Need some suggestions for fishing walleye in Canada

[RoadKillCafe]

Heading up NorthEast (near Timmins) in a few weeks for the start of walleye season at my in-laws cabin. Since this is my first time needing equipment (newbie) and we will be trolling for the most part, I gleaning from other threads the following rod and lure suggestions:

Rods
5' Ugly Stick, Shimano Sahara 750, 5lb Power Pro
Shimano IM6 Convergence rods
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REEL:
Guide Series Ultimate 5 Spinning Reel.
10 ball Bearings
Infinite anti-reverse
Aluminum
5.1:1 ratio

Creekside Micro Series (Crappie Rod)
8'0" 2 piece rod
Ultra Lite
IM7
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Lures
number 5 silver rapala
stupid senko
Rapala - Take your pick just make sure it's a original floater, 5 thru 13, silver or gold.
X-raps for 3 years now and they are by far my favorite walleye bait. Just can't beat a #10 gold x-rap

Any other suggestions?

Thanks!

[MikeTightLines]

I have fished Horwood Lake near Timmins and caught LOTS of walleyes. Our first trip, we did real well trolling Rapalas (original floater) and Storm Thundersticks, in gold/black, chrome/black and perch patterns. On trips since then, we've had electronics and have found some great submerged islands (15-25 fow surronded by 50 or more fow), and hauled up more walleyes on jigs/twisters. Orange, yellow and chartreuse all worked for us. Don't forget a RedEye spoon and a DarDevle Five-of-Diamonds if you intend to troll or cast for pike! The rest of your set-up sounds great. Good Luck and have a safe trip!

[RoadKillCafe]

I have fished Horwood Lake near Timmins and caught LOTS of walleyes. Our first trip, we did real well trolling Rapalas (original floater) and Storm Thundersticks, in gold/black, chrome/black and perch patterns. On trips since then, we've had electronics and have found some great submerged islands (15-25 fow surronded by 50 or more fow), and hauled up more walleyes on jigs/twisters. Orange, yellow and chartreuse all worked for us. Don't forget a RedEye spoon and a DarDevle Five-of-Diamonds if you intend to troll or cast for pike! The rest of your set-up sounds great. Good Luck and have a safe trip!

Hey wait a minute, Horwood Lake is where I am going! Do you stay at that lodge that you can't drive to (but they have access via ATV to a road). We use that road to get to my father-in-law's cabin.

Thanks!

[thedude]

depends on what you are trolling i guess... if you're using jigs & minnows or bottom bouncers/lindy rigs... i'd go with 6' or 6' 6" medium action spinning outfit, 8-12lb mono.

[MikeTightLines]

We stayed at Horwood Lake Lodge, at the far east end of Hardiman Bay. The access road is a logging road, in better shape than an ATV trail, but not much! It's probably 25 miles from Trans-Canada Hwy. back to the lodge. I assume your family's cabin is on the main part of the lake, which by the way is HUGE (14000 acres I think), and we didn't venture that way much- too afraid of getting lost in all those finger bays and backwaters!

If you haven't yet, you need to boat to the far southern end of Horwood Lake for some sight-seeing. Here, the Woman River, a screaming whitewater troutstream, dumps into the lake through a pair of waterfalls. You can hike up along the stream for quite a distance. This is one of the prettiest most scenic places I have ever seen, so make a point of visiting.

Also, if you have ATVs or another way to get there, you need to find your way back to Great Pike Lake, which is south and east of the east end of Hardiman Bay. The name says it all......

If there is anything else I can help with, RoadKillCafe, don't hesitate to ask!

[sea nympho]

'Bleeding Olive' Minnow Rap was my best bait last year for walleyes by far. Don't forget a little cleo.

[silkystud21]

Dont mean to hijack your thread Roadkill.

Mike and Roadkill, I have some questions regarding this lake. A bunch of us are looking at going on a fishing trip next spring/summer and I am in the research stage right now. Went to Lake of the Woods last year and had a blast, but due to gas prices (15 hour drive from Houghton Lake) we are looking for a shorter drive. How far of a drive is Horwood Lake from mid michigan area (saginaw/bay city)? Do you guys have any links or other info on this lake? It sounds really nice. Walleye/perch would be our main target, but also would like to catch pike, musky and smallies.

Again sorry to hijack the thread Roadkill, but you guys seem pretty knowledgeable on this lake.

[RoadKillCafe]

We stayed at Horwood Lake Lodge, at the far east end of Hardiman Bay. The access road is a logging road, in better shape than an ATV trail, but not much! It's probably 25 miles from Trans-Canada Hwy. back to the lodge. I assume your family's cabin is on the main part of the lake, which by the way is HUGE (14000 acres I think), and we didn't venture that way much- too afraid of getting lost in all those finger bays and backwaters!

If you haven't yet, you need to boat to the far southern end of Horwood Lake for some sight-seeing. Here, the Woman River, a screaming whitewater troutstream, dumps into the lake through a pair of waterfalls. You can hike up along the stream for quite a distance. This is one of the prettiest most scenic places I have ever seen, so make a point of visiting.

Also, if you have ATVs or another way to get there, you need to find your way back to Great Pike Lake, which is south and east of the east end of Hardiman Bay. The name says it all......

If there is anything else I can help with, RoadKillCafe, don't hesitate to ask!

My father-in-law's cabin is at Quinns point (hence the name, he was the 1st to build there). Been to the woman river, really cool. We hiked quite a ways up also. There is also a gold mine on one side of the lake (always meant to try panning). Swam off the sand bar that's on the way to the river. North bay is fairly scary when its rough because of all the floating wood piled at the north end. We are heading up there June 6-12th. If you are up there at the same time, stop on by. I'm taking my Acadia with Onstar to see if it works up there.

[RoadKillCafe]

Dont mean to hijack your thread Roadkill.

Mike and Roadkill, I have some questions regarding this lake. A bunch of us are looking at going on a fishing trip next spring/summer and I am in the research stage right now. Went to Lake of the Woods last year and had a blast, but due to gas prices (15 hour drive from Houghton Lake) we are looking for a shorter drive. How far of a drive is Horwood Lake from mid michigan area (saginaw/bay city)? Do you guys have any links or other info on this lake? It sounds really nice. Walleye/perch would be our main target, but also would like to catch pike, musky and smallies.

Again sorry to hijack the thread Roadkill, but you guys seem pretty knowledgeable on this lake.

About an hour short of Timmins, ontario (although the drive in on the dirt road takes about 1/2 - 1 hours so it probably evens out), which ends up being 8-9 hours, including stops for a license, gas, beer store, etc.

Google horwood lake lodge. Also use google maps to find timmins, and then go west (zoom out a little first). Once you find it, turn on satellite. You can see the road going to both Horwood Lake Lodge and our cabin going toward the east finger of the lake. On the west branch there is a road that is a lot shorter from the main paved road, it leads to the dam and a marina, but I cant remember if they have cabins.

We fish almost exclusively for walleye. Hard to catch perch. Seen a few whitefish caught. Pike are easy, probably could stick your finger in the water and wiggle it. I've seen 48" pike come out of the lake. I caught a 26" walleye last time I was up there. Best time is the start of the walleye season, beginning of June-ish.

There are 3 danger spots in the main part of the lake.

Right where the left & right branch is at the corner gets shallow fast.
Across the lake from that there is a bay that has a shallow area with barely submerged rocks blocking it
Up further near one of the islands is a barely submerged boulder (sticks out more in the summer)

One of the islands has a nice spot to dock and tent camp (let the kids run around on the island while fishing nearby).

[MikeTightLines]

Horwood is a fantastic lake for walleyes and pike. During two of our trips, we met people from Minnesota and Wisconsin, one of them a fisheries biologist , who fish Horwood yearly. I've seen a 36" walleye and 40" pike come from Horwood, but I know there are larger pike around!
We' ve caught a few perch, but never a smallie or musky. Don't believe there are lakers, either, but I have heard of a brookie or two. I also saw pike with whitefish in their bellies, but we never actually caught a whitey.
The east end of the lake, Hardiman Bay, is dangerous water due to an incredible amount of floating deadheads. At the far NE end is an area we called " the Gauntlet" due to all the stacked-up timber. Scary boating, but we found some nice pike in there. The owners of Horwood used to keep chained timbers across the mouth of the bay , just to keep people out and probably save on prop repair. Keep your shear pins out or at least carry extras, and maybe a prop!
The owners of Horwood Lodge run a great operation, clean, courteous and organized. They also do bear hunts.The nearest town is Timmins, about 70 miles east. As RoadKill said, just google Horwood Lake Lodge. Well worth the drive ( maybe 9 hours from Flint) .
Roadkill, we tried panning around the gold mine, too, but found no gold, although I did find a huge chunk of pyrite (fools gold).

[RoadKillCafe]

Yer missing more than 1/2 the lake if you haven't gone up the left branch toward the dam. There are some pretty cool inlets to explore. My wife has seen bear and moose (one swimming in the water).

[bucknuts33]

When we fish Canada my main walleye lure is a blakemore roadrunner.... Back trolled tipped with fathead.....Humps and level changes always hold fish.... Carolina rigged floating jigs also worked real well.... My last trick is slip bobber .... Trolling over deep water, thundersticks work well along with gold hot n tots... Good luck .......
We use planer boards locally on our small bodies of water, are you using them too?

[MikeTightLines]

I always wanted to see the main body of the lake, but we did so well on 'eyes in Hardiman Bay, we never saw reason to venture much farther. We also have seen bear and moose, including a bear swimming across the lake in front of our boat! Gotta watch out for the moose on the roads at night- they're everywhere and have no fear. Lots of wolves, too. Never actually saw one, but on moonlit nights , it sounds like the wolves are all around you! Talk about making the hair on the back of your neck stand up. First time in my life I ever felt like food!
Next trip, probably next summer, I will make sure to see the main body of the lake. Thanks, RKC , for the invitation.

Bucknuts33, yes, we do use in-line planers, esp. with original Rapala and Thundersticks. In that gin-clear water, getting the lure away from the boat can make all the difference. We ran lures generally 80-100' behind boards.

Horwood Lodge supplied minnows and crawlers to any that wanted bait, but I never saw a need for it-we always caught more than enough walleyes without it!

[RoadKillCafe]

I always wanted to see the main body of the lake, but we did so well on 'eyes in Hardiman Bay, we never saw reason to venture much farther. We also have seen bear and moose, including a bear swimming across the lake in front of our boat! Gotta watch out for the moose on the roads at night- they're everywhere and have no fear. Lots of wolves, too. Never actually saw one, but on moonlit nights , it sounds like the wolves are all around you! Talk about making the hair on the back of your neck stand up. First time in my life I ever felt like food!
Next trip, probably next summer, I will make sure to see the main body of the lake. Thanks, RKC , for the invitation.

Bucknuts33, yes, we do use in-line planers, esp. with original Rapala and Thundersticks. In that gin-clear water, getting the lure away from the boat can make all the difference. We ran lures generally 80-100' behind boards.

Horwood Lodge supplied minnows and crawlers to any that wanted bait, but I never saw a need for it-we always caught more than enough walleyes without it!

Never used planers up there, early in the season easy enough to catch them. Might be a good idea later in the summer though. Horseflys are nastier later in the summer though. Things will chase you no water how far you swim.