Last year after both of us returned from our respective trips, mine to Pasha Lake Cabins and his to Hidden River Lodge, we both discussed how we have enjoyed all of the places we’ve been but still haven’t found that special place that has all the ingredients that make us want to go back year after year. Pasha Lake had great fishing but 24 hours of driving is a bit much. Ken said Hidden River Lodge had great owners and was a lot of fun but the fishing (at least catching) wasn’t what he had hoped and the camp didn’t have a lot of recent improvements. Ken emailed me that:

We still haven’t found a place up north that we can call home and want to go back to.

I knew exactly what he meant.

Enter discussion of Brennan Harbour on the Whaleback Channel of Lake Huron, off the mouth of the Spanish River. I had talked with the folks from Brennan Harbour over the off season but they finished second on my list to a trip to the St. Lawrence River due to us wanting to fish from a pontoon boat since my dad, two (getting bigger) teenage sons, and I enjoy fishing from the same boat. But they finished #1 on Ken’s list, and he booked a trip for August 6th through 13th.

Based on his review, I think Ken may have just found that magic place to call home and go back to. I know that based on his review they are #1 on my short list for 2012, and they should be on your short list too.

Here’s Ken’s review…

Location:
Whalesback Channel ( on the northshore of Lake Huron)
Easy drive to lodge from central Ohio , aprox 11 hours

Resort and Cabins:

Very well maintained cabins and resort. Brennan Harbour resort is very vibrant and full of life, the owners James and Casey take great pride in their camp and it shows. This was by far the nicest camp we have ever visited.

This was also the first resort that truly seemed “wife friendly” there were a few families there and all were having a great time.

Staff:

The best experience we have had on any of our Ontario adventures. They go out of their way at every turn to help make your trip a positive and memorable one. Andre’ (the dock guy) also went out of his way often to asst in any way possible, always with a smile.

Food:
No comment , we chose the housekeeping route, but the guests that did have their meals prepared by the staff were very happy and full.

Boats:
All were in top shape , safe and were setup for fishing. We selected their top of the line boat , the lund rebel ; well worth the money.
They offer boat insurance and I recommend you purchase it. The insurance is inexpensive and I am glad I purchased it. I am embarrassed to admit this but we blew out our first prop on this trip, James had us up and running again in a couple of hours. Again sorry bout that James.

Fishing:
Ah yes on to the good stuff:) Brennan Harbour is a multi species anglers dream spot. Close to civilization but seemed very far removed. There were a few local boats that fish these waters regularly, but the channel didn’t seem fished out or pressured at all. You could line up with a couple other boats on a walleye drift or easily pop around one of the many islands for seclusion.

Our quest was species specific, we were only there for smallmouth bass and northern pike. We were certainly not disappointed. At every turn there seemed to be a spot that not only looked “fishy”, but was fishy!

We only attempted for walleye on one early morning just to contribute to the weekly fish fry( which was outstanding by the way). Caught one nice one and managed to not net it properly so it still swims today. The other guests focused on walleye seemed to do well and were bringing in fish everyday.

NOTE– The lake has a slot limit 16 to 22 inch fish go back so there are a fair amount of them to be had.

The pike were abit “off” as we were fishing in the dog days of summer heat but we still had enough action to be satisfied. When anglers don’t catch it is usually blamed on weather but I have to take full credit for not hooking into as many as we could have. We had more 28 to 36 inch fish follow our lures back and not hit than we could count, so I know they are there.

We also saw first hand from a returning guest that the big ones are literally outside your door. We came back to the dock one day proud of our 20 to 28 inch pike we were catching and Rick pulls out a FAT 41 inch Musky he caught in sight of our cabin.

The small mouth bass fishing is also excellent; they certainly lived up to their claim to fame of here today and gone tomorrow. But when they were found they were very eager to slam our lures. The size for the average fish was also above average. These bad boys live fat and happy at Brennan Harbour.

The only problem or negative (if there is one) is the choices you have when selecting a fishing spot. I counted more than 40 spots I had identified on my GPS as places to try that we never even got to. James really helped us out with that one, he suggested just to focus in and give each spot 1/2 a day and sure enough the results followed.

The Water:

As part of the river channel it is slightly stained (tannin) in color, if you get rain muddy water was unproductive. You can also access Lake Huron very easily for very clear water fishing and access to close bays (but you don’t need to). North and South winds seemed best on this lake for us east and especially west winds can really turn up the waves. But there are planty of places to hide from wind and waves around the many islands.

The prevailing wind is a south wind; whenever the wind was from the south we had very good fishing days and low/no waves.

Lessons learned on this trip:

1. Don’t play around with the pike up there: use a wire leader
2. Lures: in summer there are lots of weeds- be prepared to go weedless.
3. Expect the unexpected: the Channel used to be a logging route, so every once and a while a new log will be floating around that wasn’t there before. You need your eyes wide opened when operating your boat.
4. It can get shallow fast don’t zoom down the shoreline ( sorry about the prop James:))
5. Give their meal plan a try: it looked and smelled wonderful
6. Do hire the local guide for 1/2 a day: there are so many options they can help narrow down hot spots- money well spent.
7. A handheld GPS is a must have
8. If you look for fishing destinations in Ontario Brennan Harbour needs to be on your must visit list.
9. Return to Brennan Harbour Resort as often as possible
10. It can now be officially announced that my son is now a better fisherman than I am, maybe next time I can get him to pay the bill

For more information and other great reviews, please check out Brennan Harbour’s page here on Fishing Traveler.

Happy Fishermen from The Burnt Cabin

Having been to BLWC, I can not argue with their choice of destination. Lots of great fishing for largemouth, smallmouth, northern pike, panfish and some big walleye. Check out their site for some good information about fishing BLWC over the years.

Here’s just a little tease…

Bret Apthorpe took a group to to Nettogami Island with Air Cochrane and he has a series of short videos of their trip. Two illustrate the point of this post. Check out the attire between two of his clips.

Yes, this was all from the same week in June.

During my trip to Pasha Lake Cabins, we had to get off the lake from a great day of fishing due to wind, rain and cold that we weren’t prepared for during early August. We probably missed out on a 100+ walleye in the boat type of day. I hate leaving fish.

The bottomline is be prepared for any weather condition when you plan your next Canadian fishing trip.

Here’s Mike…

After an equally exhilerating and exhausting few days of fishing we were ready to head home. Or were we?

On a fly in trip there are no set schedules as you’re at the whim of the weather gods. Although we were packed and ready for the plane a thick, dense fog had rolled in creating almost zero visibility and as low a cloud ceiling as I’ve ever seen. Not ones to waste an opportunity we grabbed our tackle and set out to fish what’s now called Caribou Bay.

This last little kick at the cat was entirely Jason’s show, the lad scored big. He had the lure they wanted that morning that’s for sure. I will however take credit for my incredible choice of spots, boat handling skills and an uncanny ability to place him in the perfect position for a cast.

In between Jasons goliath pike we both managed a slew of smaller pike and walleye. Bonus fish indeed and a better way to end our adventure I can’t imagine.

By early afternoon the fog began to lift and we made our way back to camp. Eddie had provided us with a satellite phone and we had finally managed to reach the airbase: They were on their way northward to pick us up. In no time at all the skies fully cleared and our ride showed up:

Glad to be heading home to our families it was still kind of bittersweet to be leaving such an incredible place as we winged our way south.

Some Final Thoughts…

1. The weather and time of year were not condusive to catching large pike and we still did very well. A bit later in the fall and obviously in the spring/early summer this place will be mind blowing. It truly is a pike factory.

2. Eddie Guergis is a truly oustanding individual and someone who I believe I can consider a friend now.

3. Jason I already knew was a great guy, Doug and his dad were previously unknown commodities and are now in the friend category. For me one of the best parts of the trip was seeing Gerd break his personal bests of both species multiple times. I couldn’t have picked 3 finer gentlemen to join me on this adventure. Thanks for the companionship gents, here’s ’till the next time.

4. I’ve fished for trophy pike in a lot of places and Beteau is on par with the best of them. What makes this camp so unique for an angler from southern Ontario, the logistics are very easy. There is no flight to Winnipeg or other far flung jump off points. There is no mind blowingly long drive to get to the airbase (12 hours from Doug’s place). The price is a fraction of what places like Knee Lake and Kesagami charge. All in all it’s highly reccomended.

5. It was extremely difficult if not impossible to chronicle this trip properly. With pictures from 4 different cameras thrown at me all mixed together it was a challenge. I did the best I could, hopefully I didn’t make too many errors.

6. I CAN’T WAIT ’till next June!

Hope you enjoyed,

Cheers, Mike

Part 1 – Introdcution
Part 2 – A Flight Down Memory Lane
Part 3 – Getting Our Feet Wet
Part 4 – A Land of Plenty
Part 5 – Gluttonous Cannibals and a Trip Upstream
Part 6 – Wolves, Moose, Bears and Giant Pike
Part 7 – Intensity Rewarded
Part 8 – Plane Late? Not A Problem

Here’s Mike…

Never before have I ever fished so hard. Graced with perfect weather and the possibility of a goliath on virtually every cast we fished intensely every day. Casting like machines for hours on end we really got into a rythym and after a couple of days pretty much knew instinctively what the other had in mind. A well oiled machine if I do say so.

Our last full day we ramped it up to another level and were rewarded. The morning was damp and chilly with a thick fog hanging over the water. For the first and only time we donned our goretex suits to ward off the chill as we set out on a milk run of our best spots.

Once again casting bucktails the day started off well:

A bit later in the day we made a long run to a large bay that we’d fished unsuccessfully twice before. Needless to say Jase wasn’t overly thrilled with the decision but being the good sport that he is he went along for the ride. It turned out to be a fortuitous choice. In the middle of this large kilometer long bay was a small isolated pocket of reeds. After working the usual key spots with nothing to show we turned our sights to the mid bay reeds.

As is often the case something odd, something that sticks out and is just a little bit different will produce fish. There were definitely a few fish hanging around this small isolated reed clump.

This next fish was not only incredibly long, but fat. She looked like she had just swallowed a baby duck LOL!

As with all our large pike she was released to swim again after a short revival session in the cradle:

A truly fantastic day!

Part 1 – Introdcution
Part 2 – A Flight Down Memory Lane
Part 3 – Getting Our Feet Wet
Part 4 – A Land of Plenty
Part 5 – Gluttonous Cannibals and a Trip Upstream
Part 6 – Wolves, Moose, Bears And Giant Pike
Part 7 – Intensity Rewarded
Part 8 – Plane Late? Not A Problem

Here’s Mike…

The next day we navigated up a small inflowing river travelling for several km’s before being stopped by a small rapids. According to Eddie this was a walleye hotspot in the spring. Not so in the early fall but we did manage a bunch of walleyes working the well defined channel in the lower two thirds:

Upon entering the delta where the river spilled into the lake we slowly cast our bucktails in search of pike, weaving them in and out of the patchy but not dense weeds.

I managed to get on a bit of a roll:

After the action slowed and the chatter died down we heard something amazing in the back of the bay about 1/2km away. A pack of wolves obviously agitated began yipping and snarling with the odd howl thrown in. We were enthralled especially since it was mid morning with a hot bright sun. It’s just not something you normally hear at that time of day. As the pack edged closer and closer to us we suddenly heard a huge crash and a harried looking cow moose stumbled out into the bay not far from us.

As both Doug and Eddie later said it was probable that the wolves had already brought down the calfs as the cow moose was alone.

As we approached for a closer look the poor beast caught wind of us and you could literally see its indecision. Face us or the snapping wolf pack behind it. We backed off and the bedraggled animal managed to slink into the alders without making a noise. I suspect she didn’t go too far though.

What can I say? The rest of the day was a pike fest (with the odd suicidal walleye thrown in for good measure.

We had the experience with the wolves and moose, and Doug and his dad were fortunate enough to see a bear:

Did I mention this place was teeming with wildlife?

As usual the dynamic duo held their own on the fishing front:

That evening back at camp we had another tremendous feed of fresh walleye. Amongst all of the many amenities, Eddie’s got a propane cooker for outdoor use that we put to good use:

Part 1 – Introdcution
Part 2 – A Flight Down Memory Lane
Part 3 – Getting Our Feet Wet
Part 4 – A Land of Plenty
Part 5 – Gluttonous Cannibals and a Trip Upstream
Part 6 – Wolves, Moose, Bears And Giant Pike
Part 7 – Intensity Rewarded
Part 8 – Plane Late? Not A Problem

Here’s Mike…

We hit the river early the next morning. The night before was a cold one and we were anxious to catch the early morning bite.
Bit of a chilly ride enroute to our destination:

The go to bait for us was undoubtedly large bucktails in a variety of colours. With each of us tossing our faves Jason scored first with this hungry devil:

Hanging from his maw was a near 12′ baby pike. Absolutely amazing that it still felt the urge to feed!

The fish were definitely on and for a couple of hours the action was incredible:

Jase had a bit of a hard time holding this one.

Once again Doug and his dad kept pace with some bruisers of their own:

We had made plans to meet up around mid day and join forces for a shore lunch.
The boys showed up on cue and we switched gears to walleye catching enough for a feed in a matter of minutes

We had decided to travel as far upstream on the north channel of the river as we could in search of a lunch spot. Amazing country this is, wild, untamed, haunting in a way, but there’s no rocks anywhere LOL! (Pretty sure we saw 3 all week). This far up in the James Bay lowlands the terrain is very boggy and marshy. Stunted black spruce, a few poplars mixed in, and dense alders lining the shorelines. This type of terrain makes it challenging to find a decent shore lunch spot. Nevertheless after cleaning the fish we travelled on and on upstream navigating several mild rapids in the process.

The first order of business was firewood and I used an old solopaddler technique to collect it. On my long extended trips into the bush using a gas stove for day to day use wasn’t an option (Unless I wanted to carry a back pack full of naptha). This meant I cooked on open fire almost every day. Being alone and with space and gear at a premium I also went without axe or saw. This meant using my wits to find dry wood. Upon entering new water each day I always searched for the nearest beaver lodge. Beaver lodges you see are constructed with beautifully dry mostly wrist thick bleached white pieces of wood. Perfect. After raiding a handy beaver lodge we continued on upstream in search of the perfect lunch spot:

Finally we found some higher ground and unloaded the boats.

I set about getting everything ready:

While Jason caught walleye after walleye right in front of me.

After a great lunch we slowly worked our way back to camp checking out some new waters enroute.

Aproaching the camp we decided to troll some oversized deep diving baits in the river channel.

Did I mention the walleye were aggresive?

A somewhat early arrival back at camp allowed us the opportunity to do some work around the camp for Eddie. First and foremost was the installation of some foam in the underside of the cabin’s roof. Doug had started the job earlier in the week and we finished it off. The wee beasties had just enough room to squeeze through single file and patching all the holes was a blessed relief (All future camp guests can thank us now).

After that chore was out of the way we installed a new full sized propane range and did a bit of clean up. A relaxing evening around camp set the scene for another fabulous session of walleye fishing as the sun set on another postcard day.

Regarding the walleye, I’m a died in the wool jig man and there’s nothing I love better than fishing jigs. On this trip when we did key on the walleyes (which was rare) we found our best success slow trolling typical diving lures like Shad Raps upstream against the current. Seemed as though every time we’d make a pass in certain key areas we’d bang a double. Not my favourite way to do it, but hey whatever works! I do have to say it was a relaxing interlude to the hours of intense casting we did each day.

Note the bling around Jason’s neck in this next pic? Thankfully he wasn’t morphing into Snoop Dawg, but instead had an extreme aversion to bugs. When they were thick he wore a lit mosquito coil around his neck to ward off the hungry hoards. Not sure if it worked or not.

Part 1 – Introdcution
Part 2 – A Flight Down Memory Lane
Part 3 – Getting Our Feet Wet
Part 4 – A Land of Plenty
Part 5 – Gluttonous Cannibals and a Trip Upstream
Part 6 – Wolves, Moose, Bears and Giant Pike
Part 7 – Intensity Rewarded
Part 8 – Plane Late? Not A Problem

Here’s Mike…

The next morning dawned clear and cool with a bit of a nip in the air.

With the summer like conditions we quickly stumbled onto a pattern. Daytime water temps were still pushing the high 60′s, a bit too warm for big shallow water pike. There was however a brief window each morning where we’d catch them shallow. The temps would generally drop to the low 60′s overnight and for the first couple of hours we’d find the big gators in the shallow back end of the bays. Early on the second morning found Jason and I in just such a spot. With a small creek filtering in one corner, submerged cabbage and scattered pads it was just about perfect.

Rolling a large bucktail across the top of the weeds I scored first:

What was amazing to me was the ferocity of these fish. While we weren’t sight fishing for them you’d see the fish as they chased our lures back to the boat. The amount of water they moved as they swiped at your bait was heart stopping. You’d see a wake behind your lure followed by a bathtub sized swirl before the fish attacked. It honestly does not get any better than that!

Shortly after landing the pike we heard a commotion in the back corner of the bay: A huge woodland caribou had chosen that moment to make an appearance. Ellusive nomads at the best of times in that region, it was a remarkable sight.

The second part of the pike puzzle was straight from the textbook. With the temps quickly rising in the unrelenting heat we found the larger pike at the mouths of the bays. Especially the bays that were adjacent to the main river channel. Find a deep weed edge at the mouth of a bay with deep water close by and you found the pike. The amount of fishable water in the lake itself then both upstream and downstream is unbelievable. We covered a ton of water that day, traversing a few rapids and in between catching a decent mix of both pike and walleye.

Later that day we drifted into another bay way upstream and were graced by the prescence of a bald eagle who stopped to pose for us. He had a hungry look in his eye and I honestly believe he was watching us waiting for a fish.

Once again Doug and his dad hit a few that day as well. Talking constantly about finding one of those legendary walleye honey holes, one of those “Cronzy-like” spots where you catch ‘em hand over fist, they finally found their grail. A prominent mid lake shoal within sight of the camp held the load. Even in the lake itself there was visible current and parked behind the point with a current seam in front of them they laid a beatin’ on ‘em!

‘Course in between they played with a few big esox as well.

I’ve travelled all over the north and never have I seen an area so rich in wildlife and fish. It truly is a special place and a land of plenty. Once again the sun set on yet another perfect day in paradise.

Part 1 – Introdcution
Part 2 – A Flight Down Memory Lane
Part 3 – Getting Our Feet Wet
Part 4 – A Land of Plenty
Part 5 – Gluttonous Cannibals and a Trip Upstream
Part 6 – Wolves, Moose, Bears and Giant Pike
Part 7 – Intensity Rewarded
Part 8 – Plane Late? Not A Problem

Here’s Mike…

Once we settled in and readied the boats it was time to fish. We were all dog tired and didn’t have a lot of time with the sun falling quickly, but the pull was strong.

Doug and his dad had about an hour head start on us. They were working a bay directly across and within sight of the camp. We motored over to chat and it seemed Dougie had had a decent start. Throwing small bass sized spinnerbaits he managed a couple of chunky monkeys:

The boys were a wee bit stoked.

Suitably encouraged Jason and I set forth on the hunt.
The walleye in this river system are not particularly fussy and they’re pretty much everywhere.
Casting a 11/4oz Silver Minnow I nailed the first of many incidental ‘eyes:

Shortly afterwards slow rolling a musky sized bucktail above some deep weeds Jason hit this beauty:

Jason popped a decent pike then the walleye fishing really picked up:

With an almost full moon and a beatifully clear, calm night we stayed out a bit longer than anticipated. Trolling back forth in front of a main lake point we hit fish after fish, Jason reeling them in with obvious sadistic pleasure.

Finally our bodies began to falter as the allure of some warm food and a comfy bunk called to us.
It was time to wrap things up, but man what a great start!

Part 1 – Introdcution
Part 2 – A Flight Down Memory Lane
Part 3 – Getting Our Feet Wet
Part 4 – A Land of Plenty
Part 5 – Gluttonous Cannibals and a Trip Upstream
Part 6 – Wolves, Moose, Bears and Giant Pike
Part 7 – Intensity Rewarded
Part 8 – Plane Late? Not A Problem