Fishing for Lakers at the Big Water with Andre

Desperate to catch a Lake Trout on this trip and knowing our current situation with our boat meant there was no way we were going to risk trying to go to the Big Water, we hired a guide today. 

Not again?

A fine misty and overcast morning - perfect for fishing!

Finally on the Cabonga Reservoir after a two year absence

 

On arrival day we headed over to Iroquois point.

Last day on the Cabonga and I had to let this monster go.

Caught this 6 lb Walleye trolling a worm rig on the bottom in 14' of water. It was his/her lucky day due to slot size. 

Bite came on this afternoon

Fished all morning and my dad caught one Walleye. My dad caught the first Pike of the trip but it was just a little "Hammer Handle."

Then he caught two keeper Walleye, back to back. 

Finally, I got on the board with this nice pike. Later, I caught two more keeper Walleyes. 

Big Laker on the big water of the Cabonga

Initially, caught a smaller but good eating sized lake trout before lunch. 

After lunch, in 100 feet of water with my lure at 80 feet, I caught an 8 lb Lake Trout. 

All the lakers, this trip we caught by one lure. A red eye spoon dressed as a perch with a red flash!

8 lb Walleye

Caught this 8 lb Walleye trolling a jig. Since slot limits are still in effect, it was too big to keep so I had to let it go. 

Catching walleyes

We must have caught 30 walleyes but only 3 were keepers. 

Nice laker today

Lost one at boat but caught this one a half hour later. 

Walleye 10 lb Club

We tried White Fish Lake in the morning but didn't get a Walleye so we headed towards Iroquois Point

At first there was a little tug and then the line stopped and I thought I was snagged but when it pulled back I knew it was a fish, just not this fish.

The first approach to the boat my father and I thought it was a pike but on the second time near the boat I recognized the white edging on the fins and couldn't believe it was a Walleye and this big!  In fact, it took me 5 times to get into the net, each time it ran.  Finally we got it in! 

Weighing in at 11 lbs

Caught on 8 lb test and light bait casting rod!

I am finally in the Club!

Cabonga Reservoir Surface Level Graph

I emailed the The Ottawa River Regulation Planning Board and asked for the historical water levels of the Cabonga Reservoir and they were kind enough to send me the last five years worth of data!  You can see a definite pattern here:  they drop the reservoir in the fall in anticipation for a lot of run snow melt from winter and then start letting it out in late June to meet the power consumption demands of Ottawa as it gets hotter and hotter in the Summer. 

I remember coming up to Deer Horn in 2010 when the water was really, really low and continually dropping throughout the week.  That was the trip when we were coming into Sterns Channel when we hit a big rock with motor at 20 mph that chipped our prop and broke the skeg!  That was scary!

Water was down so far that all the boats had to be tied up on the other side of the camp!

But look at how high it is on our 2014 trip!

Surface Limits analysis of the Cabonga Reservoir from 2010 & 2011

Surface Limits
The Ottawa River Regulation Planning Board
Upper: 360.88 
Lower: 356.16 
Difference: 15.5 feet

2011

July 26th:  360.21m, 0.67m, 2.20ft
July 19th:  360.22m, 0.66m, 2.17ft
July 12th:  360.28m, 0.59m, 1.94ft
July 5th:  360.35m, 0.53m, 1.74ft
June 28th:  360.38m, 0.50m, 1.64ft
June 21st:  360.41m, 0.47m, 1.51ft
June 14th:  360.44m, 0.44m, 1.44ft
  June 7th:  360.39m, 0.49m, 1.61ft
 May 31st:  360.35m, 0.53m, 1.74ft

April 28th:  359.65m, 1.23m, 4.03ft


2010

Oct 12th:  358.32m, 2.56m 8.40ft

Sep 14th: 358.16m, 2.72m 8.92ft

Sep 7th:   358.13m, 2.75m 9.02ft

Aug 24th: 358.11m, 2.77m       9.09ft

Aug 17th: 358.11m, 2.77m       9.09ft

Aug 11th: 358.11m, 2.77m       9.09ft

Aug 3rd:   358.11m, 2.77m 9.09ft

Jul 27th:   358.22m, 2.66m 8.72ft

Jul 20th:   358.40m, 2.48m 8.13ft

Jul 13th:   358.70m, 2.18m        7.15 ft

Jul 6th:    359.00m, 1.88m         6.17 ft

Observations
Great Week for Walleye Fishing
>= 7.00ft  Sterns Pass Closed
>= 9.00ft WaWa Pass Closed

Cabonga Water level as of 8/17/2010

Capacity: 360.88
Current: 358.11
Difference: 2.77 m
Lake Level: Still 9.09 feet down - No change!

Cabonga Water level as of 8/11/2010

Capacity: 360.88
Current: 358.11
Difference: 2.77 m
Lake Level: Still 9.09 feet down - No change!

I was looking through my pictures for past trips and I think back in 1999 or 2000 Cabonga was around this depth once.  I recall meeting this retired guy from South Carolina by the name of Lou who drove up every year and spent a couple of weeks at DHL and had a chart of the lake water depth spanning multiple years.  Of course his gripe with the low water was that it was harder to fish but from what we saw when we were there, while we got skunked a few days, when we were catching Walleyes, we were catching Walleyes!

I think Cabonga has definitely turned the corner as a Walleye fishery because Walleye fishing is getting better and better now.  Just look at all the big Walleyes being caught at DHL this past year as proof in the pudding.  I wonder if competition for forage fish is so fierce now that the Walleye populations are out pacing pike reproduction and that is why the pike fishery is in a state of decline.  While we weren't necessarily fishing for pike we were amazed at how few we caught this trip.

I might have mentioned this last week but I thought I would show you some examples of what 2 feet down would sort of look like.  Going to Stern's pass, you have to pass through this tight channel that I call the Water Falls.  In the picture below, this is in 3 feet of water.  Now imagine this section 2 feet shallower!  Yikes!

Cabonga Water level as of 8/03/2010

Capacity: 360.88
Current: 358.11
Difference: 2.77 m
Lake Level: 9.09 feet down!

Doesn't seem that DHL hasn't updated their website because on the English page they are still saying Lake Level is 5 feets down but on the french side there is bit more information:

Niveau du réservoir Cabonga = 5 pieds sous la normale et il baisse tout les jours.

Barrage Barrière ouvert!

La pêche aux doré est très bonne de la pointe aux Iroquois jusqu'au barrage.

Which translates to:

Cabonga level = 5 feet below normal and down every day.

Dam Gate open!

The walleye fishing is very good Point Iroquois to the dam

Regardless, they are almost off by half.  When I was there, it was up 2 feet then what I am reporting now which means WaWa pass is probably closed and getting to Sterns, you might want to bring a big pole.

What I would like to see is if someone could make an interactive GPS map of the lake that you could set the surface level of and thus get a feeling for what the lake is really like.

Cabonga Water level as of 7/27/2010

Capacity: 360.88
Current: 358.22
Difference: 2.66 m
Level Level: 8.73 feet down!

Found this little warning on the Réserve faunique La Vérendrye Sepaq Website:

I am still looking for some more up to date pix from the reservoir.  If anyone has any, let me know.

Fire in La Reserve Faunique La Verendrye

While trolling up Sterns Pass I noticed smoke coming from the ridge on
the other side of the Big Water. Looks like a little more than a camp
fire.

Le Barrage du Cabonga

Another great day on the Big Water of the Cabonga. Got within a mile
or two of the dam.

Back to Cabonga!

Headed back to the Cabonga Reservoir and Deer Horn Lodge this week to fish for Walleye, Pike, and Lakers. It's going to be interesting because the intell from Walleye Central from those that have already visited Deer Horn in the past weeks is that the reservoir is down as much as 5 feet! Yikes! The last time we saw it down that low must have been around 1999.

The Map above shows every area we have fished since we started going to Deer Horn Lodge and the Cabonga Reservoir since 1981. Of course we haven't be there every year since then. I think in the span of 29 years we have been there some where 16 times. One year we went twice, or it was more of a do over because my father had a herniated disk. We got there on Saturday and went home Sunday night.

With our 2nd boat and a much larger engine (90 hp) we now have far greater range to strike out for places like the big water (depths between 105 and 250 feet), Baie Dixie, and beyond the Lumber Camp. With the bigger motor, I think it takes 30 minutes to get to Sterns Pass when it took over an hour with our 25 hp and the Tracker. Although, this time around with the low water, we'll see where we can get to.

This could be the last year we go up with kids because my daughter who is 9 now has expressed an interest in coming next year but I don't think she is prepared for a week of no TV, limited internet, and fishing all day. I plan on posting daily fishing reports and lots of pictures provided there is still internet service at the camp and it works well enough.