Getting up to Northern Manitoba and staying at a five-star lodge in the wilderness in order to have what will probably be your greatest fishing trip ever isn’t cheap. Then again, what’s the fishing trip of a lifetime, the opportunity to bond with friends and family in a totally unique setting, the chance to relieve stress and truly enjoy clean air, clear water and the excitement of the strike of a trophy fish worth?
And to be honest, Big Sand Lake Lodge, with all its amenities and advantages, is one of the most affordable fly-in fishing trips you’ll find anywhere. A five-day trip which includes round-trip airfare on a chartered ATR turbo-prop from Winnipeg to Big Sand Lake Lodge’s 3,450 foot landing strip carved in the wilderness, private accommodations in modern, comfortable cabins with indoor plumbing and hot showers, home-cooked meals including daily shore lunches, the service and experience of licensed First Nation guides that also includes an 18-foot boat—all for only $3,995 US per person is quite deal. Your only additional expense is getting yourself to Winnipeg and a one-night stay at a hotel so you are ready for the early morning departure to the lodge.
The fishing season is short—early June to late August. The remoteness is considerable. Everything, and that means everything, has to be flown to the lodge. So it’s remarkable that Big Sand Lake Lodge has been able to remain such an affordable adventure fishing option.
If budget is an issue or if you simply prefer to book one of Big Sand’s four outpost cabins, the price is even more affordable. Camps on Jordan, LeClair and Wolf Wilderness Lakes can be booked for five days at $2,395 US per person. Big Sand Lake Lodge will give you a grocery list so that you can prepare your own meals or you can arrange for a cook and manager for your group for an additional $350 per day. Chipewyan Lake has a resident cook and manager and the price there is $2,895 US. All prices are plus local tax. Staying at an outpost camp means you have your lake to yourself and your party and often there are other seldom or never fished lakes nearby and accessible.
When I was a kid, I remember my Mom taking a few dollars out of Dad’s weekly paycheck and putting it in the fishing vacation coffee can hidden in the basement. The money in that can provided my family and me with so many good times, so many great memories. In the early days, when my Dad’s paycheck was small, the money only got us as far as Wisconsin. As it increased, we headed to Minnesota’s Boundary Waters, then later Ontario. We usually went as a family, often with friends and relatives. Always looking for better fishing, my Dad and I began to fly to remote outposts in Ontario where we experienced some excellent fishing. However, once I fished Northern Manitoba, I was the one that was hooked because the fishing here is like nothing I have ever experienced before. Trophy sized fish aren’t the exception; they are the norm.
So if you haven’t done it, plan it, book it with Lynda or Big Rick at 1-800-348-5824 or info@bigsandlakelodge.goelementbeta.com, look forward to it, live it and enjoy it and then remember it for the rest of your life. If you have already been up here, isn’t it time to come back and do it again? All work and no fishing is not the best way to spend your life. And those monster fish are waiting for you.
If you are in the Chicago area, give me a call at 847-644-5787 or email me at garytreviecole@gmail.com. Or call Big Rick or Lynda directly and tell them Gary sent you.
by Gary Cole