GRASSY RIVER

Grassy River Provincial Park has an abundance of both water and wildlife not to mention a plethora of fishing and canoeing opportunities. Located just south and east of Flin Flon this pristine wilderness area was our third stop on the family camping trip in August. On the fourth day of our trip to northern Manitoba, we left Clearwater Lake and headed back north up Highway #10 toward Simonhouse but as we got to the turnoff at Highway #39 later in the evening we realized the gas station at the corner was closed, though it was just after 7 p.m . I mention this because if you venture down Highway #39, there is no gas to be found on this stretch until Tramping Lake. So we jogged up to Cranberry Portage, filled up, got ice and a newspaper then headed back down and across.

There are three provincial campgrounds to choose from in Grassy River, the first one on the west corner of the park is located on Simonhouse Lake and is called the Gyles campground. This is the only one of the three that has a designated swimming area and seems to be more family orientated. It's also a good starting point for a canoeing adventure that could take you along the Grass River all the way to Split Lake.

Down the road, we saw a moose cross the highway on our way to Iskwasum and after a quick tour around the 51 site campground, with its solar shower and playground in the middle, we decided to continue on to Reed Lake. Here we pulled in again and checked out the 58 campsites that were nicely spaced out, some right on the shore of the lake. We couldn't help but notice that almost every camper here was from the United States and all had boats along. There was no doubt this was a mecca for hard-core anglers and we didn't see any families in the mix. We got our tent setup away from the rest of the crowd and sat and had relaxing evening around the campfire with very few bugs to bother us (thanks to a very dry summer). We stayed two nights at this campground and very much enjoyed our stay. The only drawback though was noise from generator at the nearby fishing camp. That's because power does not reach this part of the world and there is no electricity at any of the campgrounds that I have mentioned. You have to come totally self contained since there are no stores or ice available here either. The next day, we launched the boat at a well maintained launch just off the Highway and enjoyed a very pleasurable day on this scenic lake.

Dave Colibaba, a resident of Thompson, spends a lot of time on Reed Lake both guiding and fishing for fun. He says the walleye fishing is very good in the Grassy River where it runs into Reed Lake in June, then out in the main lake until the end of July when the fishing slows down. Colibaba then concentrates on lake trout and pike with some excellent numbers and size of fish. He says on a good day in August you can catch 40 lake trout, many in the eight to ten pound range. While the lake is not deep, the northern section does have some water in the 25 metre range and this is were most of the lake trout action occurs. Reed Lake also has some large weed beds which supply exciting northern pike action right to the end of September.There are also a number of reefs on the lake so caution is advised for first time boaters.

Like I mentioned earlier, this is a campsite for hard core anglers who were very generous in handing out fishing advice. Also, make sure you fill your boat up with gas before arriving! There are no stores or gas stations nearby though on the way home we had no problem reaching Ponton to fill up at the 24 hour gas station there and with the wind behind making it all the way to Ashern before we had to stop again on the way down Highway # 6. All in all it took us just over seven hours to get home to Winnipeg from Reed Lake and while the weather at the start of the trip was a little rainy the lack of bugs more than made up for it. It was a great trip and we in this province have a lot to be thankful for. I would recommend though that you give yourself a decent number of days at each stop to acclimatize and really enjoy what Manitoba has to offer. For more information on provincial parks and campgrounds visit www.manitobaparks.com

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