With the road and boat ramp still in sight, my father and
I sat in the comfort of my 18 foot walleye boat and watched a
float plane buzz over head. We wondered where it was headed,
and whether we had made a mistake by not being on board.
After 40 years of Ontario fly-in fishing trips, we
decided to try a much closer, much cheaper, and much more
comfortable Ontario drive-in trip. The lake and surrounding
area looked promising, but we were about to find out if the
slogan, "you get what you pay for," best described the
trip.
As my dad set the hook on his twentieth small mouth on
the first day, we both rejoiced in the fact that for once, we
chose wisely. Over a week's time, we caught countless of
walleye, small mouth bass and northern pike, and even
surprised ourselves with some bonus largemouth bass and
spectacular bluegill fishing.
After a little research, we found that many fishing trips
to lakes accessible by road in Canada cost about half as much
as fly-in trips, and often offer a similar fishing
experience.
"In a lot of ways, I prefer the southern, vehicle
accessible lakes to some of our fly in lakes," said Bob
Florean, Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources Wildlife
Specialist.
Florean explained that drive-in lakes usually offer a lot
more variety. Where northern fly-in lakes are typically only
home to walleyes, northern pike or smallmouth, more accessible
lakes often hold largemouth, lake trout, bluegills and
whitefish as well.
Sitting on the boulder scattered shoreline of Lake
Panache, just east of Sault St. Marie, Florean pointed back
towards the woods to point out even more opportunities for
drive-in fishermen.
"A couple miles down that dirt road there is also a great
muskie lake with public access," he said.
In fact, a quick look at a map of southern Ontario
reveals tens of thousands of lakes accessible by unimproved
roads or logging roads, many with cutouts to launch a medium
sized boat.
Easy access doesn't mean over fished in Ontario
either.
"People need to understand, the Ministry would not allow
any lake, be it fly-in or drive-in, to be over fished. We set
very strict limits when necessary to maintain the health of
the fishery and the fishing experience," Florean said.
It is rarely necessary, however, because even on lakes
with several cabins or lodges on them, the fishing pressure is
typically minimal, he added.
The right questions
Motoring past one of many picturesque islands on Lake
Panache, Mountain Cove Lodge owner, Mike Piano posed a
challenge.
"On this beautiful Sunday afternoon in June, tell me at
the end of the day, how many other fishermen you see, and how
the fishing compares to fly-ins you have taken."
After eight hours, the answer was only one other fishing
boat, and more fishing action than anyone in the boat had seen
in years.
"The first thing people ask me when inquiring about my
lodge is usually regarding the number of other camps on my
lake. I have to be honest and tell them Panache has a lot of
cabins scattered around the vast shoreline, and they usually
walk away," Piano said.
Instead, fishermen should ask about the fishing pressure
on Panache and other accessible lakes in the area, he
said.
After 22 years of running a fishing and hunting lodge on
Panache, he observed that the vast majority of cabins and
homes on his lake are for weekenders, and that almost none of
them fish.
Additionally, Piano thinks not enough fishermen check the
percentage of repeat customers a lodge receives every year. He
says some camps simply solicit enough new clientele every year
to make up for all the disgruntled fishermen who come once and
never return.
Camps that provide good fishing and clean comfortable
lodging typically see the same groups of fishermen every year,
sometimes for decades, Piano said.
"If you really want to catch an outfitter off guard, ask
him whether there is Indian fish netting allowed in his lake,
and watch his eyes" Piano revealed.
He said many drive-in and fly-in lakes in Canada are
actively netted by native people. The Ministry has less
control since limits and laws are different for the Indians at
these lakes. As a result, some lakes are over harvested, and
fishing can be downright rotten.
If a fisherman suspects an outfitter is being less than
honest about netting and it's impact on a particular lake, a
phone call to the area Ministry representative should clear up
any doubts.
Bugs
Like any other lake in Ontario, insects often make or
break a fishing trip on Lake Panache, which is less than a 12
hour drive from Chicago.
"Hit the peak of the mayfly hatch in Ontario, and it
doesn't matter where you are fishing, it is going to be a bad
week," said Piano, who explained that fish gorge themselves on
the abundant creatures as they ascend from lake bottoms.
The mayfly hatch is so enormous in parts of Ontario, some
towns have special street sweepers to clean up the slippery
coating created by billions of dead and dying mayflys.
He said the mayfly hatch generally occurs from mid-June
in Southern Ontario to mid-July in the most northern parts of
the province. Mayfly hatches are worse in areas where there
are sheltered, soft bottomed bays or weedbeds.
Failure to also acknowledge Canada's legendary mosquito
population, can also ruin an otherwise great fishing
experience. Although Ministry Representative Florean thinks
mosquitoes are generally worse on fly-in lakes, they can be
thick anywhere there are forested areas.
Besides a liberal dousing of the tried and true deet,
Ontario bound anglers would be well advised to pack an
inexpensive mosquito head-net for the areas where bugs are so
thick, they actually form clouds.
For more information about the Lake Panache area, check
out
www.mountaincovelodge.net,
or call (705) 866-7000 to talk to Mike Piano
directly.