Kississing Lake Lodge

As the Calm Air flight rose through the clouds towards Flin Flon last week, four young anglers from the inner city of Winnipeg, stared wide eyed out the windows of the plane. They were to be guests of Curt Enns at Kississing Lake Lodge for three whole days of fishing at a world class fly-in resort. Enns has been contributing a fund raising trip to his lodge every year since the inception of the Fish Winnipeg program fourteen years ago but this year was special. Through a generous contribution from a private donor, Curt called me this winter to ask if he could sponsor four anglers from our program to his lodge. With the support of Calm Air, Fish Futures and the City of Winnipeg we were able to make it happen. Over the course of the summer instructors of the program were looking for participants who showed a passion for the sport of fishing. As it turned out three boys and a girl were asked to participate on the trip of a lifetime. Two of the young anglers had never been on a plane, never mind boarding a float plane from Flin Flon to complete the last leg of the journey.
During the duration of the trip, Dwayne, Liam, Celine and Joel experienced all sorts of adventures including catching feisty pike and walleye that abound in the waters of this northern lake. In the evening they joined together in the lodges game room to share the experiences of the day and try their hand on the lodges pool table. Every day the guides would pull up just after noon to cook the traditional shore lunch. In between all of this Celine caught her first fish, a feisty twelve pike that ran her around the boat. Along as chaperones were Marty Miller, who administers the fishing programs with the City of Winnipeg and Katherine Ward from Manitoba Water Stewardship. As co chair of Fish Winnipeg I was the guest instructor for the trip. On the first two days a southwest wind made travel a bit difficult but the last morning before the crew were scheduled to leave, the wind settled down and the pike went on a feeding rampage. Dwayne was in my boat on this particular day. I had given him a pink Mepps Syclops to try and on the first cast he smacked a pike, followed by six more fish in a row. It was a great way to end what was a memorable trip. At the end of it all the young anglers went home with a rod and reel, a new tackle box full of tackle and memories that will last a life time, all made possible by people that care. For more information on the great fishing at Kississing Lake Lodge visit their website at http://www.kississinglakelodge.com/

Good fall walleye fishing

If you are looking for some very good fishing for walleye Grand Rapids is a great option at this time of year. Rainbow smelt run up to the dam on the Saskatchewan River and big walleye are close behind. There are a number of ways to catch this walleye in the river but my two favourite methods are trolling Rapala Shad Raps or bottom bouncers and spinners in the two river channels about a kilometer below the dam. I have also headed out to the lake and caught a few more walleye on the many rock piles out from the mouth itself using jigs. There are a number of hotels and campgrounds in Grand Rapids and a good boat launch. Located right on Highway # 6 it is about a four hour drive from Winnipeg on pavement. You don’t need a large boat as the river is wind protected and the best fishing is right in the community. I would recommend having a depthfinder to find the river channels. There is plenty of shallow water along with dense weeds so working the main channel is the key to catching fish. These walleye are usually very aggressive and it is just a matter of making sure your lure runs just off the bottom so it is not picking up debris. It is a great way to introduce the family to fishing since the action is usually non-stop. My first visit to Grand Rapids occurred in 1983 and we camped right on the shore of the river itself. It was early June before the weed growth had started and we just drifter the main river channels with jigs and minnows. While this technique will work at this time of year, trolling seems to be more effective.
STOCKED TROUT: With the changing of colors on the leaves it is time also to think about trying for a trophy rainbow or brown trout. On the same trip to Grand Rapids a couple of years ago, we stopped at Footprint Lake and landed seven master angler sized fish in an evening and morning of angling. Some were caught trolling using small Rapala’s and some were caught on the fly. Fish are very aggressive at this time of year so a wide variety of lures can work. Footprint Lake is just a few kilometers north of Grand Rapids.
This fall Fish Futures Inc., in partnership with Manitoba Water Stewardship, will be holding the 3rd annual Youth Angling Card artwork contest for 2011 angling season. Manitoba artists from throughout the province between the ages of 10 and 15 will be able to submit a fish painting showing off their talents and skills.
This year's fish species is yellow perch and organizers are looking for artwork that depicts these fish in their natural environment.
The winning design will be featured on the front cover of the 2011 Youth Angler Card and give the winner a year's worth of bragging rights.
Judging: All entries will be judged on the quality of the painting, artistic interpretation of the fish, background habitat, and originality. The artists are also required to write a short paragraph about their artwork.
A panel of judges will determine the winning painting.
Submissions: Beginning September 1st, 2010, entries will be accepted with one entry allowed per student. All paintings must be received by November 1, 2010 - 12:00 pm (CST).
If we have your interest please check out all in the information at www.fishfutures.net/yac or follow the link from the Manitoba youth angling site at www.youthangler.ca