Mid-Week Trip Report: Musky Country Outfitters (Hayward, WI)

Jim lands his very first Musky on the fly...

Jim and I are having a wonderful week here in Wisconsin fishing with Musky Country Outfitters. This part of the country is breathtaking... amazing beauty and remoteness. I never thought a domestic destination could still be so remote and wild. In just a few days, we saw snapping turtles, bald eagle with yearlings in a nest, swans, white-tailed deer, and other wildlife. This region is the outdoor paradise and fishing is a way of life for the residents.

We are lodging on Spider Lake and in the midst of a myriad of lakes and rivers... there is water everywhere and it seems to be fish everywhere too! In addition to the glamor species Musky, Jim and I are also equally impressed about the other available species that are willing to eat the fly. Northern Pike, Walleye, Largemouth, Trout, and awesome Smallmouth. We are getting a true sampling of their waters and species this week. Their guides are total professionals and they run an excellent program.

Here are a few photos so far from our trip... Fish On!

An "oinker" Musky landed by guides Chris and Tim...

Head outfitter, Brad, and guide, Brian, reviewing the rigged flys for the day...

The "Tribe" at Musky Country Outfitters...

I landed my largest ever Smallmouth... landed on a topwater "Pike Fly"

2009 Hosted Travel Offerings

(click on image to enlarge)

Angling On The Fly works with various fly shops throughout the nation to provide hosted destination trips. We always encourage our clients to support their local fly shop by joining hosted trips when offered. Above, I have listed hosted travel options offered by Kiene's Fly Shop in Sacramento, CA. Have a look and please contact us for information and bookings. Fish On!

On-Location Report: Gods Lake - Final Day

Lake Trout on the fly...

What a way to complete an exploratory trip! Wonderful weather and spectacular fishing for Lake Trout and Northern Pike on the fly. The lake was "glass-out" this morning... no wind! We had great anticipation for sight fishing opportunities for Lake Trout and it all came together for the team. More Lakers migrated from the depths last evening, yielding even larger fish to target today. By the day's end, we each had fishy grins on our face.

I am too tired to write much tonight, so I am going to let the photos below speak for our final day fishing report... Fish On.

Bill with a "girthy" Laker!

Lodge dog "Major" supervising the morning preparations

Morning run for the reef

Jim with one of many Lakers for the day...

Ken with a giant Northern Pike

All smiles after a day of pulling on big Lake Trout and Pike!

Relaxing at the lodge lounge...

Guest cabins

Canada's Gods Lake Lodge Staff

Celebratory steak dinner!
(left to right: Flick Ford, Keith Kaneko, Jim Christensen, Ken Hanley, and Bill Carnazzo)

On-Location Report: LAKERS UP! Gods Lake - Day 3

Success! The "Fish Gods" of the lake smiled upon us today and brought up the first Lake Trout of the season. What an exciting experience to fly fish for "Lakers" around shallow rocky shoals,... or "reefs" as the locals call them. For most of the season, these creatures of the deep lurk and feed at incredible depths in these northern lakes. However, in September these fish migrate from the depths and dwell in the shallows to feed vigorously before the fall spawn and the long winter freeze.

Along the shoreline are great expanses of granite slab that extend out into the water and form these reefs. Our target areas for Lake Trout is very specific on the reefs - find "bouldery" (basketball sized) rock structure that is adjacent to deep water. Here, the fish congregate and feed on minnows and smelt that live amongst this enriron. This is the reason why fishing baitfish patterns in lighter colors proved to be effective. The top producer today was Blanton's Whistler in red/white and punch colors (2/0 sizing).

To add to this wonderful day, Bill and Jim had an incredible session of "Piking" today - they landed more than 50 Pike today! They fished Umpqua's Gen-X Bunny fly in red/white (3/0). These fish are super aggressive and, therefore, want very robust flies. Their most successful environs to fish these Pike was submerged "cabbage" with about 3 - 4 feet of water above them. This time of the season, most of the Pike are seeking warmer lairs to hold and feed. The submerged vegetation provides this insulation and heat absorbtion from the midday sun. We are fishing these areas with Rio's new Outbound "Short" with clear intermediate belly. This fly line has been essential to maintain the depth contol of our flies throughout the retrieve over the top of the cabbage.

Finally, today was an absolutely gorgeous day to be on the water in remote central Canada... look at the picture below and you can see why this lake is called "Gods Lake".

On-Location Report: Gods Lake - Day 2

We awoke this morning to a beautiful sunrise and a hearty breakfast of eggs, bacon, hotcakes, and porridge. And of course, a hot cup of coffee is always welcome on a cold morning in the Manitoban bush. Today, our group focused on fishing for Pike amongst the submerged cabbage in sheltered coves and bays. None of us landed "master-angler" sized Pike today, but good numbers of fish in the mid to upper 30 inch class were landed.

The ferocious grab of these powerful fish often rip line from your stripping hand. A finger sock (ie. stripping guard) is definitely a must when fishing for these brutes. In addition, we found that a stripping bucket (ie. line management device) is essential when fishing mid-ship and/or when the wind starts blowing. It minimized tangles in the running line and keeps it away from "line-grabbers" on the boat. These simple, but essential, items make fishing for these species more enjoyable (and less frusterating!)

The outflow of Gods Lake begins the headwaters of Gods River. With the renowned Brook Trout fisheries of it neigboring province (Labrador), this river has been overlooked by many destination anglers. This river is home to trophy Brookies that often average 18 inches, with solid opportunities at some over 20+ inches. Today, Robert landed a beauty that measured 22 inches - more impressive than its length, is its girth. The Brook Trout in this river have incredibly robust body proportions - an indicator that this fishery is healthy with plenty of food sources for these ravenous Brookies.

Check back tomorrow for another on-location report from Gods Lake! Fish On!

Bill with a 38 inch Northern Pike

Exploration: Fishing in "Gods Country"

Ken Hanley with a massive God's Lake Northern Pike

Part of the "work" in this business is having to venture to remote destinations to explore new fly fishing opportunities for our customers. This week, I am traveling with a team of friends and colleagues to explore the late-season fishing at Gods Lake in Manitoba, Canada. The team includes Ken Hanley, Jim Christensen, and Bill Carnazzo of northern California. Our travels brought us to Winnipeg on Friday, with an overnight at the Hilton. The following morning, Gods Lake Lodge owner, Robert Gates, and his friend (and renowned artist) Flick Ford met us in the lobby of the hotel. Together we shuttled to the Perimeter Air Charter terminal for our flight to Gods River. After a 1.5 hour flight, we landed safely and hopped in the lodge transport boat for the 17 mile ride across the lake to the lodge. Finally, we arrived at the lodge and settled into our rooms. I was very pleased to see the wonderful new guest rooms that Gods Lake Lodge completed this past Spring. The team was excited and ready to begin "work"...

Lake-side Gods Lake Lodge

Our focus this week is to fish for shallow-water Lake Trout and Pike, along with Brook Trout in the river. Well, we just completed day one of our trip and we have not been disappointed! Located about 360 miles north of Winnipeg, this fishery is home to trophy Pike that CRUSH flies presented over the tops of "cabbage" (submerged vegetation). Today, our group landed 4 "master-angler" class Pike,... Pike measuring 41 inches or more. Ken topped the list by landing a massive specimen measuring almost 44 inches on the tape, and a tad over 20 pounds on the BogaGrip!
Gods Lake is renowned amongst conventional anglers for producing giant "Lakers" up to 50+ pounds. One of our objectives for this week is to target these fish that will move up onto shallow-water rocky shoals as lake temperatures drop. Unfortunately, we fished these areas this morning with no luck. This region has experienced unseasonal warm weather that has kept water temps above average for this time of the year. With a cooling trend forecasted throughout the week, we are optimistic about finding "Lakers" moving into the shallows. We will keep checking!

Jim with a Master Angler 43 incher

While we fished the main lake today, Robert and Flick fished Gods River for Brook Trout. They landed some really nice Brookies, 3 of which were master-angler size (over 20 inches). Flick topped this list with his 23.5 inch Brookie that he fooled with his personal tied, articulated "meat" leech pattern.
Well, that is the quick report for today... enjoy the photos and we will post again within the next couple of days. Fish On!!!