2021 Algoma Travel Guide - Magazine - Page 17
ALGOMA COUNTRY BUCKET LISTS
So, what could possibly remain for our pro anglers, right? I mean,
with so many fish of a lifetime experiences already under their
collective belts, what is left on their Algoma bucket lists?
“Brook trout,” says Bowman, without hesitation when I pop the
question. “If I’m looking for a huge Nipigon-strain brookie and I
only want to drive eight hours from home, Algoma is the place to
go. The lakes set up perfectly for the world record Nipigon-strain
trout in so many lakes. And they are tucked away in gorgeous
wilderness settings.” Not surprisingly, the same magnificent,
hook-jawed, ebony-and-irony trimmed trout sit atop Gardner,
Melnyk and my Algoma Country bucket lists as well.
“My dream is to fly in to the northern border of Algoma Country
and fish the famous Albany River,” confesses Melnyk. “You have
a shot there at catching a double-digit brook trout and the wild
fish strike the floating mouse patterns voraciously.”
Gardner, on the other hand, has his trout sights set squarely on
the brook trout rivers in the North. “I visited a lake up north in
Algoma, too late in the season to target brook trout,” he says.
“So I’d chew glass to get back there earlier with my fly rod.”
Angelo Viola, however, takes the same sage view as so many
other Algoma Country anglers, who make annual pilgrimages,
year after year, to their favourite haunts. “Algoma has one of the
most prolific walleye fisheries I have ever been on,” says Viola,
with a sparkle in his eye that tells you better than words, how
much he enjoys the place. “What makes the lake standout is the
classic fishing structure. Long tapering points and underwater
humps abound and almost every one of them holds schools
of fish. What I like so much about it is that they are text book
walleye. The fish do exactly what they’re supposed to do, when
they’re supposed to do it. Pete and I have shot two outstanding
episodes in Algoma Country and they were from both ends of the
fishing spectrum.”
We have come through a lot over the past year my friends. We
need an Algoma fish fix. I know how I am going to celebrate my
golden anniversary. How about you?
algomaco u ntry. com
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