One of my all-time favourite trips to Ontario is a cast-and-blast adventure in the Fall. I enjoy hunting and fishing, which is the best way to combine my passions. Leading my list of species to target on these trips are walleye and grouse; both are some of the best eating in the fins and feathers categories. How do you make a trip like this even better? Take one of your best friends. And, of course, I never go on a grouse hunting trip without my favourite pup, Rikki! She has been on every one of my grouse-hunting trips to Canada over the years. I love to share my passion for fishing and hunting with people. I have brought several of my family and friends on trips to Canada over the years. On this trip, I got my buddy, Dave Pilarski, to Lumberjack Lodge to chase walleye and grouse.
Lumberjack Lodge sits in the heart of the Ontario wilderness on the south shores of the famous Sturgeon Lake. This deep lake is 65 miles long with many shoreline and mid-lake structures, offering great multi-species fishing. Sturgeon Lake is home to trophy-class lake trout, walleye, smallmouth bass, pike, and fantastic whitefish and perch opportunities. If you’re interested in fishing a smaller lake or something off the beaten path, you can explore dozens of nearby lakes with excellent fishing.
The lodge is only a short drive from thousands of acres of Crown Land, known as public land in the U.S., with countless miles of roads and walking trails, which hold the best grouse hunting opportunities in the world. There is so much untouched land, making it the perfect habitat for ruffed and spruce grouses, with little pressure from grouse hunters.
The Sunset Country Region is breathtaking, with loads of wildlife to observe. You never know what might be seen around the next bend in the road. Lumberjack Lodge consists of nine beautiful brand-new or fully renovated cabins, including full kitchen facilities, comfy bedrooms, washrooms and showers with all the luxuries of home. They have thought of everything; all you need to bring is your food and personal items. They offer all their guests camping and RV sites with full hookups, showers and laundry facilities. The impeccable main lodge is brand new; the coffee is always on, and it’s a great place to relax, socialize, tell fishing and hunting stories, or do a little merchandise shopping in the store.
I’ve hunted and fished across Ontario, but this was my first trip to Lumberjack Lodge and this part of the Sunset Country Region. Exploring new areas, lodges, lakes, and woods is a fantastic aspect of any experience. A perfect way to
familiarize yourself with new areas prior to and during your trip is to use the on X Hunt app. It has satellite and topo maps to help you find logging roads, trails and those perfect hunting areas. It has so many tools, but a few of my favorites are the
waypoint, GPS and route-building features. These are great for marking ideal grouse habitat areas but even more importantly, when you’re talking huge land masses with very few roads, it’s a crucial piece of equipment to aid in not getting
lost. It has come in handy more times than I can remember.
One of the things I typically do on these Fall cast and blast adventures is hunt my way up to the lodge on the first day of the trip. Feeling the success of knocking down a few grouse on the front end of a trip starts everything off right. On this trip,
Dave and I hit one of the many roads in the area less than an hour from the lodge. The success was only minutes into the hunt, leading to closing the deal on our limit in just a matter of a few hours. With the Ontario daily limit of 5 grouse
(Ruffed and/or Spruce combined) per person per day and 15 per person in possession, it was a perfect start to an unforgettable week.
The plan for our week was to hunt birds in the mornings, come back to relax in the luxurious cabin for lunch and then head out for afternoons of walleye fishing and possibly target a few lake trout. We found this worked to perfection all week long.
We would get up just before sunrise each day, make breakfast, and head to the woods. The grouse population is extremely healthy in the region, making it common to limit out within a few hours of hunting, allowing us for more mid-day
relaxation time before an afternoon of fishing.
The walleyes were in their early Fall transition areas but still a little spread out. Dave and I would mark schools of walleyes, then troll 2-oz bottom bouncers with spinners and crawler harnesses along steep shoreline breaks and rock spines off
points. As the sun neared the tree line, we would switch to #7 Jigging Raps on the mid-lake flats. These tactics proved very successful in boating many eater-sized walleyes, with a few kept for shore lunch and several walleyes in the mid to upper-20” range that returned to fight another day.
Lumberjack Lodge offers a Housekeeping Plan, so plan on bringing your food for the trip. The cabins are 5-star comfortable, with full kitchens to prepare your meals and big screened-in porches for the best views. They have an on-site
landing, docking and premium gas available if you would like to bring your boat or they offer boat and motor rentals for your convenience. The fish and game cleaning facility is the nicest and cleanest I’ve ever seen.
In addition to their fishing packages, Lumberjack Lodge offers Grouse Hunt/ Fish combos bear and moose hunts. Mark and Stephanie Childers manage Lumberjack Lodge and are onsite to help with your every need, making you feel like family. If you
want to experience first-class accommodations and service combined with world-class fishing and hunting, then Lumberjack Lodge is a no-brainer. Give them a call and make it happen!
For more information on Lumberjack Lodge, please visit
www.thelumberjacklodge.net