CADDY LAKE CRAPPIES!

It was the end of June and we could fish in a t-shirts and shorts. Unfortunately the cloud of bugs that followed made for some itchy moments. That didn't dampen our enthusiasm though as we launched the boat at Caddy Lake Campground and Park off of Highway 44 in Whiteshell Provincial Park.

My daughter Signy and I had waited until Trevor Smith, friend and supervisor of our provincial fish hatcheries had gotten off work at the nearby Whiteshell Fish Hatchery, cast his vote in the federal election, and grabbed his fishing paraphernalia from his home in Falcon Lake. Still, there was plenty of daylight left and given the warm conditions and hot sun, a later start was probably, a good thing. Soon, we were out of the boat launch channel and out into the main lake were a brisk northwest wind promised to keep the biting critters away.

It's usually always a good idea anyway to fish on the windy side of the lake, and there was no hesitation on this particular day. Besides the lodge owners of Green Bay Resort on the southeast corner of Caddy Lake had said the bite for walleye and crappies had been pretty good over the weekend on their side of the lake. Green Bay is one of two resorts on the lake, the other; Caddy Lake Resort is located by the provincial campground on the west side.

Caddy is not a deep lake; some six metres at the most with water the colour of coffee. It's also a jumping off point for adventure by canoe or boat to a number of other lakes that are connected by water and portages, including North and South Cross lakes and Sailing Lake. Right now with water a metre above normal levels, travel by larger boat is hazardous through the tunnel at the north end of Caddy to South Cross Lake. One angler who we talked to who was just taking his boat out of the water had banged his boat up against the side of the tunnel and was not recommending I make the same mistake. For that advice I was very appreciative.

So staying on the main lake we headed to the east shoreline and started drifting jigs and live bait rigs. Our first fish the day was caught in about three metres of water and it turned to be a hefty white sucker. Signy caught this using a jig tipped with a three inch Berkley white and black power minnow. After a good laugh and quick release Trevor and I managed to catch a couple walleye under the magic 42 centimetre slot size that exits throughout Whiteshell Provincial Park.

According to Green Bay Resort owner Sandy Fisette this slot size has contributed to a tremendous resurgence, not only in the walleye population in Caddy Lake, but for other species as well, including smallmouth bass and trophy black crappies.

This was never more evident than on our next drift down this shoreline. As my daughter lounged in the bow with the rod in the rod holder, the tip started to bend ever so slightly, then loaded up completely under the weight of a good fish. Signy quickly got to her feet, sweeping her rod out of the holder and setting the hook at the same time. Sure enough the fight was on and as I move from the back of the boat to stand beside her with the net ready, she could tell by the excitement in my voice that this was no ordinary fish.

A huge slab of green, black and white had flipped over on its side by the boat to be scooped up into the waiting net. What a fish! It was a monster black crappie, one of the largest I had ever seen in all my travels. Quickly grabbing the measuring board, this magnificent specimen stretched out to 38 centimetres (15 inches) a true trophy. According to the Conservation Officer that we talked to the next day, there have been a number of Master Angler crappies caught so far this year in Caddy Lake and Trevor Smith says the population has spread down the Whiteshell River and Caddy lake into North and South Sailing lakes.

As we measured, photographed and released this fish we knew just how lucky my daughter had been to catch this monster, a fish estimated to be about 17 years of age. That's why Trevor emphasized the need to release these true trophies since while there were some huge crappies in the lake, the overall population was small, limited to mostly adult fish.

The next morning as my daughter slept in, Trevor and I headed back from West Hawk were we had stayed the night, back to Caddy, and sure enough Trevor got his first Master Angler crappie. While not as big as Signy's, it measured 35 centimetres, another awesome crappie. All in all in a short evening and morning we caught six different species of fish, which included walleye (biggest was 65 centimetres) pike, smallmouth bass, perch, crappie and a white sucker.

Caddy Lake, another Manitoba fishing gem.

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