Sunday morning had Miles Hilton-Barber and I heading up to Bush Country Camp on Lake Sasseginega about 2 hours north of Temiscaming in the company of Jay Thomas and Bill McQu.  Art and Pat Southern, owners and operators of Bush Country Camp for the past 16 years, were hosting us on their island for the next four nights.

Weather on the drive up was sunny and cool, but things were going to change completely for our first day out on the water.

The lake itself is relatively weed free but loaded with bays, islands, shelves and rock piles.  The Walleye had learned to use the rocks for cover and foraging.  Art indicated that the feeding behavior of the Walleyes was dictated by wind direction and sudden changes in depth.  Where ever the wind and waves pounded the shorelines for 2-3 days steady, that is where the Walleye could generally be found.  He also cautioned that the spawn had only recently ended and that the bigger females were likely still not in feeding mode yet.  His final words of advice concerned the late spring and colder than usual water temperatures which meant the Walleye had not yet begun to school up.

Our first day had us fishing in Pickerel Bay along transition points and rocky out-cropping ranging in depths from 6’ to 16’.  The method that proved most effective was a lindy rig with worm harnesses.  Back-trolling allowed for maximum control over the 14’ boats, but we were occasionally required to troll forward when strong winds prevented us from making any progress.

To ensure maximum control and sensitivity while bouncing the Lindy Rigs along the bottom and up and over ledges and humps, I paired up my Shimano Spirex 2500 with a 6’,6” medium-light weight spinning rod with an extra fast action and PowerPro Red braid. The Lindy rig allowed me to feel every tap and scrape of the ½ oz. Lindy rig while at the same time pick up on the sucking, taps and smashes the Walleye’s were giving our crawlers.

First fish of the day was caught by me, but didn’t really count as it turned out to be a 2.5lb sucker.  Continuous rain and winds that day made fishing from boats a challenge but we still all managed to contribute to several decent stringers of Walleye for that night’s dinner.

The second day saw blue skies, but even stronger north winds.  We gave another bay on the lake a try using jigs in and around several beaver dams.  I used a 1/8 oz. knuckleball jig with a 3” Mister Twister.  The retrieve style consisted mainly of dragging and popping the jig off the bottom and over submerged branches with a slow retrieve.

To provide maximum sensitivity, my choice of rod and reel this time was a 7’ casting medium weight rod with a moderate fast action paired up with a spincast reel loaded up with Red PowerPro 20lb line.  The reel/rod/line combo allowed me to work the jigs over the countless sticks and rocks that littered the floor of the bay without once wrapping the jig around a branch.  During the retrieve I ran the line through my thumb and index finger of my rod hand while holding the rod with the reel cupped in my palm.  The telegraphing capacity of both the rod blank and line was made even better by the casting rod’s lack of a foregrip.  No foregrip meant my middle and ring fingers of my rod hand were resting directly on the rod blank.

Try as we might, I was the only one able to raise a fish.  With so many possible options for fishing on this lake, there’s plenty of potential for discovery for years to come.

By noon we were back in Pickerel Bay fishing Lindy Rigs and worm harnesses.  That afternoon five separate snow squalls blew in and each time the bite would light up.  I was more than thankful to be wearing my new Salus Marine Angler PFD designed with large fleece-lined pockets in addition to two over-sized tackle pockets.  that day Between squalls, the calm waters and sun shut things back down.  With a dinner invitation waiting for us back at the main lodge, we quit the lake by 5:30 with several good size stringers of 2lb Walleye.

The next day brought blue skies again, only now the wind had swung around from the north to the south –west.  Forgoing the Walleyes in Pickerel Bay, we instead focused on trying to boat larger fish in several locations that looked promising on the map.  In spite of our best efforts to hook up with some of these 10lb+ elders, we just weren’t able to crack the code.

Thursday morning saw us running back down the lake with Art where we said our good-byes and loaded up for the 6-hour drive home – the first two of which were on gravel logging roads.  Back in Ottawa, Miles and I had nine hours to turn things around before heading back out to pursue Carp on the mighty St. Lawrence.  A big thanks to Jay and Bill for agreeing to come with us on this leg of the trip, and to Jay especially for his excellent cooking.