Summer Vacation + Cottage Rentals + Fishing Adventures???

Searching through some older threads here, I cannot find a good enough answer for me, so here I go starting a new discussion! :D

I normally take the family to a place by a lake for at least one week in August.
Since we sold the cottage back in 2007, we've had the freedom to move around searching for ideal places to relax, swim, canoe and FISH.

In recent years we have gone to places like Esker Lake (near Kirkland Lake), McQuaby Lake (near North Bay), and Lake Manitou (on Manitoulin Island)...

Most trips have been awesome in every department - except for FISHING. :sad:

So, I am asking you guys to please share your knowledge and tell us about your past experiences in this kind of thing. If you don't want to respond here, feel free to send me a PM anytime.

My hope is to find a great place this year that ...
♥ is a waterfront cottage with 2 bedrooms and indoor bathroom.
♥ is located in a QUIET area, away from crowds and busy waterways.
♥ has motorboat or canoe/kayak available.
♥ costs less than $1500 for one week.
♥ is within a seven hour drive from Toronto.
♥ is on a lake that HAS FISH.

Now you can laugh at the last requirement all you want but I was skunked 2 years in a row and I don't want to be spitting fire and breaking things this August. :scream:

Please HELP!!!

To get a start, stop into a TSC and pick up the OOD mag and the supplement 'The 2017 Fishing Annual' if it's still there. There are a lot of lodge/rental ads in the classified section at the back..

Thanks for the tip Mikepal. :)

I am looking for the opposite of those lodges though...

We don't like crowds of any kind as I have mentioned, and places that have the budget to advertise tend to be of the crowded variety! ;)

The Internet is full of websites for "camps" and "lodges" and I spend a lot of time going thorough those websites and other ads daily. They ALL talk about their fantastic qualities and their "excellent fishing" blah blah blah... but when you get there - after renting it based on their posted photos and descriptions - you often get disappointed by the actual settings, crowds, noise, and lack of any quality fishing as promised!

I am looking for a hidden gem and hoping that someone will share something here.

May I suggest 3 Season Camp on Lake Kipawa in Quebec.

They charge per person but if your kids are under 14, they are free.
Very secluded.

Boat , gas and worms are included in the package.
Walleye, Pike, Lake Trout and Smallmouth Bass.
Paddle Boat use included.
Back Lake Pike fishing.

http://www.3seasonscamp.com/

Thanks a lot RHYBAK :)

Taggart's Bay Lodge on Lake Kipawa is a great spot. They have an outpost cabin that has everything you are asking about. Have stayed here several times and accommodations are good, it is about 20 minutes from main lodge. It is less than 3 hours east of North Bay and the owners are very nice.

Hawkman, we are a lot a like. Most of my life has been spent going to different places, and as such fortunately I've hit pretty much everywhere in Ontario. Over the years I've had different levels of success fishing. From getting outright skunked over a week, to really good fishing. It's easy to make a place seem like the fish are stacked and biting on every cast,

But, so many other things factor into it. Weather and barometer, bait choices, even which way the wind is blowing while you are there.
So a place that does have good fishing, can be a bust during that 1 week.

Me, I look for other things.
And further off the beaten bath, the better.

I could also name some of the places I've gone to for OOD. One in particular was a stand out. The fishing was ok/good, and despite being just a few hours from TO....There was very little development on the Lake and even less boat traffic. A little pricey though and that was a few years ago. However I really don't like promoting any one place, over any others.

I personally would just keep doing what your doing, try to find the off the beaten path locations, that are quiet, and even if not a remote fly in, train in, ATV in type place......feels like it. In the meantime you keep checking off different lakes/systems in Ontario. There are enough Lakes in Ontario that even if you went to a different Lake each weekend......You won't fish them all in your life.

The fishing....you can never guarantee they won't have lock jaw while there, and thats assuming your on them. One week to the next fish can be somewhere else and what they are interested in can change to.

/edit
lol autospellers :)

I agree with RYBAK I had a camp in the kipawa system for years. If you get skunked up there, then you don't have bait on your hook!!!

[COLOR="#0000FF"]Foxx, Jim, Thanks a lot for the tip! :D
I will definitely explore that idea and see about "discovering" that area this year or next.

I have received a couple of PMs as well and really appreciate the information coming.

[COLOR="#0000FF"]JBen, after fishing in Ontario for 37 years I still feel like I'm scratching the surface! It's a huge province with trillions of spots and never enough time to go play in those places. You have been fortunate to work with the great OOD organization and feed your passion while working!
Of course the rest of us have been fortunate to benefit from viewing your awesome photography and still do so here on these forums. Thanks for that. :thumbup:

Anyway, I am now a grumpy old man, married to a grumpy old lady! We can't stand "noise" of any kind so waking up to Seadoos zapping by the dock is a no-no. Fireworks set off after 11:00 p.m. ?! NO NO NO!!!
You get the picture I'm sure...

So the "family vacation" is that sacred week in August when we want to be a family cut off from the rest of the world and swim, walk, BBQ, read, and veg!
We had a cottage for a long long time on the rocky shores of Georgian Bay where no docks could be built and boat traffic was next to zero.
I caught no fish there - EVER - but loved the wild quietness and the quiet wilderness, and the neighbouring cottages were almost never a problem!

That brings to light my FISHING requirement, which is not a CATCHING requirement most of the time! I have spent 15 hours in a canoe many days when the bite was light to non-existent and I still came home with a huge smile on my face.
I have also experienced days with over a hundred fish caught and released.

The current dilemma of getting skunked two years in a row has come as a result of spending two whole weeks - in 2015 and 2016 - on two different lakes - and using every trick I know, with zero fish caught.

McQuaby Lake is the ONLY place I have ever known in Ontario where a worm at the end of my line remained untouched after 20 hours! Using the worm was an experiment to see if there are ANY critters in that lake at all, because nothing in my tackle box was working - and neither did the worm! So we renamed that pond "Lake NOFISH".

Environmental elements aside, and the "joys of being out there" all considered, this grumpy old man would LIKE to catch a half decent fish in 2017 during the "family vacation". ;)

Update...
Have just put a deposit on a cottage on Kamaniskeg Lake and I truly hope to come back here in August with a good fishing report. Wish me luck!

Please don't take this the wrong way but you had a cottage on Georgian bay and never caught fish???

If its fish you want I suggest anywhere on the Eastern Seaboard, Maine is 10hrs driving then it gets longer from there.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Mauro

Please don't take this the wrong way but you had a cottage on Georgian bay and never caught fish???

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Sorry I didn't see this sooner to respond ... :ashamed:

YES, Mauro!
I hate to admit it but we were on Cape Chin North and that is not an area where you can easily catch fish from a canoe! LOL

In that area there are no docks at all. The shoreline is rocky rocky ROCKY and the Bay gets violent beyond belief. We liked it there because it was QUIET and we never had motorboats disturbing the peace or spoiling the scenery!

My late Father-In-Law had built the cottage in the 60's and they had a canoe and a leaky 12 footer with no working motor. I couldn't take my own boat up because I couldn't launch or park it anywhere...

The few fishing boats that appeared a handful of times every year were equipped with down-riggers and I never ever noticed ANY of them landing a fish!!!

I used to go to the Lake Huron side and fish in Stoke's Bay. Had decent pike and smallmouth bass from the gov't dock and canoe, but several FN fishing trawlers were always in the area as well. In fact those fishing vessels are quite active in those areas up to Tobermory and they do haul in some whitefish and trout on a regular basis.

Anyway, having a cottage or camping on a shoreline doesn't automatically translate into fishing success! ;)

five mile lake lodge just south of chapleau is a decent spot.
good bass fishing with some walleye also, best walleye times are before dark not far from cabins.
owners are great people. its a small lake as the name says.
cabins with boat rentals all in good shape.
there are only a few cabins on the lake.

Okay.... I had promised to report back in August, but we all know how time flies!

I ended up renting a cottage on Madawaska River / Kamaniskeg Lake between Barry's Bay and Combermere. It was a nice, comfortable cottage but it was sold in the meantime and the bank appraiser had to visit one morning during our stay. This means that it may not be available for rent next year unless the new owner continues the renting tradition.
The cottage next door might be for rent though, because other renters were there that week.

Swimming was not bad but my family gave it a 7/10.
No trails for walking or biking, so that gets a 0/10.
Fishing was okay, meaning that I was not skunked and caught some decent bass. :fish:
There was no boat or canoe at the cottage so I used a toy inflatable :ashamed: and rented a motorboat for the last day.
I had planned a two day boat rental but then it rained of course... :madman:

Thanks again to everyone who tried to help me find a good place in 2017.
I am saving all your tips for 2018. ;)

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