard of elk island resort

is it the same place....

the guy who runs gods lake lodge posts on this board at times

[onemore]

Thank you. I will do some more investigating.

I have had some awesome trips in Ontario over the past 15 years, but I think it would be pretty incredible to fish walleye, pike, lakers, and brooks all in the same place.

[gatorhunter]

Roger points you in the right direction when he mentions Lee. I have fished God's (on a personal visit, non-outfitted) and it is truly God's Country. HUGE LAKERS, HUGE NORTHERNS, HUGE WALLEYES AND HUGE NATURAL BROOKIES at Kenuchuan Falls. The Manitoba Lodges and Outfitters Association can be contacted at http://www.mloa.com/

[onemore]

Thank you.

It sounds so far like a winning trip.

Did you fish for the Brook trout when you were up?

If so how was it?

[gatorhunter]

Yes I did fish for brookies but I didn't really know what I was doing so I got skunked. I know of many people who have caught 5 - 7 pound brookies on the God's at Kenuchuan. I was fortunate to fish for them out of Island Lake one year. I only caught one (20 incher) but I was thrilled to do it.

[FOOTDOC]

I have been to God's Lake 4 out of the last 5 years. My initial stay was at Elk Island. Mediocre at best and I will tell you why. You are in the middle of this huge lake. Everywhere they take you to fish, you make LONG runs and it is often over very open water. Any wind and you take a beating. So, you spend the first hour or two EACH day traveling to a destination and then at the end of the day, you spend the same length of time returning. They are very CLOCK concious and shore lunches are VERY long. The good thing about shore lunches besides the great food is the shore fishing is very good. We would catch a great deal of northerns and walleyes from shore at lunch. I did catch a lot of quality fish while at Elks but it is too isolated in my opinion and at the end of the day, you are done with FEW options to fish. They do NOT want you to take a boat out on your own, even around the general neighborhood. Baloney in my opinion! My next 3 trips were to God's River Lodge. Always went the last week of May. One year, we really battled the ice. God's river lodge is at the head water of the God's river. The lodge is placed right on the bend and the shore fishing options in the evening are great. Yes, you still take long runs at times to get to "the graveyard", "little god's" or "Tractortrailer bay" but many times, we would just go up river. The river has tons of northerns in the 30-40+ inch range and they are very aggressive. We also would jig holes for walleyes with great luck. The brookies are nuts in the river. It was very common to catch 30-40 brookies a day in the river using orange jointed large rapalas. These are large 18-22" fish. The guides would simply anchor above the rapid or in the rapid and you cast your rapala out and slowly retrieve and then the freight train brookie slams the bait. GREAT FUN! Food was good, accomodations were good, boats were reliable, guides were good and location is key and it is the best. Many options. One morning, they offered to fly us into a remote lake nearby and that morning, my son caught 17 northerns in excess of 43" using plastics. The traditional mepps and spoons would produce but his plastics from Storm that imitated baitfish really hammered them. If you need any info, please let me know. I could not go last year as my son had pharmacy school year round but we will be back this year. When are you thinking of going?

[onemore]

Thank you for the extensive report.

It's exactly the kind of informtion I was looking for.

I think I would be bummed to stay on the island and be limitted by long runs to destinations.

It is really the Brook Trout that got me atrracted to this area and it sound like God's River Lodge might better suite my fishing.

Thanks again for all of the info.

[cutthroattroutnm]

Let me add in my two cents. Four of us are going to God's River Lodge for a week beginning the end of this June. I am exclusively a fly rod trout fisherman and it's the brook trout that got me interested in the God's River. My buddy and his two twenty-something daughters are pike fishers, especially with fly rods. When we talked to the lodge owner late last summer, he suggested a few things, including the dates that would get us into both brook trout and pike on the fly. One of the previous respondents to your question mentioned the location and he's right on. The lake is big and can be hard to get around when the weather gets nasty. Being right at the source of the God's River means you'll never be far away from the big brook trout. And you really have to be near to or on the river. Check out the Manitoba Master Anglers list for God's Lake/ God's River and you'll see the huge preponderance of trophy brook trout on the river. One other thing that night interest you is that there are river expeditions that the God's River Lodge offers (at an additional fee) where you can go down the God's River over 40 miles below the lake and stay in one of their outpost cabins. Here, you'll be able to cast over fish that rarely see an artifical fly or lure. We're doing that for three days and two nights of our week stay. This will be my first trip to Manitoba, but my buddy and his daughters go somewhere up there every year and this lodge has a very fine reputation. Over the past 3 or 4 months, I have been trying to gather info on the brook trout fishing, particularly the fly fishing. Big dry flies (Stoneflies, Stimulators, Mouse flies, big caddis flies, all in sizes from 4-8, seem to be universally recommended). Streamers like Conehead Wooly Buggers in black, brown, and olive, and Deceivers in white/red, white/orange, and white/black in about a size 4 or 6, and various nymphs (Princes, Hares ears, stoneflies) in big sizes like 4-10 generally show up in lists of flies for the God's Lake/River. If you're a spin fisherman, Little Cleos, Daredevles, and Len Thompson spoons in sizes from 1/4 to 3/4 oz in the traditional gold/red/brass for sunny days and blue/green/silver for overcast days show up in many references. Also, do not forget the Five-of-Diamonds in both red and black. It's lots of stuff, but you just have to be prepared. I had to buy both spinning and casting gear and all of the spoons and lures (a collection of Rapalas) because there are times when a fly rod simply isn't the right tool and you can't just sit on the bank waiting for things to turn. The lodge owner also said that without a doubt, you'll hook up with pike and wallyes, and maybe even the rare lake trout, in the river when you're after brook trout, so some stout (e.g. steel) terminal tackle pays even when pitching smaller spoons, lures, and all kinds of flies. I'd be real interested in hearing how your trip went and what worked (and what didn't). Please post a trip report when you get back. That's just a couple of week before I'll be heading up there. Good luck and tight lines.

[cutthroattroutnm]

Did you do any fly fishing? How far down the river did you go?

[TrophyEyes]

I have fished Gods Lake twice and have been impressed both times. I fish out of Healeys' God's Lake Lodge on the narrows and Elk Island. It matters what kind of experience you want. Elk Island you are catored to and everything is top notch. I have never stayed in such a nice "outpost" and they treat you so well. At the time I was there as a representative of Gander Mountain's travel service and gave them an A+. Fishing was good, but not great, but then again I went in August. We caught tons of 35"-43" pike, a couple walleyes and no Lakers. I never went for brookies. Elk Island is off the beaten path and you really won't see many other boats. In my experience, Elk Island is my first choice, but I would definately prefer to go in June.

Healeys God's Lake lodge was nice, I would say a B for hospitality/food. I would say the fishing was A++. Between my dad and I, we caught over 300 fish a day each. If I wasn't reeling one in, that meant I was retieing. The best walleye hole is right around the corner from Healeys and all you need is a jig. The problem with the location is that the lodge is located right accross the channel from the reservation and there can be some issues there. Some of the guides didn't show up due to alcohol one morning. Ours did, but some of the other guests were not happy. We had great success on Pike and Lakers as well. The biggest trophies on the trip included a 45" pike, 29 1/2" Walleye, and 37" Lake Trout and a lot of others that qualified as "trophies".

[Cody Lubeley]

sounds like some great trips