Midsummer Algoma Gold at Pine Portage Lodge

The Fish’n Canada crew recently returned from one of their all-time favourite walleye lakes as well as fishing lodges in Pine Portage Lodge on Kaby Lake in the beautiful Algoma Region of Ontario. If it’s the number of walleye you want, this is the place. If it’s big walleye and pike you want, they’re here as well!

Joining Pete on this trip were Steve Neidzwecki, Dean Taylor, and Vova Babushkin.

“Ang and I have been starting to split the odd show since our “road warrior” days are slowly fading from the high-paced, calendar-packed days of the past,” says Pete. “I wish we could still do it, but the inevitable is showing its old, ugly face!”

That said, this 2nd team we’ve put together works pretty well.

Pete and Steve were the on-camera personalities while Vova and Dean did the shooting etc.

The Location

Kaby Lake is nestled right in the middle of one of the best “all-around” walleye fishing areas in Ontario, called the Algoma region.

Fish’n Canada travels here at least two to three times a year to catch what is arguably the most popular fish species in the nation. The hub of this area is a town called Wawa. When you hit Wawa, you’ve hit walleye country. The beauty of being here is, there are loads of easy-to-access lakes that you can hit daily. 

As well, there are both drive-to fishing lodges, along with multiple air bases that access fly-in lodges. Something for everyone. Since Pine Portage is a fly-in lodge, we boarded our float plane right in the town of Wawa at Watson’s Skyways’ Base. They’ve been at the fly-in game for years. And trust us when we tell you, the flight into one of these remote lodges gives you the absolute best view of the pure Canadian wilderness. It’s something you WILL NOT SEE anywhere else!

The Lake

Kabinakagami Lake covers around 30,800 acres in the beautiful Canadian wilderness. It offers fishing for walleye, northern pike, white fish, and perch, as well as hunting for bears and moose.

It’s 25 miles long, 13 miles wide, has an average depth of around 10ft, and a maximum depth of around 50 ft.

It has an unbelievable amount of fish-holding structure and cover like islands, underwater shoals, long extending points both above and below the surface, bays of beautiful green weeds, sand flats, and even deep, open water with suspended fish.

The Fishing

As per usual, when we needed fish for whatever reasons (camera, shore lunch, fun etc.) the good ol’ Jig and Minnow was still the #1 producer. It simply can’t be beaten for the numbers of walleye.

However, we didn’t start with the “be all end all” presentation. Instead, we commenced with a trolling pattern pulling hard baits. In particular, we trolled Yo-Zuri Crystal Minnows Deep Diver walleye in a variety of colours. On a previous trip to Dog Lake, Ontario, Ang and Pete found that Purple Wonder Bread was the colour of choice for the local walleye so we tried it on Kaby and low & behold…it worked there too!

As for bait sizes, we used bigger baits mostly. The 4 ⅜”, 9/16 ounce and the 5 ¼”, ⅞ ounce were the deal. On this trip, the Bone, Purple Wonderbread and Purple Tiger were the best colours (We know, these sound crazy but trust us, they work).

Long-line trolling worked best for us which is what we normally try when flying into remote places where packing extra gear can be an issue. No planer boards were needed. No drift socks were needed. We essentially cast out our baits, let out extra line, engaged the spool, and let the little Merc purr around different areas of the lake.

Some of our best areas were the deeper, surrounding areas underwater humps and long submerged points. The walleye were pretty much stacked up around any good structure available.

For some casting fun, we grabbed some Yo-Zuri 3DB crankbaits like the 1.5 Squarebill and MR, as well as a 3DB Twitchbait, whenever we ventured into shallow areas (around 6-8 feet). All worked and added to the fun factor of throwing artificial baits.

One Last Shot At The Dart Board

This pattern kept up for the next two days and landed us plenty of numbers. However, a big, showstopping TV fish was still the mission.

The very last evening, just an hour or so before we left, we found another deep area with lots of schooling fish but they were situated in the water column quite different from the groups we had been seeing. Loosely schooled and at different depths…very reminiscent of walleye.

Just before dark, we stuck a decent fish in 40 feet of water, running around 15 feet down. Let's just say the hooks on our Garmin looked pretty impressive!

Waypoint added, next time for sure.

Conclusion

In closing, Ang and I (we’ve both fished here more than once) along with Steve, highly recommend Kaby Lake as a fishing trip destination. With lodges like Pine Portage catering to all your needs, it’s a perfect angling vacation paradise.

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