My good friends Joe and Mike Morris invited me to join them on their annual
fishing trip to Lake Of The Woods, Ontario.We left about 8:00 in the evening on Thursday, May 14, 2009. Here we are
saying good-bye to my Deck Hand, Owen:
We met up with Joe's cousin Tyler and Uncle Bob (Mike's brother) in Joplin, Missouri
and drove straight through to Red Deer Lodge on Lake Of The Woods near Nestor
Falls, Ontario arriving about 7:30 Friday evening.
Saturday morning we awoke to a layer of fresh snow everywhere and a stiff
north wind but we caught a mess of Walleye, Crappie and Perch for dinner
anyway and had enough "leftovers" to eat on the boats the next day:
Sunday morning was much nicer with no wind and plenty of sunshine:
Sunday's "Catch Of The Day" was Joe's Musky. We didn't have a scale large enough to weigh it or a ruler long enough to measure it but Burt (our Guide) estimated it at 28-pounds and 46-inches. After Joe let me hold it for a picture we released it to fight another day.
Joe caught the brute on a light-action pole spooled with 6-pound line!
Here's Burt with one of the many Perch we caught:
Joe with a Smallmouth Bass:
Mike with a Smallmouth Bass:
Me with a Northern Pike:
Joe with a Crappie:
Another Crappie:
Joe with a Walleye:
Another Smallmouth Bass:
And another Walleye:
Monday morning we had a little rain and wind early but got a good day in after the rain stopped.
We caught a lot of Perch and Walleye, a few Northern Pike, Smallmouth Bass and Sauger.
Here's Tyler with one of our better Walleye:
Mike with a Smallmouth Bass:
Bob with a Northern Pike:
And another Smallmouth Bass:
We saw several Bald Eagles and this Eagle's Nest:
Tuesday we fished without Burt (our Guide) and Mike took the day off but
we kept our limit of Walleye/Sauger, a couple Crappie and a few Perch and
released a lot of other fish including several Smallmouth Bass.
We also took a picture of Nestor Falls:
Wednesday started off nice and sunny but we got rained on a bit in the afternoon.
The fish were biting well but we released more than we kept because even though we had
eaten fish every day and twice some days we still had a lot of fish in the fridge.Here are the "keepers" from each boat:
Here are a few of the fish we released and individual shots of some of the "keepers":
On Thursday, Joe, Tyler and Burt did a fly-in trip to Arrow Lake and caught
a lot of Northern Pike and Walleye. Here are some pictures from their trip:
Bob, Mike and I fished Lake Of The Woods again and caught a mess of Crappie,
Walleye, Sauger and Perch.Friday morning was wet and windy so we hung around the cabin until mid afternoon when Bob and Tyler decided to head for home. Joe, Mike and I got some fishing in and caught a couple Crappie, several Walleye, Sauger, Smallmouth Bass and Perch. Here are a few that we kept for a picture:
Here's a picture of the Pelicans that enjoyed our fish scraps:
We fished by the Eagle's Nest again and noticed that one of the
Eagles was perched on the edge of the nest:
The rain finally quit and we had a very nice evening on the water:
Saturday morning we went out for one last round of fishing. The bite was slow but we caught a few Walleye, Sauger and Perch. Here's Joe with his Crappie and a Walleye:
About noon we decided to head in and pack up for our trip home. We got all loaded
up and said good-bye to our gracious hosts, Ray and Roxanne.
The week went by way too fast but we had a great time and caught a lot of fish.
The water temps were in the upper 40s and low 50s, which is still a little cool for
the best spring fishing according to Ray and Burt. But we nearly had the lake to
ourselves and we didn't have any problem with mosquitoes or biting flies so that was
nice. The mornings were cool but it got into the upper 50s and low 60s every day.Lake Of The Woods is a beautiful place to fish. We had Bald Eagles coming down right
next to our boats to take fish we threw out for them. We saw lots of Loons and
other waterfowl, White-tail Deer, Otter, Beaver and other wildlife.Most of our fish were caught on chartreuse, pink, orange, black or white, 1/16th, 1/4th or
3/8ths-ounce jig-heads tipped with minnows, fished right on the bottom in 15 to 30-feet
of water. Joe's big Musky and some of the Smallmouth Bass and Crappie were caught
on white/chartreuse Twisty-Tail Grubs on plain jig-heads. All the Smallmouth
Bass, and a majority of the Walleye, Sauger and Perch we caught were released.Thanks again to Ray and Roxanne of Red Deer Lodge for their superb hospitality.
Thanks to Burt for putting us on a ton of fish and showing us a bunch of places to fish.
Also, thanks to Log Cabin Cafe in Nestor Falls for letting me use their Wi-Fi connection
to update this page and check my emails.And finally a GREAT BIG THANK YOU to Joe, Mike, Bob and Tyler for letting
me accompany them on a very memorable adventure!!!
RATES CALENDAR PICTURES WHY A GUIDE? SCENERY COMMENTS -
HABITAT CRAPPIE GIFT CERTIFICATES THE BOAT RECIPES HOME
