Have you ever wondered what it would be like to have an entire lake that is known for excellent walleye fishing all to yourself, for days on end? I know what that feels like now since our road trip to Elliot Lake this past summer visiting with the gracious hosts of fly-in camps called Glassy Bay Outfitters.
Our fly-in fishing experience began at the docks of the Sea Base in Elliot Lake. After the plane was loaded, we embarked on our journey to our ultimate fly-in fishing experience.
On our flight to Bark Lake, we saw picturesque sights below as we flew over remote lakes, dense forests and wildlife. Once landed on Bark Lake, we taxied up to our camp and dock. From there we unloaded and the hosts gave us a quick tour of our camp for our stay. Bark Lake is very remote and we had the opportunity to catch an abundance of Walleye.
The sea base is located on Elliot Lake, the central meeting point for parking and floatplane departure. If you are travelling from out of town and need somewhere to spend the night, they also have a lodge that is available for you!
We stayed at Middle Bark/Grey Owl, Located on Bark Lake, 40 miles north of Elliot Lake. Bark Lake is known for its outstanding walleye fishing but also offers Northern Pike and lake trout. The Grey Owl camp is located in the middle section of Bark Lake. The camp is named after a historical, well-known author named Grey Owl. Grey Owl was a British-born conservationist, fur trapper, and writer who disguised himself as an Indigenous man in the 1930s. Here lies one of his camps he would escape from civilization to pursue his interests in fur trapping, canoeing, and writing. His camp is dated, but only 100 meters from our main outpost camp.
According to the outfitters, the walleye don’t really start to turn on till early to mid-June and continue to be good throughout the season. The early season can be fantastic!
Most find that trolling slowly with jig heads with a tail and worm works best. Worm harnesses work well as well. The daily limit is four per person and four in total possession.
We decided to slow troll with a worm harness and split shot weight combination on the edges of breaks between fourteen and eighteen feet of water bouncing our worms off the bottom a fair distance behind the boat and had no issues finding both walleye and northern pike on several locations with similar characteristics which were large boulders and gravel tapering to deeper water or along long tapering rock points off islands.
The pristine wilderness surroundings with not another soul in sight for three days felt incredible, like a cleansing from social media, the hustle and bustle of everyday life, and the sights and sounds of nature ensured a great night’s sleep between fishing excursions to different parts of the lake.
Looking for something different this year?
Consider a wilderness, remote trip with Glassy Bay Outfitters, it definitely was an amazing experience I will never forget.
