NOPIMING PARK

Almost 15,000 kilometres in area, Nopiming Provincial Park is an angler's paradise with more than 100 lakes scattered throughout a landscape characterized by rock outcrops, jackpine, and black spruce. Situated 200 kilometres from Winnipeg on the eastern side of the province above Whiteshell Provincial Park, anglers for years have been making their way here to enjoy some of the dynamic fishing this park has to offer. Nopiming is an Anishinabe word meaning "entrance to the wilderness' and once you cross the bridge on Highway #315 heading north you are indeed in rugged country and on gravel road.

Last weekend we headed up to Nopiming Lodge to try our luck at a couple of lakes in the southeast section of the park. Located on Bird Lake, this lodge has been around for 40 years. Blaine and Marge Guenther have operated the lodge the last 25 years and since that time have made many improvements to cabins and grounds. Last winter Blaine built his second four star cabin, which includes a hot tub and hot steam bath. Overlooking a playground and natural sand beach on the lakeshore it makes a top-notch headquarters to enjoy some of the great outdoor activities that this park has to offer.

There are self-guiding walking trails, and wilderness campsites galore. It is the canoe routes that really make this park special. Rivers like the Bird, Maskwa, Black and Manigotagan are age-old routes through this wilderness with portages that have been used for centuries.

There are some exceptional campgrounds as well, with Tullibee Falls on the east end of Bird Lake one of the nicest.

Our first day fishing was spent on Bird Lake with Blaine and a couple of friends who had come along from Winnipeg. We started out fishing some of the numerous reefs that dot the lake, a widened out section of the Bird River.

While we caught numerous small walleye in about six metres of water we had trouble connecting with larger fish of any species. As the noon hour rolled around we decided to boat back to the cabin for a little lunch and a hot tub. With the weather cold outside and wet, it was a great break in the fishing day. Unfortunately my friend Jim couldn't wait to get back out so he left me in front of the fire to do a little scouting. After a couple of hours he was back with the good news. He had found the fish in shallower water than expected, having landed a number of nice smallmouth along with some walleye in the slot size that exists in the park. So as we hopped back into the boat anticipation was high despite the steady downpour that kept the lake clear of any other boats but ours.

Off the tip of one island I had marked a number of nice fish in about three metres of water as Jim moved us along with the front troll motor. Sure enough, my other friend Phil had his rod bend over under the weight of a heavier fish. As the line move sideways then screamed off his spinning reel, we all figured it might not be the target species. Sure enough, a nice pike came to the surface, spit the jig at Phil and dove back down to the depths. That reminded me of a my last visit to Bird Lake some dozen years ago when a huge northern pike had grabbed a one kilogram walleye I was trying to land and hung on for dear life. The small net in the boat at the time couldn't contain a fish of its size and away it went. While we didn't see any real big pike on this trip, the lake does have some real monsters.

As the rain intensified I suggested to Jim that we slow down the presentation. Concentrating on the tip of an island I dropped the back troll motor down and hovered over a small hump that was showing fish on the deptfinder. Using small yellow and chartruese jigs tipped with a variety of bait we tried to keep as vertical as possible over these inactive fish.

Sure enough, soon Jim's rod bent over. Staying straight up and down and bulldogging, this was no pike. After a tough battle, a beautiful trophy Bird Lake walleye came to the surface. As Jim tried to hand land it, the jig popped out of the mouth and the big walleye quickly exited stage left. Unfortunately we never got a picture to mark the occasion but it did tell us there was still some trophy walleye in this part of the world.

As the day wore on, we continued to get water logged. Finally about 7 p.m. we headed back to the dock and loaded the boat back on the trailer at the boat launch and small campground that is just down the road from Nopiming Lodge. Blaine had promised us a turkey dinner in the lodge restaurant and that sound pretty good after a long cold and wet day on the water.

This is a year round destination with numerous snowmobile trails throughout the region. In fact, Blaine says the majority of his business comes in the winter. For more information on Bird Lake and Nopiming Lodge visit them on-line at www.nopiminglodge.com.

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