Fishing Report Lac Seul Roady -2022

spincast

spincast

Well-Known Member
Back in 2015 we hit Lac Seul for the first time. Locals describe it as a walleye factory. For good reason. The fishery is not quite as amazing as Lake Nipigon, but it is a close second, in both size for lakes 100% within Ontario and fishing awesomeness. After our 2015 trip we had a couple of disappointing trips to closer resorts (Nipigon and Lac Seul are in a class by themselves - although I have yet to make the trip to Lake of The woods), so we decided to head back.
Lac Seul is not for the fool hardy or inattentive- as we sat jigging for supper our first night we watched a Tracker get towed back with no prop. There are shoals galore - some you can see and some you can't. Some in shallow, and some in 60 FOW.

We bagged multiple 'eyes in the slot (18-23) and multiples over. Our largest was 27.25 - we read of others on the lake getting 31 inchers the week before. The pike are plentiful and fat. Our largest for this trip was over 36. They provide great entertainment if the 'eyes are having an off day. Same can be said for the bass. While we didn't count, several days featured well over 100 fish in the boat. Early morning bite is big fish and they can be had casting, jigging or float fishing. Once the sun crests jigging is the most productive. Days with a walleye chop are fast and furious.

The drive is also pretty intense as noted in the end - but my partner is also an ex trucker and this is amongst our favourite runs - how can you go wrong with the North Shore of Lake superior.
Hope you enjoy

 
spincast said:
Back in 2015 we hit Lac Seul for the first time. Locals describe it as a walleye factory. For good reason. The fishery is not quite as amazing as Lake Nipigon, but it is a close second, in both size for lakes 100% within Ontario and fishing awesomeness. After our 2015 trip we had a couple of disappointing trips to closer resorts (Nipigon and Lac Seul are in a class by themselves - although I have yet to make the trip to Lake of The woods), so we decided to head back.
Lac Seul is not for the fool hardy or inattentive- as we sat jigging for supper our first night we watched a Tracker get towed back with no prop. There are shoals galore - some you can see and some you can't. Some in shallow, and some in 60 FOW.

We bagged multiple 'eyes in the slot (18-23) and multiples over. Our largest was 27.25 - we read of others on the lake getting 31 inchers the week before. The pike are plentiful and fat. Our largest for this trip was over 36. They provide great entertainment if the 'eyes are having an off day. Same can be said for the bass. While we didn't count, several days featured well over 100 fish in the boat. Early morning bite is big fish and they can be had casting, jigging or float fishing. Once the sun crests jigging is the most productive. Days with a walleye chop are fast and furious.

The drive is also pretty intense as noted in the end - but my partner is also an ex trucker and this is amongst our favourite runs - how can you go wrong with the North Shore of Lake superior.
Hope you enjoy

Click to expand...
Lac seul is awesome and the same for Lake of the Woods. I lived in kenora for 10 years and Red Lake for 6 so I am familiar with both. BUT if you think Lac Seul has skeg busters you won't like LOTW. It has 14,500 Islands. That is when the water is at normal levels. But when the water is low I am sure it comes close to double when all the bad rocks and reefs surface..take a good chart with LOTW mapping.
 
Hope to try Lac Seul next year. Have family in Sioux Lookout but that said they have no experience navigating the lake. From what I've read in your post we're better off hiring a guide to avoid problems on the Lake.
 
Duck Soup said:
Hope to try Lac Seul next year. Have family in Sioux Lookout but that said they have no experience navigating the lake. From what I've read in your post we're better off hiring a guide to avoid problems on the Lake.
Click to expand...
Its not that bad if you use the local knowledge; you just can't blast all over the lake without your eyes open. As I mentioned - it is not a lake for the foolhardy or inattentive - most experienced anglers understand unknown waters = unknown hazards and therefore calls for caution. Google earth / maps is a great resource to identify the shoals - or have a Canada Alaska Navionics chip for the FF. You could also use the Navionics app, or C Map genesis. Cell coverage is spotty at best and the places you would be most likely to need it if something happened are the ones least likely to have it. They did give us a decent paper chart with shoals and fishing spots marked, and once you got oriented it worked well. The first map suffered a death by drowning; below is the second map of the week - not quite as marked up as the first one as we had decent understanding of the hazards at this point.
This is one tiny section of the lake, just down from the dam at Ear Falls. We fished it for a week and covered maybe a 20%. Really didn't need to travel far to be into the fish (the furthest we went was the reach off Steamboat bay, and up to the top left of the map - but we didn't stay there as the mayfly hatch had started)
We chose not to take my boat, as it just didn't make sense. The cost of towing, plus fuel, plus bait as compared to using their boats was multiples. Plus I hate leaving it hotel parking lots for the one night we break on the way up. The one downside of their equipment was the FF were entry level. I couldn't connect my head to the unit and theirs didn't read on plane or have a chart.
1657630489828.jpeg
 
spincast said:
Its not that bad if you use the local knowledge; you just can't blast all over the lake without your eyes open. As I mentioned - it is not a lake for the foolhardy or inattentive - most experienced anglers understand unknown waters = unknown hazards and therefore calls for caution. Google earth / maps is a great resource to identify the shoals - or have a Canada Alaska Navionics chip for the FF. You could also use the Navionics app, or C Map genesis. Cell coverage is spotty at best and the places you would be most likely to need it if something happened are the ones least likely to have it. They did give us a decent paper chart with shoals and fishing spots marked, and once you got oriented it worked well. The first map suffered a death by drowning; below is the second map of the week - not quite as marked up as the first one as we had decent understanding of the hazards at this point.
This is one tiny section of the lake, just down from the dam at Ear Falls. We fished it for a week and covered maybe a 20%. Really didn't need to travel far to be into the fish (the furthest we went was the reach off Steamboat bay, and up to the top left of the map - but we didn't stay there as the mayfly hatch had started)
We chose not to take my boat, as it just didn't make sense. The cost of towing, plus fuel, plus bait as compared to using their boats was multiples. Plus I hate leaving it hotel parking lots for the one night we break on the way up. The one downside of their equipment was the FF were entry level. I couldn't connect my head to the unit and theirs didn't read on plane or have a chart.
View attachment 60209
Click to expand...
Thanks a bunch for your very comprehensive advice. Yeah, like you I have no plans to haul my boat. I do have a portable FF but it's old and cannot accommodate map chips. I've tried to use it before and its so unprecise that shows water extended over land. Thanks again!
 
Duck Soup said:
Thanks a bunch for your very comprehensive advice. Yeah, like you I have no plans to haul my boat. I do have a portable FF but it's old and cannot accommodate map chips. I've tried to use it before and its so unprecise that shows water extended over land. Thanks again!
Click to expand...
Navionics app on a Tablet would be my go to in that case. Jos can help set you up if you can keep him in one place for more than 5 minutes :)
 
spincast said:
Back in 2015 we hit Lac Seul for the first time. Locals describe it as a walleye factory. For good reason. The fishery is not quite as amazing as Lake Nipigon, but it is a close second, in both size for lakes 100% within Ontario and fishing awesomeness. After our 2015 trip we had a couple of disappointing trips to closer resorts (Nipigon and Lac Seul are in a class by themselves - although I have yet to make the trip to Lake of The woods), so we decided to head back.
Lac Seul is not for the fool hardy or inattentive- as we sat jigging for supper our first night we watched a Tracker get towed back with no prop. There are shoals galore - some you can see and some you can't. Some in shallow, and some in 60 FOW.

We bagged multiple 'eyes in the slot (18-23) and multiples over. Our largest was 27.25 - we read of others on the lake getting 31 inchers the week before. The pike are plentiful and fat. Our largest for this trip was over 36. They provide great entertainment if the 'eyes are having an off day. Same can be said for the bass. While we didn't count, several days featured well over 100 fish in the boat. Early morning bite is big fish and they can be had casting, jigging or float fishing. Once the sun crests jigging is the most productive. Days with a walleye chop are fast and furious.

The drive is also pretty intense as noted in the end - but my partner is also an ex trucker and this is amongst our favourite runs - how can you go wrong with the North Shore of Lake superior.
Hope you enjoy

Click to expand...
Thanks for the report and sharing y our pictures. I seem to have missed where you stayed on Lac Seul. Which lodge did you use ?
 
@Rob V : Lodge was Goose Bay Resort. Andrea, the owner is the definition of a good hostess. She is the second generation to run it. Knows her stuff, knows the lake, and is a heck of an angler as well.
 
spincast said:
@Rob V : Lodge was Goose Bay Resort. Andrea, the owner is the definition of a good hostess. She is the second generation to run it. Knows her stuff, knows the lake, and is a heck of an angler as well.
Click to expand...
thanks - my wife and i have been going to the same lodge for the past 10 years or so (O’sullivan’s rainbow on O’sullivan lake) which is in the same vicinity. Fishing is excellent and we enjoy the lodge and it’s owners (and the price - very reasonable). That said we’ve been thinking about looking into alternative places. I’ve always taken my own boat though. They’ve got nice enough rentals but they’re very basic - 14 foot aluminums with 20-25 horse motors but no toys. The way I figured it, by the time I pay the extra rental for one of their boats that covers the extra gas I burn towing my own boat so it’s basically a wash (that was until this year). And with my own boat I’ve got all my toys and more room/power etc. I’ll have a look at Goos Bay Resort’s web info ! thx.
 
spincast said:
@Rob V : Lodge was Goose Bay Resort. Andrea, the owner is the definition of a good hostess. She is the second generation to run it. Knows her stuff, knows the lake, and is a heck of an angler as well.
Click to expand...
just did a quick search and found Goose Bay Camp - proprietor A. Langford - is that the one ?
 
spincast said:
Navionics app on a Tablet would be my go to in that case. Jos can help set you up if you can keep him in one place for more than 5 minutes :)
Click to expand...
Yeah! I know what you mean re: Jos. Thanks for the Tablet tip. That's a whole lot better than using the iPhone. I'll just have to convince my wife that her tablet is safe in a rental boat.
 
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