solopaddler

Easing back on the throttle I tacked into the waves making for the lee of a mid lake island. Aaron Shirley as always was poring over our map as I slowed then stopped the boat in a sheltered cove. “Well” he said, “what do you think?” It was our first afternoon on Lake Saint Joseph in far northwestern Ontario and we were attempting to formulate a game plan. We’d flown in earlier that day with Slate Falls Outposts based out of Sioux Lookout and were on the hunt for fish. Sioux Lookout in the heart of Sunset Country and surrounded by water is an odd dichotomy. Signs of civilization like a new looking and very busy Tim Horton’s exist, but it has a definite frontier town feel and it’s my kind of place. We had dinner at the Fifth Avenue Club the night before. A tired old brick building with a surprisingly fresh look inside and darned good food. At the back of the building was a wooden door with a small sign above it advertising nightly dancers. Not something we were interested in, but the option was duly noted. Grabbing my old metal thermos from the bottom of the boat I poured a cup of coffee. Surrounded by wind whipped white caps with low dark clouds racing by overhead our initial foray on this inland sea was a challenge. “What I think is, I need a break”. Grabbing the map from Aaron I studied it while he casually dropped a jig over the side of the boat. Almost instantly his rod arched under the weight of a thick walleye. Never one to question why I grabbed my own rod, lowered a jig and hooked one of my own. The fish it seemed had found us. The lake we’d been told is a bonafide fish factory and it was living up to its name. Almost 100 kilometres long and over 154,000 acres in surface area it’s a mammoth body of water. I’ve always been partial to big water and Lake Saint Joe is an absolute giant. Looking closer last fall I researched every single operator on the lake before settling on Slate Falls Outposts. They operate the only camps on the remote western end of the lake and by all accounts are a first rate operation. Over 95% of their clientele is repeat which speaks volumes and in speaking with owner Verne Hollett they’re also extremely loyal. Having dealt with a large number of outfitters over the years, some good and some bad - it was obvious I’d found a gem and booked the trip for late August. Aaron, always up for an adventure was immediately on board. Not long afterwards we filled out our group with good friends Jimmy Valeriote and Rick Filman, both great guys and even better sticks. Sometimes the cast of characters can make or break a trip and this motley crew of fish hounds was first-rate. It bode well… An Engaging Exchange And Angry Wavelets Having talked with Verne a number of times on the phone I was looking forward to meeting him in person. We were slated to chat at his office before flying in to get the lowdown on his operation as well as the lake. Some people, for reasons you can’t even quantify instantly put you on guard. Verne is not one of those people. He is honestly one of the more likeable, intelligent and witty people I have met in this industry. And he can talk. The following two video clips, 10 minutes in total, were edited down from 45. That was 45 minutes of straight gab without stammering or missing a beat - all of it fascinating. The man could easily have another career as a public speaker… It was easy to see that Verne runs a first class operation and why his customers keep returning year after year. On our end the little talk only heightened our desire to get going, all of us were eager to fish. Rick backed our loaded rental van up to the weigh scale and we set about ridding it of its cargo. It’s amazing to me what you can stuff inside a full sized mini van and we soon created a small mountain of tackle, food, drink and duffle bags on the dock. After helping to load the plane I settled into the co-pilots seat while the boys chattered happily in the rear buckled securely into their small folding metal seats. The plane, a Dehavilland Otter was also a contradiction. Bright and shiny on the outside, austere and functional on the inside. The quintessential work horse of the north, these planes have carried me to many an adventure over the years. Glancing over at our pilot - Verne’s son Clayton, I was momentarily taken aback by his youthful appearance. The apple as they say doesn’t fall far from the tree and Clayton was just as impressive as his old man. He very well may be the youngest Otter pilot I have ever encountered. After taxiing up Pelican Lake for 5 minutes Clayton eased the throttle forward and the old plane roared to life, lifting us off the lake and heading northeast to Lake Saint Joseph. This part of Ontario is awe inspiring, almost more water than air and the flight in was a good one. As often as I do this it never gets old… Slate Falls operates two locations on the lake, Root Bay at the extreme west end (a single cabin outpost), and Eagle Island 25 kilometres to the east. Eagle Island has three guest cabins on site, each one operated independently of the other each as a distinct outpost with total privacy. There’s also a caretaker on site to clean and gas your boats, stock the wood box and take care of any other need you might have. Verne had us slotted into his largest central cabin and it was impressive to say the least. Lots of comfortable furniture both inside and out, solar electric appliances and lighting, bathroom with flush toilet, 3 bedrooms with great beds, docks with actual boat slips and excellent boats with Honda outboards. It was clear we wouldn’t be suffering. We had a somewhat late start fishing that day, and as mentioned the weather played a role in the outcome. Every forecast had been calling for severe thunderstorms with copious amounts of rain and wind, and unfortunately they were correct. Weather in mind, Jimmy and Rick stuck closer to camp while Aaron and I pushed the envelope. All four of us started directly in front of the camp at a couple of rock humps and picked off a number of fish, breaking the ice quickly and taking the edge off. Jimmy and Rick, typically much smarter than us, caught plenty of nice fish without straying too far. Being greedy and wanting more we pushed onward about 10 kilometres down the lake battling a fierce headwind the entire way. Eventually Aaron and I found ourselves next to the aforementioned island with its pod of hungry walleye. We probably should have just stayed there but of course we didn’t. Looking closer at the map after boating 20 or so walleye we eyed an enticing neck-down area. Compression points are always good spots, they’re a natural migration route for the fish and tend hold concentrations of them. Besides that we knew it’d be totally protected in there, an appealing thought. Battling the waves once again for another 10 minutes we finally entered the narrow confines of a lengthy channel between an enormous island and the mainland. Throwing out diving crank’s we began a zig zag trolling run and began hitting fish consistently. Here’s a short video of some of the first days action… Thoroughly enjoying the sport we were oblivious to both the time and what was happening around us. At first. “Man!” Aaron said, “look at that!” Sounding both incredulous and mildly agitated I swivelled in my seat to look behind me. A massive dark cloud was rolling towards us like a tidal wave. Disturbingly tiny bolts of lightning were shooting out of it almost cartoon-like in appearance. Suddenly the wind died right down to nothing and angry little wavelets appeared on the surface of the lake. With the extreme low pressure pushing down on the water it almost looked like it was boiling. In all my years I’ve never seen anything like it. Battling headwind to get to this spot I’d assumed the ride back would be easier. Wrong. In the moments it took both of us to don our lifejackets the wind did a complete 180 and we were right in the teeth of it again. It was already 8:30pm and growing dim, it had been a very long day and we both wanted to return to camp - badly. Five minutes in a virtual wall of water descended on us blasting me directly in the face and the lake transformed into a boiling cauldron of rollers and whitecaps. Aaron, no stranger to big water and waves sat bent in the bow with his back to the deluge. He glanced up and shot me a grin as I tacked over to a nearby island. That was our saving grace. That part of the lake is dotted with islands and I was able to dart from one to the next escaping the worst of the it. Not a straight line back to camp but a safer one and it was with huge relief that we finally eased into the boat slip. From start to finish it was about a half hour run and by the time we tied off at the dock there was 6” of water in the bottom of the boat. Jim and Rick naturally concerned, offered words of encouragement from the shelter of the porch, drinks in hand. We were not long before joining them. Bacon cheeseburgers, caesar salad and a movie capped off our evening. Yes, a movie. I’d brought a tiny portable projector with me, bluetooth speakers and a bunch of flicks downloaded to my phone. With a bed sheet tacked on the wall and the lights dimmed the quality and size of the image was amazing! Aaron set things up just as dinner was served. Did I mention we wouldn’t be suffering on this trip? Heartbreak Ridge And An Open Window The next day we awoke to grey skies, warm temperatures, high humidity and very little wind. While not as volatile as the previous evening, this system had the look of one that had kicked its shoes off and was here to stay for a while. Still, we were undeterred. Loading both boats with provisions for the day we donned our rain gear and all of us headed north to Johnston Bay. The Cat River pours into the lake here and studying the map it seemed an obvious spot. Aaron and I were both keen to target some larger pike, but the question was where and how? It was late August, we were on a massive body of water and the weather and barometer were not in our favour. “As much as I love casting” Aaron said “I think we’re going to have to troll”. Great, we were on the same page. Not just blindly dragging a lure around the lake though, we had a few key spots in mind. Key spots for me boil down to one thing: deep water directly adjacent to structure of some kind, whether a rock pile, weed flat, main lake point - whatever. Of course there was an unlimited amount of spots on the lake just like that so we had to break it down further. I was looking for spots that were adjacent to an obvious spring spawning bay. I have a number of theories when it comes to big pike, especially on large northern shield lakes where they’re not likely to be chasing schools of baitfish suspended over deep water. One of them is these large predators aren’t going to stray too far from their spring haunts - especially when deeper cooler water and lots of food is easily attainable. In most of the far north pike waters I fish small walleye are the number one source of protein for larger apex predators. Hanging out in the cooler depths they’ll slide up onto these shallow walleye laden shelves and mow down like a fat man at all you can eat buffet. Of course they can still be caught in deeper water and sometimes that’s where you have to target them. Often if I’m fishing a hump that for the sake of argument tops out at 15’, I’ll troll a lure that runs at 15’ directly adjacent to it, sometimes far out into the lake. When the big girls are on the prowl they’ll often suspend laterally off these pieces of structure. I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve caught large fish trolling lures that run 15-20’ deep over 40 to 60’ of water. In my opinion these fish weren’t chasing bait, they were relating to a shallower piece of structure, cruising the fringes waiting to pounce. We had a rough game plan in mind, but no specific spots for a starting point. For the moment I was just following my nose. Arriving at the entrance to Johnston Bay a prominent point beckoned. It might as well have had a flashing neon sign on it saying “fish here!” We did. Jimmy and Rick continued on past us to troll and jig a pinch point about half a kilometre away while Aaron and I readied our trolling gear. Both of us snapped on substantial lures, 8” Depthraiders that trolled at roughly 18 to 20 feet on a long line. I was on the inside, Aaron was on the outside and it didn’t take long. As soon as we cleared the point Aaron had a heavy hit while his mouth was full of sandwich. Bread and lunch meat flying everywhere, he battled our first quality fish of the trip to net. I love it when a plan comes together… We made another pass across the point and this time I hooked up, although mine wasn’t nearly as big. For the next few hours we worked our way further into Johnston, a large piece of water almost a lake unto itself. Slowly and methodically trolling and occasionally casting every likely looking piece of water, we caught a lot of fish. Mostly small to mid sized pike, but a lot of girthy incidental walleye as well. Jim and Rick broke out the jigging rods and and were laying a beat down on the walleye. Based on the amount of commotion emanating from their boat they were having a grand old time in the process. A deep trench where the Cat River poured into the bay was particularly good, with the fish literally falling all over themselves to snap at their jigs. It had been raining off and on all day, and it was raining when “it” happened. We were trolling a large open expanse of the bay parallel to a large underwater ridge that topped out at 14 feet roughly 400 yards to our left. The ridge ran for a good half kilometre and was literally crawling with walleyes. Exactly the type of structure I like. Rod in the holder I had a bump. A quick check of the graph showed 40 feet of water so I knew it wasn’t bottom. I quickly reached forward and grabbed my rod, sweeping it forward in an attempt to trigger a strike. The second I dropped the rod back a heavy fish slammed my lure like a sledgehammer. Now I don’t say this lightly - that was EASILY the heaviest hit I’ve ever had in my life. Instantly popping the boat into neutral I leaned back into the fish and it took off. Aaron can attest to this, but it peeled off 50 yards of line in the blink of an eye, as fast as any steelhead I’ve ever hooked, and there have been plenty. This was not just a fish, it was a gargantuan fish, perhaps the fish of a lifetime. In full panic mode at this point I stood to gain better leverage when the unthinkable happened. The fish surged powerfully again ripping off another 30 yards of line and my 30 pound braid snapped like sewing thread. I was stunned. It didn’t rub on any rock and I’m pretty sure there no weak spots. I ALWAYS check my line religiously while fishing and often retie if I suspect the line has been abraded. The power of that fish will haunt me for a long long time. Literally sick to my stomach it took me a few minutes to shake it off before I could continue. That spot now has a name - Heartbreak Ridge. Like every avid angler Aaron has experienced his own share of heartbreak, but upbeat as always he put a positive spin on things. “At least we know there’s real giants to be caught Mikey, and we sorta have things figured out. Don’t worry bud, we’ll get more!” As it turns out he was right. At the entrance to the bay Jim and Rick commiserated with me then bid us adieu. They headed south back towards camp leaving Aaron and I to our own devices. At that point it was 7pm and the sky was growing even more ominous by the minute. The flat sheet of featureless stratus cloud we’d been under all day was starting to break up. Small openings in the ceiling showed massive dark bottomed towering cumulus clouds billowing thousands of feet into the air. The wind, calm all day had begun to pick up a bit - something was happening. Following a hunch I navigated several kilometres away to another large bay. The map showed a number of islands clustered right at its mouth with deep water directly in front of them. As we pulled into the first spot, a reed point right at the mouth of a saddle between two of the islands we heard thunder rumble far in the distance. “This” Aaron said “could be our chance.” With a front rapidly approaching we both knew there might be a small window where the big girls slide shallow and feed. The second part of this equation is of course picking the correct spot. We found out soon enough the answer to that question. The first decent pike caught casting… After landing that one we worked our way into the saddle - 8-10’ deep, tons of cabbage and lined with reeds on both sides. If you look up “prime pike location” on Wikipedia you’ll see a picture of this spot. Grabbing my second rod rigged with a weedless spoon I casted towards the reeds as thunder once again rumbled - this time a lot closer. If a large pike is shallow and on the hunt they don’t often pussy foot around. Normally if you put your lure in front of them they’ll smash it. Seconds after my spoon hit the water a large fish hammered it moving a bathtub full of water in the process. Instant pandemonium. While Aaron scrambled to reel in his line and find the video camera the fish was racing around the boat in a semi circle sything large swaths of vegetation with my line. “Good fish bud - grab the camera!” I was in a state once again. At that moment the fish cartwheeled completely out of the water right in front of us and shook the hook. Our best guess was 42 inches, thick and very fat. At that point I just laughed. One thing was becoming abundantly clear though, these large late August pike fight nothing like their early spring counterparts. Their metabolism is at its peak, they’re muscular and strong as heck! To this point they’d been kicking my butt. It was however pretty gratifying to see your ideas bear fruit. There’s zero doubt those fish had slipped onto that shelf to feed as the storm approached. Small windows of opportunity to catch them shallow exist, but you need to place yourself in the right spot to take advantage. Thunder rumbled once again this time a LOT closer. Not wanting a repeat of the evening before we packed it up and headed back to camp. Thankfully an uneventful trip this time. We’d kept a few walleyes this day and back at camp we fried them up to perfection utilizing the newly built cooking gazebo that Verne had provided. Good man that Verne. Aaron had brought along his own special breading for the trip. I’d enjoyed it a couple of years previously on our trip to the Attawapiskat and it didn’t disappoint this time either. A homemade concoction that he’s developed over the years, I can tell you it’s darned good. Funny thing is he refuses to give up the recipe, I kid you not. The man will gladly pinpoint his favourite steelhead pool or give you gps co-ordinates to a prime walleye hump, but he won’t divulge his breading recipe. Priorities. Facing The Front And A Hole In The Wall Arising early in the pre-dawn gloom I quietly set about brewing coffee while the others slept. That’s one of the nice things about Verne’s cabins. Unlike most of the outpost cabins I’ve visited this one had complete walls stretching all the way to the ceiling creating total privacy and blocking any unwanted light or noise. The only exception to that rule was Jim’s unearthly nightly emanations which could likely be heard through 3 feet of titanium coated concrete. Jim himself was the next to emerge looking disgustingly refreshed. “What’s shakin’ slim, is the coffee ready?” I wanted to punch him. The rest of the crew soon joined us and with coffee in hand we surveyed the situation from the cabin porch. “Wow” that was Rick’s only comment as all four of us scanned the lake. The trees were bent under the strain of a heavy west wind, dark clouds scudded across the sky and rain lashed down in waves. Worst of all it was cold. The temperature the previous evening was 18 celsius and it was now 6 with a projected high of 7. “We just can’t win, can we?” Aaron grouched. No kidding. Still we forged ahead with our plans, none of us willing to concede defeat. After a much more leisurely breakfast than usual we prepared ourselves to battle the tempest. Long underwear, fleece, Gore-Tex, rubber boots, wool hats and gloves. It was hard to believe this was August, but as I learned long ago you need to be prepared for anything in Ontario’s far north. Heck I can remember seeing snow in July once. Jim and Rick headed east riding a tail wind to fish walleye in the shelter of some islands. Aaron and I headed west directly into the teeth of the gale. Not far down the lake was a major bay, one we’d been told was a spring hotspot. Key for us, its entrance was sheltered by a maze of small islands and channels and we knew it’d be a calm haven - relatively speaking. Once again tacking into the waves I slowly made our way over there, our tiny aluminum boat being tossed around like a cork in the massive swells. The final scene from The Perfect Storm flashed before my eyes as we forged onward surfing the huge rollers. Arriving at our destination and prying my fingers away from their death grip on the throttle we began to fish. As bad as the weather was there were still fish to be caught, and catch we did, although nothing big. Not too surprising considering the enormity of the cold front… Discretion, they say is the better part of valor and after punished ourselves for the bulk of the morning we’d had it. You know it’s time to quit when reeling in a fish becomes a chore and we had reached that point. Reeling in a small pike I twisted the hook out of its mouth with pliers then packed away my rod. “That” I said hunching deeper into my rain coat “is it for me, I can’t take it anymore!” Aaron concurred. Back at camp we stoked up the wood stove and hung our wet clothes to dry, instantly transforming our cosy abode into a steaming hot sauna. This was more like it. The only photo I have from this day is a huge bubbling pot of butter chicken simmering on the stove which we all enjoyed later that evening with warm nan bread and a caesar salad. Highlight of the day for sure. The next morning saw Aaron and I studying the large wall map in the cabin. Once again a slate grey blanket of cloud covered the sky and the wind was blowing strongly, although this time from the northeast rather than the west. On the plus side it wasn’t raining and the temperature had climbed a wee bit. Even better according to the updated weather forecast I’d received on my Delorme inReach device it was supposed to clear by the afternoon. Finally a forecast in our favour! Wind always plays a large role and looking at the map I once again had a hunch. Several kilometres to the east of camp Moose Island spans almost the entire width of the lake creating some interesting options. As noted before pinch points and neck downs are natural hotspots, especially so when the entire flow of the lake is compressed into several such small areas. Beyond the obvious these would be natural migration routes for fish. Just south of Moose Island another large island lay parallel. According to the map passage was restricted by shallow water in the middle and there would almost certainly be weeds. With a strong northeast wind we knew the wind would be pounding into this spot, always a good thing where big pike are concerned and we made that our starting point. Navigating east past Moose Island through a deep cut called Geislers Gut on the map, I rounded a point to my left and rode the waves into the back end of the large bay. As predicted it was lined with reeds with 8’12’ of depth in front and plenty of cabbage. Best of all the wind was stirring things up nicely. There are certain times when you just KNOW it’ll be a good day and both of us had that feeling. “My esox senses are tingling Mikey!” Aaron said with a smile. Easing up to the first reed point on our left I popped the motor into neutral and we began to cast. Almost instantly Aaron hooked up… We pulled several more thick pike out of that spot before finally continuing on. Feeling pretty good with ourselves we headed east out of the bay to a prominent point at its entrance that jutted way out into the lake. Another obvious spot that begged to be fished. With the wind still pounding pretty hard that piece of structure was just loaded with walleyes and we caught them at will. Not on purpose mind you - they were slamming our 8” trolling lures with gusto. As fun as that was it wasn’t what we were after and we continued on. Heading north past the point the northern tip of Moose Island beckoned. At its apex another tiny island created two minuscule channels where all of the lake’s water flowed through: North and South Hole In The Wall. The wind was blowing directly into our chosen spot as I slowly cruised into the south Hole In The Wall. Glancing at the graph I could barely contain my excitement. “Dude, it’s 30’ deep right here!” At that point we were maybe 50 yards from the cut and closing fast. Right at the entrance the bottom rose like a wall to an 8 foot flat lined with scattered cabbage. Making things even better it was an intimate little spot. I’ve always found large pike prefer to utilize confined little nooks and crannies as ambush points if they have a choice and this spot was exactly that. Directly adjacent to deep main lake water, wind pounding right in and a perfect shelf for a big fish to slide up on feed. We both suspected the large marshy area in behind was a prime spring spawning locale to boot. This tiny expanse of water had it all. Once again it didn’t take long. Casting a copper and orange Doctor spoon that he pilfered from my box (they’re an all time favourite of mine!) Aaron hooked up instantly. This short video is kind of funny. I’m blabbering away about the spot and the fish when Aaron suddenly realizes just how big the fish was creating instant panic and a call for the net. I obliged… I’ve already said this, but I can’t tell you how gratifying it is to succeed on such an overwhelmingly large body of water, especially when faced with such tough conditions! At that point we were on a high. We fished that entire spot thoroughly picking off numerous fish but no more giants and we pushed further east, happy to explore more of the lake. The other boys joined us enroute after I’d messaged them. I had two Delorme units with me which allowed us to communicate with each other while on the lake - a big plus especially for safeties sake. By that point the skies had cleared and we enjoyed a banner evening of angling, basking in the long awaited sun. Continued...

Now THAT was super cool!

Very nice video, love it!

Never caught a gar but you inspire. Very cool - some of the pic's are great!

Been a fan my entire life. Growing up my parents had season tickets from about 1970 to 1990. One of my earliest memories is standing on a cold snowy sidewalk in Westdale in 1972 watching the Grey cup parade with my parents. There's been a lot of lean years and it's great to be a fan right now. Today was an especially good day.

I smell an episode of Fear Factor OFC style in the making.

So basically you're saying even crap tastes good wrapped in bacon?

This was from last week on my trip to Lake St. Joe. I was cooking up a bunch of bacon wrapped walleye for the boys along with some sausages got inspired and wrapped a couple of the sausages in bacon as well. Everything tastes better wrapped in bacon.

I'm 50/50 spinning/baitcaster when fishing for pike. The spinning equipment I use offers some pretty serious advantages over a baitcaster depending on the baits I'm throwing. My current favourite is a 71/2' St. Croix Avid med/hvy saltwater rod paired with a 4000 series Shimano CI4 reel. It's a pure joy to fish with, rock solid and butter smooth.

Yeah, the fish is pretty big too.

One heck of a 1000th post!

Looks like a great trip Jeff, love that area!

Wicked trip for you and your dad, thanks for taking the time to post!

Last week fishing with Aaron Shirley I was super impressed with his Olympus Tough TG2. He told me he researched cameras for 2 full years before settling on this one and he's been pretty happy with it. If I was in the market for that type of camera right now that's the one I'd buy.

Appreciate it bud, and I'd love to fish with you at some point!

I usually edit the idiot stuff out but just for you, okay. Am headed north Armstrong next week with Chris and a couple others, I'll see what I can do.

Slate Falls provided the nets. They also had brand new cradles for each boat which I normally use but the sides of those Alumarine boats were so high it made using the cradles difficult. HAHA!! I'll tell you what, when I first watched that video I thought I was barely excited at all, almost comatose. You should see me when I'm really excited LOL! Thanks, the fire still burns hot in my belly and always will.

Thanks fellas! You know me well. YECH! Absolutely not! LOL!

I fished Lake St Joseph last week with Aaron Shirley and beyond some really tough weather it was a pretty killer trip! The full report should be done in a few days, but until then here's a little teaser.....

Thanks for the kind words guys!! Yeah, I kinda like that pic too. The dog was great, even on the long drive. Will definitely be bringing her again. Great pic!!! You can still take a train into the lodge, that's what most people do.

Once again, thanks fellas! Good luck on your trip, will be looking forward to hearing back from you on how it went! Say hi to Dan for me if he's at the airbase. I'm bound for Sioux Lookout myself tomorrow, hopefully your weather forecast looks better than mine!

Thanks guys, glad you enjoyed it and I truly appreciate the kind words! You're right, when I saw that fish I lost it a bit LOL!

A Perfect Spot And A Back Lake Shot The next morning the weather finally broke and we had more reasonable temperatures and even a few showers in the forecast. With the weather looking a bit sketchy my daughter Riley asked if she could help in the kitchen with chef Maureen (she loves that kind of stuff). She helped make a bunch of things including some pretty awesome banana nut muffins and a dessert far for our dinner that night. On the other hand Brendan and I were eager to fish. With the rest of my clan making plans of their own my son and I put on our rain gear and sped up the lake. Fishing had been good to this point, but today it was incredible. The first spot we tried we put well over 30 fish in the boat, many of them really nice sized fish! With a big change in the weather, the wind not surprisingly was fierce. The main body of the lake was a sea of whitecaps so I was concentrating my efforts in more sheltered areas. Initially we’d been fishing a neckdown area successfully but after we’d caught a bunch I was in the mood to explore. Poking my way in behind an island to escape the gale I stumbled across something amazing. There was a deep trough close to the island which rose to a boulder studded shoal topping out at 15’ about 100 yards away. On the other side of the shoal it slipped quickly into very deep water. It was almost a perfect spot. We quickly dropped jigs and hit well over a dozen fish, many of them on the larger side before we packed things in. I marked the spot with a waypoint on my gps then headed back towards camp. I’d promised everyone another fish fry for lunch back at the camp and the time was fast approaching. I stopped along the way to clean some fish that I’d kept then zoomed back to prepare the feast. After lunch Bren and I headed out again to explore, this time with our dog Zoey along. We were severely restricted as to where we could go because of the wind so we poked our nose into some creek mouths and calm backwaters and had a blast… Back at the lodge we had yet another amazing dinner of steak, homemade fries and gravy, caesar salad, homemade bread and the dessert squares that Riley made. One thing’s for sure about Lodge 88, you won’t be losing any weight here!! The next day was a carbon copy weather-wise and after giving it a bit of thought decided to try something different. With the big lake still being whipped into a frenzy I made plans to fish adjacent Rock Lake with Brendan. Just a short portage away from Esnagi, Rock is known to hold good numbers of nice sized brook trout. Being a die hard trout angler this was something I’d wanted to try while we were there and this was the perfect time to do it. Problem was it was the middle of summer with 73 degree surface temps. I had zero expectations and as it turns out I was bang on. Try as we might we didn’t catch a darn thing, but we had a whole lot of fun trying! With the day still early we beat it back to the main lake and made a beeline for the “perfect” spot I’d found the day before. The wind, while still strong, was a little less severe and knew the walleyes would be on fire. I was right. Back to camp for another great dinner then the kids decided to fish off the dock while my mom and dad supervised. Sensing a perfect opportunity Joanne and her sister Mary joined me in the boat for a little cruise and fish sans kids… Woman's Intuition The next morning we awoke to an absolute monsoon. Heavy, drenching rain fell in sheets making it more or less impossible to fish comfortably. The kids were unfazed and spent the entire morning having an impromptu pool tournament at the lodge with their aunt Mary. The rest of us lounged around watching a movie, drinking coffee and relaxing. Finally around 1pm the rain and wind began to ebb and after a brief conference over who wanted to fish my wife and I hit the water for the first time by ourselves. We don’t often get the chance to do that anymore so it was kind of nice. The gods were smiling on us as well. The moment we reached my chosen spot the skies cleared and the sun began to shine. I’d returned to our killer spot from the day before and began a slow troll with Joanne almost immediately hooking a small pike. Good start I thought. I was readying the rods for another pass when Joanne said “I want to go fish over by that island over there!” “Okay…why?” I asked with a bit of surprise. My wife is actually quite a good angler but normally she follows my lead - this was a first. “I’m not sure exactly…I just have a feeling!” I’ve learned a long time ago to never question her hunches so off we went to her island. I’d fished the spot before but only briefly and there was nothing that really jumped out at me about it. A more or less featureless bottom I figured we wouldn’t be there very long… I was wrong. For whatever unearthly mystical female mojo reason the fish were stacked up there like cordwood. We caught well over two dozen fish in this small spot almost every one 23-25”. I was flabbergasted. Finally Jo says we should get going soon and on our last pass before heading back she nails this beautiful 28 inch fish! Never argue when a woman has a hunch… Back at camp the kids had been catching smaller fish like crazy right off the dock and were quite happy with themselves. I’m honestly not sure if I could envision a better venue for a family fishing vacation! There was a buffet set up in the lodge for us that evening and after yet another incredible meal we all relaxed by the campfire including the dog… Fish Of A Lifetime And A Fine Finale! The next day was our last of the trip. It had already been an overwhelmingly great time with the consensus being it was the best trip ever. Good times with family, lots of laughs, great food and even better fishing. I didn’t think it was possible things could get any better but they did. Blessed with perfect weather Brendan and I zoomed up the lake to see if we could catch some bigger fish. I’ve already said this lake surprised me with the size of its walleyes and we’d caught plenty of dandies. Still, 30 inches is the magic benchmark for a trophy sized fish and I said as much to my son. Depending on where you’re fishing a 30 inch walleye is not all that uncommon. The Bay of Quinte on Lake Ontario is renowned for trophy sized fish, but deep clear shield lakes way up north are another story. Many anglers have fished their entire lives without catching a fish that big. We’d caught a number of fish in the 26 to 28 inch range, solid 6-8 pound fish, but we hadn’t broken 30 inches. Until today. Sliding up to my favourite hump (I figured we’d try it first before we hit “mom’s spot”), we lowered our worm harnesses and began to troll. Right away we began to catch fish, especially Brendan. Not long into things we switched tacks and picked up the jigging rods. As always I much prefer jigging with light tackle and we had a perfect wind this day. Bren’s rod was rigged with a really light jig - too light for the deeper water we were fishing, or so I thought. Once again I was wrong. The kid has a surprisingly good touch for an 8 year old and he began to spank fish left and right with the lighter jig while I watched on with pride. This small hump we were drifting across was just LOADED with fish! Finally after 20 or more fish were landed it happened. “Dad” Bren muttered under his breathe, “get the net!” I believe that’s the first time he’s ever said that so I knew something was up. Turning to look at him his rod was bent double and looked as though he was attached to a finned bowling ball. Needless to say I did grab the net and managed to shoot this short video of the fight. Needless to say I was awfully proud of my boy! 30.5 inches on the tape and 10.5 pounds on the scale! It’s entirely possible he may never catch one bigger… That’s my boy! After catching that fish Bren actually wanted to head back to the lodge. He was bubbling over with excitement and wanted to tell everyone all about his huge fish. I figured there’s no way we’re going to top this anyway so back we went. After the furor at camp died down I asked Joanne if she and Mary wanted to go and try her spot from the day before. They were all for it with Brendan joining us so he could “guide” his mom and aunt… We actually all caught fish, although once again the kid put on a show. With dinner at the lodge scheduled for 6pm we weren’t out late, and this being our last night chef Maureen had pulled out all the stops. We had a full turkey dinner with all the trimmings and a fabulous apple crumble with ice cream for dessert. Just unreal!! After a meal like that it takes a bit of time to digest and start moving again, but move we did - eventually. All of the kids wanted one last crack at some fish so in a festive mood Joanne and I loaded them all in the boat along with the dog and puttered over to the small point directly across from the lodge. Like the dock itself this was a killer evening hotspot and the kids had a riot! A perfect finale to what had been a perfect family fishing trip! A Closer Look And A Heart Felt Thanks! The staff at Lodge 88 isn’t huge, but each and every one of them is fantastic. A special thanks to Terry Politz and David MacLachlan for hosting us - you guys have a remarkable facility and should be very proud! Chef Maureen was amazing, feeding us well and often catering to the picky tastes of the kids and going way above and beyond the call of duty. You are a true gem! Finally Susan Weigel. It’s hard to describe Susan unless you actually meet her, but suffice it to say she’s a very special person. Susan works in guest services at the lodge and is one of warmest most genuinely nice human beings I’ve ever met. Thank you for making everyone’s trip extra special! I shot this short clip of Susan discussing Lodge 88 and giving some insight into the operation: Dan MacLachlan told me before the trip that this was the best lodge in Ontario and based on my experience to date he is probably correct. I shot a video tour of both the cabin we stayed in as well as the spectacular main lodge, have a look! Once again the lights go out on yet another incredible trip. This one was extra special though for obvious reasons and the memories will endure for a long long time… Hope you enjoyed the story!

Sometimes the very best trips happen unexpectedly. For almost a year I had a family trip planned to White River Air’s deluxe outpost on Shekak Lake. Just days before our departure Dan MacLachlan from WRA called to suggest a change. He was building a brand new camp on Garnham Lake and needed to switch that group to Shekak. His brother David along with Terry Politz operate Lodge Eighty Eight on Esnagi Lake and he asked me how I felt about that as a possible venue. I’ve heard a lot of great things about Lodge Eighty Eight over the years so I was immediately intrigued. Dan told me a couple of times “it’s the best lodge in Ontario Mike”. Strong words. As I was told “before my dad passed away he wanted Lodge Eighty Eight rebuilt and refurbished so we did. It’s a pretty nice place, I’m sure you guys would love it!” 5 star accommodations, great food at the lodge, first class boats, and a lake over 27 miles long to explore and fish? I was sold. Being fed at the lodge was a huge bonus for everyone as well (especially the female members of my group) and we happily agreed to the switch. Joining me on this very special trip was my wife Joanne, our two kids Brendan and Riley, my mom and dad, my sister in law Mary, my nephew Luke and our much loved dog Zoey. A 4 year old German Shorthair full of life and love, she’d always been left behind on the fly in trips, but not this time. The kids were thrilled. This had the makings of a truly memorable family trip, and as it turns out it was… Wet Feet And Frozen iPhone’s Leaving town in the wee hours of the morning we had two vehicles loaded to the gills with gear, people, and dog. With young kids and especially the dog on board for the 11 hour drive it was a far more leisurely pace than my usual straight through marathon. We stopped a number of times to let the dog run and stretch her legs including one lengthy session at one of my favourite beaches north of the Soo. That drive, if you’ve never done it before is fantastic as the Trans Canada hugs the rugged Superior shoreline offering plenty of amazing vistas and a number of secluded private beaches if you know where to look. We’d booked a cottage large enough for everyone at the Wawa Motor Inn the night before our flight and we arrived in town under clear blue skies at the civilized hour of 5pm. Settling in we relaxed over a few drinks, then eventually headed into town for dinner then a couple more drinks back at the cabin. Leading up to this trip I’d been working insane hours and had gone almost 5 days without sleep so by 10pm I was ready to crash and burn. We had a scheduled 7am flight with White River Air which meant another early wake up call. Surprisingly everyone was up early without too many complaints, and after an extra large Timmies under my belt we hit the highway at 5:45 for White River. Wawa, as is often the case was blanketed with dense fog rolling in off Superior but 15 minutes up the road it cleared. I’ve been fortunate with the weather on most of my trips this year and as we cruised north on 17 we were treated to a spectacular sunrise under crystalline clear blue skies - a nice start to our trip. Arriving at the airbase on Tukanee Lake right on time Dan was there to greet us and we immediately backed our vehicles up to the weigh scale to unload. I wasn’t quite sure how Zoey would react to the plane, but it was no problem at all. She hopped right in along with the rest of us and in no time at all we were airborne and enroute to Lodge Eighty Eight. I shot this short video of the flight in. Happy times! Arriving at the dock we were greeted warmly by Terry Politz one of the owners and we quickly had our gear unloaded and delivered to our cabin with a 4 wheeler and trailer. The cabin, located right on the water was really something. Easily the finest I’ve ever seen on any of my trips and an instant hit with my family. 4 bedrooms, two bathrooms with flush toilets, lots of space and absolutely gleamingly clean! With eight people to outfit it took me some time to rig all of the rods, but I took my time outside by the picnic table while everyone else relaxed and eventually got it done. There were dedicated bottom bouncing rods, rods for jigging, heavier rods for pike, crank bait rods for walleye, plus tackle for three different boats… Finally by 2pm I was ready to fish, and at least initially my fish-crazed son Brendan and I hit the lake by ourselves to suss things out. I was pleasantly surprised at the boat I was given to use as well, a brand new Lund Fury with a 25hp 4 stroke Merc, full floor, pedestal seats and livewell. Just like the cabin it was the newest and nicest I’ve ever seen on a remote lake! With Esnagi Lake being 27 miles long having a good boat is a huge plus. What I haven’t mentioned yet was the heat, it was crushing! We had virtually no wind and a humidex pushing into the mid to high 30’s - not exactly great conditions for fishing and more than a little uncomfortable. Still, we were anxious to get on the water and wet a line. Skimming up the lake we were averaging 38 kilometres an hour on the gps which was pretty incredible I thought. Already pleased with the boat I was now ecstatic. On the fishing end of things I went about 10 kilometres up the lake watching my graph for humps and stopping to fish at a few obvious points and neck down areas. Being hot and sunny I knew the fish would be deep so we mostly trolled bottom bouncers and worm harnesses, my preferred tactic when prospecting for fish. Our first afternoon was honestly pretty tough. We caught a pile of hammer handle pike as well as a couple of small walleyes, but it wasn’t anything to write home about. Typically it takes a day or two to figure things out, especially on such a large body of water so I wasn’t too concerned… Eventually the heat became unbearable. At one point we were slowly trolling with Bren sitting listlessly in the bow when it felt as though my head was about to burst into flames. Not saying a word I slipped the boat into neutral, reeled in my line and dove overboard in the middle of the lake. Surprised Brendan more than little and when he asked what I was doing I told him I was diving down to try and spot the fish with my eyes. Had him going for a minute or two. At that point swimming seemed like the best option and after hauling my carcass back into the boat we sped across the lake and found a beauty rock we could dive from… Back at camp in the early evening Brendan refused to quit as usual and came racing over to the deck to show everyone the nice walleye he’d just caught off the dock (go figure). That was a prelude of things to come as the dock was a consistent hotspot all week long especially in the evenings! The kids loved it and it was one of the reasons this trip was extra special. With some time before dinner the kids and dog swam in the lake while the adults relaxed on the deck with cold drinks… This entire facility is in a class by itself. Around about 6pm the entire lot of us ambled over to the main lodge for dinner and were amazed how nice it was! After an incredible dinner of lemon chicken, veggies, salad, homemade bread and banana cream pie for dessert my parents and I lingered to watch a football game on the satellite television, a perfect way to end our first day! Back at the cabin Joanne had started a bonfire earlier and the kids had fun roasting marshmallows while we’d watched the game. By this point I was beyond tired. I’d been running on virtually no sleep for some time now and it had been a long first day. I was pretty much delirious from exhaustion. Entering the cabin Joanne watched as I shed my sweater, kicked off my shoes then in a trance opened the fridge and put my iPhone in the freezer. At that point I shuffled over to the couch where I collapsed in a heap before everyone burst into laughter. Small Humps And Little Bumps The next day was spent searching for structure with Brendan and my nephew Luke, trying to figure out a pattern and experimenting until one was established. The heat and sun was stifling and relentless, not the greatest conditions to find and catch lots of walleye, but then I always love a challenge. Mid summer I’m usually focussing on mid lake humps and small rock piles surrounded by deeper water for walleye. Wind is usually always a key factor but there was virtually none. I worked my way up the lake methodically stopping at every likely spot. We caught fish, but no huge numbers and a couple of things quickly became apparent. The obvious spots, ones that perhaps see more fishing pressure than most, weren’t producing real well. The fish, when I did find them were clustered up tight on extremely subtle spots, always in deeper water and directly adjacent to even deeper water. Small pieces of structure the size of my front lawn that topped out at 20’ surrounded by 30 to 40’. Easy spots to miss. Sand points that deop quickly into deeper water are another feature I look for in the summer and a couple of those spots produced well too. There’s usually plenty of weeds in spots like that which attracts the young of the year perch and the walleyes that feed on them. For the most part jigging wasn’t working real well, although we did catch fish (and some nice ones) fishing that way. By far and away the most productive tactic was bottom bouncing with worm harnesses and 2-3 ounce weights. Any blade with purple in it was lethal. Not surprising as for whatever reason I’ve seen this time and again in the summer. Our boat had a larger 25hp 4 stroke Merc on it which made slow trolling a bit of a challenge but not impossible. With the shifter located in the twist grip of the tiller handle it was a simple matter to pop it in and out of gear as needed to keep the speed down. What I found interesting was the way these fish were hitting - they were definitely neutral, not aggressive in the slightest. You’d feel a little bump then a bit of weight, then until I clued in - nothing. The first few bites resulted in missed fish and stolen worms. You had to drop your rod instantly and give the fish total slack before they’d be hooked, sometimes popping the motor into neutral as well to induce a strike. Watching my graph like a hawk I’d creep slowly around the edges of those subtle humps always keeping contact with the bottom and we began to catch a LOT of walleye once the nuances were figured out! By midday we were broiling so I stopped at a mid lake island to clean some fish and let the boys swim. I’d promised everyone bacon wrapped walleye hors d’oeuvres and was bound and determined to deliver. What a great spot! Back at camp shortly afterwards I dropped off the boys so they could swim and fish off the dock and took my daughter Riley and our pooch out for a spin. Before dinner I whipped up a batch of bacony goodness on the barbecue (always a big hit!) then we headed to the lodge for another marvellous dinner. Now I’ve already mentioned how amazing the fishing off the dock was, and this evening after dinner was incredible. At any given time there were at least two fish on, sometimes three. No giants, but all respectable fish. The kids (and the adults) loved it! Another campfire, a cocktail or two and it was time to hit the sack. This time I didn’t freeze my phone - I was starting to catch up on my sleep. Good Eats The lodge experience is nice - actually in many ways it’s great and my family was loving it. In general though I’m not used to being catered to, usually it’s the other way around, and I wanted to give something back. The lodge wasn’t busy that week so I suggested doing a shore lunch for the entire staff as well as my family on this day. The day before I’d found what may be the nicest shore lunch spot I’ve ever seen in my life - a gorgeous rocky point overlooking a particularly scenic part of the lake. Everyone agreed and we made plans to meet there at 12:30. Loading the boat will all the required provisions Joanne, myself and the two kids headed up the lake in search of fish. With a large number of people to feed at midday we needed to put some fish in the boat! By this time I was starting to get pretty dialed in, and at the very first spot I stopped at Brendan caught a beauty 28” walleye moments after he dropped his bouncer and worm harness to the bottom. There was a large shoal marked with jugs that topped out at 11’ then dropped quickly into 30. Right on the edge of the break his rod slammed down hard - this particular fish wasn’t hesitant at all! I shot this short video of the fight and as you’ll see he was a wee bit excited… The fish were not only becoming easier to catch, they were getting larger as well. A surprising number of thick backed girthy fish in the 25 to 27” range hit the mesh which frankly was a bit of a surprise. I expected Esnagi would have great walleye fishing but had no idea there were this many big fish! Fact is I’ve fished a lot of northern lakes and in all my years the only other body of water where I’ve caught walleyes equal to this was on the Attawapiskat River with Hearst Air. We made another pass over the same shoal this time jigging and this time I hooked into a 26” beauty of my own. Continuing to work our way up the lake we also caught the usual array of hammer handle pike. With a large shore lunch planned I threw a few of those into the livewell while enroute. Cleaned properly I defy anyone to tell the difference between walleye! Arriving at our chosen spot I began cleaning fish while Joanne set up the buffet table. Not long afterwards the rest of my family and the lodge staff arrived in three other boats and the fun began. We got a fire going and in short order I had fillets sizzling in hot oil. Terry Politz of Lodge 88 shot this great little video of the festivities: It was blistering hot that day once again and after lunch we all headed back to camp to swim and relax. Normally I’d be on the water fishing hard all day, but this trip was evolving into a far more leisurely experience and it was kind of nice.

Glad to see you guys enjoyed the trip! You know I was skeptical. The night fishing from shore looks like a lot of fun!