Lady Evelyn 2008 Report - Island 10 Lodge

[gordy28]

IWill do my best to post pics at a later date - have lots this year, just a bit challenged getting them off my camera and onto my PC as my camera is still at my friends place

We left on Friday, August 29th for North Bay, and after eating the best wings I have ever had in my life (Moose's - try the Fat Boy), it was back to the Super 8 to rig up some rods, have a few pints and head out to Lady E in the AM. 3 of us were there for 4 nights, two of us for 5 nights

Our group met up with 21 other hopefuls for the trip up the river, and over the dam – once we cross the dam we got into the cruisers for the 20 minutes run to Island 10 - overall the trip took about 1.5 hours from meeting up at the launch, to being in our cabin, having our first pint.

The weather was unbelievable for that time of year - average temp was 28 degrees, bluebird skies and a wind out of the South West - not necessarily the best walleye weather, but a welcome change from out last trip a week later in September (average temp was 8 degrees and rainy)

In the first hour of the trip, within eye shot of the lodge we had surpassed our previous years walleye catch in both quantity and size - the clouds blew in, the wind blew up and we got them drifting along a seam in 24 feet that eventually met at an island - this same spot would eventually spit out the biggest walleye of the trip, and a PB for me at 25 inches and 6 LBS

The theme of the week was back trolling - for everything - SM, Eyes and Pike - and the primary bait were harnesses tipped with minnows or a crawler.

We had our best success for bass fishing in deep bays that had wind blowing into them, and where there were shoals present (this lake is full of such terrain) - most bass were caught trolling harnesses, with 2 beauts were taken via the wacky rig

Our most productive walleye spot (only for an evening fish) was a large flat bay, directly adjacent to the main basin - again trolling and drifting crawler harnesses was the best technique - primarily fishing the subtle depth changes, we also caught walleye drift with jigs and harnesses – it seemed like during the day – chop + clouds = walleye (although other anglers in our group did catch big walleye during the day fishing deep structure (35 – 55 feet)

Pike came on the harnesses as well, typically in the same bays we were getting bass (in there feeding) - however the boat that did the best out of our group fished stumpy shallow bays and literally dropped anchor and camped in a spot casting topwaters, bucktails and spinnerbaits

Ratings:
The Lodge
This was our first experience at Island 10, and our first experience going for the American Plan package (will never go back to housekeeping)
The lodge is in the best location on the lake in my opinion - Lady Evelyn is divided into two main basins, which are completely different – The north basin shallow and stump filled, the Southern is deep and rocky - Island 10 is in the North basin, but is very close to the narrows that lead you into the other lake – its beautiful and quiet
The lodge staff was excellent - they are attentive and take great care of you at meal time and down by the docks - they clean your fish, gas up the boats and clean them every time you come back to the dock
The cabins were incredible - each one has a patio that is basically in the water, and each has a shower, toilet and fridge
The food was good - not great, but good solid food for break fast and dinner
My biggest pet peeves were the lunches - (if you went out expecting that what you got with a bagged lunch was enough to sustain you for 8 hours of fishing - good luck - you got some cookies, a bottle of tap water, and a wonder bread sandwich) - however if you caught fish and asked to get the tools for a shore lunch, it was amazing.

My second pet peeve was the water, basically al the water on the island is lake water that has been run through a UV filter - while the water is safe to drink, if your stomach was not used to it, it could be tough - 4 of the guys in our group had bad stomachs the first few days we were there, until we stopped drinking the water for anything other than coffee.

The above though were easily overcome - pack some extra drinks, water and bring snacks - considering Island 10 is about $300 -$400 cheaper than the other American Plan Lodges on the lake it was not a huge inconvenience, and luckily a few in our group had brought a case of juice, Gatorade and granola bars
Overall 8/10

The Fishing
We did well over 4.5 days of fishing - between 5 of us we caught 60 keeper sized fish, and caught countless other fighters (walleye/bass 10 -12 inches)
Our largest fish for the week:
• 18 inch 4 lb smallie
• 25 inch 6lb walleye
• 36 inch ?lb pike

This was our second time on the lake, which per the above is a huge body of water - and lessons learned from last year, picking the brains of the staff, and fellow guests really helped - and since we have pretty much agreed we are going back, I think we can improve next year
During our stay we saw 9 walleye over 28 inches go up on the board, 1 pike over 40 and 4 SM over 19 - plus numerous other catches of walleye over 24 inches, pike over 30 and SM over 17 (anything above those numbers gets you into the catch and release trophy book, from which 4 lucky winners get free trips for to the next year)
Overall 8/10


Cheers
Gordy

[beachburger]

Sounds like a good trip to a very nice area. Look forward to the pix.

[FishingIsHealing]

Great report, happy to hear you caught alot of Walleye!

Guess you'll be going back eh? Sounds like a nice, comfortable place to go, except for that bit about the water. Bring bottled water next time maybe.

I remember drinking water from about 5 lakes in Algonquin park and the Barron Canyon and not getting sick. We had no bottled water, we drank only lake water. We "purified" it with Iodine tablets though so that probably why no one ended up with "beaver fever" or some sort of e-coli.

Anyways, if you can get those pictures up for us to see! it would be cool to see some of the fish you caught and the lake etc.

Take Care,

==Tom==

[adempsey]

Sounds like a good trip!

I also went up to Lady Evelyn the first week of July. We stayed at Garden Island Lodge, which is the southern most lodge on the lake. Our experience was pretty similar, although I don't recall any issues with drinking the water, but I think most people drank bottled water anyway.

The food was homestyle and the lunches were basically as you described, but they had no problems giving us as many sandwiches as we wanted (I always got an extra for a late night snack if I was hungry). I think the biggest complaint from people staying there is that they didn't cook your fish for dinner if you wanted. They would cook it for breakfast though. I imagine that due to a small staff they had to maintain a tight schedule.

I was hoping that next year we would hit Island 10, they definitely have some nice looking cottages from what I saw when I passed by/fished in the area.

Was a fun lake to fish but our boat didn't do so well fishing during the day, but at night the fishing was generally active (some days really hot action others not so much). The other groups seemed to do fairly well during the day fishing the shoreline and at night. Some nights were over 100 fish per boat.

I am hoping that next year we do better since we know the lake a bit better.

Cheers!

[JRSuprstar]

Sounds like you had a good time...8/10 is a pretty fair rating...can't wait to see the pics...Cheers,

JR