Laurentian Lodge - The Fishing Vacation of a Lifetime!

The Fish TV crew was busy this past summer. The weather was fantastic and after all the rain last summer, we have been loving every minute we spent filming this year.

We filmed a new Fish TV episode up in Elliot Lake, a beautiful town in Algoma Country in Ontario. Our crew was hosted by Doug and Melanie from Laurentian Lodge on beautiful Flack Lake. The lodge was founded in 1929 and was built as a fly fishing and hunting camp. We had the opportunity to stay in one of their fireplace rooms looking over Flack Lake.

I don't think I have ever stayed in a bigger room than this at any lodge. It was probably 1,000 square feet, with a beautiful four-piece bath and a gorgeous fireplace in the corner, with a walk-out deck looking over the lake. Laurentian Lodge is located in some of the very best hunting and fishing areas in Ontario, with over 4,000 lakes within a very short drive and borders on Mississagi Provincial Park, with all kinds of hiking trails.

As for hunting, the area is thriving with bears, deer, moose, and all kinds of small game, as the lodge is surrounded by Crown land. The lodge is fantastic for families as well, with its beautiful waterfalls that kids of all ages have fun swimming and tubing down plus two beaches, tennis courts, paddle boating, and canoeing. If you like to golf in between your fishing, there are two awesome 18-hole golf courses within an hour of the lodge.

We got to enjoy their stunning restaurant built with white pine logs, their beautiful rooms and cottages, and the unbelievable fishing! Laurentian Lodge is a great family destination. They have “step” waterfalls and beaches, and they also offer tennis, a hot tub, and a sauna.

The Fish TV team was there in July and it was just perfect weather for fishing. When you go to Laurentian Lodge for a holiday, do yourself a favour and book Addison or one of his guides for a day. They know every little back lake within 100 miles and will put you on any fish you would like to fish for. We decided to go for smallmouth bass, as Algoma Country is known for its trophy smallmouth.

Addison met us at the lodge in the morning for a fantastic breakfast at the stunning restaurant, built with white pine logs, before we made a short drive to one of his back lakes. It was a little bit of a trial getting in there with the Toyota Tundra and our Lund Boat, but it was well worth it.

Leo, Jeff and I decided to play a game on the water to use the same lure for one hour at a time and could not change it. So if one guy was catching fish on a hot lure, you had to watch him have fun until the hour was up, then you could change. The funny thing was, there were so many fish that we all caught fish on different lures, but there was one lure that shined better than all of them. Leo started off in the morning with a Skitter V by Rapala (top water bait) and never looked back! He stuck with that bait all day and boy did it pay off. Jeff and I were catching fish, but not the size Leo was catching. He wasn’t getting as many, but the quality of his fish was a lot better than ours. Every 45 minutes to an hour, he would hook into a 5-pounder or in between 2- to 3-pounders.

It was getting on in the afternoon and almost time to pack it in for the day when all of a sudden we hit the rocky point that dropped into deep water. The Lund was sitting in about 20 feet of water. I was throwing a spinnerbait and Jeff was dropshotting a plastic bait. We were getting a few small fish, then Leo tossed his Skitter V top water bait right on the point, and that’s when it happened! 

The BIGGEST smallmouth I have ever seen came to the surface and took the lure. Leo played that fish for what seemed like a half hour, with long runs and the drag ripping out of the R-Type reel, three or four jumps that looked about 3 feet in the air, then it made its last run and headed for 20 feet of water and it was gone. It just came off the hook like it was nothing. It was the biggest smallmouth that we have ever seen in 21 years of filming Fish TV. And folks, let me tell you, this is no fish story. One of the many good things about this whole trip is that we get to go back one day and try to hook that monster smallmouth bass again.

If you want the vacation of a lifetime or just want to head out to relax and do some fishing among 4,000 lakes, head up to Laurentian Lodge just north of Elliot Lake.

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