fishnsled

Of course I will Avery. Great Video Ryan!

That lake looks awfully familiar.... Fantastic report Mike. It really is amazing how our trips were about a week and a half apart, yet both groups experienced very similar and fantastic fishing!! Great to see your trip was as good, if not better than ours. Brendan's enthusiasm is priceless!! Reminds me of myself and my love for fishing when I was a kid. He certainly is a good one! Thanks for the report Mike, felt like I was right back there.

Oh so true!!! This year it has been downriggers and putting on a track system for me. I do like how your track sits Terry, is that some fancy Lund mounting thing to get them mounted like that?

Great story Simon, it's awesome that there are such organizations like that. Nice to hear that Sean is doing better as well.

Never made it to Fanny's, drove straight up and flew in. Hearst Air really is focused on the customer, great first impression.

If it was my choice I'd just go with a new axle, good piece of mind when driving down the highway. I'm certainly no expert when it come to this but does the metal get weak (stressed) where the bend has happened? If bent back, would area be as good as new or are there some flaws? Just curious.

That's crazy! I too hope things are back to normal soon for everyone up there. Couple of nice fish though. Smartass, that's something I would say. lol!

Fantastic report and pics Frank and Juli!! Looks like an great place to get away from it all, well needed and deserved for the both of you. Thanks for the report!!

Sorry Wayne...lol. On the trip in had all the gear on the scales for weigh in, had to go back to the vehicle for something and by then my camera was loaded on the plane. Panic on the exit as well with the camera being loaded. These fine people at Hearst Air are very efficient and don't waste anytime getting you in or out of the camp. Never have I experienced that kind of service before. 2 Thumbs up! I'm sure that you'll have a great trip and looking forward to your report. Very true Roy, Mike is the guy! Ken is doing much better, thanks. Looking forward to your report Mike. You better have some airplane pictures and video to keep Wayne happy. LOL! They're Photoshopped. lol! So true Bunk! It was amazing trip and catching over 400 fish was just incredible....how am I doing? Just won't make sure that I'm on track for the the numbers for 2014. It was a fun trip and can't wait till the next one.

Rat snake?

A bit of an overdue report but here we go. I had my buddy Ken out for a day of fishing around the end of May, early June, and along with the normal chatter and fish catching the topic of doing a fishing trip came up. We didn’t do one the previous year and I think we were going through withdrawals. So the question was where to go? And more importantly where would there be an opening being so last minute? Time was important this trip and it would have to be a short trip and if that was the case, a shorter drive would be nice. The other thing to consider was that Ken was having surgery a couple of days after that day of fishing and how would his health be 4 weeks from then for doing a trip at the end of June or early July? We started looking at the Cochrane and Chapleau areas and were considering a drive in outpost camp. We thought we had it all figured out when the outfitter contacted us to say we were double booked and that the cabin was not available. He did offer any alternative for us and had some other dates but that did not work for us. So what does one do now? Contact Mike (Solopaddler) and get his expert opinion. He had a couple of suggestions for other outfitters for a drive-in type trip but strongly suggested we give Hearst Air a call and see about doing a fly in. We first contacted the drive-in camps but no availability and then called Hearst Air. In the end we should have just started there. I can’t say enough about Hearst Air, fantastic people to deal with!! Very accommodating, worked with us to plan a trip that was within our time frame and budget. We ended up going to Sunshine Lake which sounded promising for a smaller lake. It ended up going way beyond what we expected. Our trip up was uneventful and upon arrival at the air base we paid up, got weighed in and were in the air in no time. About a ½ hour flight in the Beaver going in and it was great weather too. In fact we had great weather the entire trip and didn’t see a drop of rain. Daytime temps were in the mid 20’s and evenings were cool and great for sleeping. Hit 7 degrees the one night. The accommodations were very nice. 2 bedrooms with 2 beds in each and a large living/kitchen area with a wood stove (yes we needed it a couple of morning). It’s the only cabin I’ve seen did not show any signs of a mouse being there. Small deck with a BBQ, a Naden boat with a Merc to push us along with all the gas one could need. Could ask for much more but hope for some good fishing, Sunshine did not disappoint! Hundreds of fish were caught with our final number being at 326 fish boated over our 4 day stay. Although we didn’t get any pike over 40 inches, the diary in the cabin says they are in there. Walleye were all in the pan sized and quite entertaining to catch. Lots of double headers and fast and furious action scattered with a few lulls in the day to keep us humbled. Our longest lull lasted about an hour and a half on the last night of fishing and we were beginning to wonder what had happened with the fish. Well I guess they just needed a break from eating as the action picked up again to what the “norm” for the lake was. This was probably the best lake for numbers that we have fished on a fly in trip, just incredible. A perfect lake to take the kids for the non-stop action. (Looking forward to your report Mike!) We had hoped to sneak in a morning fish on our last day but were quite surprised when we looked out and saw the plane on the lake! Came in on stealth mode, neither of us heard him come in. Luckily we had pretty much had things ready to go. So we packaged up the last couple of things, swept up and got out of the way for the next group. I guess enough of the talk, here’s some pics. The screen was like this the entire trip. Ken happy to be on the water and catching fish. As was I. First of many double headers. It can get pretty choppy for a little lake. Life is good. Started with calmer conditions the next day that did not last. But the fish kept on biting with the north winds blowing View was great from the deck in the evening. Loons were always a welcome sound in the morning. Lots of these guys around as well. Always got a fish when we passed by this tree. Like a mirror. A better pike. Another great sunset. Sunrise was just as nice with the mist on the water. Happy to be on the water again. While trolling for pike, the walleye seemed to be more interested in biting. Another double header. Best way to fish, jig and a grub. The pike seemed to really like this colour combination but the walleye would hit it as well. Cabin from the lake Happy to be on the water. And Ken with a decent fish on our last night out. All in all just a fantastic time that went by way to fast. We certainly will not hesitate to give Hearst Air a call first for the next time. Thanks again for all of your help in making this trip happen for us Mike, GREATLY appreciated!

In so many ways....LOL!!

Thanks Ron and Brian. I can just picture Terry pulling up the leg of his shorts to show off a bit more leg, tossing his head back..... Although I'd rather not see that in person, I feel for your embarrassment Brian. LOL!!

Enjoy your holidays Roy!! 3 weeks will be sweet!!

I think you might be better to book a charter with Lloyd.

Thanks again. Disco Phish, any questions you have, fire them away in a PM and I'll do my best to help you out. Or you can follow me around like the paparazzi. LOL!!

Awesome report as per usual Drew. Thanks for posting and keep them coming!!

Nice Tank Rich!

Thanks gents. All for a great cause, caught a bunch of fish and made a couple of new friends in the process. Can't go wrong with that.

Had an awesome time with some great people this weekend. I had offered up a day of Salmon fishing to help raise some some money for the Fish-A-Thon For A Cure through the Auction to fight Cancer. The winning bidder was Cassandra who was happy to give this as a birthday gift to her husband Fred. The "8 hour day" was split up into and evening fish and morning fish the next day and turned into more like 11 hours. It's tough to stop fishing when they are biting. We boated 15 fish I believe and lost a bunch more. A nice mixed bag of rainbows, chinnies, and the highlight for me, an Atlantic! Here's a few shots of our adventure. Nice fish. Fighting a fish and watching the sunset. Another nice one. End of the day. The next morning and setting the bar high. A very nice surprise and a first in my boat. Ending the day with a double header of smaller bows. Just a great couple of days for a great cause. Be sure to check out the Fish-A-Thon post that is pinned and make a donation or get some sponsors and fish it!!

Good fishin'!!

Nice report Chris, looks like a lot of fun to me.

Nice fish and looks like a great week Lew. Thanks for the report.

Awesome fishing!! Nicely done Andrew and company. I've been marking lots of bait as well but nothing like I did on Sunday, screen was full of bait for the longest time. I'd say there was just as much bait last year as well.