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Fish Species

Esnagi Lake is a world class fishery boasting healthy populations of walleye, northern pike, perch, and whitefish. A short portage away is Rock Lake. Rock Lake gives some added variety with its brook trout population.

Happy Guest Holding Up Big Walleye Catch Aspect Ratio 918 434
Fisherman Showing Off Giant Walleye Just Caught Aspect Ratio 524 343
Woman Holding A Stringer Full Of Walleye Catches Aspect Ratio 376 343

Walleye Fishing

Esnagi Lake is famous for it’s walleye fishery. Not only are they plentiful, but they come BIG.

Hands down, the most popular game fish in Ontario must be the walleye (Sander vitreus vitreus). Known for its frisky fight and finicky attitude the walleye is the shore lunch favourite of nearly all anglers who stay at Mar Mac Lodge. Arguably the best tasting freshwater fish, they continue to be the number one sought after fish species in Ontario and produce great numbers on an annual basis.

Primarily a baitfish feeder, there are endless possibilities and lure combinations that prove effective for catching Walleye. The most popular and time tested presentation has to be the standard jig sporting nothing but a live minnow, nightcrawler or leech.

Northern Pike Fishing

Few sport fish will inspire tales like the great northern pike and Esnagi’s lunker northerns are legendary. Big waters produce big fish. Expansive weedbeds, deep main-lake basins, a large forage base and widely practiced catch & release have allowed an excellent pike fishery to flourish.

Several pike over 40″ are caught by Mar Mac anglers each season. We encourage all fishermen to take a photo of their trophy and release it quickly ensuring the quality of Esnagi’s fishery. It’s not uncommon to catch many pike in the 34 – 44 inch range. Some of our lucky fishermen have even caught specimens up to 47 inches long!

Guest With Huge Northern Pike Caught While Fishing 2 Aspect Ratio 918 328
Fisherman Weighing Massive Northern Pike Catch Aspect Ratio 348 395
Woman Holding Up Trophy Northern Pike She Caught Fishing Aspect Ratio 554 395
Fisher Holding Up Perch Aspect Ratio 918 434
Woman Holding Up Awesome Perch On Hook Aspect Ratio 524 343
Young Man Holding Up Stringer Full Of Perch Catches In Front Of Main Lodge Aspect Ratio 376 343

Perch Fishing

Perch are typically caught sitting in the middle of a weed bed in about 5 or 6 feet of water. Wind free and sunny days are your best bet should you be targeting this panfish. They are known to be very scrappy despite their average size of 8 to 14 inches. Perch travel in large schools, making it easy to catch a lot of them in one good afternoon.

Use a smaller jig than for walleye, 1/8 oz works best in white or pink. Bait with a piece of night crawler. We suggest 2-4lb test line.

Whitefish Fishing

Whitefish are primarily caught in early spring or late fall while jigging for walleye in the shallow areas. In the spring we catch many right off our dock! Whitefish make for a fantastic meal. During the heat of the summer months they are very difficult to catch.

We suggest small tear drop jigs baited with a waxworm.

Guest Holding Up Whitefish Caught At Mar Mac Lodge Aspect Ratio 918 328
Guest With Whole Stringer Of Whitefish Caught On The Lake Aspect Ratio 348 395
Fisherman With Giant Whitefish Caught Aspect Ratio 554 395
Brook Trout Caught In Net Aspect Ratio 918 434
Father And Son Brook Trout Catch 1 Aspect Ratio 524 343
Father Daughter Fishing Caught A Lake Trout 1 Aspect Ratio 376 343

Brook & Lake Trout Fishing

Brook and lake trout can be caught in Rock Lake which sits behind Mar Mac Lodge. Access this trophy lake via a 2 minute boat ride and a short 15 minute portage. This lake is a designated “Trophy Lake” meaning live bait is restricted and special limits apply.

For those targeting the lake trout we suggest Williams spoons, “Walleye Killers”, jigs with tails, or your favourite spoon on a swivel. Try 8-12lb test line. For brookies try Blue Fox Mepps, Little Cleo (Red and Gold) # 5 Mepps with a Red Bucktail or some other small spinner with swivel on 6-8lb test line.

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