lake Ogascanan trip info request

[ziggy6]

My crew and I are in the process of planning a trip to Ogascanan in lake June. We were hoping for some more info from some of you veterans to the area:
.From many of the posts we've read  we know we should get leeches, can anyone suggest a bait shop and should we try contacting them ahead of time? also with 4 fisherman for 4 days how many pounds should we purchase? amount of worms?
As for hotels, the night before our drive into the lodge does anyone have any suggestions? North Bay or Temiscaming?
Thanks again for any advice... Ziggy

[Dog]

ziggy,

welcome to the forum. Check the trip report index. lots of answers to your questions there on people who attend Lake O.

This year will be our group's 5th year at Lake O...

We've only ever stayed at the auberge in temiscaming the night prior and have no complaints. We like being 4-5 hours away (takes us about an hour or so longer since we tow a boat in). It's nothing fancy but does the trick and we like that we park the boat (back it up) right to in front of the door. http://www.aubergecanadienne.com/ they have a decent diner for bfast and dinner too so it's convienent for us.

for bait we get it from billybob's in north bay on the way in... usually get 1/2 flat for 4 guys for a week and if we need extra we get it from the Mullens with no worries of ever running out. leeches can also be boght from billy bob's. bought them a couple years and never used them up so I would say buy less, not more but that's just our fishing style... if that's  all you tend you use, buy more... we jig fish with nightcrawlers usually or are using rapalas plugging.

lastly, if you're there in late june/ early july you'll probably see me, Flag and crab if you make it north of Smith's Pass...
Hope to see you out there.

A couple lessons we've learned over the years making the trip:
-buy your grocery at the new IGA in Temiscaming (no point loading down your vehicle for the trip unnecessarily. The selection and hours of operation are great. We go grocery shopping after hitting the diner in the morning before driving in to the lodge)
-don't run out of beer or water (it's a long drive from the lodge back to town)
-We like to bring some homemade frozen casserole meals in pyrex (less cooking prep to worry about sanitation issues). Paper plates and eating utensils. no point washing crap.. leaves less time for fishing.
-ask Ginny about blocked ice before your trip
-bring two coolers (fridges are good for a lot of things, but not chilling room temperature drinks. see previous point about block ice)
-Exchange rate (if coming from south) is usually as good as any other at the Border Peace bridge exchange... no point worrying about a few pennies on the dollar in my eyes for the convienence of the stop on the way (takes 30 minutes and a nice stretch and bathroom break)
-Gas up prior to going into Canada (Angola rest stop if on your route)... gas is more expensive in Canada so it'll save you a couple bucks by filling up before or trying to make it across the border (I wouldn't try to push your luck coming back... if under 1/4 tank get gas as the lines can be ridiculously long depending on conditions)
-The lake is deceivingly large. In the 4 years we've gone we've focused north on Smith Pass and we feel comfortable getting around without a map up there. I couldn't tell you one spot south of smith pass I'd go and likely catch fish... the mullens will steer you in the right direction depending on where you're staying.


A few others make the trip to Lake O on the forum so I'm sure they'll chime in...
@KSmithy72 @Administrator @Nancy @john c

Lastly, Ask the Mullens, they're the most honest and straight up outfitter I've ever come across, they sincerely want to help make your trip as enjoyable as possible so just ask them.

[Nancy]

Welcome to the board, Ziggy. Although John and I have been to Ogascanan many times, somewhere around 15. I really don't know how much real help we can be to you. We normally go up later in July until earlier August. We were up last year on one trip the second week of July, and things are very different then than mid-August. So I am sure it is just as different in June. Everything Dog mentioned is sound advice. The one thing we do different than Dog's group is that we take our own food as there are several specialty shops in our area that we treat ourselves to some special meals from these places. Temiscaming has a great new store now that rivals or is better than any of our small town stores around here. (NW Pa) We have always stayed at the Canadien in Temiscaming, but I think that is over. Last year they lost our reservations, but did have a room, and then about midnight they sold our room again to some other people. They opened our door with their room key. I yelled and the guy started talking French. John finally woke up a little to protect me, I guess. LOL

We just use jigs and worms so do not know how many leeches you would need. Here is a link to the pinned topic about where to buy your leeches. http://kipawafishingforum.net/index.php?topic=62.0

Listen to what Jer will tell you about where the fish were at least the previous week. He knows the lake like the back of his hand and is a valuable resource. The Mullens are great people and are true professionals with the operation of their camp.

I don't feel I have been much help. If you have further questions, feel free to PM John or I.

[john c]

Ziggy

Last year Jer had leeches for sale.  I don't know if he is planning to do that again this year. That was the first year he had them so I don't count on it, you could email the lake and find out for sure.  We buy our crawlers at the camp.  The crawlers are $3.00 a dozen.

johnc

[ziggy6]

Thanks to all of you for the advice.. every little piece adds to the entire experience.  Here's another question on an issue the crew is discussing, should we bring clamp on rod holders? not sure if the boats have rod holders or if the ones we bring will even work . was hoping that someone has dealt with this issue before. I'm sure some of you bring your own boats but we will be using the camps.
Oh by the way we're staying in cabin #4 on the island outpost. 
 

[SgtCrabby]

The camp boats do not have rod holders.   
Yes, some of us bring some clamp on ones with us.

[Dog]

@ziggy6

One thing I forgot to mention...
We pack in rubbermaid tubs. While we have gotten lucky for the most part upon arrival, if it's raining, you have to load and unload two times to get to your cabin (even the island outpost)... if it's raining this can mean your stuff gets drenched if not properly packed in waterproof containers.

also upon arrival. be prepared to operate in a bug envirnment. (unpacking the car to the boat and boat to cabin). it's usually over for the most part by late June but you never know... better to have your headnet and sprays or whatever you use handy just in case...

also do some research on fishing during the mayfly hatch (again usually over but if not and you don't know anything about it or how to fish during it, it can be frustrating...)

I know nothing about the southern end of the lake so I can't help you out. but the mullens surely will. I'd listen to them as @Nancy stated.

hope this helps,
Nate

[Jay Thomas]

Regardless the lake being fished, one never knows whether the walleye will prefer leeches over crawlers or visa versa. Consequently, we ALWAYS have both leeches and crawlers. In terms of the quantity of leeches, we always take one pound of large leeches for every two guys for a week. For crawlers, we always take 500 crawlers for the week for 4 guys. However, 2 years ago for an 11 day day fly in trip for 4 guys, we took in 1500 crawlers because we were expecting to catch lots of walleye (the four of us boated about 700 walleye).

I'd recommend that you reserve your bait 2 or 3 weeks before departure. Billy Bobs in North Bay, Kipawa Bait and Tackle in Kipawa or Pronature in Témiscaming are all good choices. Our group only has 4.5 hours driving time from Ottawa to Témiscaming. So it's easy to use a local bait supplier. We reserve our bait 3 weeks before departure and we pick up our bait the day before departure. If there are any surprises, we've still got time, if we're lucky, to make alternative arrangements for bait.

Jay

[KSmithy72]

Hi Ziggy,
Ogascanan is a great place and the Mullens are best in class.  They will do everything they can to put you on fish so you'd be wise to listen to their advice.
Here's my $.02:
- Enjoy the experience:  You won't slay fish every day on this lake. Guys expecting this are unrealistic and will likely be disappointed. When they aren't biting, do something else - swim, nap, read, bonfire, play cards, explore...you get the idea.
- Fish when they are biting:  Early mornings and evenings are when walleye are most active. On days where it's cloudy and windy they may bite all day.  Take advantage of those times.
- Bring or rent a fish finder:  Most of the walleye you catch will be in 6-20 FOW that time of year so you probably won't see them most of the time on your screen but it's a great tool to keep you in that depth range and to see the structure of the bottom.
- Work spots near your cabin: the lake is big and there will be fish right off your dock.  Develop a handful of spots close to your cabin vs. driving all over the place, wasting fishing time and gas. While I'd encourage you to explore the lake, work the spots the Mullens give you near your camp more than any others.  There are plenty of good spots.  Just because they weren’t on a spot initially doesn’t mean they won’t be there a couple hours later.
- Respect Others Space:  Lake O is 12 miles long and around 3 or 4 miles wide.  It has thousands of miles of shoreline and hundreds of humps and anomalies that fish like.  Fish will be biting all over the place at times and not at all during others.  For the most part, when you see guys fishing a spot, I’d encourage you to give some them some space and find your own fish. 
A few years back, I had been working a spot one morning by myself for about 2 hours.  I’d caught 2 fish and missed a couple more but overall the fishing was slow.  I hooked into a nice one and group of 3 boats nearby saw this and immediately transcended to within casting distance and anchored (I had been drifting).  I could have cast my jig into any of their boats! This was the first fish I’d caught in 30 minutes and they concluded that I’d found the only actively biting fish on this massive body of water.  These guys clearly hadn’t caught much and decided this etiquette was OK.  It’s not in my opinion.
While there are areas where guys will anchor and jig close to others for the evening bite, I do my best to avoid stacking up and rather enjoy the remoteness of my own fish that I found on my own spot.  Few things are more rewarding than developing your own spot, not to mention it keeps everyone’s blood pressure down too.
Hope that helps Ziggy.  Enjoy the trip with your boys…sounds like a great adventure!
Kevin

[ziggy6]

Thanks Kevin for the advice.  Much of what you say makes sense and something I think we will try to adhere to. Agree 100% with the giving people their  space concept. If you think of anything else please let me know.  Really looking forward to the trip. Ziggy

[RockOnTour]

Hi Ziggy - We are also heading up to Lake Ogascanan for our third straight year (I see other folks on here have gone many more years than us so their insights and advice are valuable). The Mullens are very nice people and will help you out with where to go and what to use. It will be me, my 18 yr old son and my father...we've been going fishing in Canada since my son was 6 (as I went fishing in Canada with my father and grandfather when I was a kid). So it's a tradition. We'll be at Southern Outpost from July 12th to the 16th. Here's a few things I learned in three years:

1) Don't over pack tackle....jigs, jigs and more jigs (green, red, orange, white)
2) Buy leeches and worms
3) Early morning and 6pm - 8pm are best times to fish.
4) Be patient...20 minutes per spot. Look for underground structure (boulders and humps)
5) Have fun. It really is a beautiful spot.

Cheers!!

Don

[ziggy6]

Thanks Don and everyone else that has responded,   It has been a blast already getting our gear together ( I'm sure we over did it but it might have stimulated the economy and Bass Pro/ Cabela's stock probably rose) We've started to take all of the bits and pieces of advice and put it together. We're in the process of making packing lists for food and other things.   Overall we now see if this trip works out for us that we can see ourselves doing this every year. 

Ziggy
  Ok .. another question ....on an issue we've been pondering.... head net or bug suit?   

[SgtCrabby]

Which do you have? Headset or the suit.
I have both and will take both. But really, a headset is all I've ever used.

[Jay Thomas]

I concur with SgtCrabby's recommendation - take both. When the mosquitoes are really bad, I always wear my bug jacket made by Squito Wear - provides much better overall protection. With a wide brim hat, like a Tilly LTM2 Airflow, the netting is kept away from your face. I wear golf gloves to protect my hands (I prefer not to use insect repellants with DEET).

Jay