Fishnfiend

ROTFLMAO!!

I wish I could take him. Even though he would get to play outside every night and all weekend, I live in an apt. and don't think it would be fair. Good luck to you (and Magnum).

Nice report and pictures Mike.

The pictures of the dragonflies don't do them justice Johnny. They were literally swarming....EVERYWHERE! I will never forget them - that's for sure. Mike, lemme buy you a beer sometime.

Wallyworld was selling Energizer. So far they haven't let us down..

God's country for sure, TBayBoy. We saw a bald eagle, some bears, otters (I think) a few thousand Canada geese and about 10 loons. It was like a nature show! We even had a pet seagull that hung around just offshore waiting for fish remains. He would squawk at us whenever he ran out and was hungry... I had a panick stop on the way home when a HUGE cow moose decided to stop in the middle of my lane on the highway in the fog... If the mornon that passed me about thirty seconds later in a pickup truck (doing 100+ kms / hour) is reading this...you're welcome for saving your life!

Awesome! Good on ya for takin' the lad fishing. The kissing the carp pick is priceless!!! A picture is worth a thousand words, but a kids smile is worth a a million bucks.

Go out and fish!

I got back on Thursday morning from 5 days of camping and fishing in Northern Ontario with my dad. A fellow OFC'r gave me the tip about this lake which has fishing at par with fly-in lakes. I went to 'lake X' last year on May 24 weekend and found it quite busy and also got snowed on. The cold front meant poor fishing, but I went back this year regardless. Lake 'X' is located about 550 kms from my parents' place outside of Orillia, which is 200 kms from my home. It is located a few hours northwest of Sudbury. That's all the details that I will give about it's location. Last Friday, there was a serious forest fire on the road that we needed to drive on Saturday (Halfway lake Provincial Park). I was a little worried that we would have to make alternate plans when we got turned around. However, to my amazement, they had the road open on Saturday when we got there. They were still battling the fire and it was still smoldering as we drove through. Here's a shot that I took out the window: There were kilometres of forest scorched along both sides of the road. They were still fighting the fire on Thursday morning on our trip home! My father has been fortunate to have been on several fly-in trips before and was a little sceptical about my choice for our trip. I assured him that it was remote and he finally agreed when we got to this point: We hadn't seen a vehicle in 1/2 hour and we were still about 1/2 hour from the 'boat launch'. At the 'boat launch' we discovered that the water level was really low. With some determination and brute force, we launched his 16' boat. 1/2 way to camp (about 4-5 miles) we saw our first moose: Here's a shot of 'home': We arrived pretty late in the day, but were blessed with this sunset on our first night: We didn't anticipate the cold/nasty weather that hit us the next day. But, bad weather for us meant good fishing. My father put on a walleye clinic on the morning of day # 2. We were using bottom bouncers and spinners with single hooks (stingers added shortly after this point). My dad is quite a good sport. He had an accident with a table saw on Wednesday and was still willing to go on the trip. This meant that I had to do just about everything, but I figured that it is partial payback for when he did everything as I grew up. He caught fish for a solid hour and a half on Sunday morning while I baited his hook, netted his fish, took them off the hook and rebaited his line. I think I had my line in the water for a total of about 10 minutes. I did catch the biggest 'eye at about 20 inches. The average size fish was about 13 inches with a couple smaller (cigars) and a couple larger. The fish bit most in the morning and evening, but could be caught throughout the day on spinners, jigs with twisters, worms, xraps, etc. (almost anything). Many hammerhandle pike were caught as well but no pictures were taken. Sorry. Here's the sunset on day 2: That's camp on the left (where the deepest 'v' is in the trees). We had no problem filling the livewell for shore lunches which we had for the first two days. We did catch and relese about double our limit every day and didn't eat any for a couple days as we had to eat the food that we had brought with us. On day # 3 we drove back to the truck for some more gas for the boat and to drop off the chainsaw. On the way, we gathered a bit more firewood and I saw something that I had never seen before: There was a MASSIVE dragonfly hatch. They hovered around camp (eating mosquitoes) and followed us around in the boat. At any given point in time there were 200 + dragonflies in sight: Not only were they flying all around, but they were on every tree in sight: There are also perch in the lake...apparently only jumbos! Contrary to the photo, I was very happy with the perch. It put a few holes in my hand when I grabbed it, hence the grimmace. I caught another one almost this big from shore at camp (on a berkley power grub and jig), but he was camera shy and self-released. On day # 4 we had two moose within 200 metres of camp. Last years calf: and a good sized bull (still growing and in velvet). We got within 15 metres of him for pictures and he fed all day along the northwest shoreline. His camoflage made him disappear on occasion, but the shaking trees (from him feeding) kept giving away his location. We fished hard on the evening of day # 4 to catch some fish to put on ice and take home. We brought 7 'eyes' home and 10 pike. Who could stop fishing with a view like this? We went back to camp and I cleaned the fish, got a fire going and cooked up about 2.5 pounds of venison steak to have with the bottle of red wine (vintage french) that I brought to celebrate a great adventure with a great man. I hope that some of you enjoy this report and I apoligize for the lack of fish pics, but I was quite busy as my father was injured and unable to take pics. He sure could catch walleye though! Thanks for the tip Mike! I owe you one. We only expored about 1/3 of the lake, so I will be returning at the end of August for a week. I know it's a tough job, but somebody has to do it.

Wallyworld has the best prices on deep cycle batteries. My father just replaced both batteries in his boat and got a deep cycle battery for the trolling motor and a new starting battery for the same price as one battery would have cost at C.T.

Here's the story: http://www.northernlife.ca/News/LocalNews/...-07-forest-fire The bummer is that I need to drive through that area to get to my camping/fishing spot. What are the odds that it will be okay tomorrow?

So, what's the scoop on fires between Sudbury and Timmins? I am heading up that way and don't want to drive all that way just to be turned around. Thanks, in advance, for your reply.

Wow! To say that I am jealous wold be an understatement. Thanks for a very well written report and pics.

Thanks for the report. It sounds like you had a great time. Maybe you could sell your welfare tops and finance your next trip! I am looking forward to the pictures.

Looks like you are in for the same # of bites that I am in for north of Sudbury... http://www.theweathernetwork.com/features/...53.htm?CAON0153

Thanks for all of the tips, but I am quite familiar with how to avoid bears. I camp in bear country several times per year and am an avid hunter. I have yet to see a bear while camping (knock on wood). I also know that I must fight a black bear if it comes down to it. Basically, I still want to know if anyone has used pepper spray before...? Oh, and the story about being sprayed by the police, too. As for the legality of carrying a gun, the WMU I am going to has cottontail rabbits in season until June 15th.

I am not overly concerned about the bears, just want to look after the old man. After all, if it wasn't for him, I wouldn't have my current addiction for outdoor hobbies. I go remote camping a couple times every year in Ontario and have yet to even see a bear while camping. The last bear sighting while camping was a grizzly out west (20 something years ago). But, like Tony said, let's hear the story behind being pepper sprayed by the cops.

Has anyone ever actually had to use either of these products on a bear (or dog)? I bought a small can of dog spray to let my dad carry when we camp this weekend/next week northwest of Sudbury. I will have a 12 guage in the truck, but that is as a last resort. What I am wondering is if this dog spray would have any effect at all on a bear or just make it salivate... The bear spray is 0.87 % kapsacin and the dog spray is 0.5 %. I figured it would at least slow a bear down, giving dad/us a chance to get in the truck or boat.

double-post. Sorry.

Jigs? Rapalas? Worms? Minnows? Inquiring minds wanna know.

Be careful with the expansion foam if you decide to use it. The stuff can cause expansion where it is not desired.... They sell low-expanding foam, too.

ditto.

Brian, I won't be fishing Head lake for a while. It's Dalrymple this weekend and then lake X (North of Sudbury) next weekend for 5 days with the old man. If you want to have a mini G2G at Head lake later in the summer, we could do that. I know there are other OFNers in the area...

FF, check your PMs and get back to me.

Thanks for the report and pics. It was nice to escape (vicariously through you) to Algonquin for a few minutes. I, too, am looking forward to the video (show).