solopaddler

The self righteous attitude that some seem to have certainly doesn't reflect very well on them...

You're a pretty intuitive fellow aren't you?

I havn't been posting much recently as I've been completely immersed in renovating my house to put it on the market asap. I'm redoing the kitchen, the main upstairs bathroom, refinishing the hardwood floors, painting, putting a brand new bathroom in the basement... and that's just the tip of the iceberg LOL! Speaking of which, Mike I need you again badly! (bassmastermike on the board). In any case this was one of the very few times I really didn't want to take off for the weekend. Our kitchen is a ridiculous mess at the moment and with 2 small kids running around it makes things pretty difficult especially for my wife Joanne. But when my dad and uncle begged me to join them for the weekend Joanne said, "just go and have fun, the work will get done in time!" (God I love that woman ) So off we went leaving early Friday morning. The Port Loring area was our destination and a lake we've been ice fishing for over 23 years. Originally we had a family friend who owned a cottage on the lake. After a couple of years they sold and we managed to talk one of the lodges on the lake into taking us out fishing, opening one of their cottages and letting us use one of their huts. About 12 years ago their business went way downhill and a new owner took over who refused to open for us in the winter. We talked to another guy with a small camp on the lake, and he was more than willing to accomodate. So for the last 12 years Tommy has been opening up one of his old log cabins for us and letting us use his own ice huts which he puts waay out on the main lake on a wicked shoal, a truly great spot. Pretty much no one else fishes this lake even locals, so we've mostly got it to ourselves. Fishing is usually great with mixed bag of walleye, lake trout and some whitefish, pike and herring. So, enough history... Here's a couple of pic's from the drive in....very scenic. Deer abound in this area. It's a known deeryard and animals from quite a distance away migrate here to winter over. We always see tons of deer along the side of the road and in the bush and I managed to snap a pic of this little beauty as she cautiously crossed the road right in front of us.. Couple shots of the cabins interior. This particular camp has been in the same family for 3 generations. Tommy's grandfather built every cabin by hand back in the 20's. A quick bite to eat and we were off for the afternoons fishing. We generally pile in the vehicle and drive several km's around to the other side of the lake where there's a public access point. Tom picks us up there with his sled and hauls us to the huts. Here we are unloading (my new wheels BTW ) Here we are looking down the bay watching Tom approach. And there's Tommy with our transportation. Approaching the huts from a distance... Considering the high pressure and bluebird skys my expectations weren't too high, but we did manage a few nice fish Friday afternoon. My uncle caught this gorgeous walleye just a hair over 27" Here's a couple of close-up shots. Pretty wild looking creatures eh? I followed up with a very decent walleye that just HAMMERED my jigging spoon . It was just under 23" and in the slot so after a quick pic, back she went.. Shortly after that I caught this beauty little laker on the same spoon. This one was dispatched quickly to provide the surf to go along with our turf Friday night . We all hooked and lost multiple fish on Friday afternoon. I had 3 half way up to the hole before they shook off, so all in all it wasn't a bad start. Saturday was another bluebird day and the first half of the day was pretty uneventful with not a thing caught. We all missed fish, but nothing landed. Around noon Tommy came by and says "let's you and me go explore the lake a bit Mike". I'm all for that idea, so I pulled the depth map out of my bag and after a quick study, one spot in particular seemed to stand out. It was a large saddle between a visible shoal and the mainland. On one side there was a 140' basin, on the other a 100' basin. Tom started drilling hole after hole for me in a grid pattern, marking the depth with my portable finder and writing the number in the snow beside each hole. It soon became apparant that this was some pretty incredible structure! Here's Tommy in the distance working hard for me, popping countless holes.. I went from hole to hole with my jig spending no more than 5 minutes at each one... a winter time version of "run and gun" fishing . Right off the bat I hit this little laker. Great start, I guess the fish are here! About 20 mins later I caught this beauty. She hit like a freight train and almost spooled the tiny reel I was using. What a blast! About 10 mins after that one I hit another nice laker Then another little guy I'm now in the market for a freezeproof camera as shortly after that last pic she refused to work anymore. Was a shame too as I was REALLY on a good bite. Quite incredible really....I caught and released 8 more lakers including one dandy in the 8lb class. We drilled holes all over in a variety of depths anywhere from 15-55'. The "magic" depth seemed to be 28-30' though. Almost every fish I caught was in that depth range. Wish I had time to get back up one more time to fish this spot again, but it was a blue eyed miracle I was able to get away this past weekend. As far as Tommy knows, and he's been on the lake his whole life, this spot has never been ice fished before . Something to look forward to next year I guess! A fine time was had with my dad and uncle, and I feel fortunate to have been able to go. Now it's back to reality for me lol! Cheers, Mike

Nice Doug, wish I could have made it on Saturday. Looks like a lot of fun!

Looks like fun and definitely a great cause. Wish I could have been there!

Excellent job! Nice to see things are picking up...

Nice job Cliff, the end result looks great.

Great looking fish, congrat's!

Mmmmm.....beavertails . Looks like a lot of fun Mike thanks for posting.

I concur regarding Lac Dumoine, decent fishing and relatively cheap. I fished Dumoine once years ago in July and we did quite well. The only thing I can add, the drive in on the Maniwaki Rd. past Kipawa took over 3 hours and was pretty rough. Not sure what it's like now, hopefully it's better.

Exactly where is the lodge? Canada is a big country you know..

I agree wholeheartedly, you are a wise man sir.

Fantastic report Wayne, and a truly incredible fish to catch through the ice. You must have been shaking .

Thank you for that.

Very interesting Rick as I can definitely relate. I'm currently in the midst of renovating my house to put it on the market sometime in the spring. I've recently had 2 separate people warn me that my wiring and panel box would have to be upgraded before the house could be sold (mine's also an older house). We're in an even more agravating position as the person who performed the house inspection 6 years ago was my brother in law. He works part time as a real estate agent and home inspector and handled everything for us back then. What do you guys think, should I go after my brother in law? It's a no win situation. The only positive is we've gained such a huge amount of equity in the house over such a short period that it eases the sting a bit.

Said to me by this crusty old local fishing on my lake 1 week before opener: "Season? the only season on my fish is salt and pepper!"

I'm currently in the midst of several different home reno's and had a bit of a plumbing issue crop up that I couldn't handle. I shot Mike an email through the board and he came by today and did an amazing job for me! I'm definitely going to get him to do a few other small jobs for me. Very professional and a nicer guy you'll never meet (plus he's cheap ). Just wanted to thank him publicly for the fine work... Big bonus is I've likely found another fishing buddy! This board is great!

WTG MacGyverfield, nice job!

Funny, I've been thinking about a name change as well, LOL! Keep a day free when you're down this way in April Ben.. Cheers

The county of Haliburton, not the village. To be really specific, slightly S/E of Dorset .

Rainbows and spec's both? Very nice Steve, well done! (looks alot like one of the stocked lakes I fish off hwy.35 in Haliburton)

Nice fish.....familiar spot .

Actually being a weather guy it is kind of interesting . I'm currently on shift at the weather office in Hamilton and recorded the exact same phenomena at precisely 22:52 zulu (6:52 for you laymen ). Quite a system we've got here....hope I make it home tonight!

I'm riding out the last 1/2 hour of my shift at the weather office. We've had a horrid mix of weather all night in Hamilton and currently have freezing rain and ice pellets. Careful on the roads...

Can't comment too much on the camp or river. What pops to mind though, if I was driving all that way to vacation in that area I wouldn't stay there. I'd drive a bit further and stay at one of the lodges on Lake Temagami or even better IMO, one of the camps on Lady Evelyn Lake. Bigger, more interesting water and in the case of Lady Evelyn much more remote..