Back in July, I returned to the Elliot Lake region for yet another multi-lake fishing adventure. I split my time between Quirke Lake and Elliot Lake, neither of which I had yet explored. As of last spring, I’ve been working with the City of Elliot Lake to help highlight some of the awesome fishing opportunities found throughout this beautiful region. This time around we got into smallmouth bass, lake trout, northern pike, yellow perch, and even some rock bass.
The City of Elliot Lake is located in Northern Ontario, Canada, and is situated between the cities of Sudbury and Sault Ste. Marie. You can check out some of my past fishing adventures in the Elliot Lake region here.
Fishing on Quirke Lake
I brought along my new boat, the SeaArk Flex 21 powered by Yamaha, for this adventure. Joining me was my partner, Eric, and our dog, Blitz. We arrived in Elliot Lake on a Friday evening, got settled in at Hampton Inn, and set the alarm bright and early for our outing the next morning. We launched at the free boat launch on Quirke Lake, just over 20 kilometers north of the city. We began exploring this scenic waterbody and started catching smallmouth bass before we even left the launch area!
In addition to the smallmouth bass, this lake is also home to lake trout, walleye, northern pike, and more. During this outing, we primarily focused on targeting smallmouth using the drop shot and Ned rig techniques. We covered a lot of water and had the most luck fishing around points, offshore boulders, and rock shoals/humps, which could easily be spotted in the super clear waters. As for depth, we were primarily fishing in about 20 feet of water or less.
My best catch of the day, shown above, was a definite highlight of the trip! Watch the full video recap from our day on Quirke Lake:
Fishing on Elliot Lake
Our second day was spent exploring Elliot Lake, located on the north side of the city. Elliot Lake has a free boat launch, which features recently updated and accessible docks, along with on-site washrooms. Each time that I’ve visited the area, I’ve seen people fishing or simply enjoying the view from the public docks, which feature large shade awnings and multiple benches.
We spent the majority of the day targeting smallmouth, once again using the drop shot and Ned rig techniques. Although we primarily yet again focused on points, boulders and rock here as well, we also came across large expanses of vegetation that held both smallmouth and pike. I picked up the northern pike on a Mepps Bronze Slammer in-line spinner.
A highlight of this outing was getting into a flurry of lake trout in 25 to 60 feet of water. I had marked some fish on LiveScope in around 20 feet of water that I had initially thought was a school of smallmouth. I quickly hooked one on my dropshot and it turned out to be a beautiful lake trout! We quickly made the decision to shift gears from bass to lake trout and proceeded to catch 8 lake trout in less than an hour on a blade bait.
Note: Please be sure to review the most up-to-date Zone 10 Fishing Regulations before planning a trip. Although lake trout were in season at the time of writing this post, the lake trout season closes after Labour Day.
Accommodations & Dining
We had a restful stay at Hampton Inn, located right in the city, for the duration of our visit. I was grateful for this pet-friendly option so that we could bring Blitz along with us on this adventure. Hampton Inn also offers a convenient complimentary breakfast which we took full advantage of before heading out fishing each day.
As for some dinner favourites, we ordered takeout dinners from FireSide Classic Grill most nights after getting off the water, and opted to dine in at the Stone Ridge Golf Course patio on our last evening in the city. I even tried my first ever Deep Fried Mars Bar (at Stone Ridge)! For our on-the-water lunches, we stopped in at Foodland to pick up a variety of prepared sandwiches, snacks, and drinks.
A big thank you to the City of Elliot Lake for partnering with me on another amazing fishing adventure! I can’t wait to get back there!
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