- Fishing Ontario Canada

FISHING AT PINE CLIFF LODGE
NORTHERN PIKE, SMALLMOUTH BASS & LAKE TROUT
ONTARIO FISHING LODGE, CANADA

Our location and conservation practices provide you the opportunity for trophy Ontario northern pike fishing and trophy Ontario smallmouth bass fishing at our Ontario fishing lodge. Checkout our section on Ontario Master Angler fish caught by our anglers. This is probably the only opportunity you will have to fish a lake that is as large as Sandybeach Lake and is fished by fewer than 12 boats, unless you fly-in to an even more remote lake.

There are certainly many fly-in lakes that have more boats per acre, than what you will experience on our 10,000 acre Sandybeach Lake. This lake has better fishing and more trophy size fish than most other drive-to lakes, because there is light fishing pressure on the lake.

Beware some lodge owners say their lakes are "world-renowned", but they may have 30 fishing lodges, hundreds of private cabins, numerous public boat ramps, Indian reservations, and towns located on the shores of their lake and referring to the 1920’s, 1930’s or 1940’s when their lake was not "fished-out".

Read more on Sandybeach Lake

WORLD RECORD
53 ¾" NORTHERN PIKE – 12# LINE CLASS

In 2001, one of our guests, Brian Barnes of Derby, Kansas, caught and released a 53 ¾" northern pike and set a 12 pound line class World Record Northern Pike at our Canadian fishing lodge. There are few lakes that have a recent world record. I believe Sandybeach Lake will produce a new Canadian Record Smallmouth Bass in the next couple of years. Numerous fishermen reported seeing and hooking huge smallmouth bass in 2009 in numerous locations on the lake. Some lucky or skilled fisherman is going to land one of those giants and have the bragging rights to a holding a record; it could be you!

LARGEST FISH CAUGHT IN RECENT YEARS

Lake Trout                  37 1/2"
Northern Pike             53 3/4"    World Record!!!
Smallmouth Bass        23"
Yellow Perch               15"
Whitefish                    28"

WHAT CAN YOU KEEP

Lake Trout – 2 in possession; catch and release 28" and over, except in September only 1 over 22 inches.
Northern Pike – 4 in possession; catch & release 27 1/2" and over.
Smallmouth Bass – Catch & Release only
Yellow Perch – 50 in possession
Whitefish – 12 in possession
Walleye – 4 in possession; catch & release 18" and over

RELEASING BIG FISH PAYS OFF

Our guests make the trip to our Ontario fishing lodge for the opportunity to catch a lot of fish and big fish. With 85% of our guests buying a conservation fishing license with reduced limits associated with the license, we know they did not make the trip trying to fill a cooler with fish fillets. The method that lodge owners use to ensure lots of fish and big fish is catch & release of big fish.

The possession limits and catch & release sizes for Pine Cliff Lodge, shown in the previous section, are paying off with great results.

The biologists know that the large fish (exception: smallmouth bass) are mature females that lay most of the eggs. Removing the mature females from a lake can cause dramatic decreases in the fish population of that lake.

For example, each pound heavier a female there can be a 10,000 egg increase or a ten pound female will lay 50,000 more eggs than a five pound female (5 x 10,000). With smallmouth bass, the males grow as large as the females; therefore, we can not protect just females with a catch & release size limit.

Smallmouth bass are catch & release only at Pine Cliff Lodge, because smallmouth bass only spawn every two or three years due to the northern location of the lake and the inability to distinguish males and females by size.

FISHING TIPS – FISHING TACKLE

Professional fishermen know they need to change their techniques and tackle according to the lake, the time of year, and the weather. Each lake is different. Lakes will have different clarity of the water, may be shallow or deep, may have muddy or rocky bottoms, may contain different structure, may have different forage to eat, may have different fish species, the lake level may vary, ice-out can be later or earlier, spawning is different; and this all affects how you fish.

Listen to the lodge owner talk about the specifics of his lake, and do not assume what worked on another lake in May will work on a different lake in May or what worked in May will work in August on the same lake.