Looking at taking my dad who will be 71, along with my brother on a Canada fishing trip. Looking for advice. Fly in or not? Suggestions of ones you have experience with. Dad is mobile, but needs a bed at night, cabin style lodging. Who has experience. What to avoid. What to expect? Cost for a week? Looking to book by end of January to get it scheduled.
Mike
IFB- See messenger is still down so here was my update. Our group has fished Antenna (3 times) Bertrand, Grace, Kapikik (3 times) and Wright. We will be going to Wright this May. Have not fished the lakes you are looking at. I have talked to 2-3 different groups who have fished Upper Wapesi , which is attached to Pusher Lake with a channel that allows you to fish both lakes. The groups I talked to about Upper Wapesi said the walleye fishing was very good. I am sure Karla/Megan at Clark's can give you references from guys who have fished the lakes you are looking at. Also the Clarks have a Fishing Reports Forum on their website that they updated from 2014-2019. They stopped with the COVD stuff. I am sure there are also some past reports from those lakes you can review. Let me know if you have any questions. We have had really good fishing on all our trips.
OP - if you're looking at a $5k per person budget, then do a fly-in to either Manitoba or Saskatchewan. There are plenty of good lodges in that price range or a bit below it. Everything there is included, the food, accommodations and boats will all be very good, and it will be the experience of a lifetime.
Pretty well all prairie lakes have awesome fishing for walleye and pike, most of the bigger lakes have lake trout and whitefish as well, some have other options like brook trout or grayling. Prairie lakes are more fertile than lakes in Ontario and Quebec, so you still get big numbers of fish but the average size is bigger. Most Ontario walleye run 1 to 2 pounds, and in Manitoba or Saskatchewan it's more like 2 to 4 pounds. In Ontario a 40 inch pike is considered a trophy. In the prairies, it's a nice fish but you'll get a half dozen like that every afternoon.
The best fishing is in June when you get big pike in shallow water. Bring a few buzzbaits, because the surface hits are unbelievable. Also bring some big spoons or inline spinners for fishing deeper. Single hooks on everything will make your life a whole lot easier.
For walleye and lakers, hair jigs rule. You don't need soft plastic bodies, they won't last long and are more fuss than they're worth.
Resorts in Manitoba I can personally vouch for include Knee lake (http://northstarresort.ca/) and Bolton Lake (http://www.boltonlake.com/). Both are very comfortable, have great food, good boats, and host a bunch of different TV fishing shows every year because the fishing is that dependable.
In Saskatchewan, Reindeer Lake (https://reindeerlakelodge.ca) is at the higher end of your price range but still within budget. Fishing is mind boggling, which is why In-Fishermen shot their TV specials here when Al and Ron still owned the company. Cost is a bit higher because the lodge is much farther north on the edge of the tundra, and everything has to be flown in. It's also only open for a couple of weeks each year, so minimal pressure. You see caribou herds all the time and you hear wolves at night, it's awesome.
A fly-in to a place like that is a life changing experience. It's true you can do fly-ins in Ontario for less money, where you're on lakes with decent fishing but for smaller fish. But like anything else, you get what you pay for. If you're thinking this is a once in a lifetime trip, then make it a once in a lifetime trip. You won't regret it.
For $5,000 you can go to some of the really higher end destinations in Manitoba. Most of the fly-in outfitters that I have used (or are familiar with) in Ontario are in the $1400-$1800 range for a week of fishing. Of course you still have to add gas, food and other misc. expenses. There are lots of good drive to lakes/lodges that usually will run less and you also have options of having meals supplied for some extra $.. First couple trips I did with my wife were with a drive to lodge and they supplied evening meals that were great and convenient. We do our own cooking since we started doing fly-in's. Shore lunches, fish tacos, bacon wrapped walleye, steak night are all part of the great experience.
OP you're going to need to be a bit more specific, because there are just way too many option to even know where to start (I live in Canada, trust me on this!).
What kind of fish do you want to catch?
What's your rough budget?
What else matters? Do you care about scenery, seeing wildlife etc or is it just about putting fish in the boat?
Anything you can do to narrow it down would help.
IceFishBaby, I'm late to this party but I'll offer my suggestion for what it's worth. We've been going to Jim & Julies Wabaskang Camp for years, some members of our group been going for decades. We go the 3rd week of June and stay in cabin#5. Limited space here prevents me from describing how much we love this place and the experiences we've had.
Hit me up if you have any questions. Good luck and good fishing wherever you decide to visit.
Almost all of my Canada trips have been in July or August. Nice weather, long days, good fishing. Some days almost too hot. I've always wanted to go in late May or September, but typically was hard for people in the group to make this work due to school/ sports.
Ideally, I'd like to go 2-3 times per year. Late May, mid July, late September. They way its going I'm lucky to go once every two years. Once I'm retired this will certainly change, but that is a long ways off.
Great info and advice. Based on life-I think it will be July or early August. Anyone have advice which is better, knowing May or September would be better? Hopefully things are less booked being we are only around 6 months out.
I have confidence in fishing ability-but like the idea of a guide the first few days-so looking possibly into that over fully guided. Been looking at many of the suggested outfitters. Will hopefully book in the next two weeks.
