What month is best fishing Kipawa and why?

[Jerry "SKO FSHN"]

Reading the Forum reviews, I see that there is a mixed decision as to when to fish Kipawa. Some will say the cold waters of spring fishing the shallower warmer waters others will say the later months with no flies or mosquitoes bothering  you. I am sure that our members Keep logs or reports of past trips and I would be curious what their findings on this subject are? I have only fished the late May weeks and first three weeks in June. I have stood at the docks in  May seeing 0 bait activity but then in June seeing a lot of bait activity. I know that there are a lot of factors, ( water temps, bugs, bait, spawning,moon phases etc.etc.) I wonder if someone who fishes this lake through out the entire spring - fall might elaborate on this topic? Thanks
Jerry "Sko Fshn"

[puckster_guy]

 Hey guys,My favorite time of the year is the fall. Sept. and Oct. November gets too cold with highs around freezing. This time of the year the bugs and crowds are gone. The fishing is very predictable with spots more reliable. I love the colors they're amazing. The hills look like they're on fire.

[Oarin]

Hi Jerry, I've fished Quebec in June, July, August, and September. Way too many bugs for me in June. We were in the Gouin Res. and had to duct tape our sleeves to gloves and our pant legs to our boots. Little buggers still got us! It looked like I was growing a 3rd nipple in the middle of my chest! Great fishing though. July can get really hot, even up there. Several years ago the surface water temperature was 87 degrees one day!!! By far my favorite time is late August-early September.  Very few bugs, nice cool temps, and fewer people. The fish are deeper and a little harder to find and the days are shorter, but that's OK. I'd rather be comfortable and maybe catch fewer fish. It also helps that our cabin has a really nice propane heater. Oarin.

[Jerry "SKO FSHN"]

Hey Puckster-guy and Oarin,
I totally agree that the fall can be the most picturesque time to be fishing but my travel is 1000 miles and it's difficult to make the trip more than once a year. My wife of 45 years has something to say about it as well. The bugs can be brutal. Some years great but the last two years have been terrible. Turtle camps sold their cabins 15 years ago and I really should have purchased one of them. $30,000 CA money and our US money was worth 1.3-1.5.  Big mistake? Do any of you fish the central lake area? Hunter lake? Most of the material I read is from all other regions?

[Jay Thomas]

Hi Jerry:

When I first started fishing Lake Kipawa, I made contact with the fish biologist responsible for the Abitibi/Temiscaming region. That contact was indeed a good contact because that biologist was also responsible for the management of the walleye fishery throughout Quebec.  When I asked him when was the best time to fish Lake Kipawa for walleye, he responded that I would be well advised not to fish Lake Kipawa before 15 Jun. Even though many fishermen reported great walleye fishing from opening day onwards, I followed the advice of the biologist. Many of my trips were scheduled in late June to try to capitalize on the May Fly bite. However, as I got older, I preferred trips without bugs and without hot temperatures. Consequently, the timing of my Kipawa walleye fishing trips migrated to between mid August and mid September. I did not fish Lake Kipawa in 2014 nor will I fish there in 2015 because I managed to convince myself that Lake Kipawa experienced poor walleye spawns in 2008 and 2009. I plan to retry fishing Kipawa for walleye in 2016 (my belief that 2010 was a good spawning year). Because many folks enjoyed good walleye fishing on Lake Kipawa in 2014, I'm left no choice but to question my rationale for not fishing Kipawa. It is what it is and I've missed the place. Fortunately, I have enjoyed good walleye fishing trips in neighbouring lakes. 

Jay

[puckster_guy]

no need to travel to Hunter lake. Lots of good fishing close to home. I don't mind cruising by for a beer or two tho

[NortonJoe]

I have fished in the Kipawa area every week between first week of June and Last week of August.  Personally, I am a fair weather fisherman...meaning I like to run around in shorts and a t-shirt/no shirt.  To me, it's as much about having a cold beer while soaking up some midday rays on the beach/dock.  So, our group has consistently gone up within the last two weeks of July to the first two weeks in August.  In all those trips between 1988 and last year we have only had a handful of years where the fishing was non-existent.  Some years have been tough but you just have to adjust where you fish and what you use/presentation.  And if the fish are being difficult there's always cold beer, the beach, a game of horseshoes, poker etc.

[johnny walleye]

I LIKE THE LAST WEEK OF JULY AND THE FIRST AND SECOND WEEK OF AUG AND HAVE ALWAYS HAD A GREAT TRIP.

[pike mike]

Our group has only fished early spring93rd week of June) so I cant compare to the other seasons. I will say that I definitely like the 3rd week of June better than the 3rd week of May ,when we first came to 3 Seasons 16 years ago

[brank]

We have averaged 2-3 trips per yr to Kipawa over the last 8 yrs.   The only month we have not fished is June which is supposed to be the best fishing.  Mostly skipped June as my boys were in high school and had exams then.  Our best fishing have been a couple of our early July trips. (Most skeeters too)  Last July we arrived at the end of a cold front/storm and fishing was sluggish until the weather improved.  We have made several trips late Aug and early Sep with great weather and good fishing.  We have also have 4-5 opener trips where we had to spend more time searching for fish but did well too.