Five Incredible Places to Fish in Western Canada

Edward reached out to us because he used our site as a resource for information on lodges and new fishing spots in Canada. It turns out he’s done a bunch of fishing all over the world, including Canada. So, since we recently added lodges in Western Canada provinces to our site, we asked for his five favorite lodges in Western Canada.

His first Canada fishing trip was back in 2001 because of his love of the outdoors and the remote fishing opportunities that the great wilderness of Canada offers. His favorite part of any fishing trip is getting out with his sons and friends but he says great fishing is the most important quality a lodge can offer – so you’re getting that in all five of these lodges

So, check out Edwards favorite Western Canada fishing lodges and circle a few for your next trip!

Wollaston Lake Lodge

Wollaston Lake Lodge is in northern Saskatchewan. We flew to Winnipeg and did an overnight there before catching a charter to a dirt airstrip near the lodge (Points North) and then had a bus ride to the lodge. It’s an extremely large, deep, lake with many side fingers and bays. The lodge itself is 5 stars and very comfortable in every way with great guides, great service and food. The guides cook great shore lunches and the lodge owner, Mike Lembke, does a great job. I view Wollaston Lake Lodge as primarily a pike lodge…while you can catch grayling, walleye, and lake trout, the focus there is pike. I went twice and we caught some lakers, very few walleyes but lots of great pike. You can also fly out to other lakes which is great. We had great pike fishing when the weather cooperated with volumes of fish and a few real trophy pike above 40". My most memorable catch was my first pike over 40". Our party of 2 boats was in a shallow bay by a beaver lodge just crushing the pike. Everyone else took a break and I kept casting and landed a fat 43" pike. That picture is on my office wall.

Gangler’s North Seal River Lodge

Gangler’s North Seal River Lodge is in northern Manitoba. We flew to Winnipeg and overnighted there and then took a lodge charter flight to Gangler’s own dirt airstrip at the lodge. While in Winnipeg we ate at a great steakhouse recommended to us – 529 Wellington. Strongly recommend it. Gangler’s North Seal River Lodge has outpost lodges as well and we stayed at the main lodge, which is really a fly out lodge. They have exclusive access to a large number of remote lakes to fly into. Note, though, there are extra costs for the fly–ins which can add up. We also portaged to a nearby lake on ATV which was fun. An advantage at Gangler’s is they have great fishing for pike, lake trout and walleye. When the weather cooperated we had great fishing for all three species, catching both quantity as well as trophies.

My favorite moment was when we flew into a wilderness lake known for great lake trout and pike fishing. Since we were there during their second week of the season, in June, we were the first party to fish the lake that year. Only the day before had the lodge opened the lake for the season by flying in a couple of boats and motors, and they had encountered a troublesome and hungry black bear. When we arrived the guides were ready for the bear in case he showed up again and had a shotgun for support. The bear showed up as my son and I were standing on the pontoon of the float plane about 30 feet offshore waiting to be ferried to the shore. So early in the season there was not much food around and the bear was skinny and his intent was clear. The guides expertly used the shotgun to scare the bear off without harming him. My son and I felt quite safe standing on the pontoon with the water as our safety net, and all this happened perhaps 100 feet away. We quickly jumped in the boat and motored away with our guide. We had a memorable day on that lake catching volumes of lakers and a few real trophies. Hanging on my wall is a picture with a huge trophy lake trout from that day. We also had a memorable shore lunch on a wild beach with delicious fresh lake trout with flesh almost orange.

Big Sand Lake Lodge

Big Sand Lake Lodge is in northern Manitoba. There were 6 of us on that trip – my son, two of his friends, and their fathers who are my friends. We had a great time. Again we did an overnight in Winnipeg and took a charter to the lodge’s dirt airstrip, had a great dinner at 529 Wellington. Big Sand Lake Lodge is a long narrow lake with some very deep areas. The lodge is okay. The lake has some great pike and walleye fishing and as well as lakers. There is a fly out available to a lake with great lake fishing which we did not take since the capacity was 4 and we were 6. We caught volumes of pike and walleye and some trophies of each. It was unseasonably warm when we were there which impacted the lake trout fishing.

Cree River Lodge

Cree River Lodge is in northern Saskatchewan. We flew through Saskatoon to get there and then took a publicly available flight to Stony Rapids where the lodge picked us up. We drove for some time on dirt roads then took a boat to the lodge which is only accessible by water. The lake itself is almost a huge river so it’s not very deep but has some unique characteristics due to the water flow. The lodge is quite comfortable; we had great home cooked food and shore lunches. The owner of the Cree River Lodge, Pat Babcock, does a great job.

Cree has great pike and walleye fishing. The pike are exceptionally large and the ratio of large pike to total caught was higher than at any other lodge I’ve been. I believe this is due to the forage available due to the constantly moving water. We caught some impressive walleye as well. We had a couple of very memorable moments. One day we were fishing a hole and while my son and I were casting for pike the guide threw a jig out for walleye as we needed a couple more for lunch. He was reeling in a walleye and a huge pike came out of nowhere near the boat and "T–boned" the walleye and tried to eat it. The pike struck several times which was a great show. We cast at it but could not get it to hit our lures. The next day we went back to that spot and I caught a very fat 42" pike on a big plastic bait. A highlight at Cree is a day trip run up to the top of the river where there is a huge sand esker. It’s hard to describe but amazing to walk up. The river up there is great to fish and we crushed it that day with many over 40". My younger son on his first trip to Canada caught a very fat 44" pike which crushed his lure right in front of us. I landed my personal best northern pike there, a fat 44.5" trophy.

Pacific Tugboat Adventures (formerly Westwind) – British Columbia

We were a group of 7 who flew to Vancouver to overnight, which was fun. From there, we took a small plane up the coast to be picked up by Westwind at a small airport. The program at Pacific Tugboat Adventures is that you sleep on a converted tugboat which is very comfortable with about a dozen passengers. They tow a number of fishing boats, and you "follow the fish" targeting salmon and halibut along different sections of the BC coast. The mother–ship is very comfortable, great service and absolutely amazing food like fresh crabs, shrimp etc. We caught coho and pink salmon and 1 king, as well as halibut and ling cod. We caught some nice fish but the week we were there the fishing was slower than average based on the unseasonably warm and very sunny weather, which was comfortable but not ideal for the fishing. It happens but we still had a great time. There were a couple of great shore excursions as well.

There you go…five great lodges to consider when you plan your next Western Canada fishing trip, but there are many more Canada lodges to consider (check out our Trip Finder for options tailored to your situation)