MANITOULIN—Manitoulin is featured in an Ontario Out of Doors magazine 2023 story. ‘Manitoulin Magic, the worlds’ largest freshwater Island offers an abundance of angling opportunity’ was written by Bob McGary, who was making his first visit to the Island in 20 years.
“Visitors to the Manitoulin always comment about how friendly everyone is on the Island. Combine that with great scenery, lots of activities, and outstanding fishing and its easy to see why this is a destination not to be missed,” wrote Mr. McGary.
“I visited the Island about 20 years ago, when I wrote an article for Ontario Fisherman magazine which was one of the biggest magazines in Ontario at the time beside Ontario Out of Doors,” Mr. McGary, who is from Whitby, told The Expositor.
“I do it because I enjoy it so much. The beauty of it is that I get to meet so many interesting people and travel to some incredible areas of Ontario, including Manitoulin Island,” said Mr. McGary.
Mr. McGary made his fishing and sightseeing trip to Manitoulin in June 2022. “I get to meet so many amazing people on these trips and my wife Lois and I thoroughly enjoyed our trip to the Island. “Among the many great people I met were Dave Patterson and Moe Gauthier, who are both incredible fishermen and very nice guys. If I had a question they couldn’t answer they would also say, ‘I have someone that could put you in touch with someone that knows the answer to that.’ I was able to interview a lot of great people over the course of the trip, including Kevin Hutchinson on Lake Manitou, a local angler who put me in touch with Ian Anderson of Kagawong, a retired conservation officer, who is a member of the Gore Bay Fish and Game Club. I also talked to Seija Deschenes of Manitoulin Streams Improvement Association (MSIA), Bill Strain of the Little Current Fish and Game Club, Neil Debassige of Fuel the Fire TV and Luke Wassegijig, manager of Wikwemikong Tourism when we visited Wiikwemkoong for National Indigenous Peoples Day and all the activities there on June 21.”
Mr. McGary and his wife Lois stayed on Manitoulin Island from Monday night to Friday night. “We stayed at Pirate’s Cove in Mindemoya, which was outstanding,” said Mr. McGary.
On the first night we were there we went walleye fishing with Dave (Patterson) on Lake Mindemoya. “Unfortunately, it was the start of the shadfly hatch so we didn’t catch any walleye, but my wife caught four perch about 12-14 inches in size that we ate that night.” He said the lake is well known for its perch fishing in Ontario and said he would rate it in the top three in Ontario.
Mr. McGary said he and his wife thoroughly enjoyed their time at the National Indigenous Day celebrations in Wiikwemkoong, soaking in the Indigenous culture and activities.
In the story there is an overview of a number of places that visitors would enjoy visiting on the Island. Mr. McGary and his wife visited Kagawong one day, visiting Bridal Veil Falls, noting “the walking trail is spectacular. I would love to be there when the salmon are running and Seija (Deschenes) told me some of the good things Manitoulin Streams has done there. We also visited the Kagawong market which was great.”
“One of the many highlights of the trip was visiting the Up Top Sports Shop in Mindemoya,” said Mr. McGary. “I have a photo of Blaine Williamson in the article. He gave Lois a shirt with the 100th anniversary logo of the store on it. She said, ‘the people of Manitoulin Island are so amazing, kind and interested in what you have to say.’”
One evening the couple when out fishing with Moe Gauthier of Screamin’ Reels Charters in South Baymouth. “We caught three really nice lake trout, about four or five pounds each, and I caught an Atlantic salmon, which had been stocked in Michigan. The lake trout were wonderful on the barbecue and taste so much better than the lake trout we catch at home. The day before our fishing trip Moe said he had taken a fishing group that caught 10 salmon. The fishing was enjoyable, and Moe is a great guy. I was extremely impressed with his enclosed boat and his tremendous knowledge.
“On the last morning of our visit we caught some more perch on Mindemoya,” said Mr. McGary. “Because we were staying at Pirate’s Cove, I got to play golf at Brookwood Brae. When you stay in one of their cabins you can walk one way 60 seconds and be at the lake to fish or 60 seconds the other way you can golf.”
The story explores fishing trips or tips from the experts for fishing in Lake Manitou, Lake Mindemoya, Lake Kagawong, the North Channel and Lake Huron. It also looks at how MSIA, and the fish and game clubs are making a difference toward helping to make sure fishing is good on Manitoulin.
