Randy Scott

The following article from the Quad City Times says it best:

Mystery Country is the place to go for giant northern pike. Just ask any of the six Bettendorf fishermen who all recently caught pike at least 41 inches long. Randy Scott, Paul Castro, Rich McMurry, Ron Schorg, Terry Paustian and TJ Paustian fished this summer in Dafoe Lake near Thompson, Manitoba, Canada, which is about a 22 hour drive from Bettendorf. Its a 1,300 mile treck the group has made together for the past five years. They take turns driving, riding shot gun and sleeping in a rented 15 passenger van that has the rear seat removed for all their gear. “We call it the lost day because all we do is ride, eat and sleep”, said Castro, who retired as the wrestling coach at Bettendorf High School last year and won a seat on the school board. Castro has fished in Manitoba since 1979, but not always at Mystery Country Outposts.

“Its great for anyone who loves the Canadian Shield and the solitude of the outdoors” said Terry Paustian, Bettendorf's golf coach.

“Its the thrill of a lifetime,” said Scott, Bettendorf's football coach. “Its restful and peaceful. Just what I need before football season starts.”

From Thompson the group then flies to a scenic island on Dafoe Lake, where it has a modern cabin for a week with an aluminum boat and unlimited gasoline. They bring their own tackle and start fishing for those trophy walleye and northern pike. They must release any walleye 22 inches or longer and any pike over 30 inches. They may bring home four walleyes and four northerns each. Paul says the group eats a lot of fish during the week.

All the fish are measured for length rather than weight because it is considered less stressful on big fish. A fish cradle, like a small stretcher is used to lift the fish out of the water. All the hooks must be barbless, or have the barbs flattened so the fish are not injured when the hooks are removed.

Most of the time they use only one treble hook on the end of a lure, or a 5-0 single hook. The most popular lure is the Lucky Strike Halfway #3 spoon. It is red and silver with ripples in the spoon.

“No matter what the weather there is always somewhere on the lake where you can fish safely,” Castro said. “Every trip has been just great.” All six caught northern pike at least 41 inches long. So each was dubbed a Master Angler of Manitoba. A 41 inch northern will weigh about 18 pounds. Randy named his 42 inch pike “Godzilla” as he jumped around in the middle of the boat trying to land the fish. Rich was so excited about catching his first 41 inch pike that everyone thought he had won the lottery.

Some of the pike still had the tails of recently caught fish sticking out of their mouths as they were brought into the boat! Sometimes when a smaller walleye or pike was caught, a much larger pike would grab the hooked fish and race to the bottom with it. Then the unlucky fisherman would bring in what was left of the fish - or no fish at all.

They fished in shallow rocky parts, weedy marshes and feeder creeks. The deepest water they found was 30 feet.

They also got more from the trip than good fishing. “We have seen moose, black bear, mink, martin, beaver, eagles and osprey many times,” Castro said. “The scenery and the wildlife make for great picture taking, along with the fantastic fishing.”

For more information call 1-888-246-9749 or visit mysterycountry.com. Until next week, let's get hooked on fishing.

Courtesy of:
Dave Carlson
Quad City Times

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