Cookslav

Our Hunt camp is on a lake that is part of the Crowe river system...used to be lots of Muskie, until the Pike got in years ago. Muskie are still in there but catching one is now a prety rare occurance. I can't speak as an expert, or even an experienced person when it comes to Pike overtaking a lake but I can say in this instance pike getting into this lake all but erradicated the Muskie population over a 20 year period. Last year one of the guys got a healthy 40" inch beauty, but thats the first, and last Muskie we've heard of being caught from the lake in the last 10 years....so I guess they are still there, but not in spades like they used to be.

Thats horrible.... My condolences all around, thats to much for anyone to bare.

Oh ya... I like it when its firm and dry. I'll flip it an re-apply the gravlax once a day just to ensure its FULLY cured. Then a quick pat dry to remove the granulars, and 3 days in Maple to sweeten it up. You could shave the time if your fillets are thinner I suppose? I try to use a good 1.5' or 2" fillet when ever I can I should mention that useing this method, and time frame you can expect your fillet to shrink Litterally to half it's size. I love it! I just find the 4 day Salt/sugar cure makes a full penetration, and seasons the center of the meat perfectly. The 3 days in Maple pulls a lot of the "salty" out, but leaves the texture intact, and just seems to balance the flavor of salt, and smoke perfectly when done. I prefer an Alderwood smoke as well, but Apple is nice when Alder is not available. I slice it up and serve it with Corn shoots, pea tedrils, cilantro sprouts, and drizzel it with lemon/chili infused olive oil and finish it with orange balsamic reduction, and lumpfish caviar As an appetizer in my restaurant....its killer! But I agree with your method.... A strait up Gravlax with dill, onions, and standard pickling spice Sliced with fresh lemon...Oh my that is good stuff as well! Cheers,

Wow..thats one heck of a trip! Thanks for sharing it. If you don't mind me asking what colors and depths were you running?

I'm assuming it was a Gravlax recipe? Gravlax fish is cured in salt/sugar usually in a 50/50 ratio...very tasty Not great for the heart but after you remove the salt/sugar, and slice....dude its awesome I sometimes gravlax salmon, or Steelhead fillets for 4-5 days until firm, rinse then marinate in pure Maple Syrup for 3 days, pat dry and hit the cold smoker for 6 hours. Its to die for brother, and well worth the Heart attack LOL!

I've also seen this twice before. Once was a small pike on the Nith river...he looked very natural in doing it? He saw me an boogied away, the second was after a not so gracefull release. Beats me, but I can see it happeneing for a multitude of reasons I guess? Some natural, some not so much.

accountability is the best thing we can enforce as voters. That right there is the bottom line to me. Vote for anyone else and your actually showing ALL the parties we won't put up with the crap the present party is dishing. There is no "perfect" choice...thats a pipe dream, but we can hold all the parties accountable by voting them out when they cross the line. Politicans are a lot like my children....give them an inch and they will take a mile. And like children they need to be put in the corner every once in a while....some more then others

Right on! For your sake I hope the 28" holds. Although Thats traditionally small for the tourny? But then again I "think" last years winner was 28"? Not sure if anyone can collaberate that?

I used to but Its a bloody Zoo out there....Thats why I don't fish it anymore.

I don't know bud... He hit your spinner once, he'll do it again. Try earlier in the morning when he's out roaming? Browns for me have always been more active at dusk, but just after dawn is good, especially just after an evening rain. (not a storm...not blown banks, and mud, but enough to cool the water a bit) I don't know the water your working but Personally for a "skittish" brown I'd be inclinded to drop a fly at dusk. A muddler is always a good dusk fly...

Nice Job! Specks on the fly are a blast eh? Tough to cast those small creeks as well, which provides some added challenge as well. Thanks for sharing!

Ya I didn't bother to fish either... I gave the boat a good run just to work out the cob webs from winter storage, but In truth I had no desire to fish in the midst of the chaos of jet ski's, tubes, and speedboats. Just to much traffic for me....maybe next week

Looks like a great day on the water with some tasty treats for your efforts! Cheers,

Thats what i thought LOL... The Dude must have been having a bad day or somthing, because who on earth sells you a product and THEN questions you on the use? He either had a bad day or he is an unethical salesman. Selling someone TNT, and THEN asking what they are plan'n to blow up is a bit iresponsible if you asked me? Why not sell me rolling pappers and then ask me if I plan to roll my own "cigarettes"

Nicely done, I love the colors of Brownies as well. I can't wait to get back out to my favorite Brownie stream. Its been a While but I think this week might just be in the cards. Thanks for sharing!

Nice job, and great account of the trip, With that wind its nice to hear you got the boat out...that would have been tough in the canoe. What baits were producing not that I plan on being any where near Superior soon, but curiousity is a funny thing Cheers, and thanks again!

Hard to say... I was in Algonquin 2 weekends ago, and they were started... By the time I left we were having some difficulty. But with Algonquin just haveing a cold snap, and even 10 cm of snow in some areas....I think that will set them back a bit. My guess is we're back into a normal bug rythem

Ah...yes that would make scence.

Thanks again guys, glad you all enjoyed the story Kyle there are a few lakes were you can boat with Motors, but its pretty limited. I know Opeongo, and Smoke lake are among those, and I "think" Grand lake is on that list? Check with the park to be sure. One thing I know is the only motors freindly lakes are Access lakes. You can't portage to any lakes with a motor(to my knowlege)

Hey MJL, Try here on line http://hennessyhammock.com/ I bought mine used online though a fellow member of the Algonquin board. But even through the company its pretty inexpensive. Not to long ago they had a buy one get one free sale....pretty good deal if you ask me?

Thanks for the Kind words guys glad you all enjoyed the read. Its definitily one of my favorite times of Year, and was glad to share it. The fish are on and I think its heating up.... I've always heard the best bite, and when the Bugs are biting, and they are starting. Another week of sun and look out!

Our departure time set for 4am was looking great! All my brothers arrived on time, and loaded their gear into the van with 10 minutes to spare. At that point I suggested we stop at Timmy‘s on the way to grab some breakfast food and coffee being we’re ahead of schedule…. No more then 2 seconds after my suggestion My youngest brother followed up with an expletive or two and shamefully admits he had forgotten to put his food in his pack and needed to return home. So off he went to pick up his food, and we met him at the Timmy’s now 45 minutes behind schedule. However, the drive was brilliant!!! No traffic, no construction, perfect driving conditions…it was by far the nicest and fastest trip to the park I’ve had yet. In fact it was so nice we shaved the 45 minute delay and made it to the outfitter on time at 10am. Too bad the outfitter “forgot” about us… We waited until 11am before I started to panic a bit. In the past I’ve noticed this particular outfitter walks to work (how I know this is a long story….for another time) So I wrote down the last name on the mailbox located at the canoe depot and looked her up in the phone book in correspondence with the street I know she lives on… I left her messages at home, emailed her on the Black berry to no avail. We eventually wrote her a note, and taped it to her front door(as she was not home) And began calling around for alternate outfitters… Just as I located an alternative she came walking out of the bush…she had taken the dog for a walk, and decided to check on the business as she was out and about… When I questioned her about our agreement I received No apology what so ever, she just said “Oh?…I was not planning to be here until 1pm today, I guess you guys are lucky I decided to drop in early” I bit my tongue as the closest outfitter was an hours drive, and we were only 10 minutes away from being back on the road. Rest assured she will never get our business again. We finally got our canoes and permits, and headed out! Wednesday was a beautiful sunny but windy day in the Park with a stiff 30km North Easterly flow. Gusts up to 50km made for some tuff paddling, and sketchy moments in the heavily loaded canoes, but on the flip side the cooler breeze made the balmy 14 degree temps a lot nicer on the portages as our group does NOT travel lightly LOL! I think with out the breeze we would have been sweating something awful lugging that liquid courage into the park The breeze also kept the bugs at bay….I had heard mixed reports last week that bugs were popping up, but were not really uniform yet…I suppose the wind was just some added insurance? We made our way though the lakes and Portages with out any issues...it was fairly uneventful outside of the usual aching muscles and the occasional curse word. We made it to our destination by the dinner hour, and got to work with the Katadyn pumping 5 gallons of clean drinking water, scavenging for 4 nights worth of wood...splitting, sawing, and piling our camp fire supplies was high on the priority list as it was cooling down fast. We tend to burn a lot of wood, so we ended up topping this pile up twice LOL.... But with 8 guys its pretty easy, and quick. And of course we then erected our patented Algonquin “Big Top” tent as we knew rain was forecast for the weekend. There was to be no fishing that night… After starting the day at 3am, being in transit or making camp until sun set had us all pretty bushwhacked and an early night was just what the doctor ordered. Thursday morning was COLD….dam cold and breezy as well. I crushed the ice out of my water bottle so I could get a sip of water to alleviate the burning sore throat I seemed to have developed over night and stumbled out of bed to embrace the glorious sunny morning with hope I would soon be catching Speckled trout….its been a year since I last had one on my line and I was more then excited to get cracking. I hurried to make some coffee, and get some oatmeal in my belly as I warmed by the fire my Dad had already got going ( I guess I wasn‘t the only one who found it unexpectedly cold ) The Blue skies had me a bit concerned about the Bite...and boy was the sky clear! Not a blemish outside of a lone Jet I guess I just prefer the Overcast days when coaxing the polka dot beauties from cover...I've always had better luck in unsettled conditions? By 7:30am I was portaging to a nearby lake to scope out a submerged fallen tree I had noticed on the way in. My second cast stopped dead in its tracks and I hammered the rod back…then felt the drag unwind! It was a big girl, and I knew it from the moment I set the hook With 4 pound test and an ultralite rod I had concerns about the fallen wood this fish was dangerously close to, but I kept the pressure on and a few seconds(which felt like hours) later she raced under the canoe away from the tree. I still hadn’t gotten a good look at her yet, and the tug she was giving had me doubting the Target species? A Laker seemed unlikely given the proximity to shore, and I was not aware of any bass being in this lake? Just as these thoughts crossed my mind my brother spotted her, and gave me one of those half laughing, half shocked, and concerned comments that sounds a bit like “Woa dude…ha ha ha, she’s huge…better get the net eh? My heart was racing at this point I still had not seen her as the sun was giving off one hell of a glare with the angle I was facing. After a few more quick shakes, and dives my brother became my new hero as he slipped the net under my new Personal Best 20” Algonquin Brookie. With only 2 casts in the water to say I was excited is an understatement LOL! Caught on a White Rooster tail, with a gold Blade, and silver specks The afternoon came and my brother had caught 2 more respectable Brookies in the 14-15” range, while I went with out so much as a hit. By lunch I needed a break as my throat had gone from sore to raw. I felt week, and feverish…not a good sign With the winds variable but stiff making for difficult canoe control I elected to drug myself with some Advil and sleep the afternoon away in the hopes I might feel better later. I had a great nap in my new Hennessey Hammock I have to say… For those who have not seen these things, I STRONGLY suggest you have a look, especially if you are a side sleeper, or have back issues…I have never slept so well in the bush and I think I have even come up with a new slogan for Hennessey should they want some advertising help. It goes a little something like this, “Sleeping on the ground is for Suckers!” How can you go wrong with a tent that is 100% waterproof, needs no air mattress, can be set up anywhere, and weighs less then 2lbs??? Anyway enough of the sales pitch….back to the fishing We headed back out after dinner and the bite was still a bit slower, I managed to get one little guy but that was it for our canoe that night. However I was still quite happy with my PB from earlier in the day… I think I could have gone fishless for the rest of the weekend and still been quite amused. The other guys did ok with each canoe landing a few through out the day with a few hitting the 14” range. We re-grouped by the fire and swapped info. It was an early night for me again, but the boys were up late putting a dent in their Heineken Mini kegs…how I slept is beyond me but I did. Friday I awoke to yet another sunny but warm and calm day and I felt MUCH better…just a bit of a scratchy throat, and I had some energy so this day seemed promising from the start…except there was already 4 canoes on our lake grrrrr…I know its not our lake but for some reason its always disappointing to see others when your out in the bush isn’t it After my Morning Coffee My brother and I snuck off to another lake… As nice as it would be to work the lake I'm camped on...it was crowded and I was working a theory… Our Base camp lake is smaller and shallower in comparison to a few other local lakes, and the water seemed a tad warmer (I say seemed…because I lost my thermometer)The guys that stayed on the Base lake yesterday did "ok" but I wondered if the slightly cooler temp of a deeper lake might have them biting better? It was a mistake… LOL! After all the portaging and Paddling, I didn’t get a hit, nor did my brother. But what turned out to be funnier is after spending all morning and the better part of the afternoon working this lake to no avail, we were on our way out, as the rest of the crew came in to try their luck They figured we were lighting the lake up being we had been gone so long, so they thought they’d come cash in as well…they elected to stay and try their luck but unfortunately reported no fish when they came back to camp for dinner. After dinner as I sipped my coffee I noticed a rise in the south end of the lake, then another, and another… My canoe launched 2 minutes later with our bow pointed due south while no one was looking. By the time we were in casting distance of the area I noticed a site I have never laid eyes on before... It was a shallow fertile bay, black bottom with some sort of hatch started. There was a patch of bugs, and debris on the surface about 20’ long by 10’ wide, and the fish were BOILING under it It was slurp, splash, swirl repeated over and over again so my brother and I casted together. Him with a blue and silver Panther Martin, and me with a Hendrickson fly. BAM….double header! He landed a healthy 14” beauty, I lost my clone at boat side. We repeated casting this area and landed 6 fish in 15 minutes, ranging any were from 8” to 16” Most were around this size, But a few looked a bit more like this piggy By that time the group had noticed the jumping, and the constant bend in our rods so they made their way into the bay and got in on the action. Feeling a bit crowded…. We departed to the other end of the lake, in hopes that it might also be a boiling, as It was also a shallow fertile bay….we arrived to find many fish rising, but it was not the same intensity as the south end. However it was peaceful. I managed another one on the fly rod before it began to get dark so I suggested we head back to camp as I obviously had some fish cleaning to do now. Just as we were getting ready to troll back we were beaconed by a Lone Wolf!!! The howl was so loud I just about jumped out of my seat LOL! That was cool in it’s self, but when I called to her….she called back! Not once but 3 times before we started to hear calls from all around, and then as fast as it happened….they were gone. I HAVE to upgrade my Camera to one that takes video with sound….that would have really been something to capture and share. Back at camp we ate a few fresh trout, talked about the wolf howls and laughed around the fire as the guys drank their beer. We of course swapped glory stories from the day, and analyzed the day performance. Most fish were being caught in shallow under structure in the early morning hours, and then again in the deeper waters away from shore in the afternoon which is a bit opposite of any speck fishing I’ve ever done? But the evening bite was basically where you would expect…on the surface in shallow. Saturday we awoke to a gloomy overcast, but calm morning…rain was imminent. But we were prepared. We expected rain Friday Night, but it never came, so we considered ourselves lucky, and dawned our rain gear for the day. It was warm, and muggy between down pours, and the bugs were out in force. Black flies were out and about all week, but had been increasing in frequency by the day. Today they were biting, and becoming a nuisance as I tried to eat my oatmeal and enjoy my morning coffee… The morning bite was slow for us…it could have been the other 6 canoes that joined our group of 4 though 10 canoes is a bit crowded for me so I elected to hit a different lake not too far away. We made the trek to the nearby lake and set up a troll to cover some water, and was met with stiff hit about an hour in and landed a nice Eater. We managed another 3 before heading home with two on the stringer for our last dinner in the park before leaving. When we made it back to camp the boys were still out fishing, so we elected to fish some more, and I am glad we did. I managed to hook up with another 2 fish, as did my brother, both in the 14” range, To bad I lost an additional 4 fish doh!!! The bite was fast and light...many boat side losses but non the less it was still a blast. We eventually packed it in, and headed to camp to clean and cook our fish. The boys had split their approach as half went off to a nearby lake, while the other half stayed at our base lake….all canoes reported fish this day, and brought a few eaters back for the final feast. And once again we were serenaded by the Algonquin eastern grey wolf orchestra which had not lost any intensity the second time around...just awesome to hear live. There is just something so enchanting about their call…both eerie, and exhilarating. So I enjoyed the moment As I cleaned the fish. These baby’s got the royal treatment! Filleted, and seasoned with lemon, pepper, greased with Butter and Slowly grilled on the fire with some soaked cedar thrown on the fire for a smoky finish. Man they were good LOL!!! Crispy skin, and just unbelievably smoky. As a synopsis, We trolled and threw EGB’s, Crocodiles, Cleo’s, Mepps, Blue Fox, jigs, and rapala’s in countless patterns, speeds, and retrieves. We threw woolly buggers, cadis, nymphs, and Hendrickson’s but in truth there was no magic lure. It just seemed that when they were on…they were on, and as quickly as it would happen, they would turn off. No rhymes or reasoning, we just simply took it as it came. Regardless of the Lake early fish were in the wood near shore, afternoon fish were tight lipped and found cruising deeper water(20’+) away from structure…I know its weird, but that’s how it was. Evening bite was shallow in fertile bays. Water temps in the lakes felt warmer then normal…maybe 60-62 degrees?(sorry I lost my thermometer) The bite was timid…most fish that hit were just “tapping” the bait so you had to be quick on the trigger, and many, MANY fish were following the bait right to the boat before hitting. This resulted in many poor hook sets, and many lost fish But… The weeks total was 54 specks landed between 8 guys, over 3 days between 4 lakes…not to shabby I personally contributed 12 to that tally and was thrilled with yet another great Algonquin spring fishing experience. For the record… This was the nicest exit to the park I have ever had! Mother nature provided one of her beautiful Misty and calm Algonquin mornings. Not a ripple on the water made the paddling easy all the way out. Although the Portages had that Rainforest feel about them Wet, warm, humid, sweaty and SLIPPERY LOL… We all made it out alive, with a few comical wipe outs but otherwise we all left in great shape, and longing for our next trip into the park. Here is a couple more photo's I liked... My Algonquin Coat rack I rigged the Fire pit with a hot stone this year... Made some scrambled eggs, and grilled cheese sandwiches for the fun of it We actually used the other rock as a pannini press for the other side of Bread...it just looked better for the picture with out. Misty Morning My chariot Thats my trip, but I hope to be in the park another couple times this year....might plan a bass trip in the fall, and splake in the summer....we'll see Cheers

Thats the hardest part LOL...

Depends on what your preference and the amount of time you're willing to wait You should soak your fish in a salt brine over night before smoking But Personally... I gravlax! The amount of time needed to salt sure will depend on the thickness of your fillet. 50/50 mix of salt and Sugar (I use maple sugar) Comletely cover both sides of the fillet and place on a wire rack on a backing sheet uncovered in the fridge. 12 hours later flip the fillet allowing the moistue to drip away onto the pan, and sprinkle more Gravlax mix on top.Place back in the fridge over night. -For a 1" thick fillet your cure time should be 24 hours -Anything under 12 hours will do (You'll know its good to go when the fillet is firm to the touch as you go to pick it up) Completely pat the fillet dry, and remove as much salt as possible. In a new pan or bowl cover the fillet in Pure maple Syrup and soak for one day. (or 12 hours depending on the thickness) Whipe the fillet dry, and brush once more with fresh maple syrup, and crust the fillet with crushed black pepper. Smoke for 2.5 hours at 160. The dryer you like your fish...lower the temp and increase the cook time. Its all about experimenting to ones taste buds though so have fun. Cheers,

LOL...my crew thought I was crazy until I started catching, while they watched My thoughts were it was small, and brownish black...like a leetch, perhaps even a stone fly, or Dragan fly nymph which is what their bellys are full of. Seems logical to me And you just proved they work again, so there