snakeman Posted January 24, 2008 Share Posted January 24, 2008 When I began fly fishing I spent a lot of time reading through the archived info at flyanglersonline.com. After reading some articles about the Nipigon River in Northern Ontario it immediately made my mental top 10 of must-fish rivers. Last summer, in early July, I finally got the chance to fish it while road tripping from Calgary to eastern Ontario with a couple buddies. After a night of Canada Day festivities in Thunder Bay we accidentally slept in till the early afternoon, so our fishing time was cut short but it still ended up being a worthwhile trip. Of course, on our way out of T-Bay we had to stop here: I had seen this monument a few times before, but it was a first for my friends. A short distance from the monument we spotted a big black bear standing on the side of the road. Unfortunately he took off before we could get a picture. We decided to just pull off of the Trans-Canada Highway where it crosses the Nipigon, and fish near the bridge. Here's a shot of the tracks running below the highway bridge (the bridge is actually a lot taller than it looks in this picture) My fly rods were buried under a bunch of stuff in the trunk, so I just rigged up a rabbit strip streamer on a $10 Canadian Tire spinning rod and went to work. It didn't take long to find this guy: This fish fought like hell, easily the best fight I've ever had from a brookie. It was bulldogging like a smallmouth and running like a 'bow. Not a big fish, but it had shoulders, as you can see. We continued fishing, and a little while later I hooked into a bigger fish. Closer: Probably my personal-best brookie. After releasing her the rain started pouring down, so we left to continue the long drive east. While driving through some brutal weather we saw a cow moose standing on the shoulder near a marsh, but conditions were too bad to try to stop and get a picture. Seeing the Terry Fox monument, a black bear, a couple big brookies, and a moose, made for a complete and very memorable Northern Ontario experience. Some day I will return to the Nipigon with more time on my hands, so I can explore the more remote stretches. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harps Posted January 24, 2008 Share Posted January 24, 2008 Awesome Snakeman!! It's a great drive (I've driven from Lethbridge to Guelph and back a few times). And there are some great rivers to fish that you cross. You did good for a quick stop at a bridge. Ahhh the diversity of fishing in Ontario. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brownstone Posted January 24, 2008 Share Posted January 24, 2008 Sweet Brookies Snakeman .. cut my teeth on fish like that..now I'm homesick, No mention of the infamous Northern Ontario Black Flies, so we can assume they were not to bad? .. thats all I can remember about fishing trips to Onterrible swarm and swarms of those damn black flies.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teck71 Posted January 24, 2008 Share Posted January 24, 2008 Us in Ontario use the black flies to keep outsiders from the best spots. usssually it goes the more Black flies or the bigger the flies the better the fish. right up until you get north of Moosonee where the Moose flies can carry off a family of 4, but the Muskie are huge great Pics I'll have to drive back to the County some so I can stop to fish all the little rivers though the Shield. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
birchy Posted January 24, 2008 Share Posted January 24, 2008 I love Brook Trout. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
annapolis Posted January 24, 2008 Share Posted January 24, 2008 Grew up fishing brookies in NS, miss hooking into the big ones! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tako Posted January 24, 2008 Share Posted January 24, 2008 Awesome fish! Nipigon is on my list of things to do as well. Someday.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taco Posted January 25, 2008 Share Posted January 25, 2008 Sweet fish Snakey I've heard the coaster run is something else. Made it through there a few times, never had much time to fish Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hawgstoppah Posted January 25, 2008 Share Posted January 25, 2008 Aww man snake, thanx for sharing. I too had the pleasure of fishing this river. There's a big pullout just when you turn on to hwy #17 right there, big enough for a truck to park *grin*... In a couple hours I had 4 of those guys, all on a SJW, and all in the 19-22 inch range, and it was in late August and the colors were ridiculous. I've misplaced the pics somewhere in 4 moves in the last 10 years, or else I'd scan some in to show ya as well. The bellies were SooOOOOooooo red it was unreal. Prettiest trout I have ever caught by far.. Long live the Nipigon! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snakeman Posted January 25, 2008 Author Share Posted January 25, 2008 Thanks for all the comments guys, I'm glad you liked the pictures. It really is a great drive through that region, I think every Canadian owes it to him/herself to see the North of Superior area. I plan on taking 1 or 2 weeks to camp and fish that area sometime in the future; there are just so many rivers and lakes out there that look great for fishing, and not too many people fishing them. We actually got lucky with the black flies, I guess they didn't feel too active in the chilly and wet weather. Hawgstoppah, I remember you posting about catching brookies on the Nipigon on the FFA boards a while back. It was actually one of the motivating factors in us deciding to just fish right at the bridge. That trip was probably the greatest fishing I've had under a highway bridge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hawgstoppah Posted January 26, 2008 Share Posted January 26, 2008 Hawgstoppah, I remember you posting about catching brookies on the Nipigon on the FFA boards a while back. It was actually one of the motivating factors in us deciding to just fish right at the bridge. That trip was probably the greatest fishing I've had under a highway bridge. Ha! That totally made my day. I'm glad you got a chance to experience it! Aweseom ain't it?? I too would love to do a lot more exploring out there.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DougC Posted January 26, 2008 Share Posted January 26, 2008 Awesome fish man! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gingin Posted February 26, 2008 Share Posted February 26, 2008 Nice catch, We were on the Nipigon last summer, and my daughter caught a Rainbow Trout, very nice for her 10 year old hands!!!!! She caught one about ten minutes into the trip. Any Hoot, I heard a rummer that you can catch at least a 6-7 lbs speck up on the Nip, above Cameron falls dam, Nice Coasters come in late summer on the bottom of the river, Good Luck Nice Catch, A little bit bigger and you could have kept it for the Wall, G Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tako Posted February 26, 2008 Share Posted February 26, 2008 There's rainbows in the Nipigon!? I didn't know that Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skippapotamus Posted June 29, 2008 Share Posted June 29, 2008 The Nipigon River are were my old stomping grounds, being from Thunder Bay, I went quite often. There are rainbows, salmon, walleye, lakers, whitefish, sturgeon and more in the river. Of course the specks are the thing there (that's Northern Ontarion for brookies.) I caught my PB speck just upstream from the highway bridge in Gapen's pool, a 28" shaped like a football. Also had 50+ salmon days there in the fall. Definitely worth it, a world class river to say the least. The other North Shore rivers are excellent in their own right. On a different note, if you were inclined to do some downrigger fishing, the average lake trout in Lake Nipigon is now around 23 lbs. Skip Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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