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Clearwater-Pipestone Chain of Lakes Walleye Fishing:
Walleye are the most popular game fish in the Clearwater - Pipestone chain of Lakes. Due to the much improved fishing regulations concerning possession and size limits, walleye fishing has flourished over the past decade. This unique water body of over 70 miles of connecting lakes and rivers has a healthy population of walleye with an average size of 1 to 3 pounds, although each year many in the 5 - 12 pound range are caught.
Clearwater Lake's transparent light blue color water normally requires a more finesse presentation, but its rewards are some very large fish. Clearwater Lake produces most of the trophy walleye caught by Little Moose Lodge guests. Every year the lake produces walleye up to 32 inches; occasionally the odd monster walleye are caught. A 34 inch walleye was caught last year and a 16 pound walleye a few seasons ago by some lucky fisherman the Fish Gods were smiling upon.
Sunrise and sunset are the best times to fish Clearwater Lake where it's common to catch 15 - 40 walleye during these periods. Of course some days you have to work for a limit and other times it's realistic for the boat to catch a hundred fish. An example of this was when I took out a youngster with little fishing experience out on Clearwater Lake last summer for the evening walleye bite. He counted, we caught and released 57 walleye in 1 hour and 20 minutes, most were 1-2 pounds, but the action was non-stop!
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If you are new to the lakes or walleye fishing, don't expect these numbers instantly. It's wise to hire a guide for at least one day, a guide's wisdom and experience is invaluable. When you arrive we will provide free lake maps with known walleye hotspots, you chose Little Moose Lodge for your fishing vacation, and we want you to catch lots of fish!
Our lakes via the south portage including Rice, Despair, Footprint and Jackfish Lakes offer the best angling opportunities for quantity of walleye to be caught. These lakes are shallower, have stained tea color water with lots of weed growth. Fishing the wind swept shorelines, narrows and reefs or in and near the cabbage weeds in depths of 4-16 feet will produce excellent results all day long.
Pipestone and the other lakes via the north portage are deep clear lakes with a lot of walleye structure over a vast amount of water. These lakes also have good walleye populations, but they are a bit more difficult to target compared to Clearwater and the south lakes. Pipestone and the north lakes are most popular for lake trout, smallmouth bass and muskie fishing. Generally most walleye fisherman concentrate on Clearwater Lake and the South lakes.
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The Clearwater-Pipestone chain of lakes consists of prime walleye structure including river mouths, island clusters, points and inside turns, mid-lake reefs, saddles, rock piles and weeds. All of the lakes contain a good combination of sand, gravel and rock bottom which produces good insect life attracting baitfish, which means the walleye will be near. The main walleye forage from our lakes is yellow perch, ciscoes and various shiners and minnows.
We encourage our guests to practice catch and release and to keep only enough of the 14-17 inch tasty eating size walleye for shore lunch or dinner. In our colder Canadian Shield Lakes it takes 10 years for a walleye to reach a length of 20 inches! Walleye in our region have been known to live up to 25 years, although walleyes older than 15 years are not common. Although you are permitted one walleye over 18.1 inches, we prefer our guests to release any over this size. Catch and release of walleye in the prime spawning ages ensures future anglers may enjoy Ontario walleye fishing at its finest!
Clearwater-Pipestone Chain of Lakes Walleye Regulations:
Open Season: Jan.1 - April 14 & 3rd Saturday in May to Dec. 31
Limit - Sport License: 4 in your possession
Limit - Conservation License: 2 in your possession
Size Restrictions: No minimum length, one walleye greater than 18.1 inches.
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