# West Arm of Lake Nipissing



## Guest

Got back on Saturday for Lucky Strike Camp on the West Arm of Lake Nipissing. We ended up with 107 Pike, and 40 walleyes. Did not really fish to hard for walleye just enough to eat. With the Slot limit between 15 and 24 inches we had to throw back over half. The biggest pike I caught was 40 inches, with 12 fish between 30 and 40 inches. 24 bass the biggest was 3lbs small mouth. Started fishing top water for bass and found out that pike like frogs on the top of weed mats. Here is some pic's.


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## fisher person

Nice fish, sounds like you got into some nice ones.
I have been to the west arm 3 times now and love the amount of pike we catch. The size really hasn't been all that impressive though. 
We go every other year, went last year,We stay at Memquisit.
A cousin of mine went again the last fall and said the water was all full of algea towards the muskrats


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## yankee

Sounds like a successful out tubuzz2. Nice looking pike. That's a tough walleye slot size limit.


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## BIGDADDYDB

Love it up there. My dad owns a resort on the Mattawa river off hwy 17 east of North Bay and we always do good up there. There are some other descent lakes in the area if you like to do a little exploring.


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## ohiojmj

Nice catch! Can you negotiate the west arm without constant fear of rocks? Lotsa weed beds? Do you recommend Lucky Strike Camp? I just returned from Biscotasing Lake, north of Sudbury on 7/5 and we struggled to catch pike (we know hoe to catch them). I need the adventure of a new lake and have been considering the west arm or near french river (Sandy Island i think).


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## Guest

There are lots of weed beds. Must of the rock are marked with jugs, but there are some that are not marked but they are close to shore. When I am casting I sit up front with my trolling motor and a pair of polarized sunglass, I did not hit anything, but dad found a cut real shallow and bumped something no damage. Yes I would recommend them. They are nice people and reasonable price. They have a internet site too. Some of the cabins are a little rough. If you want send me a pm with your email I took several pic of the place and will be happy to send them to you.


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## krustydawg

Jeff
Looks like a great time, couple more years my boy will be of age and we will be road trippin' ! attached is a link to the Lucky Strike website, very nice...


http://www.luckystrikecamp.com/


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## BlueMax

Sounds like a good trip. It is nice to go somewhere different, experience the area and people. 
I fished Lake Matagami in 2005 & 2006. Caught enough walleye to eat and boated some nice northerns. Not phenominal fishing but enjoyed the experience. 
Looks like you did well on the fishing.


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## RON MCFADDEN

We go up to SANDY ISLAND every 2 yrs stay at TALL PINES just above the FRENCH RIVER catch a lot of pike not many eyes haven't figured out where to fish or what to use for eyes! Going back up on 8/23/2008 for a week how far is SANDY ISLAND to the area you fish ? I have a lund 1660ss with a 40 hp so is's great on fuel if not to far might venture over for a day or two !


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## joerugz

Wife and I are leaving for Sudbury on Friday morning. I'm thinking about driving up the west side of Nippising instead of around the east thru North bay. Its all the same when it comes to distance, but how about the beauty of it all....which do you prefer?


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## fugarwi7

Nice job tubuzz...glad you caught alot of fish...been fishing up that way since 1973...definitely God's country!


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## Guest

I never been up the east side of nipissing. We went up the rt 400 to rt 69 to rt 64.


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## ohiojmj

I just went up 69 to Sudbury last week for the first time and I've been up 11 to Northbay many times. I'd say 69 is more scenic. Route 11 has 2 lane undivided sections and you go through a couple towns including a few lights in Northbay, more traffic than 69, so it would be slower. The real scenic part of 11 is north of Northbay where it gets more rugged with lakes everywhere. Driving to Sudbury via Northbay would add about 80 miles and probably 2 hours; not worth it in my book.


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## Cranny

Great forum guys. I just joined 5 minutes ago. I have a group of 12 guys who travel every year for the past 15 years. We target big pike. We are going to nipissing in the first week of August next year but we do not know much about the lake. We have narrowed it down to West Arm, West Bay, and possibly the French River (although we haven't heard great things about the french river lately). I was hoping some of you who have experience up there might be able to provide some information on the fishing in each of those three areas and also at that time of year. Any and all info would be helpful.


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## Cranny

In addition, we are looking at Memquisit Lodge, Lakair, and any others you guys might suggest.


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## Guest

I broke my Personel best this year, but I also seen a real big pike taken the guy said it went 15lbs. I think I caught 12 over 24 inches. Look in to lucky Strike nice people and about the same area as Lakair. The only problem with that place it is right on the main road it might be noisey there.


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## rebu

There has been a lot of discussion on several threads about fishing the West Arm. I fished it every year for over 20 years, and it is some of the most beautiful water one can find. The numbers of fish caught will usually be better than average, but I would disagree with most regarding the sizes, especially of pike. While you will catch many each day, you will rarely catch one over 30" long. They are called hammerhandles there for a good reason. Sure, the occasional lucky fisherman catches a nice one, but I believe it to be rare for the number of fishermen there. Best bets for bigger pike will be found in the big waters of the West Arm. There are miles and miles of shallow, weedy, rocky water. Finding the deeper pockets out there is the key to finding size. It takes a lot of time to find them, and it's hard to return. Muskrat Bay is marked on most maps, and your chances will be better there. Now, from Lucky Strike Camp, you have a long haul of a ride to get there. If you concentrate on this water, I would recommend Memquisit. You will be minutes away. I haven't been there in a while, and it has changed management since I was there, but I haven't heard anything bad. I've stayed at Lakair for many decades. The cabins are quaint, but they're clean, dry and comfortable. Kevin and Leslie will take good care of you. You will find that they are very popular on the Ontario Fishing Network. By the way, check out that site for lots of current info on the fishing in that area. OTher nearby camps are Samoset and Shuswap. These are my opinions, and I know some will disagree. HOpe it helps!


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## Cranny

Thanks for the detailed response. It sounds like West Bay is where we should try to stay correct? Bigger Pike out there compared with the West Arm?


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## bbsoup

YES! Can't believe I hadn't found this thread before. Just what I needed. Going up in Aug. West Arm here I come.


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## fisher person

I would recommend Memquisit. I stayed there last year and 2 years ago. 5 years ago I stayed at Samoset which I thought was a notch below memquisit in quality in the cabins, service, boats, motors. Plus, memquisit is much closer to the muskrat bays which is where we found the fishing more to our style.
Lakair people were nice as well, just stopped in and bsed with them several times. They actually run a nice fishing website, google lakair lodge for good ontario and west arm info.

I agree that the big pike are limited to disappointing,but sheer the #'s will keep you satified.


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