I drove 13 hours to fish Missinaibi Provincial Park. Here are 7 reasons why it was worth it

#4  For a big lake, Missinaibi is quite paddle friendly

As I mentioned, the lake is long and thin. So unless the wind is blowing down its length and setting up a swell (which did happen one day) it’s quite navigable in smaller boats. Since I was fishing from a kayak, I was worried about my limited range, but I found plenty of fishable water close to the park.

In fact, here’s a tip for my fellow paddlers. The park boat launch and docks are in a large bay. Most anglers were using powerboats, and from my campsite I saw these boats blast out of this bay heading east or west for points unknown. But I never saw one single boat fish the bay. I guess it’s a psychological thing: If you haul a boat, motor and gas all the way up to Missinaibi, you want to go as far as you can. But one day the weather was iffy, so I stuck close to camp and caught a ton of fish in the bay (above), including one 30-minute stretch where I hooked half a dozen walleye literally within sight of the docks. In fact, a couple of boats right roared past me while I was on that hot streak.