“GARDEN ISLAND OR GARDEN OF EDEN”??

“Fabulous”… “Fantastic”… “Unbelievable”… “First Class”… “Five Star”… There just aren’t enough adjectives to describe my latest fishing experience at “Garden Island Lodge” on Lady Evelyn Lake, in Northern Ontario. If you enjoy catching BIG Walleye and Smallmouth Bass… Eating GREAT food… Being pampered by an experienced and knowledgeable Staff… or operating first class boats and equipment…THIS is THE PLACE for you. Maybe it should be called “Garden of Eden Island Lodge”?????

Personally, I’m not use to all of this attention and service. I usually “rough it” at a fly-in camp, or rustic cabin with no electric or flush commode. I must admit that it was GREAT to be able to FISH and do little else. No meals to cook, no dishes to wash, no cold shower or boats to take care of. BOY… THIS is the way to fish! But let’s start at the beginning.

I met owner Norm Paterson and his lovely wife Val at the “Eastern Sports and Outdoor Show” in Harrisburg, PA. My partner, Rod Bates and I had a booth there, promoting “Koinania Guide Service and Adventures”, and I was looking for a remote location in Canada, to catch “Trophy” Smallmouth Bass. I was immediately impressed by Norm’s honesty and straightforwardness, his interest in pleasing his guests, and his description of the cabins, food and equipment. Norm offered an “all inclusive” package that included (just to mention a FEW of the niceties) cabin; three meals a day; Lund 16 ft. Rebel boat with swivel seats, livewell, storage, etc, equipped with a 25 hp, electric start, four-stroke Yamaha engine; all of the live bait and gas you could use; full use of the lodge’s facilities; dock service; fish cleaning; fish preparation; heck, even the fishing license. What more could an angler ask for?? Nothing! So I booked two cabins for the first week of September, and talked 5 of my buddies into going along.

Getting there was half the fun and adventure of this trip. We left Greencastle, PA, around 10:00 pm on Thursday evening, and drove straight up I-81, arriving at the 1,000 Island Bridge around 7:00 am. After a quick visit to the 1,000 Islands Bait Store, and the nearby Truck Stop for breakfast, we crossed into Canada and headed east on 401. We then traveled north on 416 to Ottawa, merging into 417 North and then Route 17 North to Pembroke and North Bay. From North Bay we traveled north on Route 11 to New Liskeard, where we stayed at the Water Front Inn (our mistake) on Friday night. It was a long, but interesting, entertaining and scenic drive of about 843 miles. We saw several Moose along Route 11, great scenery, beautiful lakes and rivers and some beautiful wildlife (I didn’t get her name).

Bright and early Saturday morning, we grabbed breakfast at McDon’s “Rainbow Room” and drove the 15 miles or so to Mowatt’s Landing, where we were to meet out host. Brian and the “Gear Boat” were right-on-time and were followed shortly by Norm with the “People Barge”. We loaded our gear and boarded the “Barge” for the short ride to the Lady Evelyn Lake dam. The “Gear Boat” was loaded on a trailer and hauled around and over the dam. The “People” made a leisurely stroll out of the portage and then boarded Norm’s cabin cruiser for the 18 mile ride to the lodge.

I took a lot of ribbing from Norm and the Staff, about the amount of gear we had. I don’t know why my BUDDIES needed all of that stuff?? And I could tell right away that this was going to be a FUN week. It didn’t take long for Norm’s daughter Sara and I to realize we BOTH had a good sense of humor and a HUGE line of BS. We hit it off right away and spent the rest of the week ribbing each other, telling jokes and being generally entertaining to the rest of the guests. Ask her about my “Mr. T” imitation and “Camo Flip-Flops”?? Norm then gave all of us a personal tour of the lodge and facilities, fish cleaning house, dock house, sauna, cabins, etc. After a great lunch, we returned to our cabins, to find the Staff had delivered all of our gear, prepared three boats for our use, and was on hand to help us out if needed.

My partner and I immediately began uncasing rods and reels and preparing equipment for battle. The Staff then hauled our tackle and gear down to the boats and gave us a refresher course on the operation of the NEW 25hp electric start Yamaha engines; boat and safety equipment; dock facilities and services. We stowed our gear, familiarized ourselves with the boats and “got organized”. By this time, it was supper time, one of my three most favorite times of day, and we were treated to gourmet meal prepared by Val and Sara (who happens to be a school trained and certified chef).

After dinner, Norm invited one person from each of the boat “teams” to board his launch, gave each of us a contour map of the lake, and took us on a guided tour of all of the “Hot Spots”, shoals, humps, islands and scenic beauty of the lake, pointing out interesting features and nature’s handiwork. Ask him about “Bear Scratch Butt Rock”.

Lady Evelyn Lake, connected with Sucker Gut Lake, Willow Island Lake and several other named bodies of water, comprise over 20,000 surface acres of clear, clean, and pristine Smallmouth Bass, Walleye and Northern Pike habitat, the like of which I have never before seen. I have also never seen so many Walleye and Bass on a depth finder, in my entire fishing career. I even accused Norm of having the “fish” programmed into the Eagle LCD units. There are dozens of islands, shoals, humps, flats, gravel bars and other fish attracting and holding structure on this body of water, and you can travel in one of a dozen different directions from the lodge, to find that “Special” spot. Norm, Brian and the Staff will help you locate the fish, if you are having trouble, but I don’t see how you could NOT find fish. The Canadian DNR did a survey of the lake, and estimate there are over 2 MILLION Walleye in this body of water. It is also rated as one of the top four “Under Fished” lakes in Ontario.

Anyone who knows me, reads my articles, or follows my recommendations, knows that I “TELL IT LIKE IT IS”, with as much honesty and candor as possible, and that I can’t be HAD. And I will be honest here too. I believe there is a population of Walleye and Smallmouth Bass in Lady Evelyn Lake, second to NONE. And if EVERYTHING at “Garden Island Lodge” doesn’t PLEASE you, then you can’t BE pleased. But if there is one thing we can’t predict, plan or control, it’s the weather and the fish. And to say we had lousy conditions would be an understatement. SURE… If you wanted to relax and sunbathe, it was perfect. But have you ever heard the old saying “Wind from the South… Fish close their mouth”?? Well BELIEVE it! You know the other old saying… “You can lead a horse to drink, but you can’t make him water”… Or something like that! We had four days of clear, sunny, bluebird skies with a steady 10 to 15 mph wind out of the South and Southwest. A slow moving low pressure system that wanted to take up permanent residence over Ontario and the fish had LOCKJAW! We caught some nice Smallies, a couple of big Pike, and a few Walleye, but believe you me; we had to WORK for them.

AT LAST A BREAK! Thursday morning, the wind was calm and the water flat. The good ole biggins’ and big ole goodins’ were eating-up the topwater lures and Jerkbaits with the vengeance and vigor of a starving hobo. We caught a BUNCH of 18” to 20” Smallies on a variety of lures like The Heddon Super Spook, Jr and Tiny Torpedo; Rebel Pop-R and Smithwick Devil’s Horse. You couldn’t keep a Pearl YUM Houdini Shad in the water! I thought I had died and gone to “Smallie Heaven”. Friday was just a productive, and Friday evening my partner Keith Shank of Harrisburg, PA, and I boated 17 Smallmouth over 18”, with two at 20”. Alas, our final evening in “Smallie Paradise”… At least for THIS year!

I am still telling friends and family about the fantastic week I experienced at “Garden Island Lodge”; about the friendly, efficient, hard-working and fantastic Staff; about the unimaginable service and the top notch facilities, boats, cabins and equipment and the FANTASTIC FISHING OPPURTUNTY there.

I can wholeheartedly, honestly and without reservation, stake my reputation by recommending a trip to “Garden Island Lodge” on beautiful Lady Evelyn Lake, and you can bet the farm that I will be back there next year. In fact, I have already made my reservation for another group. If you would like to be included, in this personally escorted excursion into Smallmouth Bass heaven, contact me at mrbassin at innernet dot net or give Norm a call at 705-672-2767 or e-mail him at fish at garden-island dot com for more details.

New Liskeard, Ontario - TRIP CHECK

Facility:
Garden Island Lodge
Box 1678
New Liskeard, Ontario
Canada POJ 1PO

Owners: Norm and Val Paterson

Web Site: www.garden-island.com
E-Mail: fish at garden-island dot com
Phone: 705-672-2767

Where to stay: Overnight Accommodations in New Liskeard

Econo Lodge… New Liskeard… Clean, handy and reasonably priced… 705-647-8711
Cobalt Truck Stop… Inexpensive and serves a GREAT breakfast… 705-679-8185
Edgewater Motel… 30 minutes from Mowatt’s Landing… 705-647-8588
Waterfront Inn… Expensive, grouchy impolite staff, their idea of a senior discount was $2.10, NEVER AGAIN… 705-647-8711 If you are a glutton for a rip-off

What to fish: Top Lure Choices:

Smallmouth Bass… Heddon Tiny Torpedo, Zara Spook, Super Spook, Jr.; Smithwick Devil’s Horse, Rogue, Suspending Rogue; Rebel Pop-R, Deep Wee Crawfish, Bomber Fat Free Shad, 6A, 7A; Yum Houdini Shad, Craw Bug, Vibra King Tube, Wooly Hawg Craw, Shakin’ Worm and Yum Dinger. Cabin Creek Critter Getter Tube, Salty Spider and Bassin’ Beaver. BOOYAH Spinnerbaits and Buzzbaits.

Walleye… Lead Jig Heads in 1/8oz and 1/4oz; Worm Harness; Floating Jig Heads on Bottom Bouncing rig; Pop-Eye Jigs; Small Spinners. Jigs and spinners tipped with worm or live minnow. Cordell Grappler Shad, Wally Divers, Wally Minnows.

Pike… Johnson Silver Minnow with white grub trailer; Heddon Zara Spook, Zara Spook, Jr; Smithwick Rouge and Suspending Rogue Minnow; Excalibur Super Spook; Rebel Minnow and Holographic Minnow; YUM Houdini Shad; BOOYAH Buzzbaits and Spinnerbaits.

To say the least, “I thoroughly enjoyed my stay at Garden Island Lodge” and will go back there many times to come. If you have any questions, contact me or Norm Paterson at the lodge, or look us up at the “Eastern Sports and Outdoor Show” in Harrisburg, PA, come the first week of February.

Tight Lines,
Will Whitehead
Professional Angler