Hearst Air Service has everything for anglers looking for that unique experience in Ontario’s North! If you’re looking for honest shots at trophy pike and walleye, Hearst Air Service has something for you. The "air service" specializes in delivering anglers to remote lakes rarely seen by other anglers. They will help you pick the lake that best serves your angling needs and deliver you right to the doorstep of your own camp. That’s right, your own camp. It’s called DIY, or Do It Yourself, which is fast becoming a popular choice for many anglers travelling to Algoma Country, as it provides fishing on remote, pristine lakes where there are no other anglers.
DIY is the ultimate in remote, wilderness cabin lodging. You’re not exactly camping in that you don’t sleep in a tent, as the cabin on the lake you choose will have the basics, including a propane fridge and stove, lanterns for light, and a wood-burning stove for heat. You bring and cook your own meals and come and go as you please, fishing as much or as little as you like. You’re roughing it without missing out on any of the usual amenities.
There is nothing quite like the volume of silence you experience when the float plane takes off and leaves you at your personal camp for a week. The engines slowly fade in the distance until you hear nothing, just your immediate surroundings and your heartbeat. It really is a rush to know that you and your group are on your own for the duration of your trip! And standing on the end of the dock, with your new world at your feet, is an experience you’ll never forget!
Hearst Air Service has seven outpost camps strategically placed on lakes in the Algoma region to provide access to a variety of fisheries. If you’re looking for lots of fish, you go here. If you’re hunting trophies, you go there. If you’re in search of multi-species, this lake will be best for you. Bottom line: no matter your angling ability, conventional or fly, you can experience phenomenal remote DIY fly-out angling at a reasonable price.
Species you can target from Hearst Air Service include trophy pike, walleye, and perch. Pike well over the 40” mark are caught and released every season on many of the outpost camp lakes where Hearst Air Service has cabins. Two of the camps on lakes offering excellent trophy pike are Quantz and Napken! We have fished both!
This spring Colin and Bill travelled to Napken Lake in search of a trophy pike and they were not disappointed! It was shortly after ice-out and the pike had just finished spawning. They were still shallow and on the hunt. Bill and Colin spent a lot of time casting streamers and poppers into dark-bottomed, shallow bays in search of pike on the prowl. Red and black articulated streamers, large chartreuse bunny leeches, and salty jack topwater poppers teased giant northern pike to eat on a regular basis. Many fish per day, per angler, is just what post-spawn fishing is meant to be. The fishing was so good, even Cameraman Ryan got in on the action! Colin released the biggest fish of the trip, taping out at an incredible 44 inches!!!
DIY is truly such a unique experience, it really should be on every angler’s bucket list. Hearst Air Service are pros at logistics, delivery, and safety in their field. They cater to all angling abilities and wishes in their comfortable rustic cabins on the lakes of Algoma Country. Hearst Air Service is also attuned to anglers’ needs for even more adventurous fishing expeditions. Consequently, they are in the process of developing even more remote adventures on rivers in Ontario’s far north! So, stay tuned to Hearst Air Service for more on these upcoming angling adventures!
