NAW

I've had summer sausage that one of my guide buddies had made up. And it was possibly the best summer sausage I have ever had. It just takes so much meat that I can't ever seem to shoot enough geese in a season!

 

And Chad, I hear ya! That's an easy way to get dinner!

Most people don't like goose meat from my past experience. But when cooked right, and in the right application, it's delicious.

 

My favourite 3 ways to eat it are:

1. Homemade Jerky

2. Slow cooked and pulled (like pork) on a sandwich or wrap

3. Ground and used to make Chilli

 

I'm going to try to make burgers this year. Cut with a bit of ground beef, and imbedded with shredded cheese, chunks of bacon and seasoning.

You Northern guys are lucky!! I have to wait until the 8th for it to open. Hunt is booked for the 10th.

 

I'm going to start trying to get a pattern on the local bird in the next week or so.

I am getting so pumped for the upcoming waterfowl season!

 

Anyone else getting the itch to cycle some shells and ruffle some feathers?

 

I'm planning an early season hunt with some chaps from work. 3 coffin blinds, 3 dozen decoys and a fresh cut field!!

 

Anyone else going out for the early season??

 

 

Thanks 206! I also found both those places.

 

When I looked on the Minkota website, I actually got a quote from the website (USD Before shipping) and for the seals, drive pin, retaining ring and new brushes it only came to $5! So cheap!

 

Prices where similar at the two placed you mentioned above.

Came in to work today and the engineering office drop ceiling was on the floor, in a puddle...

 

Not been a productive day to say the least!

I'll give him a call on Monday.

 

Hopefully he has the parts I need in stock.

 

Thanks again guys

Any idea what they charge an hour?

I realize I could search this out. But OFC is always good a fast replies.

 

I have my 36 Lb Endura all torn apart right now, because it hasn't been working right for a while.

 

Drive pin is broken. Retaining ring pooped off and stuck to one of the magnets in the motor and has worn down to almost nothing. A seal is shot, so the motor filled up with water. One brush is worn down to the wire.

 

Online, I can find all the parts for about $35 US. But I've never bought parts from them before, and don't know if I should trust them.

 

Anyone know a shop I can order them from? I thought there was one in Orillia that I can get Minkota parts..?

 

Or if anyone knows a good online place that they trust and could recommend?

 

I want to get it back together soon! I need my motor for duck hunting and fall fishing/camping.

 

Any help is greatly appreciated.!

 

Thanks,

 

Nick

When I was 12, my dad spotted 3 beautiful girls in a 12' aluminum that ran out of gas about 1km off our dock. My Dad being the proud father he was at the time, sent me out to offer them a tow.!

 

I was nervous as hell. My dad told me to tell the girls they needed climb aboard with me, as it wasn't safe for me to tow them in their boat. Even gave me some cold water bottles to give them.

 

The old man had quite the sense of humor.

 

All that being said. Ya, the guy who hit the rock should have thrown out an anchor, and called his marina where his boat was stored... Instead of blowing the guys engine in the sea doo.... Is there cell coverage on Pigeon lake?

To be honest with you guys, I would rather camp / fish with my girlfriend Sam! She is becoming a hard-core angler, and lover of the outdoors. Its really great to see!

 

BUT.. Shes a healthcare worker. And anyone who is in or has a partner in the healthcare field knows what I am talking about. She works 2 weeks days, then 2 week nights. Every other weekend So 1 out of every 4 weekends, she is working 12 hour night shifts Friday, Saturday and Sunday. I hate sitting at home alone all weekend, and tip toeing around the house while she sleeps during the day So I have re-kindled my love for solo outings! And they are great for the mind and soul.

 

 

As for the catfish. They are one my favourite fish to eat. I do them just like pickerel. Take one big fillet off each side. Skin comes off the same as a pickerel (Maybe easier). And I cook them the exact same way as pickerel in oil, breaded with egg/milk, the dusted in fishcrisp.

Thanks!

 

This was not the Moon River. I've done the Moon a few times, and I would have caught way more fish if it had been the Moon!!

 

I love the Moon, but I can't find any free parking spots!

 

There are so many back bays on the east side of G-Bay that fill up with cruizers. It's quite the site to see on Sunday morning, then they all pull anchor and head for port. It can get pretty choppy out there in a yak!!

Thanks for reading guys!

 

I mapped my paddle on map my run this morning. And it turns out I did 40km of paddling!! Man. No wonder my arms are killing me!!!

As some of you may have read, I planned a one night yak fishing/camping trip for this weekend.

 

I posted about it early last week to see if anyone wanted to join me. But for obvious reason, I didn't end up finding anyone to tag along. But that's OK with me, I love hitting the bush solo.

 

My work asked me to work Saturday, so I did a short shift from 8 to 2. Then headed up "north".

 

 

Over all, is was a great little trip. The fishing was slow. But I managed a few bass and pike. No eyes, which was disappointing, but I know they are in there!!

 

The boat launch.

 

The paddle in to my site.

 

 

Portage #1

 

 

 

 

 

 

Portage #2

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My site

 

 

 

The yak

 

 

 

 

 

On my first cast I tied in to a decently sized pike. We tussled for a bit, and when I was about to try to land him (first pike ever in the kayak), something rather unexpected happened. The dam pike jumped right in to my kayak!!! No kidding. This 5 to 6 lb pike (not big by any means) jumped in to the kayak right between my feet!! He only sat there for about 10 seconds, then thrashed himself back in to the water. I thought the fight was back on and started heaving on my rod... But after a few seconds, I realized that my x-rap was hooked on my fishing pack, and the pike had swam away!!! Jesus, I laughed about that for a few minutes...

 

 

 

This particular river gets a lot of traffic. Its kind of a funny sorry, but I was fishing in the evening Saturday night, and a ran in to a camp with 27 kids in the middle of a 60km canoe trip through their summer camp. These kids where pretty cool, and we chatted for a bit. Some of the boys where across the bay fishing from a rock, and we heard them light up in cheers of excitement, so I paddled over to see what they caught! Turns out they had a school of catfish swim by. They landed 2, and smashed their heads with rocks. But they had no clue how to clean them. And they where going to toss one back as I was pulling up. These boys knew nothing about fishing, or cleaning fish. So they gave me one of the cat fish, and I gave them a good lesson on how to clean a fish, and sent them back to camp with a pile of cat fish fillets. They where really keen to learn how to clean fish, and where very appreciative of the lesson!

 

 

They let me snap a quick pic of them in their new favorite fishing spot!

 

 

 

 

The view from my tent saturday night

 

Sunday morning I woke up with the son, and did some top water fishing. Caught a few bass and pike. Snapped a few pics ..

 

 

 

 

 

Top water pike and bass are fun!

 

Old cribs. I have no idea what they where used for back in the day?

 

 

 

 

First bit of civilzation on my trip.

 

With the weather so nice, I decided to push a little further out in to G-Bay than I have before in the past. You know, as you push further west, you run in to more and more civilization. And you have to start sharing the water with some seriously big boats!! With seriously big wake!! You have to pay attention out there, that's for sure.

 

I love this guys boat.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fried up the cat fish for lunch sunday Man it was good!

 

a pile of vultures on my way home.

 

 

Anyways. I've rambled on long enough. Hope you enjoyed my little report and pics! My lens was dirty and I didn't realize it until a Saturday evenning, so some of the photos are fuzzy.. Wups.

 

Until next time.

If someone wants to do a day trip Saturday. I could switch my plans up a bit.

 

You would need to do about a 2 hour paddle back to the launch alone in the afternoon. But it's a really easy paddle on a calm lake. We would hit 2 pickerel spots. And a couple bass and pike spots too. Good mixed bag of fishing.

 

Just thought I would throw that out there.

Well, regardless of your paddling capabilities these days... After your trip to Ear Falls, I think you would find the fishing quite boring!!

 

Although we did fry up 2 nice pickerel the last time we camped at this spot

^^Ah.. To bad!^^

 

Jer is my go to OFC short notice fishing partner, and he has family obligations this weekend. So he is out too!

 

Anyone??

 

I know it's very short notice. But thought it's worth a shot anyways

Hey yall.


Its been a while since I have posted on here. Not much free time anymore.


Im setting up some plans for a one night kayak fishing trip for this weekend.


Ive got it narrowed down to 2 or 3 different places. Leaning towards the one option that will be a combination of rivers, lakes, and Georgian Bay. A few easy portage routes.


My original plan was to do a solo trip. And that very well may still happen. But I thought I would open up an offer to have one or two more people come and tag along.


The rough plans are to leave Barrie Saturday morning. Be on the water before lunch. The paddle in to the campsite is a few hours. We would fish our way in Get camp set up. Fish Saturday evening. Up early Sunday for a morning fish. Then slowly pack up camp, and fish our way back out. Home (Barrie) Sunday afternoon by 6pm. Parking is free. Campsite is on crown land


If you want to join me, fire me a PM. You will need to pack very light, and bring your own gear. I have a water filter, and a MSR stove for cooking, but other than that, your on your own for camping/fishing gear.


I will be running a kayak, and moving quickly while not fishing. 2 strong paddlers in a canoe Or a few people with their own kayaks would be great! Ive never camped out of my kayak before, so I it would be great to have a second person out there with me in case something crazy happens!!


So let me know if youre interested!


And dont worry.. Im not a psychopath.. Theres a very good chance you will make it out alive! I've done this exact route half a dozen times. It's for a moderately skilled paddler. Not ideal for a first time trip...


Thanks,


Nick

Post #1 eh....

 

There aren't very many good crown land camp sites south of Perry Sound.

 

I also suggest finding a place to camp on the French River.

Great spot.

Great report man!

 

The crappie pic is great!

Their shows are going to be packed all summer long.

 

I have to go see them one last time

 

Horrible news for sure.

They are thick in midhurst, that's for sure!

Thanks for the comments everyone!

 

Maybe next year we will actually catch something!

Before my son was born, for many years, Trout fishing was not on my mind this time of year. I would have been practising my turkey calls... But after being eluded by them for to many years to keep track off. I decided after my son was born, that the time would be better spent with HIM!.

 

So every year he has been alive, we have been out on season opener.

 

Here's a few from year one!!

 

 

 

Year 2

 

Year 3

 

The past few years, the day has fallen on the same weekend as the Elmvale maple syrup festival. So we would head up that direction and fish. But this year the 4th saturday in May is not the last weekend of April.

 

So we decided to keep in very local and fish a local creek. There was a few spots I wanted to try. It involved a nice walk through some forest trails. Which Alex really loved. He pounded a good 1.5km trail walk to get to the river. Alex's job was to carry the tackle box. And it just happened to fit in his monkey bag just perfectly. He got a kick out of the rattle it made every time he jumped.

 

We got there, and immediately see a nice 18 to 20" fish slowly chugging upstream. Thought it was a good sign. But the shore was to steep for us to get to where I wanted to set up.

 

So we just found a nice spot to hang out, and try a couple dozen drifts. I would cast, and Alex would reel it in at the end of the drift.

 

We didn't make it out last night for worms. And to be honest, I forgot about it until we got to the fishing spot. So I told alex we had to flip over some rocks or logs to find some bait. And he didn't like that idea.. He suggested we use strawberries, which we had in our pack. Why not?? So we sat in the sun and eat strawberries, and fished for about an hour.

 

I lost track of time, and realized when taking a picture, that I was going to be very late for my next event the morning. Which was to meet my co-worker at the airport to check out his ultra light that he built. So we packed up in a rush, Alex jumped on my back, and we ran at a light jog all the way back to the car!. We where 25 minutes late still. But Alex loved the run. He was laughing the entire way.

 

He was terrified of the air plane. He refused to sit inside for a picture. But we still had fun at the airport. Even stopped for breakfast at the restaurant there. Watching the planes take off and land, and move around the airport was entertaining for alex, and the food was really good and at a fair price.

 

Normally, we would have headed out fishing at a second spot, or go on a hike or bike ride. Something outdoors.. But Alex is actually supposed to be at his moms house this weekend.. So I only had him for the morning.

 

It sucked not having him for the full day. But we made the best with the morning we had! Maybe try it again next weekend in a better spot.

 

Here's some pics to help tell the story.

 

For those who read these every year... He sure is getting big eh!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks for reading my ramblings.

 

Until next year!

 

Good stuff Brian!