solopaddler

Enjoyed your response! LOL

Sorry about your pain, but that's kinda funny . Only a fisherman would have a sun burnt pedal foot! Me? I'm still dealing with Carpal Tunnel in my right arm from swinging my heavy float rod and 15 gram floats all winter . I pretty much stick with Coppertone Sport, it's not as greasy as some of the others, doesn't have a scent that attracts bugs and is waterproof. 15 SPF if I want to tan a bit, 45 SPF if I'm looking for complete protection.

Well, you know what they say, go big or go home . Slick job, very nice!

Cool report, too bad you couldn't that big fish to hit! Still, that's proof that the bigguns are still in there.

Wow Jason, what an epic trip! I can't believe you guys saw that many bears during the day...there really must be a lot up there. Looks like a pretty substantial boat you guys used, what was the launch like? Was it tough to get the boat in the water?

Nope, marriage and kids hasn't changed things much for me, although fishergirl72 hit the nail on the head when she mentioned compromise. That's what it's all about with my wife and I.

You bet Patrick, next time I'm heading up solo I'll give you shout.

That's great!

Cute lad you've got there....where's the photo of the cat? Was he able to hit the target?

Just look at things analytically Wayne. Apply yourself like I'm sure you do when you're building a plane and you'll be the next Izumi .

I agree, with you living up there I'm sure we'll make it happen sooner or later!

Yep, about as idiot proof as it gets. Mushrooms, potatos, Montreal steak spice, a little olive oil and butter, seal in foil and throw on the grill. Nothing to clean up .

Louis, believe me I hear you! We'll just have to plan it well in advance. With enough notice you can squeeze anything into your schedule. Next time bud .

I left for the cottage last Thursday by myself for a weekend of mostly work and a bit of fishing. It's so hard to get anyone to commit to going, seems as though all my buddies are just too busy....I think I'm going to have to start soliciting the board to see if anyone wants to come with me . Speaking of which there's a board member (FinS) who lives 15 minutes from my landing. Buddy, I tried to call you when I arrived, but my cel phone was completely non functional. I think I'm going to have to switch to Bell service as others don't seem to have the same problems. Anyhow, sorry I missed you... Back to my report....I loaded the boat and headed up the lake arriving around 2pm on Thursday. I had to rebuild a flight of stairs as well as dig a hole for a new grey water pit. Thursday and Friday the weather was really crappy up there: coolish temps, tons of rain, and millions of mosquitos. Not the greatest conditions to be working in, but I persevered. Here's my hole . I'm quite proud of it actually....It's mostly filled with water from the rain, but it's a good 4' deep and was an unbelievable pain to dig! I did a bit of fishing late Friday evening and started out by catching this monster! Things started to pick up a bit after that. Nothing big, but nice eaters.... Kept a few for a late night fry. Mmmmmm......yummy! It's an interesting time fishing wise on my lake... The walleye are in transition from their early spring, opening weekend locations to their traditional summer spots like mid-lake humps, points, island saddles, etc. For many that I spoke to on the lake, they were pretty frustrated with their results, but then they were fishing in the wrong spots . By and large the fish were most active in 8-10' of water, still quite shallow. The key though was to concentrate on large sandy flats that had the most new weed growth. 90 percent of my lake is clear, deep and rocky, so finding those kinds of spots is easy....there's only 2 like that on the entire lake. Crawling slowly along with the electric with either a light jig or a spinner rig with minimal weight tipped with a worm was deadly.... Anyhow, when I get back up there in 2 weeks I expect the fish will be relating to more traditional locations. I generally find them much more predictable and easier to catch once they're on their summer spots. Enough of the seminar ! After working on the steps on Saturday I managed to sneak out for a bit of fishing The walleyes were really on Saturday afternoon. Had an absolute blast probably catching at least 30. Again none were huge, but still, lots of fun. Saturday evening I cleaned the place up, cracked open a cold one, and cooked up an awesome dinner. A great ending to a productive trip! cheers, Mike

Beer? Anytime bud! I can relate to a couple of things in your post. First, 2 seasons back my dad was working by himself up at my camp, and similar to your dad, had an unfortunate accident with a table saw. In his case he actually managed to sever 4 fingers on his left hand! After cleaning up his mess, putting the tools away and locking everything ( he's nuts!), he drove the boats 20 mins. back to the landing, hopped in the truck and drove himslf 40 mins to the hospital in Kirkland Lake. Within 1/2 hour they had him on a plane to St. Jo's in Hamilton where a plastic surgeon actually managed to re-attach his fingers. He's a tough old bugger, and very, very lucky. Can also relate to the dragonflies. At the marina at my lake we have a similar hatch every year at this time. Funny thing though, I was up there working this past weekend and drove to the landing Friday evening to load some stuff into the truck. Unknown to me, everything I loaded in the truck had tons of dragonfly nymphs clinging to it. Anyhow, yesterday morning I hopped in the truck to go home and 5 mins down the hwy almost drove the truck into a ditch. Apparantly the nymphs had hatched into dragonflies between Fri and Sunday morning....I had 30 of them freaking out and buzzing all around the inside of my truck . It was actually pretty comical...

Hey, great report bud! Really glad I could be of help to you, and happy your trip was a little better this year!

Turkey Point marina? 35' boat? Why don't you just cruise for chicks? Can't miss!

Compression tester is a good idea, I'll have to see if I can scrounge one up...

A couple of weekends ago up at the cottage we used my uncles 2 horse Honda while fishing a small back lake. Was pretty impressed with it, so as I'm in the market for a small motor for myself I started searching for one. I ended up finding one, located 31/2 hours away from me. Guy says it's a 2001, runs perfectly, but is a former rental motor that's seen it's share of use, and he's asking $300 for it. Definitely a good price, but I'm a little leery about the high hours and the 7 hours of driving there and back to get it. What do you guys think? If it's otherwise in good shape is the high hours thing as bad with a 4-stroke motor? I just need a kick in the pants one way or the other to decide .

Good luck, have a great trip!

You've got a real way with words bud! You cut right through the Bull and got to the heart of the matter (in a redneck kinda way ).

Yep, with the northern Ontario outfitters customer base being 80-90% American, I'm positive they're going to see a reduction in visitors. They're going to feel the squeeze as I'm sure there's going to be a lot of people opting to spend their money at home.....

Great fish, even better smile!

Phenominal trip Phil! What were the dimensions on your big pike? Heckuva fish, congrats!