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The Osprey Lodge
an unforgettable outdoor adventure!

The fishing at Osprey Lodge on Quebec’s wild and wonderful Rupert River is… well, spectacular about covers it. The river and giant Misissini Lake that it flows from is home to brook trout in excess of five pounds, northern pike as long as a pulp log, an endless supply of delicious walleyes, plus lake trout that can often be caught cruising on the surface. But, as good as the fishing is, it’s a small part of the charm and fascination of this remote camp far in the boreal forest.

First, consider the lodge’s location. It sits on top of a bluff that overlook the Rupert, a mile or so below Mistissini Lake. This is Quebec’s largest natural lake and it has no shorefront development and just the one set of sporting camps.

The Rupert is a giant river, dwarfing anything we have here in Maine. In all, you can fish 40 miles of this marvelous waterway before you come to an impassable falls. That barebones description does little to prepare you for the reality of the Rupert and its variety. The river flows through a number of large lakes, as well as backing up into hundreds of backwaters, coves and marshlands.

The delightful aspects to all this varied water is that you can successfully fish with whatever tackle you prefer and you never know what will strike next. In fact, it's possible to hook a brookie, a laker, a northern and a walleye on four consecutive casts.

A truly memorable aspect to visiting Osprey is how you can get there in this roadless country. Of course, you can get aboard a floatplane and fly in. A much more comfortable means is to travel to the Cree village of Mistissini and store your gear aboard Osprey’s 34-foot long ferry. Powered by twin 200 horsepower outboards, the ferry features a completely enclosed cabin in case of bad weather. While it travels at 25 knots, the boat’s size makes for a comfortable trip 50 miles down the lake and then into the mouth of the Rupert and then to the lodge’s dock.

Osprey Loge is truly set in the wilderness but is also one of the most comfortable lodges I’ve ever visited. Even so, the management is determined Osprey will be a world-class resort and is making many improvements. The attention to detail and service are the focus of everyone.

Let me tell you, when it comes to world-class, that has already been accomplished. When it comes to the dining room, the meals are on par with what you’d expect to find in Montreal’s finest restaurants. That’s because they recruit chefs from five-star restaurants to work the kitchen at Osprey. The dining room itself is warmly welcoming and provides a panoramic view of the river far below.

You’ll find attention to details everywhere at Osprey. For example, wide and sturdy boardwalks connect every building in the complex, including the massive dock. The fishing fleet is one of the most unusual I’ve ever encountered. Because they often fish the giant lake where the wind can whip and a rugged river with sometimes-heavy current, the boats are custom-built in all-welded heavy aluminum construction.

Perhaps the best part of the Osprey operation is the guide service. The ownership of the lodge includes local Crees and all the guides are specially trained Crees. The knowledge of the water these men possess has has been honed over many generations fishing the lake and the river.

One service the guides will provide every day if you like is my favorite whenever I’m in the North Country. Each day at noon you stop fishing and move to a location that features a covered picnic table. The guide will prepare some of the fish you caught that morning for lunch. Delicious, especially when it’s walleye.

Most of all, I simply enjoy spending time with the Cree, whose culture is so spiritually connected to a reverence for land, water and wildlife.
Here’s something you might want to think about if Osprey sounds like a place you might like to visit. Quebec is a huge province with over a million lakes and hundreds of thousands of miles of rivers. But it is also our neighbor. We share a common border and lots of history.

From my home in Augusta it’s less than a 12-hour drive to Mistissini to get aboard the ferry for the trip up the lake to the lodge. Once out on the lake, you are in the midst of one of the few remaining untouched boreal forest in the East. There are no dams, no roads and the trees have never been cut. That alone should put Osprey on your list of must see destinations.

For more information, visit osprey.qc.ca or through email at info.osprey@cctn.com