Munroe Lake is located 650 miles north of Winnipeg, MB, at the southern fringe of Canada's tundra. More than 16 miles in length and up to 4 miles wide, Munroe Lake offers exceptional opportunities for fishing, hunting, hiking, wildlife observation and photography. Trophy northern pike, lake trout and Arctic grayling abound in Munroe Lake and adjacent streams.

In big lakes, pike spread out into various summer patterns after postspawn. Some pike remain in shallow weeds all summer. Some cruise open water as loosely associated packs, chasing huge schools of baitfish. Some hunt near bottom across mid-depths flats in the 40 to 60 foot range. Each pattern suggests different presentations. A consistent wind, blowing from the same point on the compass for several days, can draw pike from all of these patterns into one area, at which point they can be easily targeted.
Munroe Lake offers many inflowing creeks, shallow back bays, sandy beaches, esker points and many sheltered areas to fish or enjoy shore lunch. The lake is studded with islands, shoals, points and back bays. The key features of Munroe Lake (at least as far as anglers are concerned) are the numerous, mid-lake "cabbage" weedbeds, which attract trophy pike.

Summer pike fishing begins when the weeds become fully established. In fact, the first week or so after the weed growth becomes mature can offer fantastic fishing. But the northerns go right on hanging around the weeds for the rest of the summer. Sometimes they'll be just outside them.

Wherever the weeds stop, that is the magic depth. It will be a certain depth that will remain constant throughout the lake. That is, if the weeds end at 15 feet at one point, they will probably end at 15 feet all over the lake. So if you troll at a constant 15-foot depth, you'll be presenting your lure right in front of the deepest edge of the weeds. And that's exactly where summertime northerns like to hang out. You'll need a good depthfinder to keep your lure right where it should be.

The expert guides at Munroe Lake will give you inside tips as to what you should be offering in lures so you don't have to guess at what the fish are biting on. Generally the idea seems to be that you use gradually larger lures throughout the season. For the first month or so the most popular lures have been the Mepps #4 and #5 spinners both dressed and undressed. Similar Blue Fox varieties are also very popular. Plastics and jigs are also effective at this time. Although these lures seem smaller than what you would normally envision as pike tackle, they are producing record class fish. Over the course of the season the most popular lure may well be the Mann's Minus 1- in various sizes.

Pike fishing traditionally means BIG baits, but what about those days when the fish continuously follow the lure but refuse to strike? Small baits are the answer to the question. Pike can become conditioned to big baits that are commonly thrown by the majority of anglers. Some of the fish there are 30 to 40 years old and they have seen just about every bait known to man. Although pike can attain tremendous weight and size, there is something about a small bait under the right circumstances that can work pure magic. Early season is one of those moments. Northern pike are less likely to exert themselves chasing down large prey, but can be convinced to take a swipe at a bite-sized snack.

Robert Paquin, owner of Munro Lake Lodge, explained that they were having a lot of luck on small baits to catch big pike. The phrase "small bait" is a relative term when discussing species-specific lures. For the northern pike, small can be defined as a lure that measures less than five-inches in length.

Cold front conditions are another situation that calls for downsizing your presentation. We've all been there before - bright blue skies, sunny and without a cloud in the sky. This is darn tough fishing in anyone's book. Pike can be caught during these periods, but it will take something small, natural and unobtrusive to do the damage. This isn't a time for monster cranks or behemoth trolling plugs, but scaled down versions that will be appealing and noteworthy to the lazy pike with lockjaw. The other small bait that we used was a Mann's Minus 1 bait. It has a wide wobble and can be cranked over the top of the weeds without getting hung up. We selected colors that varied from silver to bright red to attract the pike.

Northerns slide deeper as water temperatures warm. On cloudy days, they

may be found feeding on shallow flats. But, generally by mid-summer, they lurk down to 12 feet depths, or on mid-lake humps.

For shallow work, concentrate on points, inside turns and bends. Narrow the

search to the ones with thicker, greener cabbage. Look for the sharpest drops with the quickest access to deep water as things heat up and fish move deeper. I'm looking for the secondary break, the deep-water ledges that drop way off after that.

For the most part, pike are associated with weeds. They lie in ambush in weeds, and then attack their prey with astonishing speed. You cannot move a lure too fast for a northern to catch it, either trolling or casting. In fact, a lure that zips past a pike at extremely high speed is likely to trigger a strike that a pokey lure might not.

The tackle required is a stiff rod, like a Shimano Clarus Series rod that you might use for muskie. The line should be a low stretch monofilament in about 12 to 17 lb. test, Berkley XT is good choice. I will also spool this up on a Shimano Calcutta bait casting reel. The reason that I use a baitcaster is it allows me more line capacity and I can use a long handled rod to tuck under my arm while speed trolling.

Downsizing your baits will increase your odds of catching trophy fish at Munroe Lake Lodge. It might be a technique that you can even use on some of your local waters as well.

For more information contact by mail: Robert Paquin and Michelle Frechette Munroe Lake Lodge, P.O. Box 61022, RPO Grant Park, Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada, R3M 3X8. Phone (204) 475-1810

1-888-300-2650 (Toll Free) FAX: (204) 475-1811 
robert@munroelakelodge.com or munroelakelodge@shaw.ca
Web site: www.munroelakelodge.com

http://www.austindailyherald.com/articles/2007/10/25/sports/news02.txt


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