Fishing is, and always will be one of my favorite things to do over the weekend or anytime - Nothing like kickin’ back, casting out, and hauling in a big ol’ pike or walleye.
This summer, I had more free time, which meant I had more time to hit the water. I fished in several lakes and rivers over the summer such as Buffalo Point, The Big Whiteshell, The Red River, Caddy Lake, and Crow Duck Lake. Buffalo Point and Crow Duck I visited a few times.
For my last two trips I went to Crow Duck Lake. The only difference between Crow Duck and the rest of the places I visited (besides the great fishing) is that you have to pay to fish at Crow Duck, unless you portage.
Crow Duck Lake is the biggest lake in the Whiteshell Provincial Park. If you don’t portage in, it’s a two-mile cruise across Big Whiteshell Lake and then you face a 2-mile trail where you’re driven by truck.
After the trek, you’re at Crow Duck Lake.
One of the first feelings that I felt when I saw the lake was a feeling of ease and comfort. Tranquility surrounds you at Crow Duck and the nature takes you away from the big lights of the city.
Once you unload all your gear, the staff there will set you up with a 16.5ft boat with a 25HP Honda on the back. There will be minnows for sale right at the dock, and the staff there was extremely helpful, I’m sure they would do their best to meet your every need.
The first time I went out, it poured rain – from 8AM until 6:30PM. So that’s why I never wrote a review after that experience, I didn’t feel that I would be able to write a proper review because the rain put a damper my fishing and fun.
The second time I went out, this past Sunday, the weather was still rather miserable, but at least there wasn’t a hurricane out on the water.
Instead of starting at 8AM, like on the first trip, the second trip got off to a 10AM start. The amount of time spent fishing suffered, but the amount of fish caught didn’t.
My boat of three journeyed off to the left of the docks, and we found ourselves in a nice and calm part of the lake. It was more like a creek but technically a bay. Within an hour we had all caught our first walleye of the day. Quickly my luck started to get better, as I was pulling in 20” walleye every 10-15 minutes. I found that my pink jig with a minnow worked best, however the only other thing I tried was a yellow jig with a worm.
After reeling in a steady stream of walleye in that spot, we decided to pack up and head to deeper water in search of some Northern Pike.
We didn’t have to travel too far in order to find them. Within a half hour of fishing in the deeper water I hooked onto a 30” Northern Pike. Usually, I only fish for walleye, but the walleye are stocked at Crow Duck so Northern Pike and Bass were the only fish I was interested in bringing back.
Overall, my boat of three caught 22 fish. I must have worn some lucky underwear or socks that day, because 14 of those were mine.
Crow Duck is a great place for a fisherman who has been “shutout” too many times. If you aren’t concerned with keeping your fish or just want to catch a bunch, then Crow Duck is ideal.
You can really tell that the people running Crow Duck know their stuff. There were only a few things I had a problem with, and really they weren’t very big deals. I thought it would’ve been nice if they ‘d had the option to rent a trolling motor and GPS. But, next time I’m just going to bring my own. The other thing was that the anchor for the rental boats was a little too light. If a heavy wind hit the lake, or you were in deeper water, the anchor wouldn’t do much.
Crow Duck Lake is really an outdoorsman’s paradise. Who could really complain about massive amounts of Walleye, great scenery, and an amazing lake. The staff really made me feel at home, both times. They even brought us a 6-pack of Budweiser when we were taking shelter from the torrential downpour that was bombarding us.
Sure, you might spend a little extra cash when going fishing. But really, for a little extra you’re getting a day that’s jam packed with action and a much needed break from the big city or everyday grind. Other fishermen that have fished in Crow Duck claim that they’ve caught over 100 fish in a day. Most of them aren’t lying either. Unfortunately for me, I haven’t reached that benchmark yet, but maybe next summer will have a wonderful walleye-filled experience.
So, yes, Crow Duck Lake entered The Outhouse and made it through with ease and a stringer full of walleye.
Crow Duck offers 6 night stays in their cabins for $1185.00 or Day trips with boat rental for 2-3 people for $123.00.
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