A fishing adventure on Kabinakagami Lake

Even though it’s the middle of the day, I’m not surprised that a worm dragged along the edge of a mid-lake hump is answered by a chorus of eager walleye.

This is Kabinakagami, after all: a 30,000-plus-acre remote lake with a well-deserved reputation as a prolific walleye and pike fishery. But I am surprised when the walkie-talkie crackles to life: “James, were catching some nice walleye in the shallows here.”

It’s Jean Meloche. He’s about a kilometre away, with his wife Monique, working a weedy shoreline. Francine and I head over to investigate. It’s mid-August and we know the fish should be deeper, but watching Monique pull in a couple of 19-inchers before our lines are even in the water convinces us to give the unlikely looking shoreline a try.

We discover patches of weed, scattered rock and plenty of walleye. As Monique continues to put on a shallow water clinic, dragging a jig and worm in 3-5 feet of water, I wonder what other pleasant surprises Kabinakagami holds.

Our adventure began with a half-hour floatplane ride from Wawa, Ontario. From the Dehavilland  Turbine Otter, we watched as civilization was quickly replaced by wilderness. Lakes, rivers, and vast cedar swamps cradled within an undulating boreal landscape stretched as far as the eye could see.

Soon after the pilot pointed to a huge island-studded body of water, we were touching down on the waters of Kabinakagami Lake and pulling up to the dock at Windy Point Lodge.

- James Smedley

Read the full article about fly-in fishing for walleye.