The Spanish River Resort & Campground in Northern Ontario is a fisherman's and family vacation paradise! It is the perfect place for a group that wants to fish hard all day and come back to the cabin to BBQ and enjoy their catch. There are also many play structures for kids and a private swimming area for resort guests only. Their goal is to provide a great vacation to both sport anglers as well as novice families perhaps looking to get into the sport. You can enjoy sunrises and sunsets from the beach and catch fish to your heart's content. The owner, David, and his three young sons are always looking forward to meeting new guests and sharing stories while fishing off the docks, around the campfire, or lazing in the hammocks at the beach and swim area.
This resort offers comfortable cabins with a natural lakefront view, bunkies, a campground with power, and town water hook-ups. Each cabin has an equipped kitchen to prepare your meals, two bedrooms with linens, a private washroom and a deck with your BBQ. For supplies, the town of Spanish is, literally, at the end of the road, so you have gas, groceries and restaurants only 1 km away.
The resort is right at the mouth of the Spanish River, where it enters into the North Channel with plenty of docking and power available, as well as a boat launch. Word of advice here: you will want to be sure to check your fishing regulations and understand your boundaries when fishing this area, as you can access both Zones 10 and 14. You rarely have zone boundaries on the water but this unique anomaly allows fishermen the ability to expand their species and limits so long as you remember there are different slot sizes and regulations specific to each zone.
Heading upstream into the Spanish River, you could target several fish species like walleye, salmon, trout, musky and pike. Our primary target species was the smallmouth bass. Since we have a bit of knowledge of this body of water, we started our day fishing the smaller islands and rocky shorelines at the mouth of the North Channel. This area is very fertile, with lots of weed flats. Our approach was to target the inside weed line that formed where the hard bottom of shore met the weeds. The smallmouth were using this transition to feed heavily on crayfish and baitfish. Because we hit this area first thing in the morning while it was calm, the top water bite was on! For the top water, our lure of choice was the Jowler from Rapala. You can walk this bait fast, walking the dog, and it’s got a great splash from the lip design to get the attention of aggressive bass. The spinner bait also got its share of fish, reeling it fast out of the clean water and into the weeds. These fish hit hard, so be ready - it’s a blast!
After the morning topwater bite slowed, we decided to venture out closer to the main lake. The wind was calm on this midsummer day, so we knew it was safe to try. We came through the channel on the east end of Aird Island and immediately noticed the difference in water clarity. The water was crystal clear, so we knew long casts with erratic fast-moving beats would come into play, and boy, did they! We targeted the many islands and rock humps between Aird and Eagle Island. Leo and I both instinctively reached for our jerk bait rods rigged up with braided line and a generous length of fluorocarbon leader. The very first rock hump we noticed gave us five chunky smallmouth. What was also exciting was seeing groups of 5 to 10 other smallmouth following our hooked fish right to the boat. We knew we made the right decision, and the midday bite was phenomenal out here. To capitalize on catching multiple fish, we had our Ned baits ready to drop down on the followers. As soon as Leo or I hooked on, the other would reach for the Ned in case there were followers. On almost every one of these islands and humps, we found active fish.
I can honestly tell you, this area of Ontario is a truly phenomenal fishery. Many visitors target the amazing walleye fishery in the spring, and so they should, but don’t forget to book a trip midsummer and have some fun with the bass. It will feel like you have them all to yourself!
In closing, bring your fishing rod and book early for cabins, as the spring walleye run and summer bass season are favourite times for fishermen. There is also a great fall bite and great bird hunting since your cabin is directly across from the Spanish marsh and delta. There is so much to see and do at the Spanish River Resort & Campground, so check them out for your next amazing fishing and family vacation!
