On several occasions over the years I've talked with other anglers, guides and camp operators about which lakes in Northwestern Ontario are the best in regards to the number of fish caught. I can recall several thrilling tales with hundreds of glorious walleyes or countless trophy pike being taken, with each individual being quite certain that his lake was far superior to any other in the area. Admittedly, I suppose at one time I believed that the lakes I grew up fishing were the best kept secrets in angling history, and don't get me wrong, they were phenomenal. However, they cannot even compare to what I have experienced guiding Lake St. Joseph the past two seasons.

What is it about the Lake St. Joseph experience that surpasses all others? I suppose if I had to narrow it down to one thing, it would be the huge diversity of fishing patterns that emerge throughout the season.

Sit back for a moment and imagine you're God, and one of your Godly duties is to create the perfect Walleye - Northern Pike fishery. Your first task would be to decide what kind of lake to create. There are basically three broad categories of lakes which exist in North America; fertile, moderately fertile and infertile.

Fertile lakes are shallow, soft-bottomed natural lakes found in swampy regions. Most have dark water and black mud bottom. You like this type of lake because in the spring following ice-out, these areas will heat up fast raising the activity of the fish and also providing a perfect location for your pike to spawn. On the other hand, you realize that this type of lake will be so hot and congested with weeds in the summer that fishing would be impossible, and big pike would be unable to survive. Therefore, you opt to look into creating a moderately fertile lake.

Moderately fertile lakes have extensive areas of hard- rock and sand and a variety of walleye spawning areas ranging from rock rubble shorelines to shallow reefs to rocky feeder creeks. Portions often host lush rims of cabbage weeds that hold a variety of forage fish including minnows and perch. You are as happy as a God could be because you know that this lake would be a dynamite summer walleye and pike fishery with all of the rock and cabbage. You're about to set your grand plan into motion when you realize that your lake isn't deep enough to support ciscoes, a high fat baitfish which you know are the Twinkies and Snickers of the walleye diet, making them big and fat. With this in mind you decide to check into an infertile lake.

Infertile lakes are basically far rockier and much less fertile, with fewer shallow weedy areas than the previous two lake types. Soft bottom is rare; rock isn't. These lakes are deep and usually clear, containing open water baitfish like ciscoes, whitefish, perhaps even lake trout. You are an extremely irate and frustrating God now because you cannot decide which type of lake to create. You're about to start thrashing lightning towards anything in sight when you remember, hey, I'm God, why do I have to choose just one? I'll just make one giant lake by combining all three fertility types, thereby creating the ultimate walleye- northern pike fishery. There's just one problem. You have gone through a lot of work for nothing, because this lake already exists. Its name is Lake St. Joseph.

Lake St. Joe is truly like no lake I've ever seen before. During the past ten years I've fished over 30 lakes in Northwestern Ontario and never before have I seen such dramatic variation in structure and bottom composition that I've witnessed on Lake St. Joe. Many portions would fall under the moderately fertile category with water depth in the 20 foot range, with lush sand beaches and mostly gravel and sand bottom, Other areas, like the main lake basin are extremely infertile, with areas as deep as 100 feet and nothing but rock in sight. Yet several extremely fertile area also exist with water depth to no more than 6 feet, and such soft black mud bottom that if you stepped out of your boat, we might not ever see you again!

What does this mean to you, Mr. Joe Angler? It means that with such variation in fishing structure and forage, no matter what time of the year you manage to show up at the Old Post, there will always be actively feeding fish somewhere on Lake St. Joe. For example, if you arrive right at ice-out, your best bet would be to travel to a fertile shallow area like the northern bays of Searson and Matepasatakan. These areas have water temperatures as warm as 60°F when the main lake is at 40°F. The result is that every single big pike and walleye living in the northern portion of the lake are in these bays eating and recovering from the rigors of pawning. If you are lucky enough to be in these areas and have stable warm weather conditions at this time of the year, you had better bring your Tylenol, because your arms will hurt.

On the other hand, say you arrive in mid June, and the spring bite is history. No problem on Lake St. Joe. Simply travel to one of the many moderately fertile areas that warm up to 60°F two to three weeks after the ice moves out. The three pike bays are an excellent example, and are literally filled with small perch for the pike and Walleye to gorge on. In June 1996, I spent nearly every day for two weeks in these bays watching hundreds of walleyes and several pike over 15 pounds. If you happen to show up in late June and the perch are no longer spawning, head to a small stream on the south shore of Soules Bay, where the water at this time is absolutely black with minnows. This is the sight of the meanest walleye bite of the year, and in one morning in '96 between myself and one other guide, we boated 120 walleyes including a 10, 8, 7 and two 5 lb'ers out of 5 feet of water.

If you are fortunate enough to show up at The Old Post during summer, you're in for a real treat. The old codgers from the Mid-West that grumble about terrible fishing during the "dog days" of summer haven't fished Lake St. Joe during July or August. Summer is the time of plenty at The Old Post. Not only do I guide and catch my biggest walleyes of the year during July and August, but I also produce the most big pike at this time of the year as well. At this time of the year all those tremendous cabbage beds that drop into deep water are fully grown. If you are throwing a 1 oz. Spoon in these areas, you are just likely to catch a 20 lb pike as you are a 5 lb walleye. During the first year I guided Lake St. Joe, I was thrilled and amazed to have 3, 4 and 5 lb walleyes chasing down and hammering the big spoons and musky spinnerbaits I was casting for big pike! Catching big pike and walleyes side by side is simply a Lake St. Joseph experience not to be missed.

The potential fishing patterns are endless on Lake St. Joseph. From the July shallow shiner walleye bait, to the mid-August deep water ciscoe hog bonanza, to monster gators on the rocks in September. It truly is a wide angler's dream. What makes Lake St. Joe even more impressive is the fact that it's getting better by the day. All the guides at The Old Post keep daily creel census sheets, in an attempt to record all oversize fish caught. At the end of the season the data undergoes a statistical analysis in order to determine the progress of the fishery. The numbers from 1992 through 1997 show a dramatic improvement in the number of trophy fish taken, especially walleyes. In '92, the average number of walleyes caught over 24 inches (4 lb) per group was 1. 1997 was absolutely phenomenal for big pike. I personally guided 6 pike over 20 lbs., with the biggest weighing in at 24 lbs., plus countless gators between 10 and 20 lbs. Were taken.

The basis of our improving fishery is our conservation program. The Lake St. Joseph accord ensures that only anglers with a validation tag are able to fish the lake, and only 1500 tags are allotted for the lake which spans 90 miles in length. When you compare that with Lac Seul which during an average summer could see between 10 and 20 thousand anglers, you can quickly see how very little fishing pressure Lake St. Joe receives. When you combine this lack of pressure with the fact that all walleyes over 19.5 inches and all northerns over 27.5 inches are released, the future of the fishery looks remarkably bright.

So if in the summer of 1998, the big city is getting a little too crowded, work is driving you crazy, and you feel this uncontrollable urge to get away from it all; give in and experience Lake St. Joseph for yourself. Experience catching multiple walleyes, or take a crack at a trophy northern pike, and of course filling your empty belly with a delicious shore lunch. If you come, don't forget to pack your camera or your sense of adventure, and I'll see you there.

Cory McKiel, Old Post & Village Guide