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Ontario fly out fishing trip / pregame for moose hunt- Advice needed #6161437 01/29/16 11:49 PM
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So 3 friends and myself just put our deposits in for a fly in fishing trip on Confusion Lake in Ontario Canada. (Late May-Early June 2016)

I'm also using this fishing trip as a scouting trip to take a look at the outfitters set up for a Moose hunt next year; and thought some of you guys may have been in that area and could chime in with some advice.

http://freemap.ca/articles/lakes.php/Confusion_Lake/0086

http://www.geodata.us/canada_names_maps/maps.php?featureid=FASOF&f=189

From what I understand Northern Pike, Muskie, Walleye & Lake Trout(trout may or may not be hitting at that time) are the primary targets; my friends have been on similar trips before but I have not, and I need some advice on.......

1.Proper rod & reel combos- both bait casting and spinning. (need to go ahead and get these bought so I can practice)

2.Type and strength of line(and leader if needed).

3.Lures - From what I understand large spoons, spinners & buck tail jigs are your primary lures; but as far as what brands, size and colors - I have no idea what to bring.

4.Rubber boots - Whats a good brand/style of knee highs

Any other advice or tips would be greatly appreciated.

p.s. Already posted this in the TFF, but thought some of you guys may have more indepth experience with both fishing and hunting in this area.

Re: Ontario fly out fishing trip / pregame for moose hunt- Advice needed [Re: deewayne2003] #6161486 01/30/16 12:42 AM
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I've never fished Confusion Lake, but I've fished the Quetico in Ontario several times. You are gonna be in for an awesome trip. For northerns, lake trout and walleye, you can use the same gear as you might fish for bass or redfish. Spinning or baitcast, either one. About 12# test mono or fluro will work, but bring some lighter stuff in the 8-10# because the water is really clear. Muskie, go a little heavier. If you target northerns or muskie, you will need a heavier leader. They are toothy. Walleye are usually caught in more open water off of points and other structure, northerns more in the weedy areas. Lake trout will usually be caught trolling in deeper, open areas.
I used a lot of spoons and jigs. Johnsons Silver minnows worked best for me. Crankbaits worked well for walleye.

Good luck and post picks!

Last edited by Palehorse; 01/30/16 12:44 AM.
Re: Ontario fly out fishing trip / pregame for moose hunt- Advice needed [Re: deewayne2003] #6161822 01/30/16 07:36 AM
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Walleye fishing at that time of year will be primo as will be the northern pike fishing. Not as familiar with the lake trout fishing in that part of the world. Walleye and pike will hit almost anything that time of year in that area. I have had days up there (different lake but similar) in the spring after ice out when we were catching 50 or 60 walleye each every day. I was using cheap mister twister jigs or worms and/or minnows on a pickerel rig.

For some more versatile tackle take a look at this link:

http://www.outdoorlife.com/blogs/gone-fishin%E2%80%99/2013/03/best-bait-15-greatest-walleye-lures-all-time

Most of those will also work for pike.

As far as rod/reel for walleye I prefer a 6-7 foot St Croix fast action medium power spinning rod with a Shimano Sustain 2500 spinning reel. Line wise I use a 20 pound premium braid tipped with a 3 to 6 foot fluorocarbon leader in 8-10 lb test.

For pike you will want to up the leader strength and possibly even go with a steel leader. As for a rod/reel for pike they are fairly brute force critters and you could get away with the Shimano Reel but I like to use a good old fashioned fiberglass Uglystik for horsing them in.

Rubber boot wise you can't go wrong with a pair of Mucks.

And a word of warning - the bugs can be crazy bad that time of year (black flies and mosquitos). Get a head net and bug jacket plus a ton of 95%+ DEET. Bring thermacells as well.

As far as the moose hunting goes Ontario has been hurting the last few years and you would be better served going to Alberta or Newfoundland but it can't hurt to make some inquiries while you are there.


Never violate a woman, nor harm a child. Do not lie, cheat or steal. These things are for lesser men. Protect the weak against the evil strong. And never allow thoughts of gain to lead you into the pursuit of evil.

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Re: Ontario fly out fishing trip / pregame for moose hunt- Advice needed [Re: deewayne2003] #6162842 01/31/16 03:10 AM
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Originally Posted By: deewayne2003
So 3 friends and myself just put our deposits in for a fly in fishing trip on Confusion Lake in Ontario Canada. (Late May-Early June 2016)

I'm also using this fishing trip as a scouting trip to take a look at the outfitters set up for a Moose hunt next year; and thought some of you guys may have been in that area and could chime in with some advice.

http://freemap.ca/articles/lakes.php/Confusion_Lake/0086

http://www.geodata.us/canada_names_maps/maps.php?featureid=FASOF&f=189

From what I understand Northern Pike, Muskie, Walleye & Lake Trout(trout may or may not be hitting at that time) are the primary targets; my friends have been on similar trips before but I have not, and I need some advice on.......

1.Proper rod & reel combos- both bait casting and spinning. (need to go ahead and get these bought so I can practice)

2.Type and strength of line(and leader if needed).

3.Lures - From what I understand large spoons, spinners & buck tail jigs are your primary lures; but as far as what brands, size and colors - I have no idea what to bring.

4.Rubber boots - Whats a good brand/style of knee highs

Any other advice or tips would be greatly appreciated.

p.s. Already posted this in the TFF, but thought some of you guys may have more indepth experience with both fishing and hunting in this area.


Fished a ton of lakes in both Manitoba and Ontario and to be honest I carry only 4 lures.

1/2 ounce white jig with a white 4 inch curley tail. That takes care of all our Walleye and Lake Trout, we jig, no troll.





1 ounce chrome Red Eyed Wiggler for 5 ft or deeper. Can be jigged or trolled slowly.
http://www.cabelas.com/product/fishing/hard-baits/casting-trolling-spoons%7C/pc/104793480/c/104732280/sc/104260680/eppinger-red-eye-spoons/739538.uts?destination=%2Fcatalog%2Fbrowse%2Fcasting-trolling-spoons%2F_%2FN-1100331%2FNs-CATEGORY_SEQ_104260680


1 ounce gold Dardevile.

http://www.cabelas.com/product/fishing/hard-baits/casting-trolling-spoons%7C/pc/104793480/c/104732280/sc/104260680/dardevle-174-genuine-spoons/739535.uts?destination=%2Fcatalog%2Fbrowse%2Fcasting-trolling-spoons%2F_%2FN-1100331%2FNs-CATEGORY_SEQ_104260680

3/4 ounce white spinner bait with the twisted eye, a Northern will destroy anything else.

http://www.cabelas.com/product/fishing/hard-baits/spinnerbaits%7C/pc/104793480/c/104732280/sc/104597280/lil-hustler-double-willow-pike-spinnerbait/1272728.uts?destination=%2Fcatalog%2Fbrowse%2Fspinnerbaits%2F_%2FN-1100325%2FNs-CATEGORY_SEQ_104597280


Take a good lightweight spinning reel and your favorite bass combo. I use 10 lb and 20 lb Fireline. No leader on the spinning rod and a 2 ft steel leader on the bass rod. Take plenty of Jig's and curly tails, everything up there has teeth. And most of all take a good camera and have it ready. In 20 years I've seen about every critter Canada has to offer but a Wolverine. All of our trips have been remote fly-ins 5 day minimums so take plenty of clothes hot/cold it can get cold fast up there, and make sure you have rain gear. Plenty of mosquito repellent, they attack in Division stregth. Good fillet knife and always have a Leatherman, they come in handy for removing hooks (everything has teeth) and turning down your barbs (required damn near every place we went). If you have a nice watch leave it home, there,s a fine gold Rolex presidential laying in about 22 ft of water at the Walleye reef on Sasaginnigak lake in Manitoba, it's been there about 12 years now.


Yes! A Weatherby does kill them deader.
Re: Ontario fly out fishing trip / pregame for moose hunt- Advice needed [Re: deewayne2003] #6163110 01/31/16 03:03 PM
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Go to the Muskie First web sight. Just like on this forum, people will help with info. Less tackle is better. Dardevle, Johnson Silver minnows, Red eye spoons and M&G spinners worked well for northern. Jigs is all we used for walleye. Sounds like a nice trip

Re: Ontario fly out fishing trip / pregame for moose hunt- Advice needed [Re: deewayne2003] #6164254 02/01/16 02:09 PM
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Great advice guys; thanks again.......

HWY_MAN ....."If you have a nice watch leave it home, there,s a fine gold Rolex presidential laying in about 22 ft of water at the Walleye reef on Sasaginnigak lake in Manitoba, it's been there about 12 years now."

I'm sure it wasn't funny at the time; but can you imagine the look on somebodies face if they went to clean a Northern/Muskie and found a Gold Presidential in its belly?

Re: Ontario fly out fishing trip / pregame for moose hunt- Advice needed [Re: deewayne2003] #6164417 02/01/16 03:49 PM
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OP.............. I live in Manitoba and fish and hunt a lot in SK, MB and ON. I am also an outfitter in MB. Why Man is completely on track. I see guys bring 50 pounds of tackle and it is not needed........... just a lot of crap to drag around and you will not use 95% of it.

To his list I would add some lighter 1/4 and 3/8 ounce jigs in blaze orange/yellow/lime green/white for shallower/calmer water. You will also want to add the Five of Diamonds to the log lure department for northerns.

My wife and I have switched over to braided line. It is thinner for poundage than mono line and it does not stretch. The damned northerns will hit anything and so you often get a lot of incidental northerns when walleye fishing and they will stretch the heck out of your mono line. End up stripping and tossing and changing line too often for my tastes.

Have fun.


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www.canadianblackbearhunt.com
Re: Ontario fly out fishing trip / pregame for moose hunt- Advice needed [Re: deewayne2003] #6164798 02/01/16 08:00 PM
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Did a fly-in fishing trip last year on Lake Seseganaga and had a lot of fun.
If you aren't used to bait casters, then I would avoid them. Not something you would want to mess with on a trip. Spinners work fine. For line, I used braided line on all my reels. When fishing for Walleye, I used a mono leader. When fishing for Pike, I used a steel leader.
We bass fish a lot so we didn't bother jigging for lake trout. We only went after Walleye and Pike (no Muskie where we were). Rooster tails and Roadrunners worked great for Walleye. Swam what jigs we did use and caught walleye on them. Used leeches on the back of the jigs while swimming them and got a lot of walleye on those. Just about anything you throw works for Pike. We had a lot of fun using top water lures for Pike. I mostly used a bussbait fishing for Pike and even caught a few Walleye with it. Be sure you have a trailer hook on the buzz bait. Crank baits worked OK, Rattletraps worked a little better.


It is far more important to be able to hit the target than it is to haggle over who makes a weapon or who pulls a trigger.

� Dwight D. Eisenhower
Re: Ontario fly out fishing trip / pregame for moose hunt- Advice needed [Re: deewayne2003] #6165292 02/02/16 01:27 AM
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A Mistake I see allot of people make up there is running into a cove and then fish the weed beds. Some of my biggest Northers have come from 15 to 20 yards away from the weeds and 8 to 10 ft of water. You'll pick up a few Walleye that way also. We always go in late June or July so it's warmed up some and pushed the Walleye into about 18 to 20 ft of water. We carried portable fish finders and looked for high spots or reef's in that depth and just drifted back and forth jigging straight down. Always be ready for a Northern no matter where you fish, they'll cut you line fast. The braided line seems to survive a little better in my opinion. Took a 42 inch Northern on my ultralight and 10 lb Spider Wire jigging for Walleye, it can be done but not recommended.


Yes! A Weatherby does kill them deader.
Re: Ontario fly out fishing trip / pregame for moose hunt- Advice needed [Re: deewayne2003] #6172614 02/07/16 09:36 AM
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Definitely take some mechanical device to grab the fish with. Every fish up there has big pointy teeth.


It is far more important to be able to hit the target than it is to haggle over who makes a weapon or who pulls a trigger.

� Dwight D. Eisenhower
Re: Ontario fly out fishing trip / pregame for moose hunt- Advice needed [Re: deewayne2003] #6173975 02/08/16 12:47 PM
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Great advice from all the previous posts. I owned & ran a fishing lodge for 15 years south of Kenora, and I hope you enjoy the trip as much as I love that area. I still have my personal cabin up there, and can't wait to get back on those waters. All these guys nailed it on equipment... just remember "less is more". Stick with the old reliable standby tested lures, and don't waste 'ur time & money on a bunch of junk (new fangled flashy crap). A dozen of dare devils with 8 inch leaders, (red & white, 5 of diamonds) spinning rod/ 12 lb. test for Northern Pike. A bunch (100) of 3/8th lead jigheads with rubber twister tails & night crawlers (worms) 8 lb. test line for walleyes. Bass will munch the jigs & twister tails as well, only the water will still be pretty cold for a bass until early june. Musky season is closed until 3rd Saturday of june, and will be sluggish as well until the water warms in june. Lake trout love the cold water in that 48 - 54 degree range, and can be caught in the deep water areas (35 - 110 feet) jigging a heavier jig & white twistertail or slow-w-w trolling a deep diving silver flutter spoon with a heavy weight (1 1/2 ounce) to get deep It is hard to get deep with mono line as it floats. Same spinning rod used for Northern Pike will work for trout... HAVE the DRAG SET !! I would take a dip net along if the lodge doesn't supply one, large enough to grab a 40" pike. Plenty of bug spray as the insects will be bad then, including ticks. Rain gear a must, hot & cold clothes, sun screen a must, a HOOK REMOVER & LONG handled KNEEDLE-NOSE PLIERS for toothy pike, small first aid kit. Be aware of Canada's laws for border crossing, this can get STICKY. NO Bear Mace allowed. Have a great time. Canada is a beautiful place. I love it there!!


Dryberry was the last lake God created and it took the entire seventh day.
Dryberry Lake Sioux Narrows, Ontario, Canada (a.k.a. Heaven)
Re: Ontario fly out fishing trip / pregame for moose hunt- Advice needed [Re: deewayne2003] #6176956 02/10/16 03:25 AM
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Thanks Sillyhorses

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