A few weeks ago, after a 2 year hiatus from one of the best muskie fisheries in the world, I returned to Lake of the Woods in Northwest Ontario. During the first week of August I joined one of my best fishing pals, Zach Quinn, and his dad Dave, along with his uncle and a family friend. The five of us rented a cabin on Flag Island Resort, and we fished out of two boats.
If we had an even numbered group, I would have brought and towed my Ranger along for the trip but it wasn’t needed. Because the gravel roads in southern Ontario were horrific bad and our two boats got trashed on our way home, I’m glad my boat remained at home in Wisconsin.
The cold weather, blowing wind, and inactivity levels of fish led to one of the most difficult fishing trips I’ve ever been on. Additionally, I was hit with the worst personal bad luck that included the following: 1) Boat partner driving into a rock bar and nearly wrecking his lower unit on day-1. Then having to teach him how to use his GPS/Fish Locators and run the navigational lights. Come on, doesn’t know how to drive his boat. I didn’t fear for my life, but was in disbelief. 2) Not seeing a musky for the first 3 days of the trip. 3) My one pair of pants splitting on figure-eight maneuvers. 4) Hooking and losing 5 fish in a single day. 5) My $600 rod and reel combo slipping out of my hands in mid-cast and flying into the lake. Thank God it was recovered.
It got worse so I will save the rest for personal discussion.
This was the first fishing trip of any kind I’ve been on in which I caught nothing. To have it happen while in Canada of all places is shocking.
During the first four days of the trip, I fished with the uncles and on the second half of the trip I fished with Zach and Dave. The fishing on the first 4 days was beyond lousy and pisses me off too much to write about but once I paired up with Zach and Dave we had our good moments, fun times, and several nice fish were observed and nearly caught.
Yes, I will write about the ones we nearly caught because that’s the best success we had for the week. During the week, Zach had two 50 inch class fish hooked and lost at boatside. I also had half a dozen upper 40’s to 50’s play the figure-8 game with me at boatside and each one was lost as well. We suck as musky anglers and are better bass anglers.
At least Zach and I were coping well together with excellent beer each night.
Our group boated a total of five muskies, a handful of pike, and walleyes on this trip. Compared with my trips from previous years, our fishing was less than satisfactory. I’m not sure if trying anything different would have helped. Sure, being with the perfect fishing partner for a full week, and having your own boat and the freedom to navigate and run to spots of choice would have given me all the confidence in the world and perhaps changed the outcome. But the fishing was just bad. They weren’t biting. End of story. I live and learn.
Read Previous Years Trips Here: 2012 Lake of the Woods / 2013 Lake of the Woods
Luckily my successful summer of trophy bass fishing in Wisconsin’s Northwoods with my new guide service, Northwoods Bass Fishing Adventures, has allowed me to forget about this trip. I’m looking forward to a possible return again next year.
This trip yielded the least number of photos I’ve ever taken during a single week of fishing. I came home defeated and embarrassed by bad fishing, but here’s some nice shots from 1st week of August that are worthy enough to showcase.
I want to thank Zach for organizing and coordinating our week of fishing, and for the invitation. A lot of planning and thought went into it. Flag Island always provides excellent accommodations, and the fishing on Lake of the Woods cannot be beat. The fishing was bad, but thankfully the company I was with, and the memories made, were delightful and lasting of a lifetime.
