If you like variety, this is the lodge for you. When you stay at Camp Quetico, you have access to fish for many different species in over 40 lakes. You could visit there year after year and still have places to explore. Owner Barry Giles maintains a fleet of over 100 boats. There are lakes for numbers... for big ones …and for both. Most people travel there for the incredible smallmouth bass fishing. But there’s also plenty of lake trout, walleye, and northern pike peppered throughout Quetico Provincial Park.
The main lodge, located on Eva Lake, has all the amenities for an amazing stay. They have a fully stocked store with snacks, clothing and tackle. There’s a large dining room, adjoined by a social area with a pool and a foosball table. WiFi is available both in the main lodge and all cabins, to show off your day’s catch to family and friends. To relax and unwind, there’s a lakeside sauna and an enclosed hot tub. Also, there are a couple of fire pits to warm up to under the stars at night.
Inside the cabins, you have many comforts of home. The cottages have four-piece baths, satellite TV, air conditioning, propane barbecues, and fish cookers. The one we stayed in had a full kitchen, including two fridges, a stove and oven, a microwave, a full living room and dining area, cooking utensils, dishes, and cutlery. Bedding and towels were also included. This is a great choice if you’re travelling with your family or a big group.
Our trip took us there in mid-September, just as the leaves were starting to turn. The reds, yellows and oranges were screen-saver-worthy. This is also a great time for the “fall feed.” The walleye, lakers, pike, and smallies get very hungry and eat to build up weight to survive the winter months. Our target was smallmouth and lake trout. Well…I ended up catching my personal best lake trout! We ended up with several lakers and even kept an “eater” for shore lunch. There’s a great small island spot on Eva where we met up with another group. I’ve said it before: no restaurant can match the taste and experience of fresh-caught fish in the Ontario wilderness.
The other two days, we ventured out into a couple of remote lakes. We went after smallmouth. It didn’t take long in both lakes to hook into some toads. Smallmouth bass is my favourite fish to catch, and it grows big and mean around Quetico. The average size, in my best guess, would be around 3 pounds for our time there. And you have a shot at 6+ pounders! That’s a fish of a lifetime. For pike and walleye, many lakes there offer that as well. Walleye are the best for a shore lunch, catch a few eaters in between your bass spots, and you’re set!
Their American Super Deluxe Plan is a very popular one. It includes dinner and overnight accommodations on the day of arrival and breakfast on the day of departure. Also, lodging in modern cottages or motel-style units, daily maid service, all meals (shore lunch for fisherman), a deluxe boat with casting deck, 30 hp motor, gas, new fish finder, trolling motor – four days guided (one day each for walleye, smallmouth bass, northern pike and lake trout) and two days self-guided. It also includes access to all 40 lakes, live bait, transportation to and from various lakes and full guide service for every 3 to 4 people.
If you want to catch big smallmouth and choose from a variety of lakes, along with first-class accommodations… Camp Quetico is the place for you!
