Manitou Weather Station
VIDEO: Watch Jeremy Smith and Jeff Simpson on a multi-species fishing adventure on famous Lower Manitou Lake while staying at Manitou Weather Station Fishing Lodge in Ontario’s Sunset Country.
Manitou Lake is famous for its fishing and also its rich history of gold mining in the late 1800s. The main lodge is set within rustic shorelines in a protected cove, far from the hustle and bustle of everyday life, but modern enough to make you feel right at home. They have 4 cabins within walking distance from the main lodge, each with modern amenities, power, running water, bathrooms, separate bedrooms, a full kitchen and comfortable furniture. You’ll be served daily meals, they also have a hot tub, sauna, communal deck, swimming dock, spacious dining area, fire pit, and more!
Lower Manitou Lake is a crystal clear lake with a diverse rocky structure, including many islands, shoals, deep ridges, sunken humps and deepwater weed beds. It’s also a nutrient-rich lake capable of raise massive schools of baitfish.
Although our primary objective was to film multiple lake trout television shows, Manitou has fantastic fishing for many species. Muskies are popular and plentiful, including fish that stretch over 50-inches. Smallmouth bass and pike are prolific throughout the lake, and there’s a population of big largemouths, too. And although walleyes are not numerous, the lake raises giants — some fish tipping the scale between 10- and 13-pounds.
Manitou Weather Station Fishing Lodge is nestled in a protected cove, far from the hustle and bustle of everyday life, but modern enough to make you feel right at home. They have four cabins within walking distance from the main lodge, each with modern amenities, power, running water, bathrooms, separate bedrooms, a full kitchen and comfortable furniture.
At the main lodge, where they serve daily meals, there’s also a hot tub, sauna, communal deck, swimming dock, spacious dining area, fire pit, and more. They have rental fishing boats if you are planning a DIY fishing trip and experienced and knowledgeable guides to help you find and catch fish. And of course you can bring your own boat. How about the Wifi? Absolutely! Upload and download speeds at the main lodge were fast, especially considering we were in the middle of a forest. I tested 60 megabytes upload and 45 megabytes download.
There are several ways to catch lake trout. Trolling deep water with the downriggers is a popular tactic, and three-way rigging flutter spoon seems to produce all across North America. One deadly effective method we used was trolling crankbaits with snap weights to position crankbaits exactly where the fish were suspended in the deeper water.
Vertical jigging is hands-down our favorite way to catch brute force lakers. After finding a pod of fish, we used our Minn Kota Spot-Lock feature on our electric trolling motor to hover right over the school. Heavy hair jigs, slab spoons like a Crippled Hearing, bladebaits, and horizontal swim jigs, like Rapala Jigging Raps and Flat Jigs all produced.
