solopaddler

I've been in situations like that countless times myself....I do understand your frustration.....but I was thinking exactly the same thing as SlowPoke.

Bear in mind, I never said I was there, this is just my best guess, as to what I would do if I was based on Birch . I paddled through Gull Lake which is directly east and downstream of Birch.

Anyhow, in the s/e corner of Birch you should be able to navigate into Springpole Lake. At the very east end of Springpole is the outlet of the Birch River and 2 rapids in succession. It's highly probable that there are trails circumventing these rapids, you just have to follow your nose and find them.

Good luck!

 

cheers, Mike

I was hesitant to add my 2 cents to this thread, as I wasn't totally sure it was the lake I was thinking of.

As it turns out I think I can help. I've paddled the Cat lake chain of lakes. Birch Lake actually feeds into them, and if you follow the chain downstream they feed into Lake St. Joseph which is the headwaters of the Albany.

All of these lakes are walleye factories, with a pretty heavy tanin stain to the water. To be honest all I ever use up there are 3" twister tails in a variety of hot colours and a handful of 1/8, and 1/4 oz heads. Bait is not necessary.

Birch is a pretty big lake from my recollection with a ton of islands, and very irregular in shape, so you won't get bored.

The one thing I'd definitely recommend you do: Check out the outflowing river (the one that feeds into the Cat Lake chain). When you come to the first impassable rapids, beach the boat, grab your rods and go for a walk. Fish below the rapids, wade wet if you have to...All the current areas up there are just stacked with fish, especially the ones not easily accessible

to any outpost camps or lodges.

LOL!

You're putting me on the spot here! (I'm not normally in the habit of giving up my brook trout spots )

 

Bill, I've got a couple of trips that might interest you depending on your skill level.

 

First, the Wakwayokastik River N/E of Cochrane. Logistics are easy as you can pay an outfitter in Cochrane to shuttle you to the drop off point. Paddling the river takes roughly a week and at the end you make your way to Moosonee where you take the train back to Cochrane. Excellent brook trout in the upper 2/3 of the river (some pretty big).

 

Second, on the north shore of Superior the Bremner River is a fabulous trip. You have to charter a float plane with White River Air to fly you into the headwaters at Pinei lake. Don't be scared off by this though, as you're only paying for basic air charter one way on the way in. At the end of the trip you take out at a bridge near White River where your car will be parked. Straight paddle, this trip takes 3 days, but if you're fishing and exploring a lot your time frame is perfect. There's excellent brook trout in the entire river from top to bottom. Also, there's a bunch of small lakes adjacent to the river that are very good for brook trout. Foster Lake in particular is good, plus there's a wide, smooth portage trail leading into it from the river.

 

Neither of these trips are a loop....that's a tough one (at least when you're talking trout fishing..)

To be honest, besides the two river trips I outlined, Algonquin Park immediately sprang to mind. There's a whole bunch of decent loop trips you could do there....Yes, it's not "prime" time for Algonquin, but if you're willing to adapt your tactics to the time of year, fishing can be great! That time of year you're forced to fish deep, and that means trolling with either steel line, or braid with a 3-way rig.

If you want any info on A.P. routes and more detail on how to catch the fish shoot me a pm. For that matter, if you want any detailed info on the first 2 river trips I outlined, get a hold of me!

 

cheers, Mike

I live in Dundas, so the destinations I've been to are about the same driving distance.

For me, Nakina is about my limit for an easy day's drive, being about 14hours....There's 2 very good outfitters there I've flown with in the past: Leuenberger's (leuenberger.ca/kag.htm), and Timberidge (timberidgefishing.com). With Leuenberger I can personally recommend Muskrat, Elbow, and Kapatawanga lakes. All fantastic fisheries, and great cabins. I'm fairly certain you'd have a good trip at any of their outposts though...With Timberidge I've been to Sim and Crayon lakes...both great lakes.

I would also take a look at the Wawa/Whitriver area, both within an easy days drive of S. Ontario, around 10-11hrs. The bonus of travelling to this area is the beauty of the drive north of the Soo along Lake Superior, it's very scenic. In the Wawa area I've flown with Hawk Air many times (hawkair.com) and can highly recommend Duffy, Little Missinaibi, Pichogen, Wejin and Mosambik. All great fisheries and good cabins. In White River I've flown a bunch of times with White River Air (northtoadventure.com), and can personally recommend Shekak, Hayward/Herrick, and Jembi lakes. All fantastic fisheries again and first rate cabins.

If you research this and decide to pick any of the lakes I've mentioned, feel free to pm me and I can provide you with detailed info on where to fish, etc.

One other point: most of these outfitters base their prices on a minimum of 4 people. If it's just you and your dad you'll still be able to go, but will likely have to pay a bit extra.

All of the outfitters I've mentioned above will accomodate groups of 2 however, if that's the case. (Not all outfitters will do this)

 

cheers, Mike

Tell me where you live, how far you're willing to drive, and what kind of fish you want to catch and we'll go from there. Need more info

So there really is a hot tub? I figured it was some kind of weird Red Green like contraption powered by an 8 horse Yamaha 4 stroke

Forgot to mention the lakers Cisco. If I were you I'd bring at least one, maybe two, small portable downriggers. When I was there I dragged spoons around for hours on a 3-way rig, as well as trolling with steel line, and vertical jigging and caught no trout.

It wasn't until the camp manager Terry took pity on us and took us out in his boat which had riggers that we caught a few.

Apparantly the trout are suspended there in the summer. Just a heads up.

Good stuff! Sounds a little more productive than your Rosseau report a while back

My cabin is water access and completely off the grid. I've got 2 100lb propane tanks hooked up together. It's used to power the fridge, stove, some lights, and a gravity fed on demand hot water heater.

Last year I installed 2 of the large solar panels from Canadian Tire on the roof. They're wired to 2 deep cycle batteries in conjunction with a charge controller. These batteries are used to power 8 low voltage lights which I installed throughout the cottage, as well as a small 12V fan which vents the composting toilet in the bathroom.

For TV, every time I head up there I bring a power pack (also from C.T.) which is used in conjunction with a small power inverter. We don't watch a "ton" of tv, mostly Dora the Explorer videos for my 3 yr old daughter in the mornings, and the odd movie for my wife and I in the evenings. It's lasted for more than a week at a time for us before it needs recharging.

I've got a Honda generator, but that's used for 1 thing: my power tools (reno's never end ).

As mentioned my water system is gravity fed...I use a small gas powered jet pump to pump the water from the lake, up the hill to our water tower behind the cabin. Lines run from the tower and feed (as mentioned) our on demand water heater, which feeds the shower, bathroom sink and kitchen sink. There are as well, accompanying cold water outlets...We've got quite a run from the tower to the cabin, that combined with the head pressure from the water tank gives us unbelievable water pressure in the cabin. In fact, it's better than our pressure at home!

I believe, through trial and error, I have the perfect system for a cabin or cottage of the grid. If you have any more specific questions I'd be more than happy to help!

 

cheers, Mike

Miss Universe? You mean the former wife of Marc Anthony who is now married to Jennifer Lopez?

 

If you like that type, I guess...

 

Paddler, I bow.

 

I've had relationships with a lot of verrry impressive women too, but only one of them ever noticed.

 

This post has been edited by douG: Today, 08:30 PM

 

 

LOL! Yes douG, one in the same, she was indeed married to (gag) Marc Antony. Is there a greasier human being in the public eye?

brickNblock, sounds like you've led in interesting life dude!

Personally, when living and working in Manila I briefly dated Dayanara Torres (miss universe '94)

 

 

 

 

 

Looks like a perfect weekend was had Lew, great pic's, thank's for posting!

Nice fish Davey!

I've never used Air Dale, but have heard good things about Tony and Medhurst lakes. I've used Hawk Air, located directly across the lake from Air Dale many times over the years, with pretty much every trip being a success. If you want any specific info on their lakes shoot me a pm.

 

cheers , Mike

Congrats, well done!

I fished Kag in July a few years back with my wife, stayed at Leuenbergers lodge.

I agree 100%, it's a fantastic walleye lake. Tons of structure and islands....you'll never get bored. Also fished an adjacent back lake where Leuenberger maintains a boat motor, fishing was excellent! If you're into brook trout fishing and don't mind roughing it, spend a day hiking and fishing the Opichuan River where it exits the lake. We had a great time doing that one day catching specks up to 18".

Here's a few pic's to whet your appetite! (sorry about the poor quality!)

 

A shot of the lodge from the lake

 

 

Cabins were A-1, here's a few shots of ours, inside and out

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here's a shot of the lodge where dinner was served

 

 

Here's my wife Joanne and I enjoying dinner (free wine )

 

 

 

Fishing from shore on the back lake

 

 

Some very typical Kag walleye

 

 

 

 

Small pike (we didn't get any big ones)

 

 

We'd go back in heartbeat if the opportunity presented itself, I'm sure you'll have a great trip!

 

cheers, Mike

Looks like a fun time, and a good cause to boot!

One of these days if I can ever find the time, I'd love to attend one of these get togethers myself and meet some of you guys

If you ran it with the vent closed, that's almost certainly the cause of your problem Holdfast.

LOL!

Sounds great!

A kindred spirit

Great report Jason, thank's! BTW, you said you went right to the end, did you check out Kattawagami Lake? I've always wondered about it. I drove about 3/4 of the way up hwy. 662 myself not too long ago to access the headwaters of the Wakwayokastic River...It is nice country up there for sure.

Thank's for the kind words guys!

Basskicker,I've got something really incredible lined up for the upcoming season that I'm fairly certain you guys will be interested in.

Not trying to be secretive, or coy , but I'll tell everybody about it when everything gets finalised.

Well, it's the dead of winter and I'm bored, so figured I'd share another trip with you guys. In the spirit of Lew's great thread about fishing with your father, these trip photos depict the one and only time my dad as well as my uncle accompanied me on a canoe trip. They were both in their late sixties at the time and used to their creature comforts. I really wasn't sure how they'd handle it 'cause it's not a cakewalk, but they did just fine! In fact they loved it!

We did this trip 3 years ago in May, once again to my secret honeyhole lakes north of Superior....

(sorry again about the poor pic quality, but hey they're better than nothing right? )

 

If these pictures look familiar, I posted a similar series of shots a while back crossing the same river with my old Suzuki Samurai. This time we beat the crap outta my uncles Jeep

 

 

 

There's my dad on the left, uncle on the right (they were pumped after we made it over )

 

 

While walking along a portage, my uncle found this little Brookie trapped in a pool of water

 

 

The old boys walked the shoreline and I donned my waders and lined our boat and gear upstream (the bush is way too thick to portage)

 

 

 

My dad taking a break on a beaver dam

 

 

Eventually you come to this awesome spot where the water flows over the bedrock into a lake. Trout stack up here and it's an easy spot to fish...

 

 

 

 

 

From that point it's a bushwhack into our final destination. Here's my dad geared up and ready to go

 

 

This is a tough portage. About 1200m with bush so thick you've got to drag the canoe (no trails either...)

 

 

Here's our destination. Beautiful beach campsite overlooking the lake

 

 

 

 

Eating around the campfire

 

 

Here's me along with my uncle cooking up some trout under the tarp. (forgot to mention it was freezing cold the entire time we were there)

 

 

 

My dad never goes anywhere without his brandy and cigars

 

 

My uncle landing one

 

 

Me with an decent one

 

 

My uncle with a stringer of small eaters

 

 

My uncle

 

 

 

My dad

 

 

Landing another

 

 

My favourite cleaning rock

 

 

I've posted pic's of this spot before...It's a waterfall you pass on your way in. We usually spend the first night here, but opted to camp here on the way back out. This is one of my favourite pictures.....Absolutely gorgeous spot!

 

 

My dad and uncle relaxing at the same spot

 

 

 

 

Well, that's about it....hope you enjoyed the pic's!

Sorry to hear about your daughters accident Lew, most important thing is she's going to be okay. Sounds like it could have been a lot worse!