What makes a great fishing location anyway? Is it the scenery? Is it the diversity of the catch? Is it the size and fight of the sport fish? Is it a variety of fishing spots that perform well in the same body of water? The answer is “yes” to all the above. If you’re planning a fishing trip to Canada, you’re in for a real treat because it ticks all those boxes!
Canadian fishing lodges set you up for a perfect fishing adventure.
There are reasons generations of people come to Canada for fishing vacations each year. Canada contains over half of the world’s freshwater in the form of lakes and rivers. Each lake has its own ecosystem and sports its own fish populations. In addition, Canada has taken an aggressive stance to conserve its natural resources, including efforts to preserve the diverse aquatic life the country boasts.
The fishing lodges that dot the lake shores work within that overall goal, to preserve and conserve the area for prime ecotourism and future business. Each lodge tailors their packages to provide specific fishing experiences. This is a win-win situation. Often the lodge converts a new visitor into a life-long repeat customer. It’s not unusual for families or groups to book fishing vacations at the same lodge year after year. They get a reliable fun retreat with great fishing each time and the lodge gets stable business.
And, to top that all off, nearly every freshwater sport fish an angler could want to fish can be found in Canada. Often in unusual sizes.
How do you choose which Canadian lake to fish?
There really isn’t a bad choice when it comes to fishing in Canada. However, there are a few things to consider:
- Do you want to focus solely on fishing? Or do you want to be urban adjacent so that there are other activities you can enjoy?
- Which province would you like to explore?
- What fish do you want to target?
- Do you want remote, pristine wilderness? Or would you rather be closer to amenities and other people?
- Do you want to completely unplug? Or do you want to stay connected?
All of these considerations will help to inform you of which lake (or lakes) you’d prefer to plan your trip around.
Canadian lake fishing opportunities
It would be impossible for us to list all the lakes in Canada and what fishing opportunities they present. But here’s what each province generally offers:
1. British Columbia
This province is home to 25,000 lakes and plenty of coastline. People come from around the world to hook sturgeon, salmon, and steelhead. You can also find trout, kokanee, northern pike, halibut, lingcod, and rockfish (among others).
2. Alberta
There are 63 species of fish in Alberta waters, with 17 that are preferred by anglers and considered “game fish”. Included are a number of different trout varieties, artic grayling, burbot, goldeye, whitefish, northern pike, walleye, sauger, and yellow perch.
3. Saskatchewan
This province is home to 100,000 lakes and rivers. It offers trophy fishing of northern pike, walleye, lake trout, artic grayling, and more.
4. Manitoba
There are 110,000 lakes in this province, not counting its saltwater coastline with the Hudson Bay and plenty of rivers. Trophy fish abound in these waters. You’ll find artic char, artic grayling, trout of all sorts, catfish, tullibee, whitefish, bass, muskie, northern pike, walleye, and much more.
5. Ontario
This is the best province for fishing in freshwater lakes. We’re not simply saying this because we are biased (rightfully so), it’s also because this province has over 250,000 lakes! We have 158 freshwater species of fish, with plenty of trophy specimens. You’ll find sizeable walleye, northern pike, muskie, small and largemouth bass, varieties of trout, salmon, panfish, and various alternative species.
6. Quebec
This province has its fair share of lakes and rivers as well. It boasts 30 different species of fish, including salmon, bass, walleye, and pike. Twelve of which are indigenous.
7. New Brunswick
This tiny province offers atlantic salmon fishing, as well as, smallmouth bass, shark, shad, brook trout, chain pickerel, landlocked salmon, white perch, yellow perch and more. While freshwater fishing can be done here, the best trophy fishing would probably be saltwater.
8. Nova Scotia
Surprisingly Nova Scotia offers 6,700 freshwater lakes for the fishing enthusiast. During the spring, anglers go for speckled, rainbow, and brown trout and striped bass. As the summer progresses, smallmouth bass, white and yellow perch, chain pickerel and mackerel are prevalent. The fishing action focuses on trout and atlantic salmon during the fall.
9. Newfoundland and Labrador
This province is actually a number of islands dotted with numerous lakes and rivers. You can fish wild atlantic salmon, record-breaking landlocked salmon, trophy brook trout, northern pike, whitefish or large arctic char.
10. Nunavut
This province is truly an untamed wilderness and you’ll be fishing in artic waters. Typical catches here will consist of arctic char, lake trout, northern pike, and artic grayling.
11. Northwest Territories
This is another province that lies along the artic. Which means the lakes and rivers here are largely pristine and untouched. You can target lake trout, northern pike, artic grayling, whitefish, burbot, and inconnu.
12. Yukon
There’s a region of this province referred to as the southern lakes region because it is dotted with glacier-formed lakes of crystal-clear blue water. Throughout the province you can fish for artic grayling, burbot, inconnu, northern pike, trout and char, and various whitefish varieties.
Abundant choice makes for hard decisions in planning your fishing trip.
Canada’s vast resources and lack of population make this country a fantastic location for a fishing retreat. It offers way too many fishing experiences. No one could fish every body of water in the country. There’s something for everyone here. So, what’s a person to do with all this choice?
Let us narrow your choice down: Choose Lake Savant in Ontario, Canada.
Lake Savant is a remote lake that only has two fishing resorts on it. There is no public access. This means the fish here are healthy and not hook shy. You can catch trophy-sized northern pike, walleye, and lake trout (to name a few). Wildewood on Lake Savant’s fishing adventures have been featured on TNN, ESPN, and on the In-Fisherman television series.
Check out our fish gallery and then contact us to see how we can help you design your next fishing excursion at one of Canada’s best fishing lodges.
