Pike And Walleye On A Fly

Train-in or fly-in; anglers love this lodge on Esnagi Lake for its excellent fishing opportunities.

By Colin McKeown Colin McKeown is the producer of The New Fly Fisher TV Series.

July 3, 2025

In Algoma Country, there are some great fly fishing opportunities for numerous warm-water and even cold-water species.

One of our favourite locations is Lodge Eighty Eight on Esnagi Lake. Easy access to wilderness fishing is one of the biggest reasons why anglers love this lodge. You can fly in on a floatplane from White River, or take the train if you don’t like to fly. Either way, it’s a short and easy trip to arrive at the lodge, which is located in an area with excellent northern pike and walleye fishing. Esnagi Lake is 27 miles long and is filled with excellent bays, islands, and shoals for great fishing and exploring.

The big pike here holds tight to emerging or established weed beds and near structures such as beaver lodges, fallen trees, and rocky points. The best time to fish for them on Esnagi Lake is May through to early July, when they are still in relatively shallow water, which is perfect for fly fishers. Even the walleye can be easily caught in 6 to 12 feet of water near weed beds and rocky points.

The lodge has great boats for fly fishers with wide bottoms and good casting decks. Esnagi Lake is large, and thankfully, Lodge Eighty Eight has guides available who can be hired for a day or two to show you the best hot spots. Lodge Eighty Eight has both housekeeping and full American plans to meet your needs. The main lodge has a pool table, full bar, and TV area with satellite connections so you won’t miss that important game! The lodge features cabins and rooms that are large and spacious for your fly fishing equipment.

Casting large-sized poppers in black, purple, or yellow close to weed edges can produce some spectacular results. Based on the mood of the pike, we recommend you experiment with retrieve speeds and styles to find what works. Top streamers for the pike are deceivers, bunny leeches, and other large patterns that imitate whitefish, walleye, or perch. For the walleye, use streamers on the weed edges or near rocky shorelines. Woolly Buggers in tan, black, or medium brown are great choices as are white Zonkers or Murdich Minnows coupled to sink-tip or intermediate fly lines.

We recommend you bring 8- to 9-weight rods in 9-foot lengths with fast actions to help facilitate casting large streamers or poppers to the pike or walleye. Leaders for pike should be 4 to 6 feet in length with a 24-inch wire bite tippet in a 20- to 30-pound strength. For the walleye, standard leaders of 9-foot lengths with a 2x tippet are perfect for connecting woolly buggers and other flies.

Lodge Eighty Eight is an outstanding fly fishing destination that offers wilderness fishing for northern pike and walleye, with great access options and affordable pricing. As an added bonus, they also have access to some good brook trout fishing on a local lake! We strongly recommend you give them a call!

Book This Trip

Lodge Eighty Eight
PH: (705) 812-1624
Website: http://lodgeeightyeight.com

(All photo credits: The New Fly Fisher TV Show)

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About Colin McKeown

Colin McKeown is the producer of The New Fly Fisher Television Series, and several documentary series for the Outdoor Life Network, the Discovery Channel and the History Channel. With a passion of fly fishing, Colin's goal is to help both novice and veteran fly fishers everywhere by giving them a top-quality fly fishing series that will make them better anglers. Known for his keen sense of humour, Colin has two wonderful children and is married to the most understanding and patient woman in the world.