Cedar Valleye Lodge June 29-July 6

[Kill Switch]

Well another trip to CVL in the books. It was great to see Neno. He is working hard to bring that camp to the next level. A brand new second cabin is almost done.
We got in Saturday at about 2pm, just in time for a quick rain shower..not that bad...We rigged up and headed out that evening.
We fished the northern part of the lake near the blue barrel. We worked a small ledge that goes from 4ft to 14ft. Over a 2 hour period we landed about a dozen 'eyes in the 15" to 18" range.
I don't wake up at the crack of dawn, so the next day we went toward Taggert Bay to fish the narrows. Holy bass Batman. I could not get over just how many bass we caught. Easily over 50. Huge smallmouth, some over 6lbs!. I worry about the bass in this lake. I hope they don't take over. I decided to keep two to eat as they came out od cold water. No worms, no mush, the were delicious.
That evening we fished close to Mackenzie. Walleye were fierce. We hit about a dozen that were over the slot, and all on plastic jig rigs (we normally jig worms). Pumpkinseed twisters (brown with black dots) were the go-to choice. Back to camp to finish off that case of 60 Bud Lite (not a fan of the beer, but how do you say no to a case of 60).
Monday we went exploring some of the northern bays, Cariboo and Moose. Both were productive with Moose being the most active. We fished a small drop off that provided shade below the water and were able to catch walleye in about 10 ft of water. It must have been around 2pm. That may be the earliest I have found a group of walleye. While in the area we headed to the hidden lake (Bilbar Bay). Caught some small 'eyes and more bass. Just 5 years ago there were no bass in that part of the lake.
Tuesday the heat came in. To stay cool we trolled a bit on the big part of the lake (Hay Bay) and in the channel in from of 3 Seasons. We got pike, pike and more pike. They were at about 15 feet. We were using large Wally Divers, HotnTots and some spoons. Nothing to brag about but we did get a fatty to keep for dinner. I love pike. No issue getting the Y-bone out.
That evening we went to what we call Mosquito. it's a sanctuary at the northern tip of the lake. There is a private camp. At this end there was some moving water from a secondary lake. There appeared to be a deep shady bowl. Surrounding the bowl were boulders so my son and I decided to throw in a few jigs. Boom, first cast and we were on to a bunch of fish. I was surprised given the heat we had that day. Maybe the moving water kept things cool. They were not huge goldies but still fun to catch.
Actually I would say the theme for the week was "not your usual spots or depths".
Wednesday was a lazy day to swim. Neno took out a massive tune and we has fun with our boys. In the evening we decided to simply shoot across to Smith Bay for some jigging along the stone wall.
We were fishing what I like to call "the corner" of Smith Bay. It's a drop off from 12 feet to 35 feet +++. We were using 1/8 ounce jigs. We caught a few walleye that were in the slot. Then my son thought he had a snag until all of a sudden he felt a head shake: FISH. We couldn't see it. At first I thought pike, but then next thing you know the bugger headed straight down like a submarine. I told him it had to be a lake trout. He did a great job of keeping the line tight. He only had a 1/8 ounce jig tied to 8lb fluoro leader and braid.  It took a good 10 minutes to land her. it was a beauty. Luckily another boat had a camera and was able to get a picture. I am waiting for the pic to be emailed to me. In the end it wasn't a monster, but still a nice 30 inches with good girth. it was his first laker ever. He took his time to let the fish recover and released it unharmed. Proud papa moment.
The rest of the trip was great. Fished Fox and Chevreuil Islands (Deer Island) as well.
The bugs were tough. on the water you were fine, but in the shore was brutal. I learned that the Quebec ministry dropped dragon flies from the air to help with the situation. Makes sense as I can't recall ever seeing so many of them.
The water was covered with a ton of pollen. Those nasty Japanese beetles are still destroying trees. I am not sure there is a way to get rid of that invasive bug..sad.
On Friday a noticed a couple of May flies so a hatch must of happened somewhere in the lake.

I miss Kipawa already. I hope to make a September trip, but we shall see as it will be a busy year. Maybe we should organize a Forum trip!

Please keep posting your reports as it keeps me going the rest of the time I am not on the lake.
Cheers
Patrick
AKA. 289Walleye

[Jay Thomas]

Thanks for your trip report Patrick. That part of the lake is very interesting.

Jay

[Hodgey1]

Great detail, great report! Sounds like a dandy of a trip. I loved eating the last pike At Kipawa, it was delicious.

Forum trip  I’m in!

[Oarin]

Wow, excellent report. Glad you guys had such success and a good time. Looking forward to the picture of the laker. 4 more days!!

[T]

Great report!  I still have a little over a week before we depart. Now I can hardly wait

[SgtCrabby]

Great report!    Thanks.
Sounds like you had a good time with nice variety.

3 more weeks ...

[Greg]

Fantastic trip!  You really do know your way around that part of the lake.

Do you mind if I ask how the bass were caught?  Just jigging for walleye and they decided to eat the worm? Or plastic worm?

Thx. Greg

[Kill Switch]

Hi Greg
Bass were caught with both worm and plastic.  I swam an 1/8 oz jig.  They were hitting on Yum pumkinseed colour twisters.  Trees, rocks in bays. My son was on worms while I used plastic. 
A Fluor leader seemed to make a difference.  There was a time when my leader broke off and so I just tied on to braid while my son still had fluoro. I was getting skunked while he kept getting hits.  So I tied a new leader back on and bang, I was into the action.   Was it luck? No idea but Seaguar will be making another sale with me. Lol