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I apologize for the lack of updates here lately. The truth is, I didn't do a lot of ice fishing this winter, and when I did I didn't take many pictures. I did get out last week with my buddy (and fellow Moosehorn Lodge guide) Colin Gosse for a combo day of walleye and lake trout. Colin did the guiding and put us on solid action. Walleye limits by noon, then 14 lakers to cap off a great day on the ice.   One bait that I always have tied on a rod all winter that caught both walleye and lakers is the Lindy Rattlin' Flyer Spoon. You can see it in the lake trout picture above, and that blue/silver is my favorite color. I also had the pleasure of introducing my oldest son to ice fishing this winter. As expected, he loved the entire experience.  For anyone interested in ice out predictions, here's what going on around here... We had a huge melt last week and lost a lot of our snow. There is a lot less ice than usual for this time of year, too. I measured 18 inches of solid ice the other day. Although we are back in another cold snap, it's not cold enough to make ice, but it's currently not melting either. Once the ice starts to go it should go pretty fast. I have no doubt ice will be gone before May 1 this year.
It's shaping up to be a really busy season this year. If you're thinking about booking a trip get in touch with me ASAP as I have a limited number of days left in May-Aug. September -November muskie hunt dates are filling up too. Summer is flying by here in northwestern Ontario. Its been a wild ride weather wise - right now we're in the middle of a heatwave, but just 10 days ago we were battling high wind, rain and cool temps. One day the high didn't even reach 60F. Despite the wild weather, the fishing has remained good. Of course some days are better than others, but that's fishing. Summertime walleye spots like humps, prominent points and deep flats produce steady action. The best depths can range from 15-30 feet, depending on the day. One thing I've noticed is that the stronger the wind, the shallower the big walleye will position themselves on structure.   It's hard to beat jigging with live bait for catching walleye. I use Lindy Jigs and my top colors are glow, chartreuse, pink, orange and red. There's something about feeling the classic 'walleye tap' then setting the hook that I'll never get tired of. Targeting pike is a great way to spend an afternoon on Lac Seul. There's a lot more action than muskie fishing and we run into some great pike out here.   The muskie chase is never easy, but as I say it's a lot of work for a lot of reward.   I caught these 2 muskies on the same night on my new favorite color PDeez bucktail - Italian Stallion. Click the link to visit the website and check out that hot color. This next fish was an awesome boat side top-water strike for my guest Mark. Good times!  Check out the lead page for my latest Ontario OUT OF DOORS feature article. All the photos in this article are by my friend Suzie Hughdie, who did a great job. The article is about jigging for summertime lake trout. It's a great way to catch lakers in the summer without the hassle or cost of downriggers.  Just this past week we put this technique to the test. Here's my guest Mike with a nice summertime laker.  There's still plenty of summer left, but fall - the best time of the year - is within sight. Stay tuned!
The 2014 ice season is well under way now and I've been slow to get a report and pictures up. Better late than never, eh! It's been a cold and snowy winter here in NW Ontario so far. Conditions on the lake are great though, with a solid base of ice and plenty of snow on top for the snow machines. The slush is minimal, too, which is a major bonus. Fishing has been pretty good so far with a steady pick of walleye and pike. Haven't had the chance to chase lakers and whitefish yet, but that should change soon. 
Every year I catch big active walleye on Lindy Darters. This Lac Seul 'eye is a perfect example. Last winter I did an article for Ontario OUT OF DOORS about catching big pike with gear and tactics normally used for walleye fishing. It never fails that some of the years biggest pike come while jigging for winter walleye in 30-feet of water. This big girl was a treat to pull through the hole the other day. 
My buddy Joe traveled up from southern Ontario for a visit earlier in January. Of course we went fishing…. here's Joe with a nice walleye. 
Back in December I had the chance to fish with longtime guide buddy Brandon Ouelette on the legendary Bay of Quinte in SE Ontario. Brandon operates Quinte Hard Water Specialists guide service, based in Belleville Ontario. Quinte is well regarded as the premiere destination for monster walleye. Every time you drop your jig down you've got a realistic shot at a 10 + pounder. These guys don't even bat an eyelash at 5-pounders. True to form, Quinte produced a monster for Brandon's good buddy Justin. This is - by far - the biggest walleye I've ever laid eyes on. Anywhere. Ever. 
14- pounds, 4-oz and 32-inches If you're anywhere near southern Ontario this winter give Brandon a call and book a trip to chase one of these giants for yourself.
It's hard to believe that we're mid way through the winter season already. With February half over that means the warmer spring fishing in March is just around the corner. Mid-winter means cold, and we've had our share of 40 below already. We also have a ton of snow. From the fishes perspective, it's a dark and cold world under the ice. They move pretty slow at this time of year so downsizing and slowing down presentations definitely helps. We've been getting our share of nice walleye. Lindy jigging spoons like the Frostee and Rattlin' Flyer Spoon have been producing, and so has a jig and minnow. 
Jigging Raps are always a staple through the ice. 
Lake trout get a lot of my attention during the winter and I've landed some really nice ones. 
Using a tip-up with deadbait on a quick strike has proven to be a big fish magnet. Along with the previous lake trout, this monster pike was caught on a quick strike rig by my good buddy Mike. 
There is still a lot of ice fishing season left here in northwestern Ontario. I've got some dates available in March for ice trips so get in touch with me if you're interested in booking a trip.
The first ice adventure of 2013 is in the books. My good buddy Graham came up to visit and do some ice fishing. Graham is no stranger to the area, having lived in Sioux Lookout for a winter in 2009. We checked out some of our old favourite spots and did some new stuff too. We put our time into chasing lake trout, walleye and whitefish. We fished 4 different lakes and caught fish everywhere we went. Overall the bite was a bit tough and we had to work for every fish we caught. Some areas that were excellent this time last year just weren't holding fish. The first thing we did was camp out for an afternoon on a Lac Seul walleye spot that's known for kicking out big fish. We didn't catch many walleye, but Graham did ice this big fat Lac Seul 'eye. 
Over the course of the trip it seemed that walleye wanted smaller and simpler presentations. It was hard to beat a 1/8 oz jig and minnow, but I did manage to catch a handful on a Lindy Rattlin' Flyer Spoon. 
On a day we decided to target lake trout and whitefish, that same Rattlin' Flyer Spoon was on fire for the whities! We put a hurting on some big-big whitefish. They'd hit it sitting still, they'd chase it and hit it while moving - I even had one intercept it on the free-fall. 
Take a look at these monster 'humpback' whitefish! 
After having fun with the whitefish we switched gears and targeted lake trout. When it comes to winter lakers, I love fishing soft plastics. It wasn't 5-minutes after putting on a white tube jig that this big laker inhaled it only 15-feet under the ice. I marked this fish on my Humminbird ICE55 flasher - without that tool I never would have known this big laker was flying high in the water column. 
What a great fish to break in my new 36" St. Croix Premier ice rod with. Another day we made the trek into a backcountry lake trout lake that's about an hour south of Sioux Lookout. We broke trail into the lake no problem, but getting out was another story. Big hills, unpacked trails, sugary light snow and heavy sleighs meant everyone was getting stuck. After 2 hours of sweating, swearing and back-breaking pushing/pulling/lifting we were back at the trucks. It's a good thing the fishing was on and everyone took home a nice limit of 3-to 4-pound lakers for the table. 
It's a long winter here in northwestern Ontario so look for more ice fishing reports to come soon.
It seems like just yesterday everyone was getting ready for walleye opener. Now the leaves are changing and surface temperatures are dropping. It's official... summer is over and fall has begun. Overall it was a great summer on Lac Seul. Lots of walleye, pike and some really great muskies hit the net. A few days were dedicated to jigging summertime lake trout on Big Vermilion Lake, which is always fun for a change. Later in the summer the walleye fishing on Minnitaki Lake really heats up. Here's a beauty 'eye from Minnitaki. They have a hard time resisting Lindy X-Change jigs tipped with a lively minnow. 
Here's another Minnitaki monster of the Essox variety. Check out this 41" pike my guest Steve caught last week! 
I had a blast fishing with my buddies Dan, Kevin, Shannon and Paul on the Labour Day weekend. The boys made the trip here to celebrate Shannons 40th birthday. Double-header lakers for Shannon and Dan. 
Paul and I with a nice walleye. Paul was a fishing newbie when he arrived but an old pro by the time they left. 
Kevin and a nice walleye. 
And the icing on the cake... the birthday boy catches a muskie. 
Also had a great time chasing muskie with my buddy Mike at the end of August. We had nice warm weather and found a bunch of muskie, and some big ones too, relating to shallow water and dying weeds. Here's a nice one that Mike got to go on a top-water. 
Hunting season has also arrived here in NW Ontario. Black bear season is open so be sure to check out the article I wrote on building a bear bait in Ontario OUT OF DOORS here.
Stay tuned for a fall chalked full of muskie fishing on Lac Seul. I've got some great trips that I'm looking forward to and some really exciting news that you'll just have to wait to find out more about. Summer is here in a big way in northwestern Ontario. The recent weather has been hot and so has the fishing. Water temps are way up, with mid 70's on the main lake today. The mayfly hatches are done and the walleye have been on the move. 100+ walleye days are still the norm - its really been an excellent year. Over the last week or so walleye have moved en masse to structure in the main lake basin. Traditional summer patterns are working very well. Over the last 2 days I've caught 300 walleye all from 28-34 feet-of-water. Lindy jigs tipped with minnows have been catching all the fish. Hot colors are glow, chartreuse, orange and white. Here's a shot of one of my guests, Lucas, with a nice walleye that won him the 'biggest fish of the trip' prize. 
Here's another nice humpback Lac Seul walleye from an overcast day. Even the guide gets lucky sometimes :) 
The Bruley party had a blast fishing with me at Moosehorn Lodge. They timed their trip just right for some awesome top-water smallie action. 
June 16th was a special day in these parts - muskie opener! I had a chance to chase these monsters with Nick and Rocco, a couple muskie obsessed guys from Chicago. Last year Rocco set the bar pretty high with a 53.5" giant! This year, however, it was Nick's turn. Nick boated 3 nice muskies, all caught on bucktails. On average we saw about 6-7 fish a day. Here's a sight I've been waiting a long time to see - a muskie in the Beckman Net! 
Let 'em go, let 'em grow! 
Coming up soon - more muskie, walleye, pike and lakers. Check out weekly audio reports at the Lindy website.
It's hard to believe, but we're already at the mid-way point of the 2012 ice fishing season. Normally mid-winter is the toughest bite of the ice season but we're still going strong with a lot of great days on the ice and big fish being caught. We've been having a relatively mild winter so maybe that has something to do with it. I wouldn't mind another deep-freeze though... we need to build more ice so we can fish into early April. I'm going to start off this report on a bit of a sidetrack with some news and housekeeping from benbeattieoutdoors.com. First, you'll notice a new page on bbo.com - Videos. I really enjoy putting together videos of my adventures, so look for the Videos page to grow with content. In fact, I just made a new video of an exciting musky catch from 2 seasons ago while fishing with some good friends. Here it is! Some other exciting news to share - I'm presenting a seminar on musky fishing at the Central Canada Outdoor Show in Thunder Bay. The show is at the Sports Dome and my talk is on Saturday Feb. 25th at 12pm. If you are in the area come on out to the show and lets talk muskies! Alright, back to ice fishing. It's hard to beat the multi-species action we have at our doorstep here in northwestern Ontario. Who could argue with catching walleye, lake trout, whitefish and pike from the same hole? Lake trout are my favourite fish to chase in the winter. They get big and fight hard, giving the best chance for some serious reel-peel on the ice. I have the same philosophy with lake trout that I have with muskie - target big fish! It often means catching less fish, but when you do get one it's well worth the effort. I'll start off with a few pictures of some really beautiful lakers. 
Here's my buddy Mike with a beauty that hammered a jigging spoon and gave him an awesome fight. 
This next fish crushed a Lindy Darter, 5-minutes after I dropped it down the hole. 
Another philosophy from muskie fishing that I share with lake trout is the importance of catch-and-release. I let all my big lake trout go. There's nothing wrong with keeping a trout for the table, but I much prefer smaller fish for eating. Three-to-four pounders make great table fare. 
Walleye fishing has also been excellent this winter with lots of action and some big fish in the mix as well. Here's a couple nice walleye from recent trips. Both fish hit a Lindy Rattlin' Flyer Spoon tipped with a minnow. That spoon has been my hottest bait this winter, catching every species under the ice. 
While I don't often target pike during the winter until last ice, it's common to catch them while fishing for other species. Here's a trophy I landed while jigging for walleye. 
One of the most underrated species we have here in northwestern Ontario is the whitefish. They are super fun to catch and when you land on a school of them the action can be non-stop. We do get incidental catches while chasing walleye and lake trout, but we also target whitefish too. Here's a few big hump-back monsters from recent trips. Notice the difference in colours between the first two that were caught on different lakes. 
Believe it or not, but these big whitefish are smelt eating machines! 
I also had the opportunity to fish at Brown's Clearwater West Lodge near Attikokan, Ontario with Ontario OUT OF DOORS travel editor, James Smedley. We had a great trip, exploring new water on Clearwater Lake, White Otter Lake and Grey Trout Lake. These waters are known for producing BIG lake trout, including the current ice fishing world record. James and I landed some really nice trout - no giants - but that's reason enough to go back again. Here's a shot that James snapped of me with a nice Clearwater Lake trout. 
James is an award winning photographer and outdoor writer from Wawa, Ontario. For more information check out his website www.jamessmedleyoutdoors.com Here's James with a nice trout that he caught on the first day of our trip. 
Another cool thing we got to check out on this trip was White Otter Castle. Hand crafted by Jimmy McQuat on White Otter Lake in the early 1900's, the Castle tells a story of one man's triumph and tragedy in the rugged Ontario wilderness. Read more about it here. This is a picture of the Castle today, after restoration. 
Coming up, there's still a lot more winter to enjoy here in northwestern Ontario. Believe it or not, the best ice fishing is yet to come! March offers the best action of the year and usually the nicest conditions too. Get in touch with me to book an ice fishing trip you'll never forget. Until next time, good fishing. Ben The 2012 ice fishing season is off to an amazing start here in northwestern Ontario. Unlike our friends in more southerly areas, there is lots of ice and snow to play on up here. We’ve had some great days on the lakes with some really big fish caught already. Walleye and Lake Trout get most of my attention during the winter but we get other great species like pike, whitefish, bass, specks and other trout as well. One of the coolest fish I’ve seen hit the ice so far this winter is this Rainbow Trout that my buddy Greg caught.  The MNR stocked these fish a few years ago and needless to say, they’ve grown to an impressive size! We’ve been getting good numbers and sizes of walleye from Lac Seul and Minnitaki Lake. The morning and evening primetimes have had noticeably better action than mid-day. We’re getting fish in classic wintertime spots like prominent points, humps and bottleneck areas in and around the main lake basins. Depths of 25-to-30 feet have been best. Hot baits are Lindy Darters, jigs/minnows, Jigging Rapalas and Rattlin’ Flyer Spoons.   Lake trout are one of my favourite fish and there’s no better time than during ice fishing season to catch big lakers. I have the same philosophy with lakers as I do with muskie – I’d rather catch fewer big fish than a bunch of small ones. Luckily a couple of my buddies feel the same way, so we set off on a hunt for big lakers last week. We landed multiple fish over 30-inches, including 4 over 35-inches. I'll let a few of the pictures do the rest of the talking!   This is my good buddy Mike with one of the biggest lakers I’ve ever seen hit the ice. A beautiful 38-incher. Here’s Mike releasing another big lake trout. Congrats buddy!   Another nice lake trout for Greg. Turns out Mike was on a big fish hunt… check out this FAT 41-inch pike!!  Rounding off the great multi species action from the past couple weeks are small mouth bass, splake and whitefish.    Big hump-back whitie that slurped down a Lindy Slick Jig. In other news, be sure to check out the new Ontario OUT OF DOORS. I’ve got an article in there about a fly-in trip I went on back in September to Richter Lake, north of Nakina, Ontario.  Check out this video I made from the trip too. Keep up-to-date with all my ice fishing reports by visiting the Lindy National Audio Fishing Reports page. Click on the National Audio Fishing Reports logo on the top of the Lindy page, then click on Ontario on the map, and then click my name/picture. An up-to-date audio report that I recorded will play, giving you the details on what's happening on the ice. Be sure to check back soon for more ice fishing action here in NW Ontario. Cheers and good fishing! Ben Winter always comes quick here in NW Ontario. It seems like yesterday I was cranking in muskies on Lac Seul, and now it's -20C and the lakes are frozen over. It's a welcomed change though. One thing I really love about NW Ontario is having 4 distinct seasons - each bringing with it exciting opportunities out of doors. My frist ice fishing trip was November 26th, chasing brook trout. We fished on 4" of solid ice and 2 of us managed limits of 13-to-18 inch brookies. Such pretty fish... and delicious too! 
There's a lot I'm looking forward to this winter on the ice. My number one favourite species to target is lake trout. There's nothing like watching a thick red band on your flasher as it closes in on your bait... the anticipation and the unmistakable thump of a solid hit followed by some serious reel-peel!! January 1st can't come soon enough. In the meantime, there's brook trout, splake, walleye and pike to keep us busy. The auger is gassed up and the snowmobile is ready to go. Check out this video I made highlighting some of the amazing ice fishing we have here. All of the footage and photos were from last season and all within 30-minutes of Sioux Lookout. If that doesn't get you pumped up to hit the ice, I don't know what will!! Also be sure to check out the Novmeber/December issue of Ontario OUT OF DOORS magazine. It's loaded with great content, including a feature article I wrote called 'Size Small' - A downsized approach for icing winter walleye. To view the article, download the .pdf here. 
Keep up-to-date with all my ice fishing reports by visiting the Lindy National Audio Fishing Reports page. Click on the National Audio Fishing Reports logo on the top of the Lindy page, then click on Ontario on the map, and then click my name/picture. An up-to-date audio report that I recorded will play, giving you the details on what's happening on the ice. Be sure to check back soon for more early ice action here in NW Ontario. Cheers and good fishing! Ben |
AuthorBen Beattie is a fishing guide and outdoor writer living in Sioux Lookout, in northwestern Ontario. Archives
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