Northland Paradise Lodge - Temagami, Ontario.

A NOTICE TO ALL SPRING FISHERMEN:

The MNR has cancelled our spring fishing opportunities for most species, effective March 15 through the 3rd Saturday in May (i.e. the two-four weekend). This new law will do absolutely nothing to protect the spawning size females of all species; it only stops people from fishing for them for a couple months but come spring, it's open seasons on them again. As a lodge owner, this takes a big bite out of the income that is derived from late winter and early spring fishing. As a sport fisherman, it stops your enjoyment of the sport when the blackflies and mosquitoes haven't began yet. Your annual fishing license should be just that ... a license to allow you to fish ALL YEAR.

There are also major changes to the fishing zones across the province. Seasons have also changed. Slot sizes on some species have also changed. READ AND UNDERSTAND these regulations before going fishing!

Full details can be obtained in the annual fishing regulation booklet available from authorized license outlets (but not from the MNR offices; it's not their job offering this info any longer) or at the following site: http://www.ene.gov.on.ca/envregistry/027028ex.htm . I URGE EVERYONE TO VOICE THEIR OBJECTIONS TO THIS REGULATION.

Possible alternatives could include:

reduction in our daily limit (3 to 2 fish, for lake trout),
slot size changes (release the spawners, all species),
reduce the number of lines for winter fishing from 2 to 1,
total ban on gorge style hooks (to allow for live release of some fish)

Contact (in writing) your MPP (if you are an Ontario resident) as well as the current Minister of Natural Resources. Encourage your families, co-workers and friends to submit a letter. You do not have to be a resident of Ontario to object to this regulation. The future of fishing is in everyone's hands!

UPDATE: Further information will be posted here as I receive it.

There will be some major changes to our ice fishing packages for the coming 2019/2020 season this year. For the first time ever, I will not be having ice huts on the lake for rentals. I will still offer the usual all-you-can-eat meal and accommodation packages and I will have minnows for guests but all fishermen will have to bring their own portable (pop-up) huts this year. The reasons are simple: I spend way too much time replacing the styrofoam insulation after idiots leave the heaters pointing towards it and burning holes in the insulation. Other idiots leave the heater running at full power for 15 hours all night long ... so the hut is warm in the morning. Note: It takes less than 5 minutes at -35C to warm up a hut. A hundred pound propane tank burns out in less than a week instead of lasting all winter. Last winter was an abnormal brutal one but I couldn't keep up just lifting and blocking the huts above the slush and banking up the sides with snow. And lastly, with most fishermen having their own pop-up tents, small heaters and augers which lets them fish at several locations on any lake, hut rentals have been way down over the last couple years and it has reached the point where it just isn't economically feasible to continue with rentals. My apologies for any inconveniences this may cause but with Marg's failing health and just me here to do all the cooking & dishes as well as all the laundry, this decision is final.

Ice fishing is still a popular winter activity at Northland Paradise Lodge. Lakes are usually frozen to a sufficient and safe thickness by mid December to allow pedestrian access on area lakes. Please inquire about early season ice fishing conditions. Whitefish and ling (barbot) are in season all year. Northerns and walleye are open from then through to March 15 and are then closed until the May 24 weekend. Smallmouth bass are open until December 31 every year. A much reduced winter lake trout season is only open from February 15 through March 15. Depending on the year’s spring thaw and breakup, fishing opportunities will still exist through to the end of March for whitefish and ling.

Tackle and tip-ups can still be purchased in our gift shop. A smoker is available for a nominal charge to give your day’s catch that little something extra”.

From time to time, some of our guests are looking to either buy or sell fishing tackle and related items. When this happens, I try to help them with this by posting a note and picture on this website on the Items For Sale page which can be accessed from the top of this page. If you, or anyone you know, are interested in buying these items, please look here first.

Check-in times for weekly packages are after 2:00 p.m. on Saturdays and check-out times are before 11:00 a.m. on the following Saturdays. For overnight packages, the same times apply for each day. Please inquire about any variations that can be made to these time schedules.

Responsible use of alcoholic beverages is allowed on lodge property. However, we are not a licensed outlet for the sale of these beverages

Pets are always welcome.

Have you ever caught a tagged fish?

Occasionally, fishermen will catch a fish (usually a walleye in Temagami area lakes) that has a stainless steel jaw tag in its bottom lip. The first question that is usually asked is "Am I allowed to keep it?" That depends on the size of the fish; if it is in the slot size, then the answer is unquestionably "NO". However, if it is not a slotted fish, then you can legally keep it. Before you toss it into the live well or onto your stringer, please think of the reasons that this fish has been tagged in the first place. Whether it is a male or female walleye, it was caught in a trap net in a creek or river that is known to be used as a spawning area in the spring of the year. These nets are the property of the MNR and have been placed there by volunteers from the local Temagami and Area Fish Involvement Program (TAFIP) which collects the spawn and raises young walleye to be placed back in a number of different area lakes and to assist Nature in keeping a healthy population of fish for anglers to harvest in future years. This particular fish was stripped of some of its roe or sperm and then both the weights and measurements were recorded before being tagged and then released back into the lake. MNR supplied TAFIP with the tags. The jaw tag has a 6- or 7-digit number on it that identifies this fish and the year that it was tagged. If you do decide to keep it, please return the tag to TAFIP in Temagami so they can update their data on it. It is also requested that you report the length and weight of the fish as well as the date and name of the lake on which it was caught. If you'd like to keep the tag as a souvenir, that's also allowed but please forward on the info described above as well as the tag number.

The other option would be to weigh and measure the fish, record the tag number for TAFIP (705-569-3240) and then release it back into the lake. This will tell TAFIP how much that fish has grown since it was tagged. If it is caught again at a later date (possibly years from now) and the info is recorded again, it would greatly add to the knowledge base on the health and sustainability of the species in that particular lake. At the present time, only walleye in Lake Temagami and the Cassels-Rabbit lake system have been tagged.

The odds of catching a tagged fish are about the same as winning a lottery. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of fish that use a spawning area every year. A small percentage of these are caught in the trap nets. Of these fish, even a smaller percentage are ever tagged. As a volunteer with TAFIP, I helped tag about 30 or 40 fish in both lakes in 2009. To give us a good cross-section of all the fish in the lakes, both males and females were tagged and the weights ranged from less than a pound (a male) to one female that tipped the scales at just under 7 pounds. Needless to say, we had much bigger fish in the 10 to 12 pound range that we chose not to tag. The reason that these large fish were not tagged is because we are more interested in how fast they grow and younger ones will grow a lot faster than these older fish.

So ... enjoy your fishing opportunities and perhaps you just might catch a tagged fish. Recording the info and then returning it to the lake (after all the pictures are taken) will assist in proper management plans for a sustainable fishery not just for you to enjoy but for your children and grandchildren to enjoy for years to come. As for the walleye pictured above, it was a 17 inch, 2-pound male that was tagged and released back into Lake Temagami in 2009.

Weekly Ice Fishing Report

A weekly ice fishing report will be posted here to assist our guests in their plans for one of winter's most pleasurable activities. Ice depths, slush conditions, what's biting best, favorite lures/bait rigs and anything else associated with this sport (as it is reported to me) will be listed here.

All of this information should only be viewed as a guideline and should never be misinterpreted as cold hard facts in any sense of legal obligations. Absolutely no liability will be associated with this and all users assume all responsibility and consequences resulting from their own actions taken from this information.

2022 /2023 REPORT

Monday, April 17, 2023. The hard water fishing is over for another year. Shoreline access points are now opening up and unsafe to be across. The warm weather in the mid 20's C of the past week have probably degraded the ice strength to a point where it isn't safe either. All the surface water from last night's torrential rains (it woke me up a couple times) had disappeared when I did get up so there's sufficient cracks in the ice for it to seep down through. In simple words, stay off the ice. Open water should be here in a couple weeks now and it's only 5 weeks until spring fishing opens. Overall, it was a great winter for catches. Most were whitefish but walleye was a close second with the occasional pike and lake trout also caught. It was great to see past customers return (for some, a few repeat times) and to meet new guests for either their first time on ice anywhere or their first time in the Tegamami area. I'm looking forward to seeing all of you again either later this summer for a family vacation or next year on the ice once more. Thanks to all of you. This will be my last posting in here for this winter.

Friday, April 7, 2023. Believe it or not, we still have lots of good solid ice with easy shoreline access that hasn't gone soft yet. Whitefish is open all year long as are back country back lakes for stocked lakers, rainbows and speckled trout. Wet rains recently have turned the surface snow on trails into a layer of ice so snowmobile travel into back lakes has degraded significantly. Drive with extreme caution and non-extreme speed. Is that even a word?

Tuesday, March 28, 2023. Lakes are still solid and there's isn't any slush showing anywhere. A heavy snowfall this past weekend as well as more predicted over the next few days makes for easy travel by snowmobile to area stocked back lakes. Accommodations are available so call or email for reservations.

Wednesday, March 22, 2023. Ice fishing season has now closed for walleye, pike and wild lake trout. Stocked lakes for all trouts including lake, speckle, rainbow and splake remains open all year, as do whitefish. This was one of the better years for fishing overall that we have seen in recent memory. The guys certainly kept me busy cleaning fish for them and I never ran out of the leftovers for bait on my trap line. It was a win-win situation. For anyone still wanting to do some more fishing, both the shorelines and the lakes are solid and there's rarely any slush anywhere. Snowmobbile trails are still in great shape to access these stocked back lakes across the Temagami area. It's only a guess at the best but it looks like we'll have 3 to 4 more weeks of snow and ice. The lodge is open so come on up but call first for reservations.

Friday, March 9, 2023. Fishing has still been great since my last update here. There's been lots of whitefish and decent catches of walleye also. Lake travel is excellent with very little, if any, slush reported anywhere. If you're going to back lakes for stocked speckles, lakers or splake, those species are open all year but next weekend, March 19, is the final for all other species including walleye, pike and wild trout. Whitefish remains open all year. Ice huts have to be off the lakes by the end of the month but daily use of portables is still allowed.Trails are in good shape also without any significant amount of rocks appearing yet.

Friday, February 24, 2023. The slush is gone! It all disappeared after last week's cold spell following the day of rain we had. Ice thickness is reported to be around 2 feet everywhere now. A couple good snow falls this week has left the better part of a foot of it on top of all the ice so sled travel is excellent. And the fish are biting well. Lots of nice sized whitefish are coming in and some walleye also. This past week has seen the only 4 pike we've caught this year ... so far. One group that was here last weekend decided to give it one more try on Sunday morning before heading home and they came in all smiles with 5 species of fish (whitefish, walleye, lake trout, perch and pike) being caught in 2 hours. They said that they're coming back again before the season closes in mid March.

Thursday, February 16, 2023. Warm temps over the past several days brought lots of slush up on the area lakes and then yesterday's rain added to the misery. However, the temp dropped to -15C last night and the slush is freezing up fast and you can walk on it today. Fishing has been good through all of this with whitefish and walleye tied for counts. I have available meals and accommodations for tonight and from Saturday onwards but tomorrow night is already full. Phone calls are preferred over emails for inquiries and reservations.

Sunday, February 5, 2023. First, my apologies for the extendd delay in mantaining this weekly ice fishing report. There was the proverbial "glitch in the system" but I think we have finally got all the bugs out of it. So here goes.... There's lots of ice everywhere now. The bay has the better part of a foot with less than a foot of snow on top of it. Any slush that was there last week has now froze solid with the temps in the mid -30s for the past few nights. Today is -8C and the brutal winds have died down considerably. Rain showers are predicted for the coming mid week. Fishing has been great for the past month with lots of whitefish and some walleye. Lake trout season opens next week on Feb. 15 for a month. Limited accommodations are still available for that weekend. For some unknown reason, we still haven't seen a pike or a ling (burbot) yet this winter although the guys have caught (and released) the same couple of lake trout several times.

2021/2022 REPORT

Wednesday, March 30, 2022. Season is now closed for most lakes and species but it is open all year for whitefish and stocked lakes of lake trout, rainbow trout , speckle trout and splake. It has been a wonderful winter for whitefish just meters in front of the lodge. And there's lots of other lakes to choose from in the Temagami area. OFSC trails are still open (marked yellow) so there's lots of snow to ride on and if you're going fishing in a nearby lake, permits aren't required anyways. Shorelines are still solid and cars/trucks are still driving on the lakes. Meals and accommodations are still available here at the lodge. See you soon.

Saturday, Febrruary 5, 2022. Over the past 2 weeks, the lake has gone from no slush anywhere to hardly any dry snow to be found and now it is back to no slush again mainly due to extremely cold weather both days and nights. Temperatures have been all below -30 C at night with very few days above -15. I had my trail drag behind my sled while helping a friend move building material to his cottage and I got stuck in slush that was so deep, it was over my boots when I got off the machine. After a half hour of getting nowhere, we decided to drop the drag, lift it up onto dryer snow and come back the next day for it. It was a relief to get out of there and go home to dry socks after a hot shower. Using the same track trail the next day, we did manage to get the drag back home after a few slight mishaps. Now, you can go anywhere again without breaking through the top crust. As for fishing, not much has changed. One day, they are on and the next day, there's not a fish to be found. Success rates can best be described as sporadic. I've talked to other fishermen and they say it is the same on other Temagami area lakes, Lake Nippissing in North Bay and even as far south as Lake Simcoe in Barrie. My guests are quite happy with the weights but wish the total numbers were better.

Tuesday, January 24, 2022. Fishing was slow from the time our first guests wet their lines but it has picked up significantly over the past week. As expected, whitefish were the main fish caught in the bay in front of the lodge but there have been a few nice walleye brought in and about a 7 or 8 pound lake trout had to be released this past weekend. She says that she's coming back for it again after the season opens on Feb. 15 because it's got her name on it. Other stocked lakes for both rainbow and lakers have been producing well also. Ice thickness is up to 18 inches in most places now and I have not heard any reports of slush on this lake. However, there is already quite a high pressure crack on the north arm of Lake Temagami.

Friday, December 31, 2021. Well, we've finally got lots of good safe ice to travel on and fish on now. Thickness can vary so it doesn't hurt to check it often if you are on unfamiliar ice or if nobody else is out on it. Here in the bay in front of the lodge, it varies from 8 to 10 inches now and it is all solid clear ice. Snow depths can vary but there's about 6 inches everywhere on it also. So far, there isn't any slush anywhere. I've had a few guests trying their luck but it has been poor (on a good day) to terrible. Everybody is asking the same question: where's the whitefish because this bay is full of them? Hopefully, things will turn around in the new year and we'll be back to limit catches soon.

Sunday, November 28, 2021. It's been a late and unusually warm fall this year and I just took the last boat out of the water earlier this past week. 2 nights ago, the lake finally froze over from shore to shore. It will be a while before we have safe ice to walk on but watch this site for updates as they happen.

Key Benefits

Modern clean accommodations.
Close proximity to the lodge (walking distance).
Free fish cleaning services offered to all our guests.
Our internationally famous ALL-YOU-CAN-EAT home cooked meals.

Description	Prices
Ice Hut Rental	Daily - None	BYO pop-up tent
Ice Hut Rental	Weekly - None	BYO pop-up tent
Accommodations (house keeping) with your portable hut	Daily Max. 4 people	$175.00
	Weekly Max. 4 people	$895.00
	Kids 15 & under are half price. Under 6 is free.
Full package - Accommodations 2 meals/day, bait, with your portable hut	Daily	$94.95 p.p.
	Weekly	$89.95/day p.p.
	Kids 15 & under are half price. Under 6 is free.

Weekly Ice Fishing Report

Key Benefits

Prices

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