I can’t put my finger on it yet, but the sunsets on Lake Kipawa are different then any I have ever seen. The sky seem more brilliant blue at that moment before the sun hits the horizon. The fishing is also fantastic because the lake lets you target (what are in my mind) the big 3 fish species: pickerel (walleye), lake trout and pike. For more information on Quebec’s Lake Kipawa (because I want to get to my story) visit this site . To check out some of Quebec’s other adventure packages visit Quebec Maritime’s website .

For two years, the guys of our Triple Fishing Club ventured to an island fishing lodge in Lake Kipawa. This lake is so big, that it took us a couple of years to fine-tune where we should fish. Fortunately, some of the best fishing spots for us were 30 second boat rides from the cabins.

This was the case on the night of the caper.

Dad and I anchored in rocky bay right across from the lodge. I think we picked it because the fish finder showed great rock structure and a steep drop-off just a few feet from shore. We had visions of lunker lake trout swarming our lures and bait.

For one of those rare moments, our plan worked out.

The lake trout started biting and I think we could have called it a frenzy. Our presentation consisted of hooked herring and Berkley Gulp jigs. Somewhere between our 4th landed trout and a lure change I noticed smoke coming from the back corner of one of our cabins. I pointed out the smoke plume to dad and he grabbed his binoculars to confirm what we were seeing. We both went through mental checklists in our heads to remember what we did with the stove when supper had finished.

Another trout hit my lure and I quickly brought it in as dad tried to reach the rest of the gang on the radio. We were hoping that they might still be on shore with a radio.

No answer.

At that point, we knew we had to go check it out. I have to admit – it was a tough decision to make. The right ones usually are. So, we raced over to the docks with imaginary sirens blazing. As we docked and ran to the site of the fire, we were relieved to find that the fire was just the lodge owner burning some leaves. From our fishing angle, it looked like the fire was coming from our cabins. After having a good laugh with the owner, we hurried back to our fishing frenzy location.

As you would expect – the fish were gone. The timing of the whole chain of events made me wonder if we should return back to the camp to make sure the lodge owner was not being held hostage by a school of ’special-ops’ trout.

Fire missions aside, we had some great fishing moments on Lake Kipawa. We found a spinning rig with a minnow or Berkley Gulp bait worked for both Lake Trout and Pickerel. If you can bring some live leeches to the party – you will virtually guarantee yourself some fresh pickerel in the pan. Take one night to do some after dark pickerel fishing. Not only will you see a great sunset, but you may get lucky (as we did one night) and see the walleye school into the bay we were fishing in.

Don’t fall for the burning cabin trick…