solopaddler

Well that explains the sloppy workmanship then! (Just kidding Ernie! ) Ernie has built some steelhead rods for me and a few other friends. He does great work (when he doesn't rush ). Some of the nicest handlework with exotic woods I've seen.

Quite the story Randy. On a side note is it really illegal to have a fire on the ice? I do that all the time when I'm in the bush.

Fish in the St. Lawrence are doubly screwed then. First they're sedated from all the prozac being flushed into the water by depressed Quebecers, then BAM, they slurp down a nice juicy plastic worm and they're all blocked up. Lethargic and irritable, not a good combination for fish.

I'm all for limiting public access on remote northern lakes. The more the better. What would you rather have? A fish filled lake that takes a bit of effort and sweat to access or one that you can drive to that's fished out?

It's on the agenda for this spring Phil. You and your bro will do a lot more than just watch.

Actually I had Sultan in mind. There's a lake in that area I'd LOVE to be on right now.

I guess I was there when it was drained. If memory serves about 3-4 years ago? If one had access to a snowmachine there's several other lakes in general vicinity that I know are better. On the other hand if I knew someone with a camp on the reservoir I'd go too.

It must be a francophone thing. Am I going to have to drive out to Brossard to lay a beating on you?

Most likely pack up and leave myself. Those kinds of confrontations are dangerous and stupid. Any one of those losers could have had a weapon. The only scenario where I can envision violence is if my wife or kids were being harmed. Then all bets are off.

Not that long ago it was almost completely dried up. Are you positive it's bounced back and there's enough water? (for those that don't know it's a reservoir)

Personally I'd have rather had you there to put the fear of god into them. Sometimes you're forced into situations you don't like and have to respond. Being a little older and wiser, I'd handle things a bit differently now.

That's crazy. Never in my life have I gone looking for a fight, that's just not me. But Jocko's story reminded me of something kind of similar. I brought my girlfriend (now my wife Joanne) camping/fishing on the Bad river (delta of the French). It's one of my favourite spots and entails a 26km run to get there including shooting some pretty hairy rapids in the boat. It's remote. We set up camp on one of my favourite spots and went out fishing. Right at dusk we headed back to camp in good spirits. My heart sank as I approached our campsite and saw 3 boats moored in my spot and 2 large tents pitched RIGHT next to mine. Joanne knew what was coming. She's whispering to me "stay calm, don't do anything stupid!" I paid her no attention and was riveted on the 6 guys milling around our campsite. 4 of them had beers in their hands, 2 were drinking whiskey straight from a bottle. They all approached as I moored the boat, one who was the "leader" greets us in broken english (they were local francophones from the area). "Hey buddy, how's it going?! Heeeey glad to see someone brought a girl!" Every one of them was hammered. I didn't respond. I hopped out of the boat and was immediately surround by 5 of the 6 guys, one of them hung back. I say to the leader "You guys have 5 minutes to pack up your crap and leave" He laughs at me, says "What the hell is your problem?" That's when I broke his nose. The other 4 swarmed me and Joanne started screaming. I'm far from a fighter but I was MAD and every one of these guys could barely stand up. I took them all down except the one older guy who was hanging back. I threw their crap into their boats and forced them to leave brandishing a paddle. The older guy was pretty embarassed and apologized profusely to me. After they left Joanne was severely pissed at me though, and she let me know it. Anyhow it's amazing to me how ignorant some people can be.

If that's what you want to do make up a good resume and send it to the lodges you'd like to work at, wherever that may be. Pretty much every single one hires students for the summer season.

Nope we're going to sting them all.

When we fish chinooks through the ice we spud out huge troughs and use full sized rods. Only way to go imo.

Must have been early in the season, that's pretty thin ice. I think I'd be spudding out something a little bigger than the tiny hole he was fishing out of. If Kenny is from Yellowknife I think you just discovered your new best friend.

Make sure it's the right seafoam for your application. There a couple of different ones and they vary in price.

The Redrock portage is definitely not cart accessable. In any case there's only a handful of Algonquin lakes where small motors are allowed in the spring. Redrock's not one of them.

Not sure about a safety kit, that's a bit odd, but pretty much every fly in operator except the fancy lodges require you to bring your own pfd.

Dickson is pretty good, been in their many times over the years. There are way better interior lakes for brookies though. My trip has been booked for a while. I'll be tripping through Opeongo to points north on May 4th. Can't wait!

Sometimes the smallest things in life give you the greatest pleasures. I can relate.

New to me too, that was incredible!

I met BillM through the board and we've become close friends. Can say the same about a few others as well: Spiel, CCMT, Highdrifter, HTHM, Jay Hamilton, Moosebunk,TonyB, BenBeattie, dobee, Basskicker, Justin Elia, aniceguy, and good 'ole Skud. Did I miss anyone? (Highly probable ). I'm sincerely looking forward to meeting Gerritt, lookinforwalleye, and kickingfrog when we do our fly in this September. Brian (Misfish) you're welcome to join me anytime! Honestly this is the best aspect of the OFC board. The quality of the people is second to none and I've made lifelong friends because of it. Who would I like to fish with? The list is too long. There's a bunch I've been trying to get together with for a while (you know who you are ) Hopefully this year!

Will you still be staying on Opeongo and doing this as a day trip? Proulx isn't that great a lake. If you have a squareback canoe and small motor (allowed in the spring), launch in Proulx then motor down the Crow river into Little and Big Crow lake. Brook trout fishing is fair in these two lakes and is easily accomplished as a day trip from Opeongo especially with a small motor. IMO Redrock lake, also one portage off Opeongo is a better brook trout lake. The fish are fairly abundant but on the smaller side. If this is an interior camping trip and not a day trip off Opeongo there's waaaaay better options for you that aren't all that difficult to access.

Topographic maps don't show lake depths. The best source of hydrographic lake maps I've found is here: http://www.trakmaps.com/PrintedMapsList.aspx Bear in mind it's only the larger more popular lakes that have been mapped in this way.