This year makes something around 19 consecutive early June trips to Harrop Lake in northeast Manitoba. It also was the fourth or so ownership change. A couple of readers were nice enough to email me about their trip in late July last summer and warn me that things were not looking good for the old owner. Several weeks later we were told that Harrop had changed hands… again…

But the fishing was as good as any year I can remember, at least with respect to large walleye. In one day I caught or netted four walleye that would be among the 20 biggest we’ve ever caught:

This one was big fish for the week and earned me a few bucks.

One of the highlights was that the walleye were in a more aggressive feeding pattern that we sometimes find. On day two I caught maybe a dozen walleye that struck close enough (and shallow enough) to the boat that I could see them. 3 of the 4 big ones came on jerk baits, which is a whole lot more fun than jigging. Every year the pattern is slight different, but this year jerk baits worked better than I can remember. The wife and I caught about 75 walleye a day, of which I probably caught 30 or more casting.

The Wife and I didn’t come close on any big pike though. The first and last day it seemed like everyone had a fish around 40″ and we didn’t even raise anything approaching 30″. In terms of numbers of big northern caught, this might also be one of the best years I can remember, I just wasn’t a part of it…

Big northern for the week was this 46″ fish:

My records only go back 8 years but I suspect this fish was one of the 2 biggest we’ve ever caught.

So in short, it was a great trip. The new owners are doing some things great, and some things have changed. Perhaps by this time next year I’ll have a better take, but right now I like the general direction…

I get a surprising amount of google hits for “Harrop Lake”. I enjoy hearing about the experience others have had. If you’ve been, or are going, drop me a note at dukkillr@hotmail.com

I’ve been taking my daughter along:

And I’ve even been taking my pregnant wife along (to keep my daughter in the boat):

But now the wife and I are headed to Manitoba on our yearly trip to Harrop Lake. I’ve got a few things that will publish while I’m gone, and I’ll have some pictures when I get back.

You can find more on the story here.

Actually the view is great, but it’s the fishing that matters right?

Well this year was perhaps even better than last in terms of big fish. I caught two northern over 40:

but neither was big enough to knock The Old Man’s fish out of the top spot:

Unfortunately, this year’s trip was not all perfect. Before dinner on the second night my mother slipped on mud and grass while walking between her cabin and the dinner cabin. She fell and broke both the bones in her lower leg. It was a bad situation, but it could have been so much worse. Our crew included a radiologist, an RN, a dentist, and a guy who has run clinics and radiology departments all his life. They got her reasonably diagnosed, splinted, and relaxed. The other huge stroke of luck was that there was a small float plane already parked on the dock. There is one worker in camp to keep the generator running, boats gassed, and cabins from burning down. This year that worker happened to be the owner of the operation and he happens to be a bush pilot as well.

We were able to get her on a four wheeler and then down to the dock, very slowly. From there we shuffled her backwards into the back of the plane, added The Old Man, and away they went. Despite being hundreds of miles from help, they were seen at a crappy Canadian clinic only a few hours after being hurt. The next day they were at a real hospital in KC and now she’s got screws and plates holding things together. It was a terrible accident that certainly changed the mood of camp but it could have been much, much worse.

Fortunately for us, they had to leave before surf and turf night:


One of the guys in our group gets part of his trip subsidized by the rest of the group in exchange for doing all the cook and supply logistics. I consider him to be irreplaceable!

Anyway, we ate well and crushed the fish. The wife and I boated 50-80 walleye each day including this stud that the wife caught (but wouldn’t hold for the picture):

Guess what… we booked the same week next year…

* I occasionally get google hits for “Harrop Lake”. If you get here and have been to Harrop, drop me a line. I would love to hear what others think. dukkillr@hotmail.com

I’m off on this trip again. It’s one of the things I enjoy the most each year. I’ll have some pictures when I get back on Tuesday night. I also have a post or two that will run while I’m gone…

So I think this makes the 16th consecutive year I’ve been to this lake. We’ve dealt with 3 owners and about 10 different arrangements of transportation and management. This year’s adventure included landing a small private plane on this abandoned airstrip so we could get picked up by the float plane. Beavers had apparently decided to build a dam that backed up water on one end of the runway… not good…

Fortunately our two expert pilots managed to make yet another wonderful landing and within a couple of hours we were fishing.

This year the area had been colder than usual. As a result we didn’t find the concentrations of fish where we often do. The first day the wife and I managed to put 45 walleye in the boat but we didn’t catch any hogs and most of the other boats caught fewer fish than we did. The second day we started to adapt and found that most of the walleye were feeding closer to shore on rocky bottoms. Most of the day I threw a suspending jerk bait and caught a ton of walleye and northern including this guy:

43 inches and good for big fish of the trip (and a few bucks)!

Day 3 the wife and I hiked up to a smaller lake where we often catch big walleye and this year was no exception. We each caught several in the 20+ range including this one:

I also snapped a few pictures of our youngest members really getting into some fish

The fourth and final day was hot and sunny. The wife and I found a windblown bay in the afternoon that was covered in pollen and baitfish. The walleye and northern were in a feeding frenzy like I’ve only seen one other time in my years up there. We brought 76 walleye in the boat plus probably 50 northern. Several times I’d have her wait to bring her fish in so I could get mine back in the water. It was incredible:

We only kept enough fish each day for a shore lunch. We’re booked for the same week again next year after all!

I’ve been fortunate enough to visit Canada nearly every year for more than 25 years. I’ve visited several fishing operations over those years ranging from full service to no-service. Without a doubt this is the best combination of quality fishing and freedom without being uncomfortable. If anyone is interested in contact details drop me an email. Everyone should experience Canadian fly-in fishing at least once.