If you saw our premiere episode of the 2024 Fish’n Canada season, you would have seen a show based out of Nordic Point Lodge in northwestern Ontario where Ang and Pete fished Perrault Lake as well as a smaller “trailer-to” lake in the area. 

This show was our first ever visit to this wonderful facility but certainly not our first visit to the area. We’ve been filming this part of the country for a very long time… the best part of 39 years that is, and as always it never disappoints.

On this episode, we had team #2 of The Fish’n Canada Show out doing a totally different and separate thing. Our latest dynamic duo of Steve Niedzwiecki and Dean Taylor had their reins let loose, so to speak, and were off and running.

DEAN AND STEVE THE FISHING GUIDES

While Ang and Pete were hunting down big walleye, Steve and Dean were tasked with preparing for a trip with our good friends and winners of the Eric Lindros Charity Auction who were on their way up anticipating the full Northwestern Ontario experience, including a shore lunch.

Steve hold’s “Chief’s” beauty of a Walleye

To do this, Steve and Dean hit the water with Will Palowsky, owner of Nordic Point Lodge and seasoned veteran tournament walleye angler. If this wasn’t good enough, the boys were doing this from a brand new Princecraft Sportfisher 21 pontoon boat, kindly lent to us by our new friends Nestor Falls Marine. It is safe to say that the boys were confident they would be able to put together a solid milk run of spots for their guest’s big shore lunch day.

Nordic Point Lodge on Perrault Lake, in North West Ontario.

The first spot they tried was a deep, wind-swept ledge that dropped sharply into the basin of the lake. As it goes when you own a lodge, camp work kept Will off the water for multiple days and, as all walleye anglers know, that is plenty of time for things to change.

This time of year, walleye are just finishing up their spawn, making this the transition period when schools of fish move from their shallow, spawning grounds to their deep water haunts and weed lines where they’ll spend the majority of their summer. Dean’s first few scans with the LiveScope revealed which of these stages the fish were in, as the ledges seemed to be void of all life.

Armed with the knowledge gained from their LiveScope, the boys next hit a shallow river mouth that is a known spawning area for walleye early in the spring. As soon as they got there, their theory was confirmed.

On one of the first casts in the new location, Dean hooked into something he immediately knew to be a walleye. Walleye, especially big walleye, tend to want to stay down toward the bottom when they are hooked, fighting the angler with strong, nose-dives toward bottom rather than the surface thrashing and big aerial displays so common of Pike and Bass. This fish obeyed the stereotype and dove directly under the boat before eventually coming up to the surface and gliding into Will’s net.

Will Palowski nets and then hoists Dean’s great Walleye that was “too big” as per the lodge rules.

The fish ended up being a spawned-out, 25” female. Too big for Will’s self-imposed, 18” shorelunch limit but a great sign that the majority of the fish would still be sticking close to their spawning grounds. Minutes later, Will hooked into another, a near cookie cutter of the one before.

With that waypoint marked in the Garmin, Steve and Dean decided it was time to go hole hopping and look for more places where their newfound pattern could be replicated. They quickly went around scanning any spot they could find that matched the description of their new waypoint;  shallow, wind-swept, and nearby suitable spawning habitat. Everything matching the description seemed to be holding fish, including a few fish that looked on LiveScope to be Northern Pike, a fish both Steve and Dean were hoping they’d see tomorrow for shore lunch.

Day 2:

Dean Taylor rigging the Princecraft Sportfisher 21 courtesy of Nestor Falls Marine

With a GPS full of waypoints, Dean re-rigged the fishfindermounts.com portable LiveScope set-up to the luxury Princecraft Pontoon, re-converting this party barge into a proper fish-catching machine. The key to doing this is the main reason we teamed up with the guys at fishfindermounts.com, as virtually no other portable kits on the market are as adaptable, and as well-made, as the units they offer. In this scenario, Dean was able to run his LiveScope on a near-nine-foot pole and the battery lasted for two full days of scanning!

After the boat was fully rigged, our guests met the boys down at the dock and boarded the pontoon for a smooth ride, gliding over two-foot waves, to the first spot of the day. It did not take long to see that the pre-fishing was going to pay off.

In fact, the main problem that Steve and Dean began running into was one that many anglers would love to have – the fish were too big!

As mentioned earlier, Nordic Point Lodge has a self-imposed slot size of 18” for walleye, an effort designed to reduce the number of spawning females being removed from the fishery. This turned Steve’s beautiful 21” walleye from an entree in our shorelunch to one of next year’s egg producers.

Throwing back a good portion of their lunch began to give Steve and Dean flashbacks. As two guys with experience guiding, not delivering on a shore lunch is a nightmare scenario, one that both guys can proudly say has never materialized. Today, however, they were dangerously close to making it a reality.

By 11:30 AM, they guys had exhausted the majority of their waypoints and they could now hear stomachs starting to rumble. Feigning confidence but feeling desperation, Steve and Dean decided to head to the shore lunch spot and pray that the point at the end of the island was holding the rest of their lunch. Fortunately, their prayers were answered. 

Scott Lawrence, one of our TD guests, hooked into a great Northern Pike… a “life-saver” if you will. Honestly, no matter how seasoned an angler is (Dean, Steve, Ang, or Pete), when you’re desperate for a fish, it’s such a relief once one is boated… well done Scotty!

Scotty “Scooter” Lawrence with a great Perrault Lake Pike, perfect for a shore lunch

Steve was especially thankful for this Northern as none of the guests in the boat had ever thought about, let alone eaten a Northern Pike. With the right cleaning technique, both Steve and Dean swear that these fish can give Walleye a run for their money any day. It is safe to say that their guests agreed.

Uncle Stevie whipped up an incredible shore lunch (while Mr. Dean filmed the event) for the TD boys and MAN, did they gobble it down!

Day 3: A FLY-OUT

As mentioned off the top, one of the unique things about this shoot was just how many options there are to achieve your dream fishing experience.

On the third and final day, Steve and Dean got to sample one of the fan favourites of Nordic Point Lodge, a fly-out to a remote walleye lake!

Nordic Point Lodge has several options for fly-outs but, for this trip, Steve and Dean had their pick of two. First was Zazannia Lake, a small crater known for extraordinary numbers of eater-size walleye. Option Two was Sup Lake, a large body of water notorious for tough fishing but providing a serious chance at a fish of a lifetime. The boys opted for Option Two.

Spirits were high when they first touched down on Sup. The boys were unloading onto a dock at a breathtaking outpost cabin, mounted their LiveScope to the boat, and stripped down as the sun pounded the water. Within ten minutes of the plane leaving, however, the wind from Perreault Lake caught up with them, bringing in a gust of 50 km wind and scattered rain that would stick to them for the rest of the day.

The benefit of this weather was that the boys had become pretty used to it throughout the trip, giving them a good idea of the pattern these fish would be in – wind-blown points and islands being the target of choice. It was not long until this theory was once again confirmed.

As you heard Dean start to explain in the video, the boys got a warning from their pilot on the way into the lake that there was A LOT of competition they would have to deal with. Usually, when anglers hear this they picture other boats but, on this lake, there is never an angler in sight. Instead, you are competing with giant schools of Cisco that seem to fill every inch of the water column.

To try to stand out among the pack (and to adapt to the worsening wind), the boys decided their only option was to drift large, white baits such as the Yo-Zuri Walleye Diver in Pearl White across every wind-swept shore they could find. Soon, Dean was hooked into something big…

Since the boys had horrible conditions in wind and rain, and they were confined to a small aluminum boat with a small tiller motor, catching any fish let alone a big one is an accomplishment. Dean instantly knew this was the fish of the day. Yes there’s always a bit of doubt in that maybe it’s an 8lb Pike but honestly, when a Walleye fights as a Walleye normally does, you become about 90% sure as to what’s on the end of the line.

Dean Taylor with a stellar Walleye from Sup Lake

Gettin’ There: A Nordic Point Adventure

To get to today’s unique fishing destination, Steve and Dean first drove north on hwy 400 which eventually turns into hwy 69.

They next turned west on Trans Canada hwy 17.

They continued on 17 all the way to hwy 105, then traveled north on 105 until they reached Nordic Point Lodge.

Located in the heart of North West Ontario, Nordic Point Lodge offers all the comforts of home and much more. 

Enjoy fine dining, private cabins, a sauna, a fitness center, an elite boat fleet, and expert guides for an unforgettable experience. 

And for the ultimate fishing experience, why not try a fly-out day trip like Steve and Dean did on this episode. You fly out in the morning, fish a good portion of the day, and are back to the main lodge for dinner.

After a full fish-catching day on Perrault Lake, relax on the deck of your private lakefront cottage or on the beautiful spacious deck at the main lodge’s dining room.

Nordic Point Lodge will leave you full of lasting memories.

HotSpot: Sup Lake Walleye

Today’s Hotspot is where Dean caught his big Walleye on one of Nordic Point Lodge’s fly-out destinations.

When visiting a lodge like Nordic Point, if by chance they offer a daily fly-out opportunity, then you really should consider trying it out. It gives anglers a unique add-on to an already excellent adventure.

Dean and Steve trolled Yo Zuri’s looking for either roaming fish, or good structure, and then drifted over shoals, humps, rock points, and breaklines.

Covering water was the key!

For the coordinates to this hotspot, check out our HotSpots web page

Depth: 12 – 29 Feet

Baits: Crank & Minnow Baits, Jigs

Presentation: Trolling and Drifting

Some great baits to try for Walleye on windy days are the Yo-Zuri Crystal Minnow Deep Diver Walleye and the Yo-Zuri 3DB Shad