Century Club the Holy Grail of Aikens Lake

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 24/07/2010 (5647 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The year was 2006 and I was on my first visit to Aikens Lake Lodge as part of the first-ever catch, picture and release event on the Professional Walleye Trail. What a week it was, as I met celebrities like Les Stroud of Survivorman.

My pro angler, Andy Kuffer, was just a blast to fish with during one of 10 PWT qualifiers for this event. But it was the hospitality and fishing surrounding Aikens Lake that impressed me the most.

On a trip this past week back to Aikens Lake as part of a fundraising event for Grace Hospital, I once again experienced all those touches that make such trips memorable — a warm greeting on the dock by the staff, excellent accommodation, top-notch equipment, knowledgeable guides and, of course, the outstanding fishing.

Dale and Norm, owners of Allco Electrical, had purchased the trip. Both were experienced anglers, which helped, considering the number of fish we had to catch during the length of the trip. No other fly-in lodge that I have been to in my 30 years of fishing professionally had the quality of equipment Aikens did.

We fished out of a 16-foot Lund Alaskans equipped with top-notch Humminbird electronics, livewells, swivel cushioned seats, back-troll motors and brand-new 50-horsepower Yamaha motors. These boats were flown in especially for the PWT event and have served the lodge well ever since.

I got to fish with friend John Toone, one of the organizers of the trip, on the first day, and what a day it was! We almost got tired of catching walleye in the 20- to 25-inch range. John landed one just short of master angler length. It measured out at 27º inches, just shy of the 28 inches needed to qualify.

Our guide Dave kept us on two spots all day, both off main lake reefs. We fished in the 27- to 30-foot range, targeting basin walleye that were after open-water forage. A south wind was blowing baitfish on these spots and Dave kept us on the fish by back-trolling into the wind. The walleye on this day were pretty particular how they wanted the bait. We tied our jigs off the front of the eye in order to provide a swimming action.

John also rigged the dead shiner minnows we were using a bit differently than I was doing and it proved very effective. He would take the hook down through the head of the minnow just behind the hard plate and angle it toward the mouth. Once through, he would turn it over and go straight through the front of the belly and straight out the back. While it looked a little awkward, in the water it had the appearance of a minnow swimming down to the bottom. It worked in spades. At one point, he caught 10 walleye in a row. I imagine I will hear about that for a few years to come.

After coming back to the lodge, we got ready for supper, then an evening of pool at Big Molly’s Bar. Here, you get to trade information along with the big-fish stories.

Which brings me to a unique marketing idea called the Century Club. During the 2009 Call of the Tundra tournament, staff members were discussing the virtues of Aikens Lake with television fishing celebrity Dave Mercer while sitting around a table in Big Molly’s Bar. Dave was telling us that he not only considered Aikens Lake one of the best trophy walleye fisheries he’d ever been to, but he had never seen so many “slot” walleyes caught before!

Thus the Century Club was born. The premise is that any angler who can catch four walleyes that total 100 inches or better during the course of a single day earns their spot with other great anglers in the Aikens Lake Century Club.

I mention the Century Club concept because it was the topic of conversation the whole time we were on the water at Aikens, everyone trying to qualify with four walleye reaching 100 inches total in length. Luckily, one in our group, Norm Mohr, managed the feat.

Here is how Norm reached the Century Club mark in his own words: “Three people braved the storm and would not stop fishing until one or maybe two of us got to the Century Club, which we did accomplish with the help of our guide, Kik. In the last hour, I thought I had it and came up short by an inch. With Kik’s encouragement, we continued until I caught a 27º-inch walleye to get me to 102æ, earning our boat and team the Century Club and bragging rights for the day. The Century Club is a great idea that the lodge came up with.”

SUMMARY: Aikens Lake Lodge is a quick fly-in from Silver Falls by Bluewater Aviation float plant. It takes less than two hours to get to the lodge from Winnipeg. Pit Tureene and his wife Julie manage this facility and do a great job. Both are young and energetic, with three young children to keep things interesting.

dlamont@mymts.net