Angling for Walleye at Waterfalls Lodge

Take me to the river.

The Spanish River in Algoma, Ontario, for some of the best walleye fishing in North America.

Our crew arrived at Waterfalls Lodge in Spanish, Ontario late Sunday afternoon, but just in time for the weekly get-together in the main lodge prior to dinner to meet the other guests, who had arrived a day earlier for a weeks-long fishing vacation with a host of friends and family members. As a weekly tradition of sharing fishing tales and enjoying appetizers and free drinks, courtesy of the owners of the lodge, this “happy hour” truly was a do-not-miss affair and a great way to start our road trip.

This region of Algoma has so many opportunities to fish for almost any species of fish you so desire, with longer open seasons than many of our southern regions across Ontario. Whether it be for bass, northern pike, trout, or walleye, Algoma has the resources, lodges, and lakes to satisfy anyone's thirst for an angling adventure.

Waterfalls Lodge offers a wide variety of angling opportunities on the main lake chain, remote back-lake ATV trips, and guided trips a short 10-minute jog up the highway to the Spanish River for the ever-abundant walleye in the river and the North Channel leading to Lake Huron. We chose the Spanish River and walleye option on this trip.

Fishing with lodge guide “Big Al” and his fully loaded Legend boat, we headed out of the Spanish Marina and decided to fish the lake first since the wind was low and the lake was as calm as glass. Al headed to a rocky point with a slight ditch in 12 feet of water a short ride out from the marina. We held our position with his electric motor and cast 1/4-ounce and 3/8-ounce jig heads in bright chartreuse and threaded a nightcrawler (worm) onto the jig. Then we headed to the edge of the ditch leading to deeper water with a semi-slack line while letting the jig bounce on bottom as we slowly lifted and dropped our rod tips, jigging our presentations across the ditch back towards the boat. It did not take long, maybe three or four casts, before I had my first walleye of the year twisting and turning alongside the boat, a nice 15-inch fish.

We continued our efforts in front of the rocky point as the wind started to churn up the water and inspire the walleyes to really put on the “chew,” helping us get bit on almost every cast for a half-hour window, and put four slot sized walleyes in our live well.

With the wind picking up, Al suggested we head to the river, do some “drifts” over the deep edges and breaks with the same jig and worm setups, and try to catch some bigger walleye in the Spanish River.

Our first drift over 23 feet of water, rising to 16 feet, produced a solid 18-inch walleye. We continued our drifts while watching the depth of our electronics and staying the course in the middle of the river, as the screen constantly lit up with fish symbols all through the water column. The thicker fish symbols (walleye) were approximately one to two feet off bottom, exactly where our jig and worm presentations were bouncing as we drifted down the river.

Our gear for the day included St.Croix Avid X and Legend Elite Medium action spinning rods rigged with 8-pound fluorocarbon lines and 1/4- to 3/8-ounce round ball head jigs and a good old-fashioned earthworm. Watching our depth was paramount to staying on the suspended fish in the river, and letting out enough line to ensure your jig was bouncing off bottom kept our baits in front of walleye on each drift.

Mother Nature decided we had enough fish and fun for one morning, as she rolled in the storm clouds and rain just as we packed up and headed back to the safe confines of the marina to end our morning walleye adventure on the Spanish River.

If you're looking for a great location for a wide variety of finned critters that swim, look no further than Algoma and Waterfalls Lodge in Spanish, Ontario. The fishing opportunities are limitless and the lodge facilities are top-notch, friendly, and clean.

Check out Waterfalls Lodge and experience Algoma for yourself, it truly is an angler's paradise.

Waterfalls Lodge: www.waterfallslodge.com or phone toll-free: 1-800-666-2812

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