I'm taking a fly-in trip to the Gouin Reservoir in mid July with about a dozen friends.  If anyone has fished these waters I would greatly appreciate any advice you can give.  We'll only be on the water for 4 days and I know it's a big place so locations, baits, techniques would all be a lot of help.  Thanks in advance!!

At a Sportsman Show in New Jersey, I visited the Gouin Reservoir kiosk and was very impressed (Barrage Gouin Lodge). An unaffiliated third-party ranks Gouin Reservoir among Quebec's top three pike fisheries, placing Gouin midway between Lac Trevet and Lake Evans.

Gouin is an oligotrophic lake that abounds in pelagic forage, and that's both Good and Bad. It's good because pike grow fast and large on a diet of ciscoes and whitefish. It's bad however, because during the summertime, pelagic prey migrates offshore where they're unrelated to vegetation, and most of the largest pike will be in tow.

All the same, summer pike fishing in Canada is usually red-hot in every cabbage bed of every bay. Pike metabolism is highest in July and August, so they're usually vulnerable to trolling. Most pike trollers favor the red-and-white Dardevle, overhead spinner or a gold-and-silver Williams Wabler (not a misprint). It's a matter of personal preference, for instance I prefer the 1-1/8oz silver Johnson Spoon dressed with a 5 pearltreuse Reaper Tail (pure dynamite!). From what I'm told, East Bay is the best lake section on Gouin, but that's hearsay only.

Hey, if you get a second-shot at Gouin, bump your stay up to September (I believe the lodge closes mid-September). The gators that suspend in 20 to 40 feet of water throughout the summer will have moved up into the cabbage beds...need I say more?

Roger

Roger, Thanks for the info.  One question, I plan to use braided line and wire leaders.  Can I go directly to the leader or do I need a short length of mono or flouro in between?

Roger, Thanks for the info. One question, I plan to use braided line and wire leaders. Can I go directly to the leader or do I need a short length of mono or flouro in between?

Your plan is right on the money!

Nylon and fluoro would serve no useful purpose for trophy pike fishing, but as all things, that's a matter of opinion. I would tie a titanium wire leader direct to 40-lb polyethylene braid (e.g. PowerPro). While titanium has a bit of sticker shock, the cost of titanium leader is cheaper in the long run than any other metallic leader. Titanium is very kink-resistant, and if it does become kinked the breaking strength doesn't fall off a cliff like braided stainless steel and piano wire. In addition, 30-lb Terminator titanium wire is only 0.014" in diameter. Furthermore, titanium leader forgoes the need for metal sleeves and crimping pliers, and can be attached using a two-twist Figure-8 knot and end loops may be formed with plain double-wrap end loops. Based on gullet to lip measurements, a 6.5" trace is long enough for pike to 30", 9.5" is safe to 40" and a foot long metal leader will land the next world record ;-)

Roger

Thanks again Roger.  However, I'm not familiar with the two-twist Figure-8 knot.  Does it go by another name or can you direct me to a site that explains it?

Thanks again Roger. However, I'm not familiar with the two-twist Figure-8 knot. Does it go by another name or can you direct me to a site that explains it?

I'm not aware of any helpful website, so I'll try to muddle through it:

> Thread 1½ wire through the jig eyelet, then fold the wire tightly around the hook-eye.

> Twist the tag-end twice around the standing wire then bend the wire backwards

and guide the tag end through the underside of the original loop (at the line-eye).

> Grab the tag end in pliers then wrap the standing wire a couple times around the other hand.

> Close the knot by pulling the tag end against the standing wire. Exert enough

pressure to cause the wire to stretch like monofilament.

(Titanium wire stretches like nylon monofilament, so a shock leader is unnecessary)

Roger

d**n it, i made this huge post but it wouldn't go because i put pics of our fish we caught!!! grrrr...

we went to gouin last year, also in july and killed em.  spinnerbaits only for the northerns, and nightcrawlers for the walleye.  throw the spinnerbaits by the weeds along shore and out they come!  they didn't take ANYTHING besides the spinners and nightcrawlers.  once we learned that, we didn't switch anything at all and caught them nonstop.  we got decent northerns to the point that we got bored and decided to go get some walleye for dinner.  best fish I ever had!  was a great trip.  once I get some more posts i'll put the pics up.  which outfitter are you going with?

here's some pics

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2008993&id=1003390062&l=4b58a8492f

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2008991&id=1003390062&l=0fe1c0bca7

here's a vid of the flight in. it may play a commercial first, hang tight!

VIDEO MAY BE NOT WORK SAFE BECAUSE OF LINKS ON THE PAGE!! Sorry, didn't realize till after I posted it!

http://www.veoh.com/browse/videos/category/travel/watch/v155366259cHafs49

p.s.  the northerns we were taking in all day.  walleye was best early in the morning, and at dark.  we got the most after dark.  only thing is you don't want to be too far from camp without any nav tools, because once dark hits it all looks the same, and you can't exactly ask someone for directions lol.

Hi,

I've been going to the gouin reservoir for the past 5 years and its always a great experience.

We usually go in mid-June (this year for the 20-24th of June)... I heared the best fishing is at the begining of June when the water is still cold (but you might get some snow). Since the water is a little wormer when we go, we fish in 15 to 20 feet of water.

From my experience there, the best fishing is at sand point (from islands) or at places where the water goes from shalow to deep very fast.

We usually jig for the walley with yellow, orange, green or pink jigs (or mix of 2 colors). When we do troll it's with a rapala that sinks between 9-15 feet since there are logs and rocks at the bottom which you want to avoid. I also heared people fish with worm arnests.

Some outfitters are close to what they call "pike lakes". They are smaller very clear water lakes that are not attached to de reservoir and contain alot of pikes. If you already have your walley quota after 2-3 days of fishing (which already happened to us) and you feel catching pike which will give you more of a fight some outfitters will drive you there and they have boats on site.

If you have any other questions... feel free to ask

Thanks for the info.  We'll be hosted by Air Melancon and fishing Baie du Nord.  I'm planning on using night crawlers on worm harnesses for walleye and will load up on spinnerbaits for the pike.  Were you using inline spinners like Mepps or safety-pin style?

Thanks for the info. We'll be hosted by Air Melancon and fishing Baie du Nord. I'm planning on using night crawlers on worm harnesses for walleye and will load up on spinnerbaits for the pike. Were you using inline spinners like Mepps or safety-pin style?

we were using the regular safety pin ones.  tried the meps, didn't do too well for us.  

With these places its not so much the where but the how. The people that fly you out (should) give you a map with specific spots highlighted on where the fish are. Walleye love the 3/8oz orange jig with a Gulp Minnow as the trailer. As for pike daredevils are key. I had one fish hit my daredevil 7-8 times before I hooked up with him. Any cove with weeds will hold a pike and even when out jig fishing for walleyes you can hook into a pike. Actually the largest ones my group hook into were out deep jigging for walleyes.

With these places its not so much the where but the how. The people that fly you out (should) give you a map with specific spots highlighted on where the fish are. Walleye love the 3/8oz orange jig with a Gulp Minnow as the trailer. As for pike daredevils are key. I had one fish hit my daredevil 7-8 times before I hooked up with him. Any cove with weeds will hold a pike and even when out jig fishing for walleyes you can hook into a pike. Actually the largest ones my group hook into were out deep jigging for walleyes.

one of the problems we had was it was a little windy, and the lake was so d**n big that once you get out in the deep open water the waves were to the point that our boats couldn't get through safely, so getting to the hot spots were tough.  we ended up finding spots from the guide, (he came once a day to make sure we were alive and had gas for the boat, and no probs with the cabin) and from the epa guys that stopped us.  that had to be planned by the way, we were pretty much the only people on the lake.

With these places its not so much the where but the how. The people that fly you out (should) give you a map with specific spots highlighted on where the fish are. Walleye love the 3/8oz orange jig with a Gulp Minnow as the trailer. As for pike daredevils are key. I had one fish hit my daredevil 7-8 times before I hooked up with him. Any cove with weeds will hold a pike and even when out jig fishing for walleyes you can hook into a pike. Actually the largest ones my group hook into were out deep jigging for walleyes.

one of the problems we had was it was a little windy, and the lake was so d**n big that once you get out in the deep open water the waves were to the point that our boats couldn't get through safely, so getting to the hot spots were tough. we ended up finding spots from the guide, (he came once a day to make sure we were alive and had gas for the boat, and no probs with the cabin) and from the epa guys that stopped us. that had to be planned by the way, we were pretty much the only people on the lake.

The wind was a b****, I found a drift sock to be very helpful in boat control. Always bring a rain coat, even if its sunny out...its still going to rain. And even if its not, riding a boat with those waves you will get soaked. But once you get to a spot its fun  

yep, rained every day we were there, overall probablyt about 60% of the time it rained.  the last day was warm and dry, and once we saw the bugs that came out, we were hoping for it to rain again!  lol.  but we had rain gear handy 100% of the time, like you said wear it even if it's not raining.