Canadian Canoe Trips - Outfitters in Northwestern Ontario

Northwestern Ontario is without a doubt one of North America's premier paddling destinations. The many thousands of lakes dotting the wilderness of the Canadian Shield make it a mecca for canoeists. Provincial Parks such as Quetico, Wabakimi, Woodland Caribou and the Turtle River-White Otter Wilderness park offer thousands of miles of canoe routes. Wildlife is abundant in these regions of Ontario and you may see a moose, bear, deer, otter or other creature. Fishing is spectacular especally for walleye, bass and pike. Bring your camera, as you'll paddle by some of the continents most beautiful landscapes, untouched and pristine.

Get Outfitted!

The best thing is you can get fully-outfitted for your trip and it is highly recommended that you seek the services of a qualified canoe outfitter. They will be able to ensure you a safe and high quality canoe trip experience. With equipment packages that meet your specific needs, an outfitter offers trip planning assistance, maps of the canoe routes, obtaining your park permits and getting you to and out of the park are all looked after. With an outfitter there's no worries - put their knowledge and experience to good use.

Vacation Idea # 2 - Big Game Hunts

With 65,000 square miles of forest lands, Sunset Country offers some of Ontario's finest big game hunting opportunities. Up here there are the "big three" species you can hunt - whitetail deer, moose and black bear. Local outfitters offer guided or unguided hunts depending on the species. For non-residents of Canada, some Wildlife Management Units (WMUs) require that you hunt with a guide but this varies across the region.

Whitetail Deer

Over the past few years, Northwestern Ontario has become one of the Canada's premier destinations for whitetail deer hunters. The bucks up here are large-bodied with big racks and many hunters have probably heard of the famous Dryden Buck harvested illegally in 2003. This deer scored gross 217 7/8 and had a net score of 192 7/8 - a truly remarkable animal. Since news of this animal came out, our region has become a very popular destination for Americans who love whitetail deer hunting. Yet with our vast size and extensive hunting land available, you can still come up here and hunt in relative isolation in most areas. Click on this link if you want to find out more about the great Ontario whitetail deer hunting we have to offer.

Black Bear

It is estimated that the black bear population in Northern Ontario is anywhere between 75,000 to 100,000 animals and the Sunset Country region is probably home to at least half of the population. Bear hunting is done primarily from baited stands done with either archery or rifle -depending on the hunter's preference. Big boars can weigh up to 700 pounds - belly draggers for sure - but more commonly mature males are around 400-450 pounds. Unfortunately, the Ontario Government cancelled the Spring Bear hunt in 1999 so the season now runs from August 15th through to October. Local outfitters manage large hunting spaces called Bear Management Areas (BMAs) which have a set number of animals available for harvesting. Careful management ensures a sustainable population and excellent success rates for visiting hunters. Click on this link if you want to learn more about bear hunting in Ontario, Canada.

Moose

Moose hunting in Ontario is often a once in a lifetime activity for a big game hunter from the United States. While the increase in the whitetail deer population has put some pressure on moose numbers in recent years, there are still plenty of animals available. Most popular are hunts for bulls and these grow to very large sizes in the Northwest. Moose and calf tags are also available. Non-residents are required to be guided by a local outfitter who is allocated tags by the Ministry of Natural Resources. If you want to participate in a moose hunt - especially if you are after a big bull - then we advise you to book your trip early - a year or more in advance - as the number of bull tags available is limited. Just click on this link if you want to visit Ontario on a moose hunting trip.

Duck and Grouse Hunts

While not in the big game category, Northwestern Ontario is also a great destination for duck hunters or for those who like to hunt grouse. Our many lakes offer excellent resting areas for many different species of waterfowl on their annual migration south. For the upland bird hunter, the numerous abandoned logging roads in Sunset Country allow you to access areas loaded with ruffed grouse. Click on this link if you want to embark on an Ontario duck or grouse hunting trip.

You can also visit this website for more information on Hunting trips in Ontario, Canada.

Vacation Idea # 1: A Canadian Fishing Trip

Fishing you say? Well with 70,000 freshwater lakes, rivers and streams, Ontario's Sunset Country can only be described as an angler's paradise! That's right folks our area of Ontario encompasses about 60,000 square miles of wilderness landscapes. Within that area live approximately 65,000 people. With 70,000 lakes you can do the math - that makes more lakes than people! Now that is a situation any serious angler would want to find themselves in. We know the State of Minnesota for example, is very proud of the fact it has 10,000 lakes and that is quite a thing. But in Sunset Country, we are even prouder to boast one of our Provincial Parks alone - Wabakimi - has almost 12,000 lakes in it and is about the same size as the State of Connecticut. It's all a matter of scale then isn't it?

Not only do we have tens of thousands of lakes, rivers and streams, but we also have an excellent variety of fish species you can go after. For most (but not all) anglers, walleye is the fish of greatest interest and for good reason. These beautifully colored fish are great fighters and they probably taste as good as it gets. The Canadian shorelunch was built on fresh walleye and it is a treat you do not want to miss. Go out in the morning and catch your dinner, pull your boat up on an island in the middle of the lake and start cooking - mmm..... we bet you can taste those fillets right now and along with the beans and potatoes, it is truly a quintessential Canadian fishing experience. For more information on our great Ontario walleye fishing, visit our walleye website at http://www.ontariowalleyefishing.ca



Large and smallmouth bass are probably number two on the list and we have an excellent population of both species in Sunset Country. We are at the northern limits of this species' range so the fish grow slower but live longer in our waters. Smallies average in the 2-3 pound range but fish between 4 and 6 pounds are definitely available - and in numbers you won't believe. Largemouth bass are found in a smaller number of lakes but they can grow a little larger than the smallies - probably 7 pounds is the upper range for this fish. Use the same baits you use back home including plastics such as twister tails, tube jigs or flukes. Spinner baits also work well under many conditions and many resident anglers use live bait such as minnows, leeches or nightcrawlers with a great deal of success. Don't take our word for it, just read the In-Fisherman Magazine to see what their Pro Staff think of Northwestern Ontario as a bass fishing destination. To find out more visit our Ontario bass fishing website at http://www.ontariobassfishing.ca

There of course, are many big northern pike lurking in our waters and Sunset Country is definitely a "Grade A" pike fishing destination. Northern pike are distributed across the region and they grow big up here. Fish over 45 inches long and 30 pounds in weight may just bite your hook and if they do, be prepared for a long and arduous battle as northerns are great fighters. Just about any lake up here has a good population of northerns so come on up and enjoy the experience of catching them. Find out more about our fantastic pike fishing by visiting http://www.ontariopikefishing.ca/

For the trout angler, Sunset Country really has no equals unless of course, you are willing to travel just south of the North pole or somewhere close to that. Seriously, our region has several thousand spring-fed, clear deep trout lakes that are loaded with lakers. Catching them is also relatively easy if you know what you are doing. In the early part of the season, just spin cast along the shore line and since the ice-out occurred just a few weeks ago, the lake trout are in shallow and they are very hungry. This "ice-out trout fishing" is something every serious trout angler should try. During the summer, lake trout hold in large schools in much deeper water so if you want to catch them, you'll need to bring tackle and equipment that can get you down anywhere between 40 and 100 feet of water - downriggers work great for this when slow-trolling over a big school of trout. For fly fishermen, the treat that awaits you in our arctic watershed rivers are trophy native brook trout, with fish averaging 3-4 pounds and trophies hitting the 8 and maybe even 9 pound range - truly spectacular! Find out more about the excellent lake and brook trout fishing we have to offer by visiting http://www.ontariotroutfishing.ca/

Last but certainly not least is the mighty muskie - the species some people call "the fish of 10,000 casts." While that line may be the case in many areas it certainly does NOT apply when you fish the lakes in Ontario's Sunset Country. Northwestern Ontario is probably the number one muskie destination in Canada if not all of North America and famous musky hunters like Joe Bucher would be quick to agree with that statement. Fish over 50 inches and weighing in at over forty pounds are, if you can believe it, not uncommon. So if you are a muskie fishing addict or you just want to try catching one of these monsters for the first time then Sunset Country in Northern Ontario is where you should go to wet your line. Find out more by visiting http://www.ontariomuskiefishing.ca/

After all is said and done, if you have always wanted to experience the super freshwater fishing that Canada has to offer then the place you should do it in is Ontario's Sunset Country. You can visit any of the websites we have provided here to find out more info and to link to the many lodges and resorts that you can stay at while on your Canadian fishing trip. Alternatively you can also visit our general fishing website at http://www.canadafishing.ca/