I chose the Cranberry Lakes after looking at maps of the lakes around Flin Flon. Since anywhere up there was going to be unfamiliar water and I had two very inexperienced family members with me I needed an area that was not huge stretches of open water. I wanted camp to be easily found and I wanted good fishing.
When I first got there and saw the lake I felt that my research had paid off. And then after a day of fishing I was extremely pleased with my choice. That sense of satisfaction has remained with me ever since. During our time there we fished in four different lakes and never once got turned around or disoriented. That, I think is due to the geography of the lakes. They are just easy to navigate.
Apparently for some fishermen they are too easy to navigate. A short time before we arrived a group of anglers stayed at the same camp.
After a few days of fishing they got too cocky and as a group in 3 or 4 boats were running full out on 3rd Cranberry. Suddenly one of them hit a rock just deep enough so the boat never touched it, but the motor did. It struck the rock with such force that the motor flipped up over the transom into the lap of the driver and completely severed a leg. Luckily there was a fly-in camp very close where his companions went and radioed for help. A rescue helicopter responded and in quick order he was flown first to Flin Flon where he was stabilized and then to Winnipeg. He was a very dumb, but lucky that his companions could reach help so quickly. His story was the talk of camp when we arrived.
We had a great time fishing and all three of us caught plenty of Walleye and Northern Pike. The water was very clear and we frequently sight cast to fish we could see from a distance. One day we fished on 2nd Cranberry in a sheltered cove on the north shore near the west end of the lake. Because the area was sheltered from the wind and the water so clear we could see small schools of 3-6 Walleye swimming near the bottom. The depth there was probably close to 20 feet and the fish simply ignored us and were foraging for food themselves. We followed several schools and were so fascinated with their actions we forgot to put our baits in the water. Eventually we did and it was equally fascinating to watch each other strike too soon when one of them was lunging at our bait. We did better when we could not see what they were up to.
On the south shore of 2nd Cranberry is an entrance to Simonhouse Lake. This entrance is a long winding river-like waterway that eventually opens up onto the main body of the lake. We fished this long neck of water several times for several reasons. Of course the fishing here was good, but the area was very pretty and tranquil. There were numerous small islands and lots of rocky and wooded shoreline. We got our biggest Northern Pike here and plenty of Walleye that were perfect eating size and they did taste good.
There also are Lake Trout in these lakes, but we did not catch any. That was probably due to the fact we only fished for them for a total of 3 or 4 hours the entire week we were there.
Also
Read about our drive up to Cranberry Portage.
And
Laugh at our rent-a-car predicament.
Discover the geology of the Cranberry Portage area.