During the end of August and beginning of September, Eric and I had the chance to get out fishing on the North Channel of Lake Huron in Algoma Country. This was only our second ever visit to the mighty Lake Huron, which is the second largest of the Great Lakes. This fishing experience turned out to be one of the highlights of my summer! The crystal-clear waters on this massive waterbody and rugged Canadian Shield islands and shorelines create spectacular views. This, combined with the quality of fish and variety of species we caught, made for such a memorable trip! Thank you to Algoma Country for partnering with me on this adventure.
Accommodations at Blue Heron Resort
During this fishing trip, we stayed at Blue Heron Resort in Walford, just east of the town of Spanish. The resort is located about 6.5 hours from Ottawa, or just over 5 hours from Toronto. Blue Heron Resort is situated along the shores of the Spanish River, which flows into the North Channel of Lake Huron. Cottage rentals, RV sites, and tent camping options are all available here. We opted for a cozy cottage, mere steps from the water with a beautiful view of the Spanish River. Boat rentals are available as well, however we brought our boat along for this adventure. With plenty of dock space right behind the cottages, you can conveniently park your boat right on the river. The owners at Blue Heron Resort, Patti and Mike, were so kind and welcoming. We also met a few friendly guests, some who have been long-time visitors at Blue Heron Resort. We had an enjoyable stay!
Getting on the Water
With low winds in the forecast for the majority of our trip, we were anxious for the opportunity to get out exploring on the big water. There is a public boat launch at Blue Heron Resort; however, since we planned to fish the Whales Back Channel and the North Channel, we opted to launch further down the river at the Spanish Municipal Marina, just over 10 kilometers away (by truck).
Our Fishing Experience: Day 1
I always get butterflies of excitement, especially when exploring new waters. It happens even more so when it comes to fishing on the Great Lakes with the calibre of fish that roam on these amazing waters. As I was setting up my cameras for a day of filming, Eric picked up a couple smallmouth bass on a Ned rig right by the marina. We then fired up the Yamaha and made our way down the river, through the Little Detroit passage, and into the North Channel. We cruised along, spotted a rock shoal, and decided to poke around the area, noticing a nice, thick weedline in the process. I then picked up my first fish, a 27ā walleye on a Ned rig using a CrushCity Salted NedRoll in black. This sure set the tone for the trip! What a beautiful fish!
Although our primary focus for this trip was bass, I was very pleasantly surprised at this first catch. We slid out a little deeper, in around 25 feet of water, and picked up a couple little smallies on drop shots. Eric picked up an Alabama rig and casted back towards the shoal, landing up a nice northern pike! This checked off species number three in short order!
As the day progressed, we fished various depths and started getting into some quality bass, mainly around offshore humps and shoals. Key baits were a drop shot with a Z-Man Trick Shotz, and the CrushCity Mooch Minnow on a light jighead.
Another surprise catch was a chunky rainbow trout that Eric picked up on a Mooch Minnow!
Catch All the Fishing Action from Day 1:
Day 2 in the North Channel
On day two we got into more quality bass and picked up a few rainbow trout as well. We each got into our biggest smallmouth of the trip with Eric landing a 5-pound smallmouth on a Berkley PowerBait MaxScent Lil’ Super Trooper. I picked up a couple over 4 pounds, one on a drop shot and the other on a Z-Man Gobius, which I just tied on for the first time that day. I also had a rainbow trout eat the Gobius which was quite unexpected!
Catch All the Fishing Action from Day 2:
As mentioned, this trip was certainly a highlight amongst our summer adventures, and I wonāt forget these days on the water! Our third day on the North Channel was spent capturing some additional photo and video content for Algoma Country, and fishing was once again action-packed with plenty of quality catches hitting the net!
Thank you to Algoma Country for such a memorable experience, we sure hope to be back soon!
Connect with Ashley on social media:
Subscribe to Ashley’s posts:
Your message has been sent
Leave a Reply