Emma Lake Sask

CDNOutdoorsman · #1 01-01-2023, 05:19 PM

Does anyone know much about the Emma Lake or the surrounding area?
My brother is purchasing his retirement home up there and we were discussing fishing etc. What are some good fishing and camping lakes within an hour or 2 of Emma? Is Emma Lake good fishing? What other must check out sights is there up there?

Thank you

HyperMOA · #2 01-01-2023, 05:25 PM

Tobin lake at Nipawin was an unreal walleye lake 20 some years ago when I was there last. That’s probably an hour and a half away.

3blade · #3 01-01-2023, 05:46 PM

Pm sent

Nova · #4 01-01-2023, 05:49 PM

I met a couple up at Otter Lake/Missinipe a few years back. They talked about the woman's family having a place at Emma and commented that it really isn't worth fishing now. Anglin is better, but still hit and miss. We tried Anglin for a few days and didn't have much luck. 2 hours puts you just into the La Ronge area, and Nemieben is close. Very nice park at Nemieben, but the road in kind of sucks. Heading north from La Ronge the fishing really starts to get good, but starting to get beyond that 2 hour drive you mentioned. I enjoyed Otter Lake. Campground was pretty "meh", a bit noisy because there's lots of float planes in and out. But the lake is nice and when you figure it out the fishing is pretty good.

Greatwest · #5 01-01-2023, 06:53 PM

A good buddy of mine owns Besnard Lake Lodge. Awesome fishing up there he’s owned it for a few years now and just bought the second camp up there that has a campground where you can pull your trailer to or tent if you so choose. I hope to make a trip up there myself this year.

kingrat · #6 01-01-2023, 07:21 PM

I live 20 minutes from Emma. It's an absolute zoo in the summer with big wake board boats etc. Fishing is good at times, lots of excellent lakes within an hour of there. I avoid Emma like the plague in summer.

outofbounds · #7 01-01-2023, 08:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Greatwest

A good buddy of mine owns Besnard Lake Lodge. Awesome fishing up there he’s owned it for a few years now and just bought the second camp up there that has a campground where you can pull your trailer to or tent if you so choose. I hope to make a trip up there myself this year.

We stayed at Collin's Camps several times for our winter ice fishing trips.
We never did fish Besnard itself but rather ventured to other lakes via rivers and creeks.

Was decent fishing years ago. I did share a post on the lakes some years ago.

For the OP, Emma, Christopher, Waskasoo, and Candle Lake are no different than any other. Busy as hell from May Long to Labor Day, Winter is somewhat quieter but still has plenty of snowmobile and ice fishing activity. Many year-round residents and air bnb operations.

If into sledding, Emma would be right up there with sled from the house to fishing locations.

CDNOutdoorsman · #8 01-01-2023, 08:19 PM

Thanks for the info guys, much appreciated. I can't wait to go up there next summer and check it all out. He used to have a cabin on Nemeiben up west of La Ronge, fishing was ok but not the best walleye fishing on that Lake. Hope to explore around and find some great spots in the few days that I will have to spend up there.
Keep the info coming.

Cheers

CDNOutdoorsman · #9 01-01-2023, 08:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Greatwest

A good buddy of mine owns Besnard Lake Lodge. Awesome fishing up there he’s owned it for a few years now and just bought the second camp up there that has a campground where you can pull your trailer to or tent if you so choose. I hope to make a trip up there myself this year.

I've heard the fishing used to be good at Besnard.
I have a couple buddies (brothers) that used to do a family/friend trip to Besnard every year for many years. New owner took over and cancelled their trip on them 2 years in a row with no explanation. I guess he had his own buddies. Because of this, I wont ever bother to call and book. No idea if its your buddy.

58thecat · #10 01-02-2023, 09:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Greatwest

A good buddy of mine owns Besnard Lake Lodge. Awesome fishing up there he’s owned it for a few years now and just bought the second camp up there that has a campground where you can pull your trailer to or tent if you so choose. I hope to make a trip up there myself this year.

Ahhh my old stomping grounds....what a beauty of a lake.

Etownpaul · #11 01-02-2023, 10:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Greatwest

A good buddy of mine owns Besnard Lake Lodge. Awesome fishing up there he’s owned it for a few years now and just bought the second camp up there that has a campground where you can pull your trailer to or tent if you so choose. I hope to make a trip up there myself this year.

We went up there with a group in June 2020 and stayed at Besnard lake lodge. We caught an obscene amount of fish. I pulled an 18lb pike out of there that was the highlight of my trip. Nice cabins, brand new Yamaha outboards, decent little store on site, what more could you ask for?

The logging road in would be rough towing a trailer. We just used the camp boats but we passed a couple people towing in pontoon boats who were having a rough time.

ol whitey · #12 01-02-2023, 11:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CDNOutdoorsman

I've heard the fishing used to be good at Besnard.
I have a couple buddies (brothers) that used to do a family/friend trip to Besnard every year for many years. New owner took over and cancelled their trip on them 2 years in a row with no explanation. I guess he had his own buddies. Because of this, I wont ever bother to call and book. No idea if its your buddy.

If it's Kelly your talking about? he treated us very well, and we will be going back again this year, the fishing was excellent catching our limits and lunch every day. Maybe it's just me but being from southern Alberta, we don't get to see beautiful lakes like Besnard and experience great fishing like that, and eat fresh fish all day every day!

barsik · #13 01-03-2023, 07:54 AM

it's great to retire to a quiet lakeshore but make sure you don't find yourself isolated from emergency services, especially in the winter.

Brodhead · #14 01-05-2023, 06:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CDNOutdoorsman

I've heard the fishing used to be good at Besnard.

I have a couple buddies (brothers) that used to do a family/friend trip to Besnard every year for many years. New owner took over and cancelled their trip on them 2 years in a row with no explanation. I guess he had his own buddies. Because of this, I wont ever bother to call and book. No idea if its your buddy.

Fishing is still good for smedium walleye and decent for small pike. We've been there a few times over the years. The cabins, boats motors are great too.
Just be sure to never go there to "camp". They are definitely not set up for campers or tents but are happy to charge you to set up your tents beside the noisy generator and on top of their above ground plumbing lines. I'll chalk that one up to my buddy booking and not asking the right questions.
That being said, I would still recommend booking one of their cabin/boat packages and enjoying plentiful walleye with larger catch limits than any of us Albertans will see locally

Sent from my SM-G955W using Tapatalk

tromanowski87 · #15 01-05-2023, 11:02 AM

I used to live right at Emma (Birch Bay), and can concur that fishing wise you’d be better served going a bit further afield. There’s some big fish in some of the lakes in Waskesiu (the lake and park in general) but you need to get lucky or out the work in to find them, but if you don’t mind driving on the Hanson Lake road (taking your life in your hands during winter) then Deschambault Lake and others further along have good fishing. Or head north towards La Ronge and hit the shield. Then just take the time to explore and enjoy real lakes.