solopaddler

Loads-O-Fun With young kids along it's never all about the fishing and we found plenty of other things to occupy ourselves with. Directly across from camp a rocky point was teeming with ripe blueberries. Every so often Riley would insist we head over there to pick some for our our morning pancakes. Of course I always agreed. Dan actually made the most amazing crepes, with the blueberries they were out of this world. With the blazing hot temperatures we did a lot of swimming as well, finding a couple of perfect flat rocks to jump off: The swimming was a mere prelude to the real highlight though. We searched the lake for a suitable cliff to jump off. It had to be vertical and deep enough at the base, not easy to find but we found one. The kids were a little tentative at first (so was I for that matter!), but they both jumped multiple times each. It was a real thrill for both of them, and I was very proud of my girl for finally mustering the courage! <iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/n7c1DNBpMWY" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> With such a small lake and boats to match it was also the perfect opportunity to teach Riley how to handle a tiller. She did great ultimately starting the boat all by herself and going out fishing alone. That more than anything blew my young sons mind when we arrived home. He's super upset that his big sister has one up on him, but it'll be his turn next time. <iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/bOQqz-FJ0ys" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> With that huge mountain looming over us it was inevitable that'd we'd climb it sooner or later, and finally we did. I'll tell you right now it wasn't easy. There was no trail, the brush was thick, and many times we were forced to scramble up loose rock facing with nothing to grab onto. Still we made it, and once again both kids proved their mettle. In the end the views were worth it, and I know it's something Riley will never forget. The Camp I've said it several times now, but the Ribes lake outpost is very small. It was fine for us with two small kids, but 4 adults would be too much. As it stands right now it's really a camp for two people. As small as it is it's remarkably well equiped and neat and clean as a pin, no complaints there. The boats are older 14' aluminums with 6 horse 2 stroke Merc's that ran great. The cabin has two sets of bunks, a small cookstove, a full sized propane fridge that worked amazingly well, propane lanterns, and a large kerosene heater for cold nights. Outside there's a bbq, a fire pit overlooking the lake, a plastic table and chairs and an amazing outdoor shower stall with hot and cold running water! Here's a few pic's of the camp and a short video tour as well: <iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/YG9H2QDOdn8" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> Planting A Seed Unfortunately all good things must come to a end and as we waited on the dock for our ride home Riley seemed a little down in the dumps. "What's the matter honey, you okay?" "Daddy", she said slowly, "When can we come back?" Music to my ears. <iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/X3FtE37e9P0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> I've fished Anjigaming, Abbey and now Ribes lake with Park's Fly In Fishing and I've yet to be dissapointed. If anyone is interested in any of these trips drop me a line and I'd be happy to help in any way that I can. You can check out Martin's website with his contact info here: http://www.outpostcamps.com/fishing/ 'Till next time, Mike

My wife looked on in amusement as my daughter cornered me. "When", said my 8 year old girl Riley, "Are you going to bring me on a trip?" Last month I'd brought my young son along with me to the Dusey river and she was feeling left out. "Well actually honey....you won't have long to wait!" Joanne and I had been keeping things under wraps waiting until after school was finished before surprising her, but now was the time. Amidst her excited squeals I laid out the plan: "We're going to drive up to Wawa, stay overnight, then the next day fly into one of Martin's outpost camps for a week!". Martin Wearn is the owner of Park's Fly In Fishing. We've flown with him several times now and have always had great trips. His camps are far from deluxe, but they're comfortable, well equiped, and most of all the fishing has always been great. The biggest factor is cost and Martin continues to be the cheapest around. When you're paying to bring kids along that's always been the clincher me. "And guess what?" I added, "Dan and his little boy Mano (Emmanuel) are joining us!" That brought more excited squeals from Riley. Dan has been a lifelong friend of mine and she has met him and his family on many occasions. With Dan moving his clan to Thunder Bay a couple of years ago we rarely see each other anymore, so this trip was a special occurence. A father-daughter fly in trip and a reunion of old friends. It doesn't get much better. Well...maybe it does. After discussing our options with Martin he mentioned Ribes lake as a possibility. Ribes is a very small but very pretty lake located in the heart of the Chapleau Game Preserve. "The thing is", Martin said, "I havn't flown into that camp in 4 years. Even prior to that it was rarely fished, maybe twice a year at the most." "It's always been a fantastic lake to fish, so I'd be curious to know what it's like now after such a long rest." I was curious myself. The only downside if there was one being the size of the cabin. As Martin said it's his smallest camp, and the sole reason he hasn't used it in 5 seasons. With his business just getting off the ground there just wasn't enough reason to open this camp ...until now. The lack of fancy trappings and such was of no concern to me. As long as the roof is tight, the fridge is cold and the boats and motors are good that's all I care about. Martin assured me we'd be taken care of. When he said that we'd be the very first group to fish Ribes in years I quickly booked. A Golden Afternoon And A Flight To Adventure Riley and I enjoyed a leisurely drive north to Wawa. Highway 17 north of the Soo is spectacular as it winds its way along Superiors shoreline, each bend in the road opening up new vistas that take your breath away. My girl was agog. Leaving early enough in the morning we arrived with an afternoon to kill after checking into our motel. Dan and his son would be arriving from Thunder Bay later that evening, in the meantime there was only one thing to do: Hit the beach! Located on Superiors shore within the town limits is a truly amazing spot. Aptly named Sandy Beach, it's a wide 1km long white sand beach framed by granite outcroppings and windswept pines. We spent a glorious few hours there soaking up the sun and swimming in the surprisingly warm water. Even being a Saturday afternoon there was virtually no one there, we had the place entirely to ourselves... As promised Dan and his young son Mano joined us at the motel later that evening. After a couple of celebratory reunion drinks we did a bit of repacking in preparation for our flight the next morning. Spirits were high and the kids were getting along famously, tomorrow couldn't come soon enough... After arriving at the airbase and checking in, our gear was weighed and in less than an hour we boarded the plane for our flight. After a taxiing up the lake for 5 minutes we turned into the wind and were soon airborne: <iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/S6mAMuKcRoo" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> With both kids clamoring excitedly in the back seat we skimmed over the Algoma wilderness enroute to Ribes lake. I never get tired of these views. Frogs,Toads And Snakes Mano is an amazing kid for 7 years old. Before the plane was even unloaded he took off by himself and caught a large frog on the beach near camp. This was just a warm up though. After finding a white bucket to house his new pet he scampered barefoot down the shoreline, Red Ryder BB gun in hand to explore. In short order he had captured a garter snake, several toads and a salamander adding all of them to his makeshift terrarium. At any given time he'd have one or two toads in his pocket, playing with them in the boat when the fishing slowed down. In fact many times Dan would drop him off along the shore and watch as he'd spend an hour two combing the waters edge while he fished. As you'll see I've never seen a child of that age so unafraid to handle and hold such large squiggly walleye and pike either. He's truly a modern day Huck Finn and Riley was duly impressed as well. After settling into our new digs for the week and readying the boats we finally hit the water. As I do on any new lake my first priority is not to fish, but to spend an hour or so cruising the lake with the graph to get a feel for things, marking potential spots as I go. Ribes is a beautiful S shaped lake with two distict basins separated by a narrows. The southern basin is dominated by a large cliff that looms spectacularly over the lake. Here's a pic from the air: It's also surprisingly deep bottoming out at over 90' in one spot. In fact the whole lake is quite deep. I graphed 57' in the narrows and 67' in the northern basin where the camp was situated. This of course is a very good thing. Usually lakes with that kind of depth harbour larger fish due to the cooler temperatures and abundance of soft finned forage. How would Ribes produce for us? Time would tell, but my confidence was high. A Whole Lotta Walleye As always when I'm prospecting for walleye on a new lake I'll generally troll a worm harness and bottom bouncer. No walleye worth his salt can refuse one. It took all of 5 minutes for Riley to strike paydirt, first with a walleye, then a thick bodied pike: <iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/9KyGzZZ4lT8" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> As is typically the case once concentrations of fish are found I'll switch to lighter tackle and jigs, either drifting with the wind or many times anchored. Ribes proved to be an outstanding jig lake... Perfection Our first evening was utopian. While Dan and I shared a few drinks outside with the bbq sizzling, the kids lounged together on one of the top bunks. After dinner Riley and I headed to a nearby shoal and layed a beatdown on the walleye. Probably 60 in total in a very short period of time. No monsters but it was fast and furious... <iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/cVfwTSeLvSw" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> With the sun sinking low on the horizon we lit a fire, poured a couple of drinks and watched as the kids roasted half a bag of marshmallows (yes, they were up late that night HAHA!) The Amazing Mano As mentioned the kid is a natural. Dan and Mano did quite well themselves with the kid catching most of the larger fish. He even let dad catch one or two: Sunburns Sore Arms And Cut Fingers Sun kissed days and cool evenings made the rest of the trip a pure joy. We had a couple of short showers during our stay, but they never lasted long. The walleye enslaught continued unabated and we caught fish literally at will. By the second day my fingers were shredded and covered in bandages, but you'll never hear me complain about that! Ribes lake definitely did not disappoint. With the fishing so easy we began to experiment a bit with crankbaits and once again the Purpledesent Shad Rap was deadly. I'm not sure what it is about this lure, but time and again, especially in deeper shield lakes, it's proven its worth. <iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/EyA1_FUFegk" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> I enjoyed every minute spent in the boat with my girl, and with a bit of guidance she was soon taking some pretty decent pictures. Continued...

I've been using those sleeves for a couple of seasons Lew, I agree they're a great product.

You guys are the best, problem solved! Wish I would have asked for help 10 hours ago.

I'd have posted this in the computer section, but I need help fast. I'm a rank amateur as far as dowloading music goes and I can't figure this out. Been screwing around with it on and off all day and I'm about to lose my mind LOL! This is a link to non copywrited soundtrack on youtube. I need it for the report I'm putting together on my latest trip. If someone could download the music then email me the file at [email protected] I will be ETERNALLY grateful.

As a weather guy I love these kinds of spectacles. Last night at the Hamilton airport the show in the sky above was unreal. Great billowing purple/black clouds with multiple bolts of lightning shooting out from inside. When it passed directly overhead I thought maybe an alien spacecraft was landing LOL! Very cool pic's both of you guys! (And they're not mammatus, they're cumulosarcoma )

That's where things start to get dicey navigating upstream, definitely heavy water. It can be done though. That neckdown where you caught the large walleye is a natural spot, not surprised you hit paydirt there. Crazy bottom in that spot too, lots of ups and downs and big jagged rocks...

Looks like a great time and worthy cause. Kudos to everyone involved!

Great stuff! Did you and your bro wander very far upstream? With this years high water there's a lot of river to explore.

Outstanding Ryan, you and everyone else involved in the event deserve a huge THANK YOU! (Your little girl is a charmer )

What a beautiful campsite. Nice to see the smiles on the kids faces, great report!

The mystery of how Stonehenge was erected has been solved.

If you're strictly looking at actual campgrounds or parks check out Wakami Lake Provincial Park, it's beautiful. Bit of a drive..but it's so secluded and lightly used, a true gem. Really good fishing and hiking trails as well. Only drawback since it's more of a primitive and less used park is no showers. However a couple of solar shower bags hung in a tree works for me.

Well, while I was away in Wawa last week my property has been infested with these things. Every single shrub in my yard is covered with them except for the ornamental Japanese maple. How ironic is that.

Pete Bowman and Angelo Viola filmed an episode at Eddie's camp in late May. Not sure when it'll air, but I'll be looking forward to seeing it. By all accounts fishing was kind of tough for them, although they got a couple of larger fish. I think they had the wrong guide.

Hey, if it means all your posts will be in the form of a Limerick then I'm all for it!

As a Hamiltonian it's nice to see. But seriously, those fish will never be edible. What else are walleye good for? Hopefully they eliminate the massive cormorant population before the stocking. Doubt it though.

I love your posts.

HAHA! Glad to hear you'd go back. Ribes had some negatives (smaller lake, very small basic cabin), but it's an incredibly beautiful lake and the fishing is amazing. I'll post a full report in due time. It's definitely a great destination! Regarding Hawk Air it takes a lot to set me off. I'm currently still seething about what happened and am "considering" airing my issues with them in a separate thread.

He has an obvious upside. If the return was reasonable what's the problem? There's not that many options floating around out there.

How can anyone criticise a rumoured trade when no one knows what the Leafs would be giving up? Seriously

Without getting into any details publicly I had huge issues with Hawk Air this past trip. And this isn't the first time either unfortunately. Martin will likely offer his guests the choice of flying out of either Hawk Junction or Chapleau, at least that's what he said today. 90% of his customers are now from southern Ontario so flying out of Chapleau is a huge bonus. Regardless of distances involved you couldn't pay me to fly with Hawk Air ever again LOL!

Thanks for posting and I'm glad to hear your trip went well! I just got back from Ribes lake with my daughter last night, had a great time as well. Talking to Martin the big bonus is that "maybe" he'll be flying out of Chapleau now rather than Hawk Junction. For those coming from southern ON that's 11/2 hours less driving.

I had no clue the other ones were mnade in the same plant! There was an older gentleman who took me on a tour a while back, white haired and looked about 100 years old. He'd apparantly been working there since they the Sportspals came out in the 40's.

HAHAHA! Looks like fun gentlemen. I think you've got your wish regarding the heat Will, today is going to be disgusting. I can't take this humidity. I'm leaving for Wawa tonight, hopefully it'll be cooler. Cheers