solopaddler

Give this a shot Chris http://myp2p.pe/index.php

This report is just slightly overdue. My buddy Ferg and I were up there the last week of September for a short 5 day trip, and it's taken until now to find the time to write something up. With steelhead season upon us let's just say I've been a bit preoccupied. I don't normally fly by the seat of my pants, with every trip of substance being planned months in advance. There's always an exception though. Initially we were slated to visit my camp in Quebec the last week in September. Something I've sorely neglected this past season. But when John from Lower Twin Lakes lodge in Nakina called to extend an invitation I couldn't refuse. I had gotten to know John last March at the Toronto Sportsmans Show. His tales of great walleye and brook trout fishing had stuck in my mind. With that in mind Ferg and I arrived late on a Tuesday night not exactly sure what to expect, but with anticipation running high. We were pleasantly surprised at how nice the cabins were. Neat and clean as a pin, with 24 hour electricity thanks to a massive solar system which John had installed. The following day we were slated to fish Upper Twin lake for walleye and pike. John has boats cached on several nearby back lakes for walleye, but that would have to wait. It's always a challenge trying to quickly break down new water and find the correct pattern. But at least for me that's what makes this such an interesting sport. John had directed us to specific part of the lake, a large, very deep self contained bay. The bay ran a couple of km's in length and about half a km in width. Average depth was incredible, probably about 40' with several basins well over 100' deep. Obviously this type of water has the potential for really big fish, especially pike. John himself proved the point earlier in the season by landing one in excess of 50" Something I've yet to accomplish on the Attawapiskat... We did a fair amount of trolling hoping to fluke off a big girl, but alas it wasn't meant to be. Plenty of these guys kept us busy though: With turnover already complete the walleye were predictably deep. After sniffing around a couple of different spots I finally stumbled onto a gold mine. A large flat that topped out at 30' surrounded by very deep water coughed up fish after fish for us. Large live minnows on either a jig head or Lindy rig helped us put over 60 fish in the boat in less than 2 hours. While none were huge, they were stocky and thick. A pleasure to catch and even better to eat. Here's Ferg landing one of many. He's such a personable guy LOL! <iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/9PSgnmIxnL0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> The following day some really nasty weather rolled, rain, sleet, wet snow and high winds up to 60km. Was pretty much a write off fishing wise, but Ferg switched gears and made the best of the situation. Unlike myself Ferg is an avid hunter and took to the trails with his 20 gauge looking for birds. Now I have to say one of the reasons I've been late with this report is Ferg's procrastination. He was supposed to send me a whole bunch of great photos of his birds and the areas he hunted but I'm still waiting. In his words though it was the best grouse shooting of his life and he was lamenting the fact he didn't have a dog with him. Open grass land with scattered thickets of alders and scrubby bush held enormous numbers of birds. The usual spruce grouse and ruffed grouse were equally abundant, but what really blew him away was the amount of sharptails. As he said he has friends that fly to Saskatchewan to hunt them and their presence in good numbers was a big shock. This lame picture is the only one on my camera, but still better than nothing. We were there at the start of the archery season for moose as well and Ferg was lamenting the fact he hadn't brought his bow. That day he saw 7 moose, 4 bulls and 3 cows, and all but one at close range. Driving home the point of a huge moose population, 2 hunters from Guelph had a young bull hanging when we pulled into the camp that night. They had checked in the night before and had hunted for 2 hours the next day before dropping their animal. For me the day was mostly a waste. I tried fishing the main lake for a couple of hours, and although I did catch walleye, the wind and waves were just too much. No complaints though, that night we feasted on fresh walleye and grouse as we planned the next days outing. On tap next was a bit of brook trout fishing. The following morning John led us down a maze of logging roads enroute to the trout lake. One minute snow was falling, the next the sky was blue. A tad bit changeable the weather is up there. The landing at the lake was a beauty, sandy and deep. It was a gorgeous little lake, crystal clear and loaded with tons of structure. I was fairly confident we'd catch fish, but as I warned Ferg we may have to search for them. Unlike the spring brookies aren't usually spread all over the place. On lakes in the fall they're many times concentrated into one or two very specific spots. Usually where the upwelling springs are seeping in. Of course I immediately hit a nice female within a hundred yards of the landing LOL! We thought maybe this time they would be everywhere, but alas no. We fished hard for a couple of hours finally making our way to the very end of a long narrow arm of the lake. In one 50' stretch of shoreline the brookies were stacked like cordwood and hitting with abandon. Although not just anything. I couldn't buy a hit on my usual spinners and spoons, even tipped with a worm. Ferg on the other hand was nailing them on tiny neutrally bouyant stickbaits. He'd cast it out, give it a pull, a little twitch, another pull, then BAM they'd smash it on the pause every time. It's not very often I'm forced to change lures. This was one of those times. <iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/wkHyUn9Ft3g" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> The numbers were absolutely insane, I'm not even going to tell you how many. I'll just say it was a whole lot of fun! We each kept a limit that day and later that night feasted on fresh trout. Check out the meat on these babies. Doesn't get much better. We had one more full day to do whatever we wanted. Ferg was going bird hunting again, there was no way anything would sway him from that. Being along it was a pretty easy decision to go trout fishing again. The next morning Ferg dropped me off at the lake and we went our separate ways. It was glorious day, stable weather with sunny skies and a gentle breeze. It couldn't have been more perfect beyond the fact I had neglected to bring my fly rod (man was I wishing I had it). Was still fun though. Naturally I made a beeline for yesterdays hotspot. Interestingly when I arrived steam could be seen billowing from several spots along the productive stretch of shoreline: Obviously springs were seeping in here and answered the question why all the trout were there! Man did I catch a lot of fish... <iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/HdZespGd6Zk" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> Not surprisingly Fergy had a banner day as well, once again easily filling his limit of birds and putting in a good days walk as well. Once again he saw several moose, one of which was apparantly a massive bull. At some point he'll send me all of his photos and if you guys are interested I'll update my post with them. So that was pretty much it. John tried hard to convince us to stay for just one more day, and it was a pretty tempting offer. Wababamiga lake is a massive body of water that lies just northeast of his camp. In his words there's nothing on it, no camps, cottages or lodges. Asked him what the fishing was like, he couldn't tell us. Said he's never fished it and that no one else locally does either. He had wanted to haul a boat and motor in there for Ferg and I to suss it out for him. Sometimes having a job and being responsible sucks LOL! Ah well, that little adventure will have to wait 'till next year. Looking at Wababamiga on the map I have no reason to doubt it'll be a fish factory. Every other lake north of Nakina is. All in all the trip was a blast. Here's my honest impression: The fishing on the main lake is good obviously and well worth a trip in itself. I do believe that seasonally it can be very good, especially late May, early June. John's location is a FANTASTIC base from which you can explore and fish many nearby back lakes. That in my opinion is the real worth of this great camp. Obviously if you're a hunter Lower Twin is someplace worth looking into. I guess the biggest bonus of Lower Twin Lakes Lodge is the fact that it's CHEAP. Did I mention it was cheap? Seriously, most anyone could afford a trip here. Anyone that's wanted to fish north of Nakina but can't afford to fly in, this a GREAT option. John and his wife Karen are both fantastic people and great hosts. I'll be back again next year myself for sure. A couple days on Wababamiga is way too tempting. If anyone's interested John and Karens contact info is on their website: http://www.lowertwinlakes.com/ www.lowertwinlakes.com Cheers, Mike

The number one steelhead crank for me is the Megabass MR-X Griffon. Anything with purple in it is deadly. Some of the darker more subtle colors work amazingly well on stale fish in clear water too. http://www.megabassusa.com/products/mr-x-griffon The hooks are switched out to more durable trebles. The ones they come with are razor sharp, but not strong enough. I've also had huge success with a variety of similar Lucky Craft crankbaits. I also use the standard stuff like Kwikfish, Flatfish, Rapalas, etc... These little crankbaits really work though. Yes I know they're expensive but they produce fish.

Cute kid Mike! Last night was fun for sure.

Very nice Aaron. Sounds great, especially the little session yesterday morning.

Richter isn't part of this equation Gord.

I've been hesitating to open your post as I figured I'd be battling serious brook trout envy. I was right. Beautiful fish Al, congrat's on a great season. Chris water temps are the critical factor. I've caught many myself in the Albany and with several notable coldwater tributaries aside, the water temps once you get past early June are quite high up there. The fish are restricted to spring holes or extremely turbulent fast water. When captured they quickly become stressed in the warmer temps. The system that Al fishes is perpetually cold. If handled properly I highly doubt there's any issues with stressing the fish or delayed mortality.

Man, that is beyond awesome! On a dry! Way to go Mike.

Hey Danny, nice to see you chime in. Was nice meeting you as well!

Sweet fish buddy!

Truly awe inspiring, I couldn't imagina a more perfect 2 weeks. I'm finding it hard to get beyond the schnitzel party with the beer in a spring fed hollowed out log though. Super cool.

Congrat's on the 32 Dave. My guess is you'll pound them in November if the weather cooperates.

Musky Bait. Congrat's on the new pooch Joey!

You've seen it before Dave, it used to be mine. Pretty sure I've posted a few pic's of it before on OFC... Not Chris's work this time. To answer Edwin's earlier question the 6" extension was added to the end of the rod. First glued in then wrapped for extra strength. It's permanent and non removable with the handle being built over top.

I got a pair of hip boots for my daughter at Canadian Tire. At this point I'm restricting my son to shore fishing. I havn't been able to find waders small enough, plus he's really too small yet... Your best bet locally would likely be Bass Pro though. Looking forward to it Doug. I use them probably 50% of the time now. Very specific colors and lures though, not just any small crankbait. You also have to switch out the hooks as the hooks that they come with tend to get crushed by steelhead. I have to admit I fibbed a bit Dan. I didn't catch the pike on a crankbait. I was deadbaiting with one of these: I find the vivid colors of spawning brook trout (aka bait) really attract the big gators. I had an 11' 2pc 6-10lb CTS built for throwing hardware and bottom bouncing. Great stick, lots of power.

Yep. I had Chris put a 6" extension in the butt to make it 121/2'. Amazing rod, super light with a surprising amount of power. A bit faster imo than the 131/2' 4-8lb CTS...

There won't be any duty. If you want a reel you can pick it up in Hamilton at my place.

I was just joking. Pym is a great camp. Not sure yet, although I'd definitely like too.

Well, they were at the wrong camp LOL! From what I've heard they may film at Eddie's camp next spring. I'm sure they'll do better.

It hit right at the end of the retrieve, about 5' in front of me. A very subtle "tick" then just dead weight and big slow head shakes. I figured it was a salmon on it's last legs. No furious runs, just a lengthy bulldog battle. Wasn't until 10 minutes into the fight when I worked it in close and had a good look. At that point I pretty much had a heart attack LOL! It's been a stellar month Cliff, lots of bright chrome steelhead. Anytime you want to get out just say the word and we'll work something out.

I'm going to post something in the near future. Highlight of the month so far was my 5 yr old catching his first steelhead. Still have a report to post on my trip to Nakina last month as well... October's been a busy month.

Was wrong on the price. It's $550 USD shipped anywhere in the world.

It's $550 USD tax in, shipped anywhere in the world. That's more or less the same price (I think) as Robb Marquette's Frogwater. Another small batch handmade reel made by a local artisan, which btw is a great reel too. I have big fat sausagy fingers and I can't quite get my index finger all the way through. However it actually works quite well when I'm inclined to retrieve that way. The reel seat is either anodized aliminum to match the rest of the reel or brass. Your choice. The guys that are choosing brass accents like the dust cap and clicker lever are choosing a brass foot to match. Dude, it really pains me to say this, but that 12' CTS is the nicest lightest stick I've ever fished. I'm getting another blank to have as a back up LOL! I agree on the label, it's a good solid classy name. Believe it was Ferg who pushed him in that direction initially...

No kidding eh? I'll fish the rest of my life and never catch another pike like that under those circumstances though. Thanks guys it really was a pretty cool thing.

In case anyone's interested Adam DeMarco of Paine Falls reels has a new reel currently out. If any of the OFC members would like to fish one of these reels before committing to a purchase or just want to check it out drop me a pm and we'll work something out. It's kind of an Apex/Mykiss hybrid in looks, although the back plate looks very "Clough-Like". Slightly domed and unmarred by any bolts, screws, rivets or lettering. The black one pictured here actually has a hardcoat finish that's pretty slick. I've fished mine now for a couple of weeks and am impressed to say the least. Adam gave me 2 different dust caps, one brass and one black. Both look good on the reel but I'm partial to the all black. Here's the spec's on the reel straight from Adam: Features: - Classified as a 5” Centerpin, and is technically 4.950” / 125.7mm. - Spool width 21/32” / .650” / 16.51mm. - Spool depth 3/8” / .375” / 9.53mm. - Overall width from palming rim to back of backplate: 1-1/16” / 1.0625 / 27mm. - Mass: 10.1 Oz. (286.33g) Overall weight with 4.9 Oz. (138.91g) Spool weight. - Fully rounded palming rim for increased comfort. - Backplate domed and corners rounded to ensure maximum ergonomics and user comfort. - Available with stainless or brass accents for handles hardware, dustcap, and clicker lever. - Various color options (solid or mix and match reel component parts): Black, Clear, Grey, Blue, Slate Blue, Red, Bronze, Copper, Green, Violet, Turquois, Flourescent Yellow, Olive drab. - Available in LH & RH Retrieve (LHR Clicker placement 4 O’clock and RHR 8 O’clock from spool side of reel). - ABEC 7 Stainless Bearings. - Acrylic Tapered handles (available in a number of color patterns including black and marbled colors. I should have handle sample board posted soon). - Available in true 4.5” and 5” sizes (currently planning a 4” or a 4.125” run). - Price is $550 USD shipped anywhere in the world. Here's an all silver version (not hardcoat) that belongs to a friend.