solopaddler

Excellent Paul, well deserved and long overdue.

HAHAHAHA!

Was wondering how Ben had made out with you guys. Obviously pretty good. Outstanding fish all around boys, well done. What's interesting to me, the general area where I'm pretty sure you were fishing contains a lot of pen reared escapee rainbows. The fish in your pic's sure look like pen reared fish. If that's the case then G-bAY has a big problem. They were engineered to be fall spawners and that hen was dripping roe. It's only a matter of time 'till they interbreed with our wild fish.... Glad to see you're bonking as many as you can.

Looking forward to the fishing report. Why would you be worried about your truck being burnt to the ground?

Excellent, and you fished it at just the right time. Late April drop back fishing is outstanding on the Salmon.

Scared of a bear, why? Who was with you bud? Whoever it was it's unlikely they'd have been able to out run you with your giraffe sized legs LOL! (problem solved ) Beautiful fish and even nicer surroundings Jay, wish I had time to join you up there.

Congrat's on the trout and excellent choice on the new motor. Those Yamahas are sweet.

Beautiful looking boy. You guys getting any sleep?

I can tell you what I know from my experience. A few years back I heard rumours of a small lake with huge brookies in the Elk Lake region of northern ontario. Apparantly it was a lake that the mnr stocked and used to entertain certain privelaged bigwigs. They even built a cabin on the lake to house there guests. I was told that they'd stopped stocking the lake years ago, tore down the cabin and that there was a remnant population of few but usually large fish. Of course I had to investigate. With extreme difficulty I bushwhacked in with camping gear and canoe and the stories turned out to be true. I camped at the site of the old cabin and caught a dozen or so fish between 4 and 6lbs. Had one on that still haunts me to this day, I figure that fish was 8 plus. Anyhow, most stocked lakes aren't able to sustain populations of fish when stocking has ended. Without upwelling springs they're simply not able to. Some stocked lakes like the one I fished have a marginal ability to reproduce. Because the reproduction is so limited the few that do hatch and survive usually grow to enormous sizes. They just don't have the competition for food.

Don't mean to hijack the thread, but I know a similar lake in Algonquin. Good probability it's the same lake, a tiny lake adjacent to Galeairy Lake. I fished it 18 years ago shortly after they dumped the brood stock in and we caught some monsters. Unfortunately word spread and it was fished out.

Very very impressive fish! Have to say you've got the "Izumi hold" down pat though. What's truly impressive is that they're wild fish. Usually it's the small stocked lakes that coughs up specimens like that.

I remember that vividly.

Good call on the crappie fishing vs. trout opener. Looks like a perfect day bud.

That's where I've always launched.

That fish is the piscatorial equivolent of a 20lb steelhead, a true trophy! Good job Chris!

I'm one of the few it seems who shop at home before leaving. There's a couple of factors though. What if there's nothing to shop at when you reach your destination? (That's almost always the case with me). If I didn't shop at home that would entail stopping enroute. That wouldn't work for 2 reasons. First I always leave uber early so anything half decent is usually closed when I'm driving by. Second it's a moot point anyway 'cause I only stop for gas that's it. I'm waaay more interested in getting to where I'm going as quick as possible. No interest whatsoever in stopping and walking around a grocery store. I've got enough time for that at home.

Actually Cliff I'm gonna have to disagree with you big time on this. You've got 150% more control going upstream in the rapids. Going downstream you're almost hurtling out of control waaaay more at the whim of the currents. The key going downstream is do it under power. Give your motor some gas... If you drift down at the currents speed you won't be able to turn effectively (and there is at least one sharp turn ) The very first time I went down there over 20 years ago we stopped at the head of the rapids trying to decide when/how/if we should do it.. While waiting a guide boat zoomed by from Hartley Bay so we just hopped in and followed. It's pretty easy IMO, but having someone show you the route does make things easier. The water should still be quite high the time frame you're considering which is a very good thing. Most hazzards will be burried underwater..

You can see the excitement in his face, bet he won't forget that.

Good lookin' lad, big congratulations!

Nice job and good luck in A.P. next week!

Beautiful photography bud. Sounds like a fun day as well.

You're killin' me. Great fish bud!

Go west young man. Launch at Hartley Bay then head down the western channel to the delta of the Bad River. It's amazing down there. A bit tricky to navigate down through the rapids but it can be done, many people do it every day. First time I went down there it was completely blind and I made out all right. If you do decide to head down there pm me for details on campsites and fishing. Cheers

You're a very lucky man to have that right in your backyard! Nice little spec, well done.