solopaddler

Great pic's, nice to finally see the results of your trip!

An emergency tracheotomy? Wow, it would be interesting to hear the whole story. The Allanwater downstream from the tracks into Wabakimi is very easy. Mild rapids, easy portages (as long as they're not burning ) great scenery and good fishing. Anyone with the most basic of canoe skills could do that trip.

Thought I'd bump this for you despite the pm's. Surprised no one's mentioned Youngs general store in Wawa. It's a really cool old landmark, well worth checking out while you're there. As far as the fishing goes ask the pilot to circle the lake a couple of times. Have your map and pencil handy and mark all the spots you see: points, rocks, and especially mid lake humps that would normally be difficult to spot. I always spend a bit of time at first combing the lake with the graph pin pointing as much structure as I can find and marking it on the map as well. Once you start fishing a couple of floating markers are very handy to mark the spots, especially the offshore humps. On a new walleye lake I always troll either worm harnesses or crankbaits to find the fish. Once they're found you can usually sit on them and pound them on 3" twistertails tipped with half a worm. White, charteuse, yellow and pink are all good colors. Many of these smaller outpost camps don't have proper anchors. It's always good insurance to bring a mesh bag (replacement landing net) and some rope. Throw in a nice round rock and you've got a servicable anchor. Also good to bring a big roll of duct tape and some oversized nails. Both will come in handy pretty much guaranteed. Another thing I'll bring is half a dozen of those cheap solar garden lights from CT. I'll put one on the dock, and place several more on any major lake hazzards or shoal markers for fishing. They're fantasticly handy if you do any fishing after the sun goes down. Have a great trip Terry! Very very ironically Terry is flying into the very same lake I'm bringing my young family to. We'll be there the week after Terry LOL! (I'm expecting lots of detailed info from you when you get back. ) On a side note you might find this funny (I know I did). Check out this piece the CBC did with the Wawa transit commisioner. It starts at the 14 minute mark. http://www.cbc.ca/thisisthat/

No it would have been the summer of 1994. Both sides of the Allanwater River were on fire as I paddled downstream towards Wabakimi lake. That night I camped on the north shore of Wabakimi and watched the entire south shore burn all night long. Quite a show, very cool.

Just got back from Nakina with the kids, GREAT trip! First 5 days or so the sky was entirely covered with fire smoke. Wasn't really a concern, if the fire came close you could easily escape it on one of the main lake islands. But then back in my younger days on one of my solo canoe trips north of Armstrong I was forced to portage through a forest fire and that didn't really faze me.

Have a great trip Doug, I know you've been looking forward to it! I'm leaving in a couple hours for Nakina myself. Weather looks hot, bring lots of sunblock.

Glad to see you at least got a couple. Beautiful area for sure regardless!

Exactly. No way that wood is affecting anything. In order to get proper performance with my 40hp tiller I had to raise it slightly. It's not actually resting on the lip of the transom exactly like your motor. Mine is bolted on though and not clamped, but don't think that'd make any difference.Been working flawlessly for over 2 seasons now. I'll say this though...At first mine torqued a fair bit when I gunned the throttle. Then I installed trim tabs and all my problems were gone. Much quicker and easier getting on plane and much more stability overall. I believe Tybo is correct, the engine is probably too heavy for your boat.

Man do you and your cousin ever look similar. I'm seeing a lot of smiles here Cliff. Much needed indeed.

Yep sounds suspicious to me too.

Truly great to see Cliff. Glad you two had a good time!

I've been using 10lb on my spinning reels and 40 and 50lb on my casting reels this year. Other than color fading it's performed great.

pm sent

Welcome, your input is much appreciated.

It's funny you mention the Rapala knives on sale at Canadian Tire. I've bought a couple over the last year or so and needed to sharpen them recently. At least the ones I bought have some kind of weird dark gray finish on the blade. Anyhow I took the stone to them yesterday along with a couple of regular Rapala knives with more normal blades. The older style blades sharpened up really nice as usual. Those newer ones with the gray finish were really hard to sharpen. First it's a different steel,much harder. Second, the angle of the cutting edge was different on the newrr knives, much narrower. It was a huge pita trying to sharpen those things! So bottom line I'd definitely recommend an older style Rapala blade, but the newer gray finished ones are junk imo.

Incredible Drew, just awesome! Are the freighters a new thing at the Pym camp? How do the 15's push them?

Security in pic #5 is looking at you like he's ready to call for back up.

That's quite an offer Cliff. I'd ask Jason to bring you in to the lake for a day though.

How much stuff do you need? I thought you were a minimalist now. Guess not

There's a whole world of difference between small pike which I have no interest whatsoever in catching, and larger fish 40" and up. They're not all that common, and are a true apex predator and trophy. Especially anything 45" and larger. Rob you sure can talk buddy. Nice chatting with you and all the best on your trip!

Your pm has been answered.

Nice thick fish Simon. You're obviously good at multi-tasking.

Great news, congratulations!

Not me.

Teressa that's a truly beautiful story, your mother sounds like quite a woman. What you have to realize though is not everyone is interested is "Dancing With Racoons". In many urban evironments they're incredibly destructive and filthy animals. In my case (and I happen to be a huge animal lover) they drove me and my family around the bend 'till the problem was solved.