Please note that the Chapleau River is actually a chain of lakes, 10 miles long. The water flows north into James Bay. The lakes are fed by two small rivers at their southern end. Have a look at this map of the lakes. At the northern end of the lakes the waterway again becomes a narrow swift flowing river.

How many Lines and Hooks are allowed

Using the Umbrella Rig (Alabama Rig) to fish in Ontario is permitted if modified to four strands or arms to accommodate only four hooks. An Ontario four-arm version of the Alabama rig is usually available in Ontario stores.

Is there a best time?

May, June, July, August and September are good reliable months for walleyes and northern pike but with the usual ups and downs from one day to the next.

Yellow perch are easier to catch when the lake has dropped nearer to its summer level, in other words from about the middle of June onward.

I recommend that you simply pick a time when you can best get away from work and leave the rest to providence. No two years are exactly the same. One thing is certain, you will always catch enough to eat fish every day, even if you hit some slow days.

Some walleye suggestions

You might want to bring eight to ten pound line. Light to medium action rods are preferred.

Here is a very effective walleye rig that works surprisingly well in our waters. We call it Jack's method:

Use a small single hook with a night crawler bunched up on it. Tie it to your line without a steel leader (a leader adds too much weight). About 4 feet from the hook, put a quarter ounce of splitshot (about pea size). Troll or drift with it in 6 to 10 feet of water. Leave the bail of your reel open when you have let enough line out and put your thumb on the spool to prevent more line from going out. Troll as slowly as possible. When you think that you have a strike, don't set the hook but rather take your thumb off the spool, put the motor in neutral and let the line go out. Do nothing for an entire minute and then reel in and see what you have. This method works well in the shallow area in front of our cabins.

On days when walleye fishing is slow, you might improve your chances by fishing early and late in the day.

In our waters a very good walleye lure is a jig with a white twister tail on it. Use the single tailed, not the double tailed twister tail. Use a jig with a quarter ounce head and troll with it.

Here is more about trolling with jigs

Another good artificial lure for walleyes in our chain of lakes are floating Rapalas. The No. 9 or No. 11 black and gold works best.

Above is the black and gold Rapala Original Floater. Click here for more info about it.

If you fish with a floating Rapala, put a pea size piece of splitshot on the line, about 4 feet from the lure. The splitshot will take it down and the Rapala will then float up slightly and miss most of the snags. Troll or drift with this if there is a breeze. Favor shoreline that the wind is blowing against and look for shaded water.

Minnows work too, but are harder to keep and don't seem to give any noticeable advantage over worms or floating Rapalas.

For northern pike, all types of spoons and spinners work well. Northerns will usually strike anything in your tackle box. Trolling, drifting and casting all give good results with northerns.

If you have an electric trolling motor, you might consider to bring it along. We have electric outlets near the docks where you can plug in your battery charger. The electric motors work particularly well on the canoes that we provide for the canoe excursions. You can use an electric motor to move your canoe once you have reached the "canoe-only" lake.

Typical perch. These were caught by Ed Timm and his buddies. Yellow perch bite best on night crawlers. About three to four feet of water near lily pads or reeds are good places to try for perch.

Here is a good northern pike caught in 2008 by Patrick Kempf, shown holding the fish and flanked by his father and brother.