Presented by Yo-Zuri
We were happy to hear that Lodge 88 was in our lineup for the 2023 shooting schedule. And the reason was simple… past performances in the Walleye department.
Esnagi Lake is a known “big Walleye” body of water and we’ve proved it more than once. So when the lake and the lodge names come up, we jump at it!
Also on this shoot, we had Dean Taylor and Nik V.
In typical Esnagi Lake fashion, we caught tons of Walleye but in non-typical Esnagi fashion, we didn’t encounter any giants (Dean caught a beast but, of course, he wasn’t in the filming boat). That said, this lake is always a fun one to fish.
We had an absolute blast hauling in gorgeous Walleye. We fished mouths of bays, big deep flats and what was our best producer, a breakline off of an island in the north end of the lake.
What would a Fish’n Canada Shoot be without a bit of rain… AGAIN! It didn’t stop Ang from setting into this beauty though!
We mostly had to resort to live bait in either minnows or nightcrawlers since these walleye were quite deep and definitely lethargic for some reason. Dropshotting is always Ang’s fave for Walleye especially when he can stick a chunk of real meat on it. Pete loves either a jig tipped with the real stuff or a live bait rig (Lindy rig) dragging ever so slowly beside or behind the boat.
This wasn’t one of those trips where every fish “popped” our presentations with an unmistakable tap, that’s why we pretty much stuck with live bait. Had the fish showed more aggression, we would have gladly shifted over to our overstuffed boxes of Yo Zuri crankbaits, minnow baits, rattle baits, and so on.
Pete caught this Northern Pike on a drop-shotted live minnow. He saw a fish on the Garmin LiveScope, threw the rig to it, and this aggressive beast immediately bolted for it.
That said we did have what’s as close to a perfect trip as we possibly could. Lodge 88 is not just about the fishing, it’s about the entire package. Once off the water, the fantastic hospitality starts. A belly-filling supper, some billiards among old and new friends, and maybe a beverage or two just to cinch the deal! Such a fantastic facility!
