Air-Dale Little Missinaibi Lake

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We have been fishing as a group for the last 8 years – we call it the ‘Annual Fishing Trip’. Some years we gather more guys but it has been the same 4 guys year after year. Last year I threw it out there to do a fly in fishing trip to mix it up. It has always been on my mind and no better time to do it than the present. So last winter the 4 of us went to the TO Sportsman Show and hit the outfitters with a vengeance. We researched what some camps include and what ones do not, where to fish and when to go. After stalking to Mike Borger we finally decided on booking with Air-Dale out of Wawa for early in September.

For those of you that have not had the pleasure of meeting Martin and Jen they are truly very gracious hosts. We had a small hiccup with our schedule (on our end) and Jen worked on it and asked us if we would be open to changing lakes and within the end of the day she had us booked into Little Missinaibi Lake and we were ecstatic – I cannot say enough……she saved our trip! We showed her how grateful we were with a nice bottle of red wine (that is the least we could have done).

We met in Burlington 6AM on Saturday and evenly arranged the food, equipment and personal bags between the two cars jumped in, hit Timmies and then we were off. The drive up was very exciting (as with any trip) and made great time getting out of the GTA. One of the guys drove to Ottawa the day before to drop off his son at the U of O and drove home that night arriving 2hrs before were leaving for Wawa. We stopped in Blind River for lunch then back in and motored to Wawa grabbed dinner then drove 15min down the road to meet Jen and Martin where we stayed the night before our flight.
We woke up in the morning to a cloudy, wet and foggy morning but it did not dampen our spirit as we were like 4 yr olds on Christmas morning. We packed the car and went to the main lodge and Jen had made some breakfast sandwiches and the coffee was on so we sat around and waited for the fog to burn off and had a few laughs with Jen and the boys. Once we got the call from Watson’s it was game on…….in the car and we were on our way to the air base in Wawa.

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The flight in was uneventful (that is a good thing……just ask any pilot). As we descended the pilot banked and make a slow left turn and lost some altitude and we got our first peak of the cabin. Within minutes the plane pulled up to the dock and the doors open and we were greeted my four Americans that were on their way out. We unloaded our gear and loaded the plane with their gear and had a quick tour of the camp with them and after pointing to some good spots on the map they were in the plane heading to the main channel. Just as we lost sight of the plane around the side of our island we heard the engine rev up and moments later we saw it clear the distant trees and turn south……then silence.

We wasted no time picking bunks, squaring away our food then out to the deck to get our rods and fishing tackle sorted out. We were almost giddy as we carried our gear to the boats and loaded them up with life jackets, landing nets, worms, and warm clothes. Since it was 1:30PM we decided to check out the narrows first and then drive around the lake and get a lay of the land. As we approached the narrows I pulled the boat to the right and slowed down to idle and threw a Rapala behind the boat and slowly made my way to the narrows following the shoreline. Within minutes I felt the familiar tug on the rod and I stood up and put the boat in neutral and yelled ‘fish on’…..first fish of the trip. It was a nice size pike so we took a pic and released it. We fished the narrows and tried different lures and caught 12-15 fish mostly pike with the odd pickerel thrown in there for good measure. After fishing that area for a couple of hours we went for a boat ride on the upper part of the lake. I was amazed how shallow some of the smaller areas off the main lake were – these were just 3-4’ deep and just enough to clear the skeg and prop. We made our way back to the cabin around 6 and started on dinner. The guys ahead of us were kind enough to leave a pork tenderloin behind so we thought what the hell and sparked up the BBQ.

The cabin had 3 boats rigged and ready to go and another 3 on shore with 2 spare motors in the gas shack. They were all 14 Naden’s with Yamaha 9.9 (4 strokes) – the three motors we used ran like a top. The pump to fill the water tower started within 2 pulls and filled the container up in about 1 beer. The two gravity fed outhouses worked just fine. Fridge and stove worked amazing and we actually made muffins and garlic bread in the oven. The fishing throughout the week was steady. The falls always produced a steady stream of 15-18” pickerel. I enjoyed fishing the upper pond just below the first water falls as I averaged one pickerel in 4 casts. They seemed to like a #3 Mepps with a yellow or green twirl grub attached to the treble hook or a jig head and a plastic twirl grub Great place for a shore lunch or just a fire to take the edge off. The fishing off the bottom of the falls also produced some good numbers and a couple of nice fat Pickerel.
The narrows in the middle of the lake was always good for Pike and Pickerel and once you figured the place out it was steady fishing. The best largest Pickerel was through the narrows and hang a left and follow that system until it puts you on a nice long body of water that was running north-south. Found that trolling north on the west side of the lake using worm harnesses and bottom bouncers was a guarantee for some nice fat Pickerel in the 18-23” range. Pike were more in the middle (deeper) portion of the lake and the south end of the lake. This is the spot where we saw a bad eagle flying overhead for a couple of hours.

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But like most things in life all things must come to an end. Things were pretty quiet as we packed up and waited for the plane to come and get us. When we arrive back at the air base Jen was there waiting for us to make sure everything went well and see us off.

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[JJL]

sounds like a great trip! thanks for the write up.

[ahalls]

Great write up. Hope to head up there someday....