Road trip to Lake Nipigon

Just about anyone who enjoys fishing has a “bucket list” of places where they would love to wet a line if they ever got the chance.
For me, there are several high-end bass fishing lakes that have been on my list and then a few special places (usually remote) that offer world-class fishing for something.
I would love to go anywhere in the Northwest Territories, the Yukon, or Labrador.
Last week, I had the chance to knock one place off my “bucket list” when I visited Lake Nipigon to catch world-class brook trout.
Lake Nipigon is a massive body of water about an hour east of Thunder Bay and believe it or not, it’s even bigger than Lake of the Woods!
While it has a fantastic population of lake trout, pike, and walleye, what Lake Nipigon is famous for is its brook trout.
The Nipigon River, which eventually runs into Lake Superior, is where the world record brook trout was caught way back in 1915. It was a 14-pound specimen and is one of the longest standing world records of any freshwater fish.
Last week, I was very fortunate to hook up with Thunder Bay angler Gord Ellis to do some fishing on the Nipigon River and film a couple of TV shows—one for brook trout on Lake Nipigon and one for salmon below the last dam on the Nipigon River.
Gord has fished this area his entire life and, in my opinion, is the guy to fish with in the Thunder Bay area. Not only is he a great angler who knows the area very well, he also is a top-notch guy.
We have known each other for a long time but this marked the first time we got to share a boat together.
The first day we fished, Gord took us out to Lake Nipigon in search of brook trout. For those of you who aren’t familiar with them, they are the most colourful, beautiful fish that we have in fresh water.
While there are some great places to catch these fish farther north, nowhere else can rival Lake Nipigon for the size that these trout grow to there.
We ended up having an amazing day of fishing, catching about 15 brook trout.
We do have some brook trout fishing opportunities across Northwestern Ontario, but these all are stocked fish in small lakes. As such, to get the chance to catch wild brook trout really was awesome—they are so pretty and they fight hard.
We got a great TV show taped, catching fish on both artificial lures and nightcrawlers fished beneath a float.
The next day, we headed out on the Nipigon River (on the Lake Superior side of the dams) to chase some salmon that run up the river in the fall to spawn. This would give us an opportunity to catch some larger chinook salmon.
I did not know this but these salmon have just a four-year life cycle. They are born in the river, then spend their life out in the lake before moving back into the river after four years to spawn and die shortly afterward.
It’s incredible how fast these fish grow; many of them are in the 15- to 20-pound range after only that short amount of time.
It ended up being another great day on the water as we did manage to boat a big chinook, as well as a bunch of smaller pink salmon. It’s going to make for a great show.
This trip was a real eye-opener for me in that we have these amazing fisheries a short drive away that are much different than anything else we have across Sunset Country.
I would highly recommend a visit to either place for anyone looking to take a trip to fish for brook trout or salmon.
A big thanks to Quebec Lodge in Red Rock for some amazing accommodations and meals on this trip; it is a very nice spot.
Look for the TV shows to air early in 2017.
Meanwhile, there still are a few tournaments going on across the district this weekend. In Nestor Falls, the Musky Cup has turned into an annual event while down at Rainy Lake, LaBelle’s Resort is hosting a one-day bass tournament on Saturday.
Finally, the Shoal Lake Last Chance tournament is taking place Saturday and Sunday. I will be out at Shoal Lake—it’s one of my favourite places to fish and it’s close to home for me.
Anglers can sign up for this one on Saturday morning.
Have a great week and if you get the chance to get out and enjoy this great fall weather, be sure to take advantage of it!