Big Fish From 2013

Besides beautiful sunsets, Ontario's Sunset Country is know for something else: Some of the best fresh water fishing around!

Just how great is our fishing? Let us show you through the Facebook posts that Ontario's Sunset Country has uploaded or shared in 2013. What a great year - congrats to all these anglers. A job well done. Thanks for releasing most of them in order to live another day and to keep our fisheries nice and strong. 

January

2013 started out right for Donnie, just look at this 44" northern pike he caught at Muskie Bay Resort in Nestor Falls, Ontario.

Here's a monster 46" lake trout caught and released by Duluth's Bruce Sederberg on White Otter Lake between Atikokan and Ignace. On January 16, 2013, Bruce caught this laker which ended up being the world's largest lake trout ever landed with a pole and line and release through the ice. Read more on about this great catch on www.fieldandstream.com

February

It was a nice mild sunny day in late February when Jeff Gustafson caught this nice laker on Whitefish Bay on Lake of the Woods. 

Nearing the end of February, Roberta Lappage was out ice fishing on a beautiful sunny day when she thought she caught a tiny whitefish. Instead, she reeled up this nice lake trout, earning her two "pails" to the 2013 Falcon Lake Fish-Off contest that CKDR was putting on. 

March 

Good times out in a snowstorm. These two 35" lake trout were caught and released in March on Minnitaki Lake by Lac Seul Guide Service. 

The March sun warms things up a bit and it's generally a great time to enjoy ice fishing. This walleye was caught on Eagle Lake at Andy Myers Lodge.  

Beautiful walleye caught on Eagle Lake

 While out crappie fishing with Jeff Gustafson, Scott Dingwall caught this 8-10 lb whitefish at the end of March. That's huge for a whitefish.

April

April is not normally a big fishing month. Usually, the ice is melting so it's unstable to go out on but it's not gone enough to get a boat in. 2013 was an unusual year where winter held on and the ice was thick in April. This photo was taken by Harris Hill Resort on Lake of the Woods. You can see there's lot's of ice shacks still on the ice this year. 

May

The walleye season opener is always the third Saturday in May. Since our winter really held on in 2013, many were wondering if the ice would be out by the opener. In some places farther north they were still frozen in, but most places had the ice leave just in the nick of time. Here's a shot of Gateway North Outfitters on May 8th. As you can see they had to break through the ice to get to open water.  

Breaking through the ice to get to open water at Gateway North Outfitters

While the walleye spawned late and the cold water kept fishermen guessing as to where the fish may be, it certainly didn't hurt this youngster from catching this 30" walleye. JT is six and he caught and reeled in this master angler walleye by himself at Harris Hill Resort on Lake of the Woods. 

June

This 30" walleye was caught and released by James Dean of Winnipeg, Manitoba. He was out fishing on Perrault Lake while staying at Rainbow Point Camp. Thanks for releasing this beauty, James!

This youngster was out fishing with Grandpa on Rainy Lake at Camp Narrows. This is such a fantastic memory captured in this photo. Such excitement and a feeling like you've just taken on the world. This is one of my favourite photos of the year.  

I think we all feel a little like this once in a while, don't we?

After muskie season being closed for about 6 months, muskie fishermen are usually chomping at the bit by June to get out and try and find those big girls. Muskie season opens the third Saturday in June. Here's a huge muskie caught on Eagle Lake at Andy Myers Lodge. 

 July 

This 30" walleye was caught in late June/early July at Hawk Lake Lodge. It was caught during filming for the Wilderness Journal. I wonder if it made the cut into the TV episode that aired this fall. It should have, it's a nice walleye. 

Josh from Maynard Lake Lodge had the catch of his life in July. He reeled in this 57" muskie on Maynard Lake. He can barely lift this muskie which had a 25" girth. Its estimated weight is over 55lbs!!! Congrats Josh. 

For those that don't believe the above fish is real, take a look at this video of Josh trying to boat the muskie. Pardon their foul language, but their excitement on their biggest fish ever gets in the way. 

August

You just got to love the smiles on someone so proud and excited with their catch. Daniel Cleary caught this nice 21.5" smallmouth bass at Young's Wilderness Camp's fly-in outpost on Kishkutena Lake. 

A longtime guest of Temple Bay Lodge, Randy Filas alongside his guide holds up his 53.5" muskie caught on Eagle Lake. This was randy 10th muskie caught that week, and he also had 91 follows. Another one of his muskies on this August day was 52 inches. Congrats Randy, I can see why you keep coming back.

Eagle Lake is known for its variety of fish. It has great muskie, walleye, bass, northern pike and lake trout as shown in this photo below. This giant 39" lake trout was caught at Birchdale Lodge on Eagle Lake.  

Massive 39" lake trout caught on Eagle Lake

Many people think fall is the best time to fish for walleye.  Jasin Burgess would probably agree as he caught several nice walleyes on Lake of the Woods this September.  

Fall walleye fishing on Lake of the Woods

 October

It's mostly the diehard fishermen (or fisherwomen) that fish in October. Luckily we had a fairly warm October and more people got out to fish in the fall. This is a nice chunky northern pike that was caught on Rainy Lake at Camp Narrows this past fall.

November

November brings out the hardiest muskie fishermen. If you can handle the cold, you will most likely be rewarded with a huge muskie. Justin Gaudry from  Mylie's Place Resort guided John Kennedy this November day and helped him get this 50" chunky muskie. Justin has got to be one of the best diehard muskie anglers in the area. He seems to live, eat and sleep late fall muskies.  

Look at the girth on this Lake of the Woods muskie!

Tom, a guest of Stanley's Resort on Eagle Lake, boated this huge muskie. It measured 54.5" long and had a 29" girth. They figured it was a 50+ pound fish. I bet he'll remember the fish and not the cold.  

Can you imagine catching this 54.5" muskie?

What a bunch of happy anglers at Clark's Camp and KC Landing! They must have been fishing inside the ice shack and came out for a photo opp because it's been darn cold here this winter. Or maybe they caught them that one warm day. lol. Regardless, nice catch ladies, it's always so nice to eat fresh walleye in the winter. 

So that pretty much sums up the year in Sunset Country. As you can see, the fish are plentiful and the variety is huge. If you haven't already liked our Ontario's Sunset Country facebook page, please do. We share a variety of photos all year round. You can even post some photos of yourself in Sunset Country if you like. If you like what you see, our Ontario's Sunset Country Travel Guide & Map just arrived at the office, you can order your free brochure today.

Since it's the end of 2013, I have written a few articles summarizing our year in Northwest Ontario. Check out:

•  Sunset Country's Best Sunsets of 2013
• These Incredible Photos Tell the Story of Ontario's Sunset Country in 2013

Have a great 2014. Tight lines!

Order your free Sunset Country Travel Guide & Map for more vacation ideas.

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