Printable View
A group of us are looking at a fishing trip to Allanwater Bridge. I've read a lot about Allanwater Bridge Lodge (www.allanwater.com) but I'm wondering if anyone has any comments on another cabin available at Allanwater Bridge run by Wildwaters Nature Tours out of Thunder Bay (www.wabakimi.com/retreats.html) ? This place seems to be in the same area but I can't find very much info about it.
Thanks.
For those interested, we did spend a week (June 28-July 5, 2013) in Allanwater Bridge at the Wabikimi Adventure tours camp. In short, it was a very good trip with excellent accommodations and great fishing. We took the Via Rail Trans-Canada train from Sudbury to Allanwater bridge and back (approx 17 hours each way). This is the train that travels from Toronto to Vancouver 3 times per week and has all the amenities (dining cars, sleeper cars, observation cars, lounges etc). Although Via's equipment is a little dated, it was a very nice relaxing trip and certainly gives you an appreciation for the vast amount of bush country we have in Canada.
We fished the two main lakes accessible directly from the camp (McEwen and Kawaweogama) and we found pike and walleye just about everywhere. There's a lot of water to cover and the number of fishing spots was mind boggling. It was all we could do to barely touch the major areas of each lake over the course of 6 days of fishing.
It was a great trip and recommend it for anyone looking for something a little different. We have already booked another week for next year.
Cheers.
Dogan, how much did it cost for the via for each person?
We paid $233 including taxes for economy which was a sale price. We didn't go for the sleeper car since the trip was during the day (roughly 5am - 10pm).
well, thats not too bad, i heard the sleepers are pricy though!
If I remember, we hit a 50% off sale from Via. With 50% off, I think the sleeper was still going to be upwards of $800. For that trip, it's really not worth it. If I remember right, there were 3 economy (coach) cars in the train and it was not very busy. We each had a set of 4 seats to ourselves for the duration which was plenty of room. I spoke with a Mother and her two kid's on the train that were going from Toronto all the way to Vancouver in economy...something I don't think I would do without the sleeper.
ya toronto to vancouver, i wouldnt make it, i wonder how long it takes for that thing to reach vancouver from
TO?
3 days, 14 hours and 42 minutes.
Hey - thanks for the idea Dogan. I regularly travel Via Rail on business, and I have a ton of rail points to use. The train, right from London, would cost us nothing. I could probably even get us the sleepers with the points I have Just so I have this right: Allanwater Bridge Lodge would pick us up from a rail station somewhere, and return us back to the station? If so, sweet. This might work for us.
Denny,
Just to be clear, we stayed at the Wabakimi Adventures camp and not Allanwater Bridge Lodge. Having said that though, they are basically right next to each other and access the same water bodies. We were on the south side of the railroad tracks and Allanwater Bridge Lodge is on the north side.
There's no rail station to speak of at Allanwater Bridge. It's just a sign post and the train stops there and let's you off at the side of the tracks and then leaves...no station, no platform, no nothing. Each place is literally 100 yards from the tracks where you are let off and each place has motorized vehicle and trailer to get your gear to your cabin.
I went with a group and stayed at Allanwater Bridge Lodge last year at the end of August. We came the other way from Winnipeg Manitoba it was an 8 hour train ride. Service is very good with boats and gas included. Nice cabins and showers with power. Excellent fishing and scenery. I will be going back again soon. The owner has a very good video posted online on what to expect at www.allanwater.com
We just got back from Allanwater Bridge 2 weeks ago. I will post a report when my son sends me some of the photos he took. We drove to Sudbury and took a train from there, which is supposed to be a 17 hour train ride. We were fortunate in that I travel Via Rail on business between London and Toronto, so I had rail loyalty points to spend. We had the sleeper cars with meals included, so we arrived fresh and ready to go. I agree with calmwaters: excellent fishing and scenery. We loved the place. The only negative was that most of the outboard motors seem to be nearing end of life. Hopefully the owner Johnny will start to replace them soon. We found Johnny to be a bit of a character and very entertaining - worth the price of admission on its own.