WALLEYE PARADISE

An early morning mist was rising off Big Whiteshell Lake as Bill Kolanski idled his boat to the dock at the north end of the lake. Bill owns and operates Crowduck Lake Camp and he was here to pick up friend Ted Fardoe and myself last week for two days of fishing at his camp.

My friendship with Bill dates back some eight years ago when I came out to film two episodes of "The Complete Angler t.v. show and as he boated us across Big Whiteshell to the other side of the lake, we caught up on fishing and business.

Part of the experience of Crowduck is the trip in to Bills camp; guests to Crowduck Lake Camp are picked up by Bill or one of his staff at Big Whiteshell and ferried across to a dock across the lake were Bill has a fleet of trucks waiting to take anglers by graded road some ten minutes to his camp. Along the way this day we stopped for a deer that was staring at us from the middle of the road.

Upon arrival Bill dropped us at Cabin Five where we were met by the four other people who were joining us. Ted and Alfred Schleir from PCL Construction had won the trip to Crowduck at the 14th Annual Fish Futures banquet this past spring and I was fortunate enough to be invited along. Kolanski has donated this trip to Fish Futures for a number of years and at each banquet it raises $2400 for the fisheries resource, a gesture much appreciated by members of the angling community in Manitoba.

For people looking for a fishing experience of a lifetime, Crowduck has become internationally renowned for its walleye fishing. Located in the middle of Whiteshell Provincial Park, this large mesotrophic lake has been producing world class walleye fishing for more than a decade, ever since a strict catch and release policy was implemented. Bill runs his camp in a truly professional manner and as we got our equipment unpacked, the boats were already running and ready to go down at the dock.

As you head out fishing, you will see that on the back of each of the boats is a map of Crowduck with some of the traditional hotspots marked, places like the Gull Islands or Dark Bottom Bay.

We checked out a number of areas in the next couple of days and most produced one walleye after the other. In fact you pretty much had a fish on before your jig hit the bottom with the largest walleye landed the first day measuring 26.5 inches, a nice fish. Still Bill, and the rest of the anglers who frequent this lake, will tell you that it doesn't match the glory days when most everyone that spent time on the lake would catch a 30 inch walleye.

Part of the problem and it's nice problem to have, says Bill, is that there are so many hungry walleye in the lake, they have eaten themselves out of house and home. While that is a good thing for anglers who like to catch a hundred fish in a day, for those who angle for bigger fish, it becomes a problem. I do recommend that if you do want to experience walleye fishing second to none give Bill a call well in advance, then get ready to catch more walleye than you can imagine!

You can get Bill or his dad Nick at 204-222-7307.

Back