By Craig Dumesnil
THE LODGE
6/11/25 – 6/17/25: This was my first visit to Ash Rapids Lodge ( ARL ) my first fishing trip to Canada, for that matter; so, I have nothing to compare it with. I was part of a group of eight men, mostly friends from Louisville I have known since childhood . They have been going to ARL for over twenty years. This was the first time my invite didn’t conflict with a warm water trip already set up.
ARL is located two hours by car due east of Winnipeg, Manitoba, just over the line into Ontario in the northern most part of what is known as the Lake of the Woods area stretching south to International Falls. This is a vast watershed with the surrounding land being either federal lands or, in some areas, part of the Ojibwa Reserve. Sparsely populated with summer fishing cottages in some areas we fished. Mostly just Canadian wilderness areas of conifer forest. The lake holds a tremendous amount of water flowing to hydroelectric dams downstream. Many areas of the lake are over 100 feet deep.
The lodge is accessible only by boat. We left our rental car at the lodge’s staging area/landing and took a 10 mile ride to the lodge. Since the lake freezes over for much of the year, they have a very short season-May til the end of September. This may account for my never hearing about how good the fishing used to be twenty years ago. The fishing exceeded my expectations in every way.
Set on a hillside. the facility consists of a main building with indoor and outdoor dining, a bar and tv lounging area. One and two bedroom cottages around the lodge accommodate over nite guests like us who were there on a fishing package as well as some who came by their own boat and were fishing without a guide. I believe the cottages can accommodate 30 plus overnight guests. They seem to be renovating the cottages one at a time with available cash flow. Some would qualify as “spouse friendly.” Others would not. There is a sizable dock area with a large fuel tank for lodge boats and the general public. The food was excellent, chef prepared fare with a soup course, salad, entree with vegetables, rolls and desert. You can byob wine for dinner or order from their selection. Breakfast every morning was a buffet with fresh cooked eggs to order. Twice we opted for a shore lunch consisting of that morning’s catch of walleye, fried potatoes and onion rings plus pickles, slaw and other goodies. This cuts into the fishing day so the other days we just ordered sandwiches from the kitchen.
THE FISHING
We fished with guides every day, covering 25-30 miles in the G3 aluminum boats powered by 60 horse Yamahas. 4 boats, two men to a boat. Our target species was smallmouth bass but we caught the occasional northern and walleye, as well. One day my fishing partner caught a 37 inch northern. I fished with a spinning rod the first couple of days, then switched over to a seven weight. My last day, my partner and I caught 75 smallmouth between 15-18 inches, fly rod only. Two of my buddies fishing with a native guide and winner of many local tournaments, caught 150 smallmouth on spinning rods. There are lots of fish. And I repeat that this may be due in part to the short season. Also, I was surprised that our group of eight caught not a single fish over 19 inches. A number of the guides are local college students working for the summer. All were excellent in my opinion. The total cost of the trip, seven nights/six days fishing including all meals, taxes and tips to the staff is right at $5000 plus airfare.
Craig is a long time member of the Sea Island Fly Fishers and an avid traveler.
