Eagle Nest Lodge: The Ultimate Fly-in Fishing Retreat to Manitoba's Wilderness
When you think of a remote fly-in Canadian fishing lodge, what comes to mind? A small float plane? Great fishing? Untouched wilderness? Most of the time, you’d be right. But what if I told you that you could also have a perfectly cooked medium-rare ribeye, beautiful accommodations, a live band around the fire in the evening, and, believe me, a lot more? Sound too good to be true? No, it sounds like my recent trip to Eagle Nest Lodge.
Tucked away on a secluded peninsula on the legendary Winnipeg River, Eagle Nest Lodge is accessible by boat and float plane. The option depends on whether you’d rather boat in or fly in. The fly-in route includes taking a float plane from Adventure Air in Lac Du Bonnet, Manitoba, or if you’d rather be boated in, Eagle Nest can pick you up in Pointe Du Bois, Manitoba and bring you by boat, where you’ll enjoy the 27-mile adventure to the lodge. Over the years, I’ve done both options equally scenic, seamless, and memorable.
Once you arrive at the lodge, you’re greeted by the extensive team, from dock hands to guides to kitchen staff to the absolutely wonderful owner, Jessica. Jessica always has a smile on her face and creates a positive, enjoyable experience every second that you’re there.
Once you arrive at the lodge, it doesn’t take long to realize that hospitality and comfort are not things you are sacrificing by being at a remote fly-in fishing lodge. That being said, any fishing lodge can have great fishing and some scenic views. But when you’re talking hospitality, service, and creating a once-in-a-lifetime experience for guests, those things are perfected over time. Eagle Nest has been perfecting those aspects for over five decades and three generations.
Eagle Nest’s size is a solid asset for its experience. With a maximum capacity of 40 guests, it allows it to provide a personal touch experience for every guest who walks onto that dock.
One thing I appreciate about Eagle Nest's location is that it allows you to fish on your arrival day. I can't just fly over lakes and rivers without getting a little bit of an itch to wet a line. So, as soon as we got settled in, we rigged up and headed for the docks. Our guide, Dawson, waited for us there and got us comfortable, which wasn't hard. Again, at a remote fly-in lodge, you have a general idea of what boat you expect to be in. At Eagle Nest, it's a bit different. We got comfortable in our 18-foot Alumacraft and headed to the first spot.
It has such fantastic freedom as you’re boating on the Winnipeg River. We had our walleye rods, smallmouth bass rods, and northern pike rods all rigged and ready and at any moment, we could say one of those three species to our guide, and he turned on a dime and took us to the nearest honey hole for that species. However, on a fly-in Canadian fishing trip, you have to start with walleye for shore lunch.
Dawson pulled us up to the first spot. We tossed a minnow on our jig, and as we dropped down, he looked at his fish finder and casually said, “Should take long.” It didn’t. My buddy Josh hooked up almost immediately with a perfect eater-size walleye and went straight into the live well to cook lunch. We proceeded to catch more than enough for lunch in a matter of minutes, and it wasn’t long before that tub of minnows had a serious dent in it.
Just before noon, we headed to the shore lunch spot, where we met up with the rest of our group. As the guides cleaned all the fish, we reconnected with our friends, told fish stories, and shared how everyone's morning went. Watching the guides clean fish and prepare lunch is genuinely a thing of art. It's almost like poetry. Everyone has their job. Everyone knows their role, and they work as a machine to transform a remote shoreline into an efficient outdoor kitchen providing an exceptional shore lunch. It wasn't long before the food was ready; everyone got in a line, filled their plate up, and enjoyed a true Canadian walleye shore lunch. It was magnificent.
After lunch, we decided we’d split the afternoon up with smallmouth bass and pike fishing. We started on the bass program, and Dawson had a small creek mouth he wanted to explore at the back of a bay. We sneaked our way into the creek, slowly fishing our way in, catching a few smallmouth here and there, but it wasn’t until we got right into the creek that things got hot and heavy. We were primarily casting ned rigs, and we weren’t pitching further than 8 feet off the side of the boat, but we crushed them in there. Josh caught one smallie that was pushing 20 inches and as he was fighting it, there was 4-5 other smallmouth swimming around it chasing it. It was out of this world.
After our little smallmouth frenzy in the creek, it was time to try to find a toothy critter before supper time. We love northern pike, and the opportunity to catch a big one in a major league river system like the Winnipeg River is there at all times. We had heavy-duty casting gear because these fish are no joke, and you need the right gear for the job. We casted weed lines and various flats and we caught a lot of pike but we never found the 41’’ Master Angler that we were looking for. That’s fishing, and that's why we keep coming back.
When you arrive back at the lodge at the end of the afternoon, happy hour is ready and waiting for you to sit back, unwind, and have a cold beverage before supper. Once supper times roll around, you head to the spectacular dining room, where you look through the large windows overlooking the river and await your first course. The meals are indeed out of this world. It’s some of the best food I have eaten all year, and it is astounding, given where you are. From perfectly cooked steaks to delicious wines, you are far from roughing it.
The dining experience doesn’t stop there, as Eagles Nest Lodge has one of the coolest alternative options I’ve ever heard of. It’s called the Fly “N” Dine experience for locals or anyone who just wants an evening experience. You drive to Lac Du Bonnet, and they fly you into the lodge. You have an amazing three-course supper, spend three hours at the lodge, and then fly back. It’s an amazing way to experience the lodge at an affordable price.
After supper is one of my favourite times at Eagle Nest. I love fishing and being on the water, but the camaraderie is my favourite part of any fishing trip. Sitting around the fire, listening to the one-man band, playing horseshoes or corn hole—you name it—everything is there for you to create memories with friends, family, or colleagues to last a lifetime.
Eagle Nest Lodge is complete. Jessica’s operation is tried, tested, and true over generations and decades of perfecting how they want their lodge to function and, most importantly, what experience they want their guests to have. Whether you’re a family, a group of friends, or a corporate group, Eagle Nest caters to all groups and all angling abilities. When you leave a place like Eagle Nest, sure, you’ll remember some of the fish you catch, but I guarantee you’ll remember the laughs, smiles, and memories you make for your entire life.
To book your one-of-a-Kinda fly-in fishing retreat at Eagle Nest Lodge, visit the Eagle Nest Lodge Website.
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Box 1588 Lac du Bonnet, MB R0E 1A0 (204) 250-3323 Website
74 Sawmill Bay Rd Pointe Du Bois, MB R0E 1N0 (204) 884-2301 Website