Ogoki: A Reservoir of Walleye
Mattice Lake Outfitters is home base for a Smedley family fishing adventure
By: James Smedley
Francine clips on a large red and gold Little Cleo and casts it into the churning water. We've just pulled the boats up on a smooth rock at the base of Eight Flume Falls, where the powerful Ogoki River divides around a large island and spills over a series of ledges to reunite in a deep, swirling pool. I'm about to tell her walleye don't usually hit spoons, but when her rod bends with the weight of a 20-inch fish, I keep this bit of angling wisdom to myself.
Our girls, Islay, 12, and Lillian, 10, are tempering the heat of the sunny July afternoon by lying in a narrow rock crevice and letting a rivulet of water gush over them. After a suitable cooling-off period, the girls are ready to join the action. Lillian casts a jig and artificial minnow upstream into a small side eddy.
"Let it sink for a sec, then give it a few little pulls," I say, and a fat walleye elicits a shrill cry of excitement from my youngest. Her sister casts to the same spot with similar results. "Let the games begin," I cry. We had flown in to Mattice Lake Outfitter's Camp on 35-mile-long Ogoki Reservoir north of Armstrong only a few hours before. The camp is like a small village stretched along the lichen-covered shoreline of a large island. Five fully equipped log housekeeping cabins join a sauna, fish-cleaning house, and diesel generator building all linked by a series of paths and wooden walkways over delicate moss and blooming wild iris.
Now returning with a stringer of eaters, Islay and I hit the screened-in fish-cleaning house, while Francine and Lillian head to our cabin to assemble a feast. Islay helps by deftly dispatching the walleye with a quick snap of the neck, before I remove cheeks and fillets. Francine sets the table on the large front porch.
We're finishing our meal in early evening shade, while overlooking the south side of the lake, when camp attendant Duane Boucher pops by. He tells us the lake was expanded as part of a 1930s hydro diversion project to channel water destined for Hudson Bay to Lake Superior via the Ogoki, Jackfish, and Nipigon Rivers. In addition to pencilling in a few likely walleye spots, Duane points to good areas to watch for members of the Ogoki/Mojokit caribou herd.
No Game Delay
Light rain and mist greet us next morning, but we pack a lunch and explore waters around camp, eventually gravitating back toward the rivermouth. There, we run into Tom and Jeremy, a Michigan father and son duo, who say they've had great fishing all week. Tom points to a rounded rock knob that divides a section of river. "We did good there yesterday; you can fish right from shore," he says.
"Looks like a good lunch spot," I say to my nodding family, and we head over to tie off to one of few trees on the lichencovered rock.
A three-tiered assault is launched from the rock, as Francine and the girls cast into the current. Francine throws her spoon, Islay a crankbait, and Lillian a 1/4-ounce jig with a 4-inch white plastic jerk shad. Everything works, fooling walleye from 15- to 20 inches.
The weather is as dramatic as the fishing, with periods of pouring rain bracketed by steamy sunshine. We eat lunch between casts amidst the broad and powerful flow of the Ogoki.
In the evening, we stoke the woodfired sauna and, while waiting for it to heat up, stop by Tom and Jeremy's cabin. "Your daughter has quite a way with fish," says Tom, smiling. "My son was impressed." Seems Islay showed up in the fish-cleaning shack and took the liberty of finishing off the walleye they were about to clean.
While basking in the heat of the sauna, I ask Islay "Did you snap a walleye's neck in front of the boy?" She smiles broadly.
On Base With Duane
My girls' appetite for angling isn't quite as strong as mine. Fortunately, Duane Boucher steps in to take up the slack. Parking his lean frame in the bow, 40-something-year-old Boucher points north toward Two Mile Bay. Towering pine-topped cliffs squeeze us into a narrows with a depth of 165 feet.
"Should we drop anchor here?" I ask. Duane smiles at my attempt at humour and points to an even narrower channel leading into a small lake.
We soon locate walleye on the few shallow flats along the predominantly steep shoreline. During the sun-soaked hours we spend working the perimeter of the lake, I learn that when Duane isn't working at the camp, he runs a trapline and a bear outfitting business, works construction during winter, and has a soft spot for brook trout.
When a squall blows in, I race to put on my rainwear, while my decidedly laid-back partner continues angling in his tee shirt. "I don't worry too much about the rain," he says.
Last Chance at Bat
The next morning is windy, cold, and rough. The girls choose a warm cabin over a wave-jostled aluminum boat. I persuade Francine to join me, promising great things in an expansive island–studded bay sheltered from the main thrust of wind and waves.
True to my word, we find a hump rising from 24- to 9 feet, and with 1/8-ounce jigs and 3-inch white artificial minnows, we drift over the structure a dozen times and catch at least as many walleye.
Next, we cast tight to sweet spots along wave-washed shoreline, finding a seemingly endless procession of points, rock piles, weed edges, and wind-blown inlets seething with aggressive walleye. Snags are not an issue, because a cast toward shore, followed by a flick or two of the wrist, means a hook up long before our jigs reach bottom. Several double-headers of 22-inch walleye help take the edge from the wind and driving rain and make accepting that this is our last day on Ogoki more difficult.
"You know, we haven't gone more than two miles from the camp," I say. "Well, we never really had to," says Francine, driving home her point with a strong hook set into yet another Ogoki walleye.
Getting There
From Thunder Bay, take Hwy. 527 toward Armstrong. Mattice Lake Outfitters is on Mattice Lake just south of town.
Most flights are early in the morning, so arriving the day before and spending the night at Wabakimi Wilderness B&B on Mattice Lake means you will be well rested for your trip.
The Lodge
A group of five fly-in housekeeping outpost cabins make up what is called a mini lodge. All have electricity, shower, full kitchen, and spacious living/dining room. Five days approximately $1,100 per person, depending on group size.
Contact Information
Mattice Lake Outfitters
P. O. Box 157
Armstrong, Ontario
P0T 1A0
1-800-411-0334
1-807-583-2483
www.walleye.ca
