THIS IS WHAT IT'S LIKE TO VISIT A FLY-IN LODGE DURING A GLOBAL PANDEMIC
Esnagami Wilderness Lodge in northern Ontario's Algoma region lodge is open, and the fish are biting
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Esnagami Lake from the air#2 Catch and release pays off
Esnagami is a stunning and pristine 18,000-acre lake loaded with fish-holding structure, including bays, weedbeds, sunken islands, sandbars and drop-offs, and the surrounding forests are home to all manner of wildlife. EWL is also the only lodge on the lake, which significantly limits fishing pressure. Even better, when Eric Lund took over the lodge in 1989, he instituted a far-sighted catch-and-release policy.
Working with a local biologist from Ontario’s Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry, Eric set a lodge rule that guests had to release walleye over 24 inches, pike over 30 inches and all brook trout. Three decades later, the lake boasts a rich fishery with a population of trophy fish that is, in my experience, rarely seen in hard-fished Ontario. And the brook trout fishing in the wild Esnagami River, which flows northward from the lake, toward James Bay, is truly world class…
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