One of the most highly anticipated events of the year: the annual Fly-In Fishing Trip on opening weekend. The anticipation begins building all winter, but once the days begin to grow longer, and the temperature starts to rise as spring approaches, it reaches a fever pitch. This year we were heading to Pickle Lake, an outpost camp operated by White River Air, the operator we flew with for our trip to Shekak Lake. This year’s crew was almost the same as the previous year, but we also had a first-timer with us, which added to the excitement. As many fishing trips as I’ve been on (including several fly-in trips to remote destinations), it is never lost on me how fortunate I am to be able to do these types of trips with quality people. Every year is just as exciting as the first time, I assure you.
Our choice of Pickle Lake was made based on research and recommendations, as well as factoring in what camps were available with the features and amenities that the group was looking for. This camp was equipped with a generator for lights, running water fed by gravity from a tank filled with lake water, and indoor plumbing including hot shower and flush toilet – not too shabby. Our trip started on the Victoria Day Weekend (3rd weekend in May), which was opening weekend! Our plan was for numbers of Walleye, with the hopes to hit some shallow bays and target some big Pike as well. Based on our experience the previous year in a lake in the same area, our hopes were sky high. Factoring in our body of work from our many fly-in trips, confidence was not a concern. Fate though, would decide to intercede and throw at us a myriad of things that we simply couldn’t prepare for, and those were a late spring, unusually cold lake temperatures, and some fish who simply did not want to accommodate us. Before I proceed, I’d like to be sure that you, the reader, understand that when I do any fishing trip, I’ve already done the research regarding the outfitter, and the lake, and would not book if I did not think they were top notch. Any challenges I have with the actual fishing are not a reflection on the outfitter. So with that dramatic foreshadowing, let me share the events of the week.
After doing some quick unpacking and setting up camp, were were assembling roads and loading our gear into the boats. We have become quite organized over the years, and we were on the water fishing less than 30 minutes after touching down! The lake itself is not overly large, but had enough locations to keep us interested for the week. There is a large norther section that you access through a small stream. I would imagine if the water was lower this could be a challenge, along with a very industrious beaver working to close it off, but I’d recommend future guest take the time to get the boats in up there, its a really large section of water with lots of options. After getting in the water, our first warning sounded when we looked at the temperature on the graphs, showing water temperature of less than 48 degrees surface. In previous years, we’ve had mid 50s at the start of the week. We were soon to find out what this meant for our week of fishing.
The first morning fishing was slow, very slow. We did pick up a few small Walleye, but what was noticeably absent were the Pike. Normally you can’t keep them off your line with the small ones usually being a nuisance, but I don’t think we had a Pike on a line for the first half day. After a lunch which did not consist of fish, we headed back out, resolved to have success. It’s normal for us on the first day to check out the lake, thrown down some marker buoys on interesting spots, and generally get a lay of the lake. Slow fishing on day one would not normally concern us, but this was really slow. Day one produced far less in the way of fish than we expected, but we still had a great day and were optimistic we’d figure the pattern out.
Our next couple of days taught us what the week was to be about, hard fishing where you needed to log hours, try different techniques, return to spots throughout the day, and basically throw out the idea of a week of easy fishing. The Pike bite simply did not turn on for the duration of the trip. Frankly, at no point did we get into a consistent pattern for Pike of any size, including the small ones that normally infest the weedy areas. I confess we probably only spent about 10-15% of our time (at least my boat) on fishing Pike, but still, they are normally pretty simple. The Walleye bite was the toughest I’ve ever experienced, and to top if off, it was for most of the week. We did manage to get into a few good bites, but what would normally be a 50 fish event was a 10 fish event. Over the course of the week I personally boated about 70 Walleye, and less than 20 Pike. Of those, my largest Walleye was 20 inches, and my largest Pike was a mere 29 inches. Within the Walleye, we had many, very small Walleye we had to pick through.
Let’s be clear here, I was still on a remote fishing trip in North West Ontario, so life was pretty good, but after a year’s anticipation this was a shocker of an experience. We should talk about the good part of the fishing, which was that without a doubt, I left that lake a better Walleye angler. You only get better by facing adversity, learning to catch fish in different conditions, in different environments, in different locations, and I really feel I enhanced my skills for slow presentations, picking up soft bites, and learning when to move and when to stay. The most effective presentations for the week were soft plastics on 1/8 or 1/4 jigs, with either a white Berkley Power Grub, or a chartreuse Moxi from Custom Jigs and Spins.
At the end of the week, when we reviewed the week, we looked at it like this: outfitter was outstanding, cabin / boats / equipment top notch, group of guys could not be beat and the weather was as cooperative as you could ask for. Fishing, well that was a weak spot, but years from now we’ll remember the overall experience with far less sting. Also upon our return we were to learn that most of the lake in the region, from multiple outfitters were experiencing exceptionally tough fishing. Proof again that even when you are with a great outfitter, mother nature can throw you a curve ball. That being said, I count on my fly-in trip to carry me to the following season, and this year I am left wanting. So what will I do? I’ll be going back, this year, with White River Air, and I’ll fish again and I’ll tell you all about it when I get back. This August, I’ll be on a float plane once again…
For interest, here is a walk through of the property and the cabin at Pickle Lake with White River Air.
Questions, feel free to reach out at scott@canadianfisherman.ca. As always don’t forget, to sign up and have my most recent post sent right to you!
thanx much for the great video.
we are considering Pickle Lake. Did you every find a bathymetric map or lake bottom contour map of the lake?
pjmiddleton2@gmail.com
Hi Patrick. I didn’t have a depth map, but it’s not a super complicated lake to figure out, two main basins and they are both bowls. You can work the shore and mid lake reed humps which work well for the walleye 🙂