Taggart Bay Lodge July 16 - 22

[BH]

A little late, but none the less, here is the report from Taggart Bay Lodge July 16 - 22.

The trip started with my son flying into Cleveland on 7/15 from Minn. so we could continue our tradition that started in 2010 and was on pause the last two years.  We headed out from the Cleveland area about 8 AM and had our normal stop in Erie at the Bob Evans.  Made it to and through the border at Ft. Erie with no problems.  Once across the border we both had a big sigh of relief!  In the back of our mind, we kept thinking that something would happen that would delay or cancel the trip, but it didn't.  Traffic wasn't too bad except that I missed the ETR and had to go slow for a bit.

We drove to Noth Bat, where we have stopped for a few years and checked into the Homewood Suites.  This only leaves a couple of hours drive the next morning and gets us into TBL plenty early.  On the 16th we stopped at Trapper Joes (Trout Lake) to pick-up our leaches for the upcoming week.  He always has plenty on hand and is quite the character.  Once across the Ottawa River we stopped in the IGA and did our best to support the local economy. We checked in with Lise at TBL and were unloaded and ready to go by noon.  Probably saw Sgt Crappie getting loaded in the 3 Season boat from our cabin!

Facilities were great as usual, and our equipment worked well all week. Yves does a fantastic job of reinvesting in his lodge.  As others have mentioned it sure was hot Sunday through Wednesday with the hottest day being Monday with a high of 30 (86 degrees).  Fishing was slow as mentioned by others.  It probably was the heat, not going out for the morning bite, or rusty technique, but I might as well blame it on supply chain issues, climate change, COVID and the war in Ukraine.

We found fish in 15' - 18' and had the best luck with slip-bobbers with the leach on a chartreuse wobble jog (smallest one available).  Best fishing was Saturday evening (7/16) and Thursday evening (7/21) when it wasn't hot.  We caught some nice sm. bass and walleye.  No walleye over the slot, but a few under the slot, which is a good sign for things to come.  Landed some nice bass in the 18" range and those are fun!  The biggest surprise of the week was when we were drifting (because we lost our anchor earlier) by the islands directly across from the mouth of Deep Bay (in Taggart Bay) where there are normally some nice bass and occasional walleye.  Quick drop-offs from the island!  On one pass we drifted quickly from 15' to 40' (on the way to 75') and just mentioned jokingly that maybe we would hook into a lake trout and just as I mentioned it and we were preparing to troll up for another pass, my line took-off.  Thankful I was holding onto the rod tight and the 6 lb. test and jig held-up.  A few fun filled minutes later my son netted the trout and our hearts were racing.  27" laker will be a great meal very soon!

All-in-all the week was fantastic!  We could have had better results fish wise, but by the time we settled down after evening fishing, cribbage, and a few beers it was late and waking up at before sunrise wasn't appealing this trip.  Drive back to Cleveland was a piece of cake.  Didn't miss the ETR on the way back and looking forward to receiving my bill in mail.  At the border in Ft. Erie only had a 5 vehicle wait to cross.  Left TBL at 6:20 AM and was pulling into my driveway at 4:30 PM.  Blessed that we were able to make the trip in 2022!

Reservations already made for TBL the week of 7/15/23, I'll get the countdown timer started.

[TBIRD]

Thanks for the Report BH - Glad you were able to make it to Taggart Bay after a 2 year wait!

[RHYBAK]

Great report
Thanks for sharing

[Hodgey1]

Fishing was slow as mentioned by others.  It probably was the heat, not going out for the morning bite, or rusty technique, but I might as well blame it on supply chain issues, climate change, COVID and the war in Ukraine.

Great report @BH , I enjoyed it all, especially the reason for the slow fishing!

[T-Bone]

Thanks for the report...sounds like a great trip. Nice work on getting the trout!

Interesting to see the reference to 'wobble jigs'. I have an organizer full of them from the two years we went to TBL...haven't touched them since...but mostly because I have no confidence in their ability to produce. TBL must own the mold for those things as that's the only association I've ever heard to using them.

Start the countdown to '23!

[Pfrouman]

Hi BH, I?m Paul Frouman. I?m new to this form but I?m not new to Kipawa Lake and I?m a longtime fisherman. Last year I stayed in TBL Lodge with my wife. I just booked my next fishing trip for the 2023 season so we?ll stay at TBL again during July 15-22, 2023. Cabin #7. During the previous year the fishing was a little bit slow excluding one day in which we caught a lot of bass and waylay. Pike fishing was close to nothing. I?ll take any advice for how to excel the amount of pikes I catch during my stay. I?m not blaming the war in Ukraine for the poor number of fish, in this case it?s better to support Ukraine. Glory to Ukraine and Happy New Year all around.

[Greg]

Great report - nice to read one again!!

Happy new year to all!

[Oarin]

My son and I will be at the Outpost Cabin the week of the 22nd. Can't wait!