La Ronge Houseboat Trip

dfrobert · #1 01-24-2012, 12:13 PM

The buddies and I are trying to work out another summer fishing trip. We have done the Mikisew fly-in deal twice now, and its good times!

This year the idea came up of renting a house boat on Lac La Ronge and pulling behind a couple smaller aluminums for fishing around the bays, islands etc.... Our group would consist of approx 6 guys. We would likely fish early June and be targeting Lakers and Pike. Our group is well set up when it comes to gear for both pike and lakers.....Just looking for some quality feedback if anyone has done a trip like this on La Ronge?? Definately have a few questions that we need to address before booking. ex. What outfit would you rent the house boat off? What portion of La Ronge should we fish? N,E,S,W?? How much fuel should we expect to burn? Will they allow us to pull 2 smaller fishing boats behind the houseboat? Would it be possible to run two downriggers and trolling rods off the stearn of the houseboat? Where to get good maps of the lake?........among other questions.

If anyone has some good input on the subject feel free to let me know. Thx.

bikerman · #2 01-24-2012, 01:31 PM

I have fished Laronge twice(in June), and we were told by locals to head way up the lake to Pickerel bay for good fishing. We were very successful for lakers(just outside Pickerel bay in the main lake)and walleye in pickerel bay. This would be a long, long trip, lots of fuel in a houseboat.
I have also fished Otter lake,further north, part of the Churchill river system with much better success, out of the Stanley Mission launch. It would be worth checking to see if there are houseboat rentals there.
Either way, just a great area to be in.

cdkeim · #3 01-24-2012, 02:49 PM

I have done a houseboat trip(3 days) on La Ronge a number of years ago. I went with my two teenage boys. it was fun. I wont be any help on the fishing as we went in early august, and the fishing was poor. we did trail an aluminum behind the houseboat that the rental company supplied. Used a GPS I owned and maps they supplied and felt comfortable cruising all over the lake. it can be cold and bring some tunes along as there isnt much for radio or anything. it was fun though and you are going at a better time than we did. I cant recall the name of the company, but it was the main one out of la ronge and they had quite a few houseboats and were very good.

cdkeim · #4 01-24-2012, 02:51 PM

eagle point marina I believe is where we got our houseboats out of.

dfrobert · #5 01-26-2012, 08:24 PM

Thank you kindly for the info guys. We are slowly making our plans within the group. Should be a good time. Organizing a trip can be a bit of a pain but its worth it once your up there!

Any other info from the Lac La Ronge experts out there?

Kokanee9 · #6 01-26-2012, 08:37 PM

The best advice is to have some topo maps or a detailed map of the lake and a gps. Easy to get lost if you get into a bunch of islands. The surrounding area looks very similar, so knowing where you are is important. At 40 miles across, the lake can get some large waves, so a good map can help find some sheltered areas for the night.

dfrobert · #7 01-26-2012, 09:15 PM

Kokanee, Thanks for the heads up. Maps and GPS will be on our list.

Kokanee9 · #8 01-26-2012, 10:38 PM

Another thing is if you get any storm clouds coming in from the NE, get the boat sheltered in a small cove that is downwind of an island as soon as you can. Be prepared to wait out 1 of these storms on land with the houseboat tied up to several trees. Not saying these storms come in frequently, but just be prepared.

Kingfisher · #9 01-27-2012, 01:59 AM

I have been up to La Ronge several times over the years as I have some realitives that live there. We always went to their cabins that they have over the years in various places around the lake.

Some great advice here so far. The wind can really come up out there in a hurry. Been out in some very nasty winds.

One thing to be sure of is watch when you are cruising around in the bays. There are always lots of rocks just below the surface. I can say this with certainty. One in particular I have hit twice but at least not in the same year.

Get yourself a good map. You can go to Mapworld and get a really great map of the lake. There are also numbered markers all over the lake. Marking different islands. My son and I once went ahead of everyone out to my realitives cabin. All I had was a map with the numbers marked on various islands. The numbers are on large plywood painted white and black numbers on them. Large enough so you can't miss them. I hadn't been out to their cabin in quite a few years and I made it out 20 miles into the lake and crossed the big bay and found the cabin. Bring a GPS that will help you a lot from getting totally lost. At the very least it will help you know where your starting point is. They say there is a thousand islands on that lake. So it is easy to get turned around.

On a safety note. Make darn sure you don't leave anything in your vehicle when you head out. Anything that isn't nailed down in La Ronge is concidered fair game. Not a good thing at all. But at least you can't say you weren't warned.

As for fishing. Already mentioned Pickeral Bay is a good one. Spring time seems to be the time to be there for catching the pickeral. But not to say you can't get them any other times of the year.

Go deep for the lakers. Use large Williams Woblers in hammered silver/gold. They imitate a whitefish and are always a consistant producer.

Any bay there that has some weeds in it will hold pike. Lots of every size. But you never know where that lunker 20, 30 or larger pike will be hiding out. You can use almost any lure for the pike. But consistantly good one's are the Len Thompson's. Red/white, green/black, 5 of diamonds. Rapala's are always good. If it swims in the water the pike will eat it.

Rob

cdkeim · #10 01-27-2012, 08:02 AM

Check with eagle Point Marina, who rent the houseboats. If I recall, they provide you with a pretty decent topo map of the lake. they dont want you running into any submerged rocks either!

lattery1 · #11 01-27-2012, 11:33 AM

Definitely buy the map and take a GPS. Some of the islands have 4x8 plywood signs with numbers on them t help guide you. They are pretty easy to see and use for navigating. Binos will help lots too. When I went the fishing sucked but it is still a great adventure. Just watch out for the boulders that can be just under the surface.

cdkeim · #12 01-27-2012, 01:32 PM

We must have went the same weekend lattery, cuz it sucked when I went too. Annnnd it couldnt have been my fishing skills!

dfrobert · #13 01-27-2012, 09:28 PM

Thanks again guys. The information is much appreciated.

I see that the stating point for the house boats (Eagle point marina) is a LONG way from some of the more productive fishing areas (ex. hunters bay, pickeral bay). La Ronge is a huge body of water...Should we make it our goal to try and travel to one of these areas?? or can we expect good fishing areas for lakers, pike, walleye througout our travels. Just don't want to waste a couple days trying to get to the East end or North end of the lake when we could basically just cruise along and fish anywhere and have success. Like I said, the plan is to pull 2 fishing boats behind the house boat for access into the shallower bays and for deep water trolling for lakers. At any rate, June can't get here soon enough!