Muskie Fishing At Nestor Falls

I thought 100-fish days, bird-eating muskie and crystal clear, untapped waters were a myth until I visited Nestor Falls, Ontario.

Only an hour and a half flight north of International Falls, Minnesota, Nestor Falls Fly-In Outposts is a family-run outfit that has been making the myth true for 30 years. Last summer, they added a fleet of pedal-powered kayaks at their Kay Lake and Onepine Lake outposts.

You could spend your whole life trying to catch a trophy muskie. Or, you could spend a few days on Kay Lake and cross monster muskellunge off your life-list.

Cast or troll a Storm FlatStick in UV-pink around rock islands, cliff walls and over weed beds to hook into a trophy. Or, switch to a 10wt fly rod and monster muppet fly for the ultimate challenge. Fishing doesn’t stop when the sun sets. Work a Lake X Lures Fat Bastard and wait for the explosive crush of muskie jaws. That’s right, these fish eat loons. That should get your blood boiling.

If you don’t get ripped off your kayak by moss-colored behemoths, switch over to light tackle and wear out your arms catching big smallmouth bass. The lake’s reefs, submerged islands and rock-to-weed transitions are filthy with bronze linebackers. You’ll need plenty of XRaps, tubes, curly-tail grubs and flukes. Fly guys will want to tie up crawfish imitations and topwater flies.

Tired of bass and muskie? Switch to lake trout.

Pack a portable fishfinder to search the deep water sections for suspended trout. Vertically jig a Buzz Bomb, Heddon Sonar, spoon or heavy hair jig to pull lakers from the deep.

Kayak fishing these fly-in lakes offers opportunities to explore the main lake or portage to smaller bodies that get even less pressure. Looking for walleye and northern pike? Make the trip to Onepine Lake where anglers report 100-fish-days with hard-fighting fish that hardly ever see a hook.

[ Also read: You Never Thought To Fish For Muskie This Way ]

Escaping on a fly-in fishing expedition may seem out of bounds for kayak anglers, but opportunities at Nestor Falls put this dream trip into reach.

Food

Pack lots of high-energy, high-calorie food and don’t forget your fillet knife. Ingredients for the classic Canadian shore lunch can be found at Dalseg’s Fine Foods in Nestor Falls, Ontario. Looking for great snacks for your adventure? Stop at the Safeway in Fort Frances, Ontario.

What’s biting

Smallmouth bass, walleye, northern pike, lake trout, muskie

Seasons

Late May through October

Rigged up

Smallmouth bass: X-Raps, tubes, flukes, curly-tail grubs, spinnerbaits, topwaters, 1/16-1/8 oz. black marabou hair jigs, crawfish-imitating flies

Muskie: Storm Giant Flat-Stick (UV-pink), bucktails, Fat Bastard, large flies

Lake Trout: Buzz Bombs, Heddon Sonars, PK Lures spoons, hair jigs

Walleye: 1/8 – 3/8 ounce jigs (black, chartreuse, orange), Gulp! Alive! minnows and leeches, Shad Raps, Original Rapala Floaters, 1/8 oz. Storm 360GT Search Bait

Northern pike: Spinnerbaits, spoons, bucktails, large Husky Jerks, oversized flies

Game plan

Fish Kay Lake and nearby waters for smallies and muskie. Keep an eye on the fishfinder for lake trout when crossing deep sections of the lake. Travel to Onepine Lake to load up on walleye and chase trophy northern pike.

This article was first published in the Spring 2017 issue of Kayak Angler Magazine. Subscribe to Kayak Angler Magazine’s print and digital editions, or browse the archives.