PRO-STAFF GUIDE SERVICE

Our Guides = Great Success: Catching fish, lots of fish, and big ones at that, with a great chance of landing a Manitoba Master Angler Trophy, is the bottom line on any fly-in fishing trip. Aikens Lake has an outstanding reputation for all of the above, and a great deal of the credit is due to the contribution of our Pro-Staff Guides. Selective harvest and high quality management policies of the lake have combined with cumulative Pro-Staff Guide knowledge to produce exceptional results.

Knowledge and Experience: Our Pro-Staff Guides have many years of experience fishing Aikens Lake. Their knowledge and experience enables them to share and demonstrate high percentage sport angling techniques, from jigging a bait over submerged structure to bottom-bouncing a hand-tied crawler rig in the flats for big ‘Eyes, the guides have numerous methods of attack specifically adapted to the incredible bounties of Aikens Lake.

We take particular care in training all our guides not only about fishing on Aikens Lake, but we also place a huge emphasis on customer service. We don’t ever want someone to tell us that although the fishing was good, they don’t want to fish with their guide anymore! We make sure that our guides have the conversational and angling skills that will keep you informed and entertained every moment of the day.

Outstanding Shorelunch Chefs: At noon, our guides will prepare the most talked about dining experience in Canada... a fresh walleye shorelunch! With a variety of recipes and years of training, our Pro-Staff guides will make your mouth water as you await this great meal in a truly pristine environment. As good as the fishing is, it is difficult to shift the focus away from the fabulous shorelunches our guides prepare for you. Sit back and enjoy as your guide will whip up a fantastic shorelunch for you. Your mouth will water in anticipation!

Luxurious Boats: Aikens Lake features a new fleet of fishing boats! Over a dozen spacious open-concept Lund Alaskans assure our clientele’s comfort and safety. These sturdy platforms provide angler with a top-notch experience out on the lake. Truly, these are some of the best boats you’ll find in any Fly-In lodge.
Click here to find out about our new fishing boats.

A Typical Day: A typical day begins after your breakfast (served between 7:00 and 7:30). As you make your way to the dock, your guide will have your boat prepped and ready to go. After a short strategy session with your guide, he will make sure all the final preparations for bait and beverages are taken care of. As you depart the dock, your guide will bring you right to the hottest spots based on what you would like to fish for depending on type of species, size of fish, and numbers of fish you are looking to catch. After, and most often before picking up your lunch fish, you will be reeling in lunker walleye, lake trout, and pike. Guides will listen to your every request, from casting to bottom-bouncing, to down rigging, and they will bring you to the primary areas where these techniques will be most effective. At noon, they will prepare a scrumptious meal for you, then it’s back on the water for more trophy fishing! Your day ends around 5:00 p.m.. Each guide can take 2 people per day in their 16-foot Lund Alaskans. By special request, we also have three 18-foot Lund Alaskans that can each accommodate a group of three fisherman plus guide.

Evening Fishing: You fish with your guide daily from 8:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. You are assigned a boat if you would like to go fishing after supper. Because of the long days (sunlight till 10:45 in June!), there is still 3 to 4 hours of great fishing left! Our guides work 10 hours a day, 7 days a week. Therefore, your guide does not normally take you out after supper. However, if you would like them to bring you out, they can usually be persuaded to bring you to some more hotspots. All arrangements for evening fishing with any guide should be made directly with them.

Contract Guides: Throughout the years, we have had some truly exceptional guides and head guides at Aikens. However, seeing as how we mostly hire university students, there does come a time when families or careers in the “real world” take them away from the Aikens family. We have developed a system that allows them to continue to enjoy a slice of Aikens while providing great service to our guests. It’s called the “Contract Guide” network. When the lodge gets busy (or even by special request!), we often bring back the best of our past guides to come in and help out for a weekend. We’ve had as many as 5 past head-guides on the water at the same time! Their vast experience on the lake allows for a quick reorientation and then they are off and running. Their skills and personalities make it easy for us to invite them back year after year. It is an honor for our guides to be placed on the contract guide list upon their departure from full-time guiding.