Gouin Reservoir and Nemio Outfitter Fishing Trip Report

Let me start this report by admitting that we are walleye rookies. I am from Pennsylvania and focus most of my efforts on smallmouth bass. Most of my past Canadian trips have focused on pike and bass. So it was with great anticipation that we headed to Nemio Outfitters for an August fishig trip on the Gouin Reservoir in Quebec. 

The travel there is interesting as you spend a significant amount of time on dirt roads.   I have to be perfectly honest. I didn’t like driving these dirt roads. I drive a Subaru forester which is the minimum I would recommend for the trip. Yes, there were others seemingly doing fine with minivans and small cars but I wouldn’t have felt comfortable with it.

Main Road to Nemio

I was able to average about 40 mph. Sometimes, a bit faster but my advice to anyone who hasn’t done it is take it slow. The last few kilometers had to be taken much slower.

Last Few Kms to Nemio

We did see a lynx on the way in which was very cool.  Was the drive worth it? Absolutely!  Keep reading, and you will see why.

Nemio Outfitters

As soon as we got to Nemio Outfitters, we were immediately greeted by two of the nicest people you’ll ever meet, our hosts, Ron and Rosie. 

Great Hosts Ron and Rosie

I am picky about  good customer service from lodge owners.  No need to worry about this from Ron and Rosie.  This is not just their lodge. Nemio is their home, and you are treated like a special guest.  You feel like you’ve been lifelong friends after knowing them for just minutes.  I am not exaggerating.  They are truly great people. 

For Americans who are concerned about English/French language issues, you will have no issues with Ron and Rosie. Rosie’s first language is English and Ron speaks excellent English. This is not true at all camps on the Gouin and other places in Quebec.  There are a few camps out there who have hosts that have very limited English, which can make dealing with any issues that come up during your trip difficult.

On the first day, we finally got to some fishing about 5:30P after settling into camp. We decided to stay on the Nemio River for the evening rather than heading out to the actual Gouin Reservoir. The spawn was not good on the Nemio this spring and there weren’t as many fish residing in the river as normal. But we seemed to pick up a walleye or two everywhere we stopped. No one got skunked and everyone caught a few. I think 13 was the total and a number of fish were missed. All in all good fishing for walleye novices on a new body of water. Nothing big but very pretty golden fish.

First Walleye of the Trip

The second day brought rain.  I would’ve have fished through it  if it wasn’t for the boys. But I’ve learned (the hard way) that making a fishing trip enjoyable for kids means sometimes playing cards in the cabin.  We did fish the morning.  We fished the river again because of the weather. Probably a wise decision as it didn’t seem like those who came in from the main Reservoir fared much better than us. This morning found us amateurs stumbling on a few fish. The boys and my dad kept me busy with a triple at one point. That provided some excitement and a lot of smiles.

Walleye Triple

We didn’t knock them dead but caught enough to keep us entertained for the morning. Biggest fish was a decent sized 20 incher. One small pike was thrown into the mix.

Day three was a bit tough.  We fished the main Reservoir in the morning. You can’t appreciate the size of the Gouin until you are there. We only saw a tiny fraction of it, and it was huge. Somewhat intimidating for the newbie. We picked up one walleye early but that would be our only walleye for the day unless you count one goofing around at the dock and one about 5 inches.

On Slow Days, Even the Small Ones Count

Pike saved the morning for us picking up a few up to 28 inches.

Skinny Pike on a Slow Walleye Day

Day four was another  tough day. We managed about 10 walleye total but size was lacking. Also, 5 of them came from fishing at the dock. My son caught what the owner called a lush. I had never heard of it but it was pretty cool to catch something we never caught before.  We decided to go to their back pike lake after dinner. Only a couple of hits but you could see a ton of fish on the sonar suspended in 30 feet of water. They stayed there the entire night and appeared to be in a very neutral position. We had 2 strikes trolling but didn’t hook up.

Now, you are probably wondering at this point why I said the drive was worth it.  Our fishing had been relatively tough up to this point.  Everyone in camp was having a tough time and the fish that we had kept had empty stomachs.  The walleye just weren’t eating. 

Sure, we were enjoying great meals from Rosie.  Sure, we were enjoying each others’ company.  Sure, we were liking the time away from the business of life but we were there for the fishing.  At this point in the trip, I would have concluded that the dirt roads were not worth it but things were about to change, and we would get a glimpse of the potential of the Gouin.

The morning of day 5 wasn’t noteworthy but the afternoon marked our turn around.  My dad and I hooked into some decent pike trolling. 

Trolling for Pike with Swimbaits

I missed a big walleye on a 6 inch Yum G-Shad.  It is one of my favorite pike baits.  I only had a brief look at the walleye but I can tell you it was a really nice fish.

That evening, we followed the owner’s dad, George.  He was kind of enough to let us fish some of his holes.  The folks at Nemio will do evertyhing possible to help their customers have a great time. I wouldn’t say we knocked them dead but the action was steady and a definite improvement.

Day six the heavens opened up with walleye.  During the evening, we caught about 50 fish in 3 hours.  The amazing part was this didn’t really raise an eyebrow back at camp.  George said that’s still a “sort of slow night”.  Huh? 50 walleye in 3 hours and that is “sort of slow fishing”. I guess that just shows you how good the walleye fishing can be on the Gouin. 

It was just what the doctor ordered for us as we had a great time.

Nice Catch of Walleye...Tasty

Day seven, the infamous last day of the fishing trip, was another really good day to tease us with how good fishing can be on the Gouin. This morning was really good for numbers and size. We caught about 25 in 3 hours. As the morning progressed, the fish got bigger. The last fish we caught for the morning was at 11A and was the biggest of the trip.

Biggest Walleye of the Trip

The Size Increases on the Last Day

The Gouin is truly a daytime fishery.  Fishing can be good all day long as opposed to many places where fishing is only hot during low light conditions. 

On this day, we also caught our biggest pike of the trip measuring just over 30 inches at this same spot.

Biggest Northern Pike of the Trip

The pike gave my son Cole a thrill as it leaped out of the water as he was pulling his bait into the boat. It hooked up and after a short fun battle was landed. Amazingly all week, we did not have one pike slice our 8lb monofilament. All pike were caught in the corner of the mouth.

Back to walleye…this day’s fish averaged 1 1/2 to 2 pounds without many small ones in the mix. All week the stomachs of the fish that we caught had been empty. On this day, one of our fish had a 5 inch partially digested baitfish in its mouth. Unfortunately, they started to feed on our last day. 

The last evening we got out for a few hours after dinner. Fishing was good. We put about a dozen in the boat. Nothing real big but a solid pound average. I am quite confident if we would’ve fished all day, we could’ve put a bunch more fish in the boat.  On one hand as a fisherman, I would’ve loved to keep fishing but as a dad, I made the right decision to not push it.

As far as baits, we had the most success for walleye on Gulp Alive minnows (live minnows are not allowed on the Gouin) and live leaches.  Gulp Alive leaches worked but not as well.  Most of our pike came fishing for walleye.  We did catch some on the Yum G-Shad and Kalin’s Mogambo grub. 

Here is how I summarize our trip.

1) We hit a tough fishing week. No one in camp had much better results than us. The stomachs of all the fish that we cleaned were empty. They just didn’t seem to be actively feeding. The last two days that provided good fishing were after a couple days of pretty stable weather. According to the owners, they had not had much stable weather the entire summer.

Even though fishing wasn’t up to Gouin standards, we caught a bunch of fish. We weren’t skunked on any day and each day caught at least 5 or 6 walleye. I can’t compare it to Northwest fisheries like Lac Seul, Gullrock or Wabaskang since I haven’t been there, but I don’t know many places in Eastern Ontario and Quebec that will produce at least a half dozen walleye on the toughest of fishing days.

When the fishing was good, they were pretty easy to catch. I am very confident that day long fishing by decent walleye fishermen would’ve put 100+ walleye in the boat on both Thursday and Friday.

2) The folks at Nemio Outfitters were first class all the way. Rosie and Ron were terrific. We had no issues throughout the trip so I can’t comment on how they handle problems. We did the meal plan for breakfast and dinner. Food was terrific and very filling. Their boats were perfect for jigging with 2 adults and 2 kids (14 and 12) in the boat. They were very stable and fast enough for our purposes.

3) Ok, one last comment about the roads…the roads treated me much better going back than getting there. I think I understood how to drive them better. I averaged about 40 mph when on the main road. The first 27km from camp, you have to go much slower. A lot of people went faster than I did but I was able to maintain a good consistent pace without as many adrenaline rush moments as I had on my way in. That said, I still didn’t like the dirt roads and they were the only real negative for the entire trip.

4) Finally, would I go back? Absolutely! I couldn’t see us going anywhere other than Nemio for a return trip to the Gouin. I wholeheartedly and without reservation recommend anyone who wants to target walleye in eastern Ontario or Quebec to go to the Gouin and specifically visit Nemio Outfitters.

Chris

Fishing Traveler