solopaddler

No paddling at all to get to the lake Harold. It's a 12km hike almost entirely uphill to reach the destination lake. No trail per say, but there's definite landmarks for us to follow and with gps and maps we'll be fine. We're packing in float tubes which weigh less than 10lb's rather than a canoe. Not ideal, but you live with the hand you're dealt. Regardless of how difficult it is I won't be posting any specifics. The trout fishing is so good in there people would definitely take the plunge.

For real eh? That's interesting.

You can't put hard liquor in a nalgene dumb dumb. Huh? Well obviously nobody brings in regular rice. Beyond the fact it takes forever to cook, it's also too heavy. Instant rice on the other hand weighs absolutely nothing. It's always been a staple for me even on my long trips. If for example you have 1 cup of minute rice, boil 1 cup of water in a small pot, take it off the heat, throw in the rice, cover, and in 5 minutes it's done. You can eat it like that but I'll generally throw it in the pan at that point with some chunked up fish, some seasoning and a bit of oil and fry it up. Being a coffee freak I've tried every method under the sun. I like using a small lightweight french press at times, but when weight and space is of the utmost importance I use the Starbucks Via instant coffee. Yeah, yeah, I know, instant. BUT this stuff is unlike anything you've ever tried before trust me. It's obscenely expensive but you honestly can't tell the difference from fresh perked. It's absolutely amazing. A few more things I consider essential: A tarp. And not the traditional heavy Canadian Tire variety. You can now buy ultalight nylon tarps at places like M.E.C. that weigh absolutely nothing. Unless I'm on a seriously long expedition I always have a single burner camp stove. The lightest are the MSR Whisperlite or anything else (there are many) of a similar design. That is, a separate fuel tank attached to a small collapsable burner via a hose of some type. They are indeed light...but fact is I hate them all LOL! Perhaps it's because of the amount of use I give them, I'm hard on equipment, but this style of stove has given me nothing but problems. You have to prime them, the jets constantly clog as does the pump. They're a wee bit heavier, but if you can find one the old Coleman Peak 1 stoves are fantastic. They also make a multi fuel version of the same stove that's great...you can run unleaded gas in it. They're a single burner stove with an integrated fuel tank all in one. No priming, and absolutely bombproof. These stoves will never let you down. A couple other things I use is lexan cutlery and lightweight plastic dishes. That may be obvious to many, but maybe not. The cutlery especially weighs nothing compared to standard stainless steel and they're incrdibly durable. Most every food item and practically anything else that needs to be packed gets repacked into appropriate sized freezer zip lock bags. Again that may seem obvious, but maybe not. When you're in the bush you'll need some kind of navigational aid. First and foremost, no matter where I go, even Algonquin Park, I Always HAVE THE APPROPRIATE 1:50,000 series topo maps. They show every single detail and are a must imo. You can either buy the actual maps online at a variety of sources, or buy map software for your computer such as the Ontario topo50 series from softmaptechnologies.com You can then pull up what you need and print it off at home. A compass is still a useful back up, but these days a small handheld GPS with the according topo map software for your area added to it makes navigation a breeze. Another thing to consider is water. Some guys will treat the lake water with chlorine tablets or iodine. Many times I'll simply scoop it from the middle of the lake (less chance of windblown bacteria) and drink it untreated. A REALLY great idea though are the tiny compact water filters that screw right into the lid of a standard nalgene. You can literally throw the hose into a rancid swamp and in a couple of minutes you'll fill that 1 litre bottle with sparkling clean drinking water. Here's the one I have: http://www.mec.ca/AST/ShopMEC/HikingCamping/WaterTreatment/WaterFilters/PumpFilters/PRD~5001-239/msr-miniworks-ex-water-filter.jsp There's lots more, but that's enough for now.

I've spent literally months and months travelling in the bush and I've never carried either a saw or a hatchet. The tree huggers may not like this but...when I'm tripping through a lake looking for a campsite I keep an eye out for beaver lodges. Once camp is set up I paddle back and raid the lodge. Those wrist thick bleached white pieces of wood burn fantastically. Alternatively there's always driftwood along the shoreline. Dead cedar branches...completely orange will burn even when wet. They're great firestarters. As are pine cones. A small mesh bag that cinches up and a length of light rope serves two very important purposes. First a small round rock inside the bag makes a great anchor for fishing. Second, when it's hot out and surface temps are warm, fill your nalgene with whatever you're drinking and put it in the bag with a rock or two and sink it down below the thermocline. Wait an hour or two and even in the dead of summer you can enjoy an ice cold drink. Speaking of drinks I'm partial to Crystal Light drink crystals especially the ice tea. Yes, there's no sugar or calories, but I get my calories elsewhere. The stuff weighs absolutely nothing. Pretty important when you're carrying everything on your back. A lightweight thermarest sleeping pad is worth carrying in if you want to be comfortable. On my long trips I used a thermarest Ridgerest pad. It's a super lightweight closed cell foam pad. A tad bit bulkier than an inflatable thermarest...but waaaay lighter and just as comfortable imo. I always bungied it to the stern seat of my canoe when portaging. The tiny bit of weight helps keep the nose of the boat up when carrying. An LED headlamp is now essential as far as I'm concerned. There's nothing better for cooking or putzing around at night. For what it's worth I'm headed up to the Algoma region next week for 5 days myself. Packing 12km into a brookie lake with no real trail to follow. Obviously weight will be an extreme factor so it'll be a float tube less than 7lb's rather than a canoe, and a lightweight tarp and ground sheet instead of a tent. As far as I'm concerned Wayne was bang on with the Scotch idea too. Although I'm partial to dark rum. There's plenty of lightweight flasks on the market made for just this purpose. Personally after a killer hard day it's pretty damn nice to have sitting around the fire. There's plenty more things I can add about cutting weight, but I need to get the kids in bed. I'll come back to this post later.

Well done sir, some nice fish there!

For your very first attempt your casting skills aren't half bad Miro. Great video!

You're also right on the doorstep of Algonquin Park as well. And everyone knows there's no fish there either.

I have to admit the idea baiting an area, still fishing with corn, dough, or whatever, using euro style tackle with little buzzer alarms holds zero interest for me. All that effort for a carp! This however sheds a whole new light on the sport! You sir may have single handedly sparked an interest in carp fishing in me. Very very cool!

Thanks Mike, that was much needed therapy...for me.

Even if it breaks it'll be over the counter warranty. You'll love the rod Harold, no worries.

Harold if you want to hedge your bets bring a few minnow traps in with you and set them in likely spots around the lake. (In front of beaver dams, the mouth of a small inflowing creek, etc...). As a resident of Ontario you're well within your rights to do this. Our Yankee friends are forced to pay to have minnows flown in if they really feel the need. Personally on a fly in with strict weight limits minnows are the last thing I'd fly in, but each to their own. I loathe to flat out contradict anyone, but I believe they're completely unneccesary. It goes without saying that minnows will work...obviously they will. But no one can possibly tell me that they'll do any better than a jig and worm especially in June. For what it's worth there's two times of the year when I consider minnows essential, and I'm talking pressured water here, not fly in lakes. Very early in the season and very late. Early season, small minnows, late season, post turnover, huge minnows. Of course the only way the non believers will convert, they'd have to be shown the light in person. Which isn't likely going to happen.

Looks great Cliff!

I've still got a few that I use, mostly for the kids. I like them a lot and can honestly say I've never had an issue. Also have 3 HMG AV rods that are outstanding. They outperform my more expensive St. Croix's imo. On the other hand I've had 3 separate Shimano Compre rods break for no particular reason. And these are rods that are universally liked. It's funny how opinions can differ so greatly LOL!

The amount of anodized colors available in standard aluminum reel seats compared to skeleton is huge. Your buddy up in Caledonia has cut hundreds, mostly because what he wanted wasn't available in a skeleton seat. And no I never have enough rods.

Thanks Erik, glad you enjoyed. I'm working on it feverishly. Any chance you have any pull with my wife? LOL! Throwing soft plastics for giant pike way in the back end of Gull bay?

Well actually...many times J.C. cut the metal barrel out of a standard aluminum reel seet, then turned wood to fit. And yes regardless of whether it's a skeleton seat or not the wood is turned down so that it slides inside the metal reel seat fittings. Pretty incredible work as per usual! The green dyed wood looks great. Wish I had a matching wood winding check on mine. Next build for sure.

Nice fish, but the setting is spectacular!

Wait a minute...there's actually traffic up there? I'm guessing if you drove the Q.E.W. every day your head would spontaneously burst into flames.

Sneaky buggers.

Kudos to Ben, well deserved indeed!

Glad to see you had success buddy. Love the shot with the giant stogy LOL!

Well....actually it's funny you say that Tyler. Was talking about a trip up there later in May!

You should be beat up pretty well by the end of the week Harold.

I was thinking the same thing actually. Mine are just rough estimates.

Well actually 1080 walleyes between 8 guys on a week long trip is pretty crappy fishing. LOL! That works out to 135 fish per man for the week or 19 fish per man each day. On most trips we'll put well over 100 in each boat every day if we work at it...easy. Guess you should have used some worms!