Remembering Fantastic Fishing at Osprey Lodge

pikeThe explosive strike of a large northern pike startled me – even though I intensely anticipated it. The viciousness and speed of this toothy aquatic predator is astonishing. This one – a 12-pound 28-inch fish – ripped out my line, then swam swiftly toward me and made a dash right under the boat. Only some quick rod handling on my part and a sturdy steel leader kept the fish attached to the line and to me.

Imagine a small grassy cove full of 8 to 15-pound pike pounding surface lures one fish after another until we were exhausted. Actually, there is no need to imagine this because the experience is real – and no more than 15 hours by motor vehicle from Augusta. Flying gets you there even quicker.

Mistassini Lake in northern Quebec, over 100 miles long and 30 miles wide was my destination for 6 days of angling with Harry Vanderweide and Andy Collar of URSUS productions, to tape segments for their television show Northeast Outdoors.

lodge and tentThe entire northern half of this huge lake is the exclusive territory of the Cree Nation and its outfitters. We were the guests of Osprey Lodge located on an island near the 51st parallel in a beautiful setting with new cabins constructed in the last five years. Osprey delivered solitude, exceptional food, superior service, all the modern comforts, and best of all – tons of fish. This place is an angler’s dream. Depending on time of year, anglers here focus on lake trout, brook trout, walleye or pike. Lakers grow upwards of 50 pounds – we saw one that topped 30 pounds.

Osprey also offers an interesting opportunity to learn about Cree history and culture. I thoroughly enjoyed my days on the water with our Cree guides who were very willing to share information about their history and background and who also possessed superb fishing skills.

Arriving mid-morning on our first day, after spending the night in Chibougamau, we hit the lake quickly and trolled for lake trout, catching several fish. I don’t usually enjoy trolling, nor am I a lake trout man, so it came as a surprise when I found myself intensely anticipating every strike and fish. Most of the camp’s guests at this time of year target lake trout because they are plentiful and huge. I quickly got into trolling and thoroughly enjoyed the day.

brook troutBut it was my last fish of the day – a 21-inch 3 ½ pound brook trout with beautiful lavender spots – that made the day for this old Maine wild brook trout fanatic. This gorgeous trout was 7 inches longer than any trout I’d caught in Maine this year.

After a splendid breakfast on day two, we boated 50 miles north to the far end of the lake. The modern Lund boat with a 50-horse four-stroke motor glided over a surprisingly glassy surface. We sat in a boat on a 2000 square mile mirror. A fog bank to the west obscured the shore making it impossible to tell where the water ended and the clouds began. It was one seamless shimmering surreal silver tableau.

And we were the only anglers enjoying about a thousand square miles of it on this splendid morning. This place is real wilderness – remote, quiet, stunningly beautiful. The boat stopped in a quiet cove at the north end of the lake and my first cast brought an eager walleye to hand. Harry likes to say he doesn’t really like fishing – he just likes catching. He really liked this day!

shore lunchIn an hour and half, I boated 25 walleye, most between 1 and 3 pounds. Then it was time for our Cree guides, Norman and Eric, to cook up a few of these tasty fish for a shore lunch. I have never enjoyed a tastier fish – no exaggeration. Walleye filets cooked over an open fire, accompanied by fried onions, potatoes, and beans, were better than any meal at the finest restaurant.

Insisting that we had enough video of walleye, Andy directed us on to northern pike. Anxious to produce the most video possible, he was a slave driver. We had to fish, fish, and fish some more. It was brutal.

Coasting along slowly, casting into the grassy shallows along the shore, we started catching pike immediately. The word frenzy would not be sufficient to describe our afternoon’s fishing as huge pike pounded our lures constantly. Having caught only a few pike in my life, I was unprepared for the exciting action they provide. Pike strike viciously, fight tenaciously, and appear prehistorically fierce. I loved them. In one small cove alone we caught dozens of hefty pike on surface lures. Harry even caught one that held his lure sideways, not hooked but not willing to let go. It was truly amazing fishing.

Exhausted, with a long boat ride back to camp for dinner, we reluctantly pulled in the lures and headed back to camp. Actually, I was still casting as the boat picked up speed out of the cove. At 7 pm, we entered the teepee where all of Osprey Lodge’s guests are served their final dinner. We were very glad we’d returned to camp.

The large table that seats 16 guests and guides was covered with food. First course: moose and caribou stroganoff. Second course: caribou meat pie, the most delicious meat pie I’ve ever had, and I ate three helpings to make sure my opinion would not change.

Osprey LodgeThird course: a 16-pound lake trout caught by an angler the day before and donated for our dinner. Various salads and breads accompanied the feast, including bannock bread stuffed with the eggs of lake trout. I consumed six pieces of that, again to confirm that it was delicious. It was. Then came dessert. Or I should say desserts. Yes, I tried them all, just to be polite, from home-baked donuts to chocolate cake. Wow!

Luckily, the walk back to my camp was all downhill. On the porch, rigging rods for the next day’s fishing when we were to concentrate on brook trout, I saw a fish rise in the cove. Probably a whitefish, I thought. I didn’t even try to catch one of those. Probably should have. The guides were smoking whitefish and lake trout that night in an open air outdoor hot smoking structure, for guests to take home.

A few guests who fished most of the day for lake trout and then fell short of their daily limit of eight walleye were going out for evening fishing to fill their walleye quota. As they walked past, I didn’t tell them I’d caught 26 walleye in less than 2 hours that morning – three times the daily limit – and returned all of them to the water.

George Smith

About George Smith

George stepped down at the end of 2010 after 18 years as the executive director of the Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine to write full time. He writes a weekly editorial page column in the Kennebec Journal and Waterville Morning Sentinel, a weekly travel column in those same newspapers (with his wife Linda), monthly columns in The Maine Sportsman magazine, two outdoor news blogs (one on his website, georgesmithmaine.com, and one on the website of the Bangor Daily News), and special columns for many publications and newsletters. Islandport Press published a book of George's favorite columns, "A Life Lived Outdoors" in 2014. In 2014, George also won a Maine Press Association award for writing the state's bet sports blog. In 2016, Down East Books published George's book, Maine Sporting Camps, and Islandport Press published George and his wife Linda's travel book, Take It From ME, about their favorite Maine inns and restaurants.