Wabigoon Lake Family Adventure
Mastering the MayFly Hatch!
by Stephanie Hill 

Pristine, pine-lined, weedy in all the right places, dotted with numerous islands with their fish-holding rocky points, covering 26 thousands acres with an average depth of 19 feet, the stained waters of Wabigoon Lake are known for world class walleye and musky fishing as well as abundant pike, perch, small mouth bass and crappie. Additionally, there is easy access to Dinorwic Lake and other clear lakes off Wabigoon. Despite the fact it had been 14 years since my last trip to Canada and knew my fishing skills were more than a little rusty, I was already fantasizing about all the fish I would catch while staying at Davis’ Bonny Bay Camp and RV Park, located just outside of Dryden, Ontario, Canada.

My husband, John, a “veteran” Ontario fisherman for over 20 years, chose Bonny Bay Camp after extensive research. The past few years have found him heading up a group of all guys for an annual trip north. This year, however, the group consisted of three adult male fishing buddies, four kids, ages 11, 13, 13, and 13, as well as one wife, me. Therefore, he wanted a camp that would have plenty of fish to keep the kids motivated, as this was their first trip due north as well as the potential for grown-ups to catch trophies. Bonny Bay matched and surpassed all of these needs. Lastly, he chose the last week in June, hoping to fully miss many of the spring bug events for the sake of the kids.

Predicted weather for the Dryden area during our week looked picture perfect. This reassured us, since we heard the previous week had created tough fishing conditions due to an unsettled weather pattern. Little did we know, Mother Nature was planning a plague of Biblical proportions to descend upon our week!

It began with severe thunderstorms that entered camp just after the guys had their boating orientation with Leonard Davis, camp owner, and were rapidly trying to assemble our gear for a first night of fishing that never occurred. The next two days found a virus spreading through camp, which affected two from our group and prevented them from fishing a couple of days. High-sustained winds blew into camp on Wednesday, making Wabigoon look more like an ocean than a lake. A collective decision was made that it was too dangerous to take kids out in the water on that day. Pestilence was the last plague in the form of a Mayfly hatch on Wednesday evening. Up from the depths of the lake waters they arose: thousands upon thousands of mayflies as well as insects that prey upon them. Thursday morning, the cabins, docks and beaches were covered with shoveable amounts of their dead remains. The dusk flight, which truly looked similar to a Hitchcock movie, and dawn clean up would be repeated both Thursday and Friday. We have been told that a lake that has an abundant mayfly hatch is a healthy lake. If this is so, then Wabigoon should be considered in tip-top shape.

In spite of all the curves Mother Nature threw our way, we were able to catch some fish—just not the amount for which we had hoped. One way we were able to continue to reel in fish was to work the connecting, smaller lakes that had no noticeable mayfly hatch. Additionally, it was particularly important during the end of the week, when it was still windy, that we took the kids to sheltered bays, to provide moderate protection from the wind. This helped their casting tremendously. Additionally, the person operating the boat would take care to position the kids so that they were casting with the wind. This meant, that often, the person running the boat was unable to fish.

All of us caught fish, especially numerous pike, in shallow, weedy beds with spinner and buzz baits. Chartreuse and firetiger seemed to be the preferred colors. Additionally, all kids used an anti-backlash reel for throwing spinner and buzz baits. The only drawback was the fact that these type of reels, limit the distance the kids can throw—although, they do successfully prevent backlashes. Therefore, we had to make sure the boat was close to, if not into, the weeds. However, by the end of the week, all four kids were able to turn off their anti-backlash mechanism and successfully throw their baitcasters with little to no backlash problems.

Small mouth bass were caught off rocky, weedy areas using spinner baits, senkos and minnow baits. Additionally, early evening found top water fishing to be successful. In particular, the kids used spinning rods for this type of fishing, which they preferred to their baitcasters. Plus, fishing with senkos in typical bass colors, we learned, is perfect for kids because they are often distractible—leaving their retrieve slow and erratic, which seemed to trigger the smallies.

Incidentally, perch and walleyes were also caught in shallow, weedy areas, despite the fact our group was actually targeting pike and smallies. This can be attributed to the mayfly hatch and the wind pushing baitfish into the shallows. Plus, those in camp who fished the main lake and were targeting walleyes, still brought in overflowing stringers by dropping anchor over reefs and jigging with 1/8-ounce jigs tipped with minnows that had to be worked slowly

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One day an enormous musky took a swipe at my daughter’s spinner bait, causing she and I to both shake in excitement, hoping we could catch one. (We didn’t.) However, one particular group in camp that week likewise caught musky and large pike by fishing extremely shallow weeds. They reported catching these monster fish in as little as two feet of water by throwing musky sized spinner baits, such as Ruff Tackle Rad Dogs and Bucher Slopmasters.

Our stay at Bonny Bay Camp was filled with a lifetime of memories. All four kids began begging if we could go back as soon as we left. Plus, the “big guys” were enormously impressed with the fishing potential of Lake Wabigoon as well as outstanding service provided to our group from all Bonny Bay staff. In fact, we were the only group staying at the camp that were not return clients—that spoke volumes to us.

As my husband says, “Fishing is about 40-50% of why I go to Canada every year.” After spending a week with him, the “big guys” and the kids, I understand. I’m ready to go again, plagues be damned!