Casting North of the Border

Fishing in Canada is an incredible experience, one which should be your list of "things to do".  This year marked my 12th fishing trip to the providence of Manitoba which is home to Viking Lodge.  The drive is 1,400 miles straight north and takes less than 24 hours.  So many people tell me they are afraid of the drive, I explain it like this...you leave home in the morning and the next morning you are in a different world!  On the trip we target three main species of fish: northern pike, walleye and lake trout.  Recently, we have started fishing a different lake for monster rainbow and brook trout.

Viking Lodge is located in the Grassy River Provincial Park and sits on the First Cranberry Lake.  The area literally has hundreds of miles of fish-able water.

The typical day involves sleeping in until 9am, waking and eating a freshly baked cinnamon roll from the Lodge with a goal of hitting the water by 10am.  Early day fishing finds us targeting lake trout in deep water (40-50') or casting grass beds for northern pike.  Mid-day we pick up a few walleye on rocky points and have a shore lunch.  As evening comes we fish for walleye on points until sunset which occurs around 11pm, then we head back to the Lodge for some sleep.  When the day ends you realize your arm is sore because you have caught a lot of fish.

We don't beat ourselves up fishing for one species, if one is not biting another typically is on the bite.  If you need a change of scenery, there are portage lakes where you can park one boat and walk across land to another boat and fish an entirely different lake.  Ten days of fishing goes by in a flash!!