solopaddler

I tried to think of a good reply to this....but I can't . (You know you're welcome anytime bud)

Actually I spent no time at all up there prior to purchasing and did zero research, LOL! The story behind the purchase of the camp is long, strange and convoluted one, and involves a car accident and an outhouse . Bottom line, fate, sheer luck and a VERY understanding wife were the key components.

Bought the canoe last June, used it maybe 6 times so far. (It'll get beat up soon enough ).

Take a closer look at the pic's. I'm getting old and fat, there was a 2hp Honda strapped to the back .

Truer words were never spoken, that's what I tried to tell her!! Who cares if it melts plastic and causes cancer in lab rats..at least you're not getting eaten alive! Thanks for the kind words bud. You and Carole will have to make it up for a weekend at some point.

I can only hope Jo and I make it to 50 and are still doing the things we love to do. You sir are an inspiration.

You are a perceptive lad aren't you? LOL! Bunk beds do tend to get a wee bit "cramped" . (Plans are in store for a large bedroom addition which will house the double bed). And yep, of course I'm carrying the boat myself. Balance my friend, balance, that's what it's all about. Back in my soloing days I routinely carried an 80lb pack along with my 17' canoe so I guess there is something to be said for latent fitness . Thanks everyone else

The last time Joanne and I were able to sneak away for a weekend without the kids was May 2006, so with our families combined help we left last Thursday morning for a looong overdue break. To make it even more special it was our anniversary on Sat night. Nothing says I love you like swarms of blackflies and mosquitos and lugging piles of lumber up a steep hill right? Joanne has an aversion to deet and flatly refuses to use the stuff. She showed me the citronella based repellent that she bought. She also had a refreshing mint based repellent to try. And try she did, problem is it seems citronella and mint is nothing more than a condiment for the bugs up there . The destination was our camp in N/W QC, and the plan was a lot of relaxing, and fishing at least one brand new back lake that's been on my list of lakes to try. As per usual I had a massive load of wood and a new kitchen table to haul over to camp: Once we arrived and unloaded we didn't do much of anything besides relax. Jo was a bit tuckered out and didn't take too kindly to my picture taking (note the left hand ): This little beggar was hanging around the deck looking for handouts: We had planned on fishing the back lake on Friday, but with high winds, scattered showers and cloudy skies we decided to postpone the trip 'till Saturday and stay on the main lake. So Friday morning after a leisurely breakfast, we piled the gear into the boat and headed up the lake. There's a large bay on my lake that's a traditional mid june hot spot. It's about 1km long by 1/2km wide with an average depth of 8' and lots of newly emergent weeds. The young of the year perch are usually in there thick and so are the walleyes. There's a sandy point that juts out into the bay and that's where we started: Things started off slowly with a couple of little dinks including a somewhat rare Sauger: As we drifted further into the bay I noticed a long submerged sand spit jutting out into the lake. Not sure if you can see it in this pic, but here it is: Trolling and drifting along the windward side of this spit we started to hit fish consistently, and they were quality fish as well. Top fish of the day was this gorgeous 25" brute that SLAMMED a small Storm stick bait: Kept one limit, threw a bunch back and headed over to my favourite filleting rock on a nearby island to do some slicing and dicing: Had a fabulous fish fry Friday night and have to say, Cronzy's new fish coating mix is pretty darn good. If you havn't tried it yet give it a shot. Saturday morning we got up early and loaded the squareback into the boat for the ride over to the landing: With military precision (not ) we loaded up the truck and embarked on our back lake adventure. The road in was nice and sandy, a nice change from the usual car eating potholes: There's some pretty incredible scenery up there including this very cool rock mountain that we drove right past: Further down the road we saw this curious little critter. Everytime I whistled at it he came a bit closer: Finally the put in point. We parked beside this old bridge: The view downstream: And the other direction up the lake: Quickly loaded the boat and we were off: Here we are approaching the portage: And here's the small creek we portaged around: Perfect breeding ground for wee beasties . As you can see Jo was bundled up with a full rainsuit on even though it was warm. After applying liberal amounts of her favourite bug condiment she decided to battle the pests with multiple layers. On the trail into the lake: Obviously there's a few locals who fish the lake. Here's what we found at the end of the trail: On a brand new lake I'll generally troll the more high percentage spots to find fish and that's what we did working our way up the lake. Finally at a small island cluster I picked off this beauty on a perch Shad Rap: Thought we were really on to something and began to sieve the spot with jigs. Surprisingly we only caught one more small fish: We did see this cow moose and calf though off in the distance. Very cool!: Random shot of the lake: If you're a walleye fisherman this lake would blow your mind. The amount of structure and and overall depth was incredible. We continued to work our way up the lake finally reaching a small shallow marshy bay where a tiny creek spilled in. Average depth of maybe 6', mucky bottom and pretty heavy wind piling right in to the bay. Perfect! What can I say, except it was totally epic. The walleyes were in there thick and biting like crazy. Caught the first couple on crankbaits then switched over to jigs and just pounded them. Here's a couple pic's of the spot: Didn't take a whole lot of pictures while on this spot, but here's a couple including a bonus smallmouth: At one point I hooked what I thought was a log. I'm just reefing on the thing to get it to the boat, when suddenly the "log" decided it didn't like being led and took off like missile, LOL! Obviously a large pike, it's by far one of the largest I've hooked in a number of years. We had one good look at it before it bit through my 6lb test (aint that always the way?), and it was well over 40" for sure. C'est la vie.. The walleye fishing was unreal though with many double headers. It didn't really slow down any, but it was getting late so we picked up and headed over to this hunt camp on the shores of the lake with our second limit of fish to use their fish cleaning table : Made it back to camp and cooked a beautiful dinner for my lovely wife to celebrate our anniversary: Cracked open a bottle of wine, turned off the lights and just chilled out. Took this shot of the view from my chair inside the cabin: Couldn't have asked for a more perfect weekend.... Cheers, Mike

Nice write up Lew, gotta love those boatside hook ups!

Incredible, thanks for taking the time to post that!

Nice clean looking musky bud, wtg!

Sweet boat, congrat's! I can't even begin to imagine what it'll cost to run that beast....

I agree. I use markers all the time and always pick them up when I'm done fishing.

I'm moving that weekend, anyone wanna help?

Legality of trapping rabbits aside, I'm surprised no one's mentioned hasenpfeffer. With my dad being German this was something we ate fairly regularly as a kid, and I still make it now on occasion. Absolutely delicious. There's plenty of recipes on the net if you do a search.. (You can substitute skinless chicken thighs for rabbit. It's cheaper and the consistency is pretty similar.)

Sounds like a blast Sean, love the pic's!

It does help, thanks!

Great stuff! I'm headed up to that general vicinity later this week, are the fish still shallow?

Nothing more to say besides thank you!

Very impressive fish, congrat's!

Great 2 part report Drew. I never get tired of seeing the images you post, fantastic once again!

Nice read Lew, thanks.

Beautiful scenery and some nice fish! You sure do live in a great part of the province..

Wow, very decent sized specks for a stream. Love the pic's!

Another fine report, the videos are great!