A year ago, two of my cousins, my uncle and some of their relatives went on a fly-in fishing trip to an outpost camp in west central Ontario. The party of eight had a 5,000-acre lake to themselves. The fishing, as expected, was phenomenal.

The group primarily targeted northern pike and walleye, and soon found what the hot lures were. The walleyes favored feathered jigs tipped with minnows, leeches or Berkley Gulp! They were also attracted to swim baits, and nipped the tails off quite a few. The pike had a sweet tooth for silver-bladed #5 Mepps Comet Minos and, on occasion, a Johnson Silver Minnow.

The post-spawn pike were populating water less than 18 inches deep. When one was hooked, it would wrap the line around the sparse but sturdy reeds, making for an interesting battle.

One morning, my cousin Jack (pictured) caught three pike in five casts, for a total of 100 inches of fish. That included a personal best 38-incher.

My cousins, with a new crew of family members and a fresh stock of lures, return to Canada this spring.

Share your angling tales, tips and information. E-mail Mike at mday@wcinet.com.