seansmith_smith

We put in at Wawashkesh Lake....paddles down to Trout Lake and decided to do day trips from there and head back out the way we came. We were going to do a loop and come in the south end of Wawashkesh again....but decided not to. We noticed the smoke on Trout Lake, but it was extremely windy, and as far as i know...the knoly forest fires burning west of there at that time were in Wawa, and although i've seen smoke from several hundred miles away, im not sure that it was from the Wawa fire. I hope you cottage was ok...pretty sure it was.

We didnt try running the rapids....but i dont think there would be enough water....just soooo low. We portaged the 2300 meters around them....and then lined the graves rapids, which were very low as well. i think if i were to go there again i would go in from the south. less portaging....more paddling... ya when i was looking at the fish i thought it was longer, and figured 4 to 5 lbs...but it was really fat.

My Girlfriend and started a 7 day canoe trip on the Magnetawan river on August 12. We started on Wahwashkesh Lake at the government dock. Our first day was interested, getting throughly lost and receiving a tow from a friendly cottager, for about 30 minutes directly in to strong winds. Day two - we started with a 2300 meter portage from Wahwashkesh Lake around some rapids and back to the river. along the way we passed this guy. He might be difficult to see but he's a rattle snake, i'm assuming the Massassauga Rattle snake. The portage ended at a bridge that crossed the river. We met some people from a nearby hunt camp who told us they had just seen a small bear. This is the view from the bridge. We paddled a fair distance that day and ended up on Trout Lake. along the way we found this waterfall just off the main river section. We made it to our campsite and set up for three nights. The water was 4 to 5 feet lower than usual, and although there were plenty of beaver lodges, most of them didn't reach the water, and there were no beavers to be seen. These pictures show just how low the water was. you can see the holes the beavers usually use to swim in and out of the lodge a re completely above the water now. The area was logged 80 to 90 years ago, and there were plenty of visible logs from the era and logging artifacts like these ones at our campsite. We made a few day trips to different part of the river, and small lakes with short portages that we were able to locate using Google earth images of the area. We caught a few pike, lots of smallmouth and even found one lake with largemouth as well. Here are some of the pictures. This is the biggest smallmouth I caught. only 18.5 inches, but really fat. And it had two similar sized fish swim with him during the fight! I guessed his weight at 4.5 - 5 lbs...any guesses?? We ate fish one night...here it is cooking up. We finished our trip one day early because the protected bays were filling up with smoke from a probable forest fire, and with the dry conditions and heavy winds we were taking no chances. We stayed for 3 nights at a lodge just south of Temagami and caught these four nice smallmouth there. Great canoe trip and fantastic fishing.

get your minnow bags filled with O2, and keep them in the crisper of the fridge if you have one....works well for me. Smitty

I just wanted to see what people are thinking about eating bass and pickeral from the lakes with mounds of dead carp around them...as well as other lakes that surely will be hit with the same fate in the coming weeks and months. Smitty

sounds like you two had the chance to build a long list of good memories. Smitty

looks like a great idea for a show