Canada Fly in Fishing - Camp or Lodge?

Canada Fly In Fishing - Camp or Lodge?

Deciding to fly in to camp in a tent or stay in a cabin or lodge can only be a tough decision for a die hard camper. It's an experience of roughing it without any common luxuries for 4 days to a week or more. I wouldn't advise anybody to attempt this without experience camping in a remote area.

You probably won't save any money going on a fly in camping excursion instead of just getting a cabin either. You have to pay a daily camping fee which changes from time to time so you will have to investigate it. Outfitters charge you to fly in extra weight and all the extra equipment required will probably cost quite a bit more making your fly in camping trip even more expensive. Some outfitters specialize in fly in camping trips and those are the outfitters I recommend going with if you chose to camp. Make sure you thoroughly check potential outfitters for camping packages and know what they include.

You won't find many camping sites with a real well. Often even the cabins well leads directly to the lake or river. If this is the case you will want to boil your water or risk getting sick. It's not worth chancing. You never know what's in the water up stream or even in a lake. Bring equipment to boil water and containers to reserve "potable" water.

We like to add powdered drink mix to the water, coffee also helps cover the taste of the lake water. Some people may have a difficult time drinking lake water even after it's been boiled. You can have your outfitter fly in bottled water and even beer but remember that there will be extra weight fee's. I've seen outfitters cut their clients drink supplies in half with the explanation that there is plenty to drink out there and they have too much weight already. Be prepared for that, bring coffee and powdered drink mix's like lemon aid etc.

Not having refrigeration is definitely a situation you need to address if you are going to camp in the Canadian north woods. Regular frozen water ice works if you can run to the store and get more when your ice melts. When your ice melts on a fly in camping trip you are flat out of ice and your food will simply spoil if you don't cook it real quick. The other problem with regular ice is when it melts it makes a big mess. When food you don't cook before you eat is floating in water mixed with meat and blood it's contaminated. You don't want to chance eating it.

You may want to try using dry ice because it basically evaporates instead of melting. If you are going to use dry ice experiment with it before you go to Canada on a fly in fishing trip. My experience is that plastic grating set up in the cooler above the ice works for items you don't want frozen because about anything that comes in contact with the dry ice will likely freeze.

When you go to a remote cabin that doesn't have electricity it will often have a propane refrigerator. These are the same type of refrigerators you see in campers but are usually larger. Some outfitters have separate freezers also.

You may have to fly in your canoe but often the outfitter will supply a boat and fuel for an extra fee.

Camping means you probably won't have a sink to do your dishes in. Bring along a good sized pan or even two if you can afford the extra weight. You can use your large pans to wash your smaller pans and wares in. Even if you bring paper plates and plastic silverware you will still have to wash the pots and pans.

Cabins usually have a nice sink with a hand operated pump. This makes life in the north woods so much easier.

It's a simple conclusion for me. It's usually less expensive to be more comfortable. Having all the luxuries that come with a cabin gives me more time to fish and that's what I enjoy most.

I do understand the adventure of a fly in camping trip and applaud all those adventurous souls who take to their tents and rough out a week of camping in the Canadian wilderness.