Dog Lake Walleye

The lake is called Dog. The lake is big and the lake is full of walleye!

It's pretty easy to understand why so many anglers across North America love returning to Dog Lake. Located west of Missinaibi Provincial Park, north of Chapleau and Wawa in beautiful Ontario’s Algoma Country is home to Northern Walleye Lodge, a family and fisherman’s destination. The waters of Dog Lake are fed by the Lochalsh River, Dog River & many small streams creating an environment that is nearly perfect for the sizeable population of walleye, northern pike, smallmouth bass, lake trout, burbot (ling), white fish, Herring (cisco), and brook trout.

This lake has it all, but the incredible walleye fishing is what brought us back in early June when the walleyes were still shallow and in huge numbers along island points, rock bars and shoals, sand flats, and just about every place that looked like it should hold walleye.

Yes, Dog lake really is THAT good for walleye.

Dog Lake features many miles of shoreline, shallow and deep areas as well as many weed beds which all contribute to a perfect environment for fishing. Dog Lake’s fresh water and its nutrients are carried down from the Lochalsh and Dog Rivers. Dog Lake forms the headwaters for the Michipicoten River to the south. This flow of water creates a perfect environment for a healthy population of fish and excellent reproduction of walleye.

Northern Walleye Lodge supports catch & release fishing and asks their guests to comply so that everyone can continue to catch more and bigger walleye every year. One seventeen-inch walleye has the same amount of meat as two fourteen-inch walleye. With northern pike, they ask customers to release pike that are under twenty-four inches.

On this trip, we were fortunate once again to hook up with the lodge owner Warren Thibodeau and fish eliminate some of the trial and error in locating these early-season walleyes and using the electronics on my boat, finding the ‘needle in the haystacks’ was as easy as easy gets with Warren’s recommendations on where we should fish for walleye.  

We fished some shallow breaks from six to ten feet of water first and caught some nice fifteen to seventeen-inch walleyes with one-eighth to one-quarter-ounce jig heads with night crawlers attached and my super sensitive St. Croix Legend Tournament walleye rods that detected the lightest of light biting walleye.

Warren suggested we head to a favourite location near some islands, not far from the main lodge that had a mix of sand and scattered rock and we began catching walleye from the very first cast around nine am until we decided our stomachs needed to be replenished around twelve noon. For three straight hours, we zig-zagged the shallow sand flat ranging from four to eight feet of water and caught a host of species including Northern Pike, smallmouth bass, jumbo yellow perch, and of course walleye in every year class from twelve inches to some trophy-sized walleye in the mid-twenty-inch class which were photographed and released immediately in the exact same areas they were caught.

This place is perfect for a group of buddies or friends who just want to enjoy the scenic pristine wilderness surroundings of Northern Walleye and Dog lake.

Large numbers of walleye can be found in the one to three-pound range (14 to 19 inches).

It’s very common to catch thirty to sixty walleyes in a day if you work the waters and of course on how well you know the lake. There are lots of walleye in the four to six-pound range as well and it’s common to latch onto a few of these every day along with the odd seven to ten-pound trophy walleye.

The main lodge is a popular gathering place for guests who are looking for a little bit of activity. The lodge has a pool table where the guests can spend a few hours relaxing and competing with their fellow guests. In addition, there are board games and a dartboard (bring your darts) for your enjoyment. Or for a bit of relaxation and connection with the outside world, there’s satellite TV and internet at the lodge.

Northern Walleye Lodge features clean and comfortable rustic log cabins that offer a long list of amenities in a remote wilderness setting. All of their cabins are spaced two hundred and fifty to five hundred feet apart ensuring all guests can enjoy privacy. Each cabin has a picnic table along with a gas barbecue to allow you to cook your own meals.

Does Dog lake sound like a place you might consider for your 2022 vacation plans?

Take our word for it when we say the walleye fishing is world-class and like many of the returning guests over the years, once experienced, you will probably be booking your return trip before your original stay has concluded.

Northern Walleye lodge

Phone: 1 (877) 434-2440

Email: fishingtrips@outlook.com

Your hosts Warren & Melanie Thibodeau welcome you with open arms.

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