Pikeslayer8

My Report At Northern Wilderness Outfitters at 4:45 am for a 5:00 flight on June 4th 2012. I gave everyone at the outfitters some of my homemade mustard. Got to camp by 7:30 and on the lake by 10:45 after enjoying some brats and packing some lunch meat sandwiches for on the lake. The lake level rose some 2' in the last week or so and was over the dock. Tremendous influx of water had me worried about the fishing not to mention the early spring and ice out. Fishing with youngest son Bradley. Went to a favorite spot on the lake and we were not disappointed. We laid into scads of 14"-16" good eaters and the action was nonstop. After a shore lunch of sandwiches, we headed off to a spot over by the trapper's camp to see if they were in there. No walleyes to be found. Went around the corner to another spot and got into some bigger gals ranging from 20"-25"ers. We closed out the day at the narrows where the fish weren't exactly jumpin in the boat but felt like we had a pretty good handle on where the action is for the rest of the week. Winds were predominately from the SW, temps were 65-75 and water temp was 58*. Came back to camp to find a propane issue where the fridge and freezer were not working. They had a different 4 tank propane setup whereas 1 of the 4 tanks was empty and it took a bit to figure out. Fish fry tonight was awesome with the pasta salad and baked beans. Day 2 on June 5th brought a wind change out of the east at 5-10 mph, partly cloudy, temps 65-75*. Again fished with Bradley. Fishing was still pretty good, but we had to work a bit harder. In the morning, we went back to my favorite morning spot on the lake and did well. Had an excellent fish fry for lunch and went back to the Corner for pig walleyes. On the way back to camp, I stopped over at the old Trapper's Camp just to find out if it was still there or if it had been destroyed like the park superintendent had suggested earlier. Pleased to report that it is still there, untouched. Also found that Brad, our pilot, lives very close to the Trapper's wife in Dinorwic. Small world. Dinner was smoked pork chop with fresh asparagus and hollandaise sauce with sweet potato fries. Apple peach pies topped it off. Trapper's Camp Day 3 on June 6th with similar weather as the day before. Today, I'm with older son Brett. Back to my favorite morning spot only to experience something new for me. Within ten minutes of arrival, I hooked into a sturgeon. Man o man, what an epic battle! Of all my 6 rod setups that I had in the boat with me, I was using my lightest ultralite with 6# fireline. This monster fish was lugging me all over this fishing hole. I got it up to the top twice and got a good look at it. She was snagged in the side and appeared to be between 60"-70" and I would guess between 40 and 50 pounds. At one point, she exploded clear out of the water and almost landed in my son Bradley's lap in another boat. I fought this beaut of a fish for 45 minutes and I thought I had her till her last bull rush of a run. Snap! Luckily, I was able to enjoy the magnificent Walleye Tacos for lunch. Muy bueno. After lunch, we fished a main lake reef only to lose my alabama rig, right away. Hey, I've never professed to be a good fisherman. Dinner was giant hamburgers (flavorburgers) with fettucinne alfredo and foil wrapped onions with bacon and blue cheese. Yummy. Day 4 on June 7th was hot, I mean blazing hot with winds out of SE. Fishing with my brother Bob and again at my fav. morning spot, I'd bet we both caught 80 fish apiece starting off with 6 doubles. Lots of fun! Lunch was the Blue Cheese Linguine with Buffalo Walleye. Went to Rusty's Back Door in the afternoon and had good success. Fished some new to us spots over there that panned out nicely. Dinner was a new dish for us. At lunch, we quickly prepped some boneless country pork ribs with some canned tomatoes and sauerkraut and put it in the oven at 250* so it was ready when we got back, allowing for more time on the lake. Great idea of my brother. Day 5 on June 8th was much cooler, 55-70*. Again fishing with Bob and again starting out at my favorite fishing spot and again just catching hand over fist. It was rumored that my nephew John had caught 300 fish this day. I would not be surprised. For lunch, we had Walleye Chowder and for dinner we had Beef Tenderloin Steaks 3" thick. Day 6 on June 9th is fly out day. Scheduled for a 2:00pm flight. We got out for a few hours fishing in the Narrows with my nephew Bob. By this time, our anger level at the fish was a bit low and was just good to be out on the lake. (Is that what one says that just caught 2 fish all morning?) Back at camp at 10:00 for a big breakfast before camp teardown and cleanup. We clean out boats and mop and scrub cabin and were ready by 1:30. After waiting till 4:30 and no sign of plane, we used the sat phone to call the outfitter. Found out of a big fog bank between us and them delayed things for about 4 hours. Got my butt kicked in cards. Baby Loons Addl. Photos Netting a pike 4 boats away I felt honored to leave this picture of my Dad who so loved this place. We were catching walleye in 5'-20' of depth mainly fishing eddies on moving water. As far as colors go, I feel that white on white and white on pink were the best colors for the first few days. Green was better than chartreuse and when it was overcast and darker, I felt that orange was good. I really liked using my homemade salted minnows. Thanks for watching

I know of a group that was in Wabakimi several years back that were there when a fire was on the lake. The fire eventually made it to the peninsula that the cabin was on. They used the water pump and sprayed the roof of the cabin and surrounding area till the fire fighters got there saving the cabin. And yes, their trip was free as were a few more. Maybe fly-in outpost isn't the best option. Some drive in or rail in camps have separate cabins away from the crowds. It would be cheaper and easier to plan.

Yea, Tennessee Guy is spot on. I'm betting that Tennessee Guy has already discovered the meaning of life by now, as many trips that he has made to his little slice of heaven. I think that at this time of year, if you tried to contact the outfitters that I suggested, they would want a minimum party fee. You may want to contact as many of the quality options as possible and request to be on standby for a cancellation. If you could jump on a cancellation and hop a float plane with another party that is staying close to a lake where you could get into, it may work. With the fires going on right now, there could be a number of cancellations as a particular lake may be under fire warning and the outfitter may want someone like you to protect his camp, if it is accessible. Adventure.

I would go to Wabakimi with Pipestone Outfitters. They have a little 4 person max camp there. http://www.pfo.net/wabakimi-lake-emo-ontario-canadian-fishing-trip.htm My other idea is to fly in to Pipio, a small lake just off Shikag, but you would probably have to go to Ft Francis to get the flight. NWO has a crazy 4 man camp on this lake that does have access to Shikag. http://www.northernwilderness.net/lakes/pipio-dasant

Really nice form. That works for me when do we eat!

I am a big fan of the Jays. I like how this team is built and how hard they play. Bautista is starting to heat up and if the umpires will ever give Hendo Alvarez a called 3rd strike this team could really make some noise. The Bills are just going to gouge the Toronto fans outta their money.

Yea, I think she blamed the color as well. What was I thinkin?

Other than that of course. Lol At least it shut her up for a few minutes.

The only problem with using a mouse for bait is that the mouse dies almost immediately when put on the hook. My wife insisted that she gets to fish with the mouse I caught.

Pike works just as good.

You are absolutely correct! Fly-in's we just go with the tube biscuits.

Gee, I don't know if two 16"ers will work. Might want to play it safe and go with three 15"ers. Thanks for the kind words.

Maybe Lol

On those days when the weather is tough, you know, when ya gotta pee on your fingers just to re-tie a knot, I like to warm up with Walleye Chowder. This recipe is simple and forgiving, perfect for us camp chefs in the bush For 8 hungry fishermen Ingredients: 2 -17" walleyes, filleted and diced into 1/2 cubes or so 6 or 7 cans of cream of potato soup 1# bacon 1 or 2 large onions diced 5 or 6 stalks celery diced Heavy cream or 1/2 & 1/2 or milk Tobassco Cook the bacon crisp and set aside. Retain half of the grease and put into the camp pot. First throw the diced celery and cook down about 2 minutes and then throw in the onion and cook down a bit more. (Not quite clear) Add the cubed walleye and cut the heat some. At this point a beer is highly recommended. Put all the canned soup in and use your cream to clean out the remnants left in the can. I often use the cream 1/2 & 1/2 and milk as not to stress the supply of my dairy. Crumble the bacon and toss in. Cook this on low heat for about 15 more minutes making sure it doesn't stick too bad on the bottom of the crappy camp pot. Give her several shots of tobassco and put the bottle on the table. I want more. I like to garnish with green onion on top of each bowl served. Enjoy. Man o man it just doesn't get any better.

Yup, I've got to agree with Solo. Been on over 40 fly-ins with the last 30 being the first week of June. We used to just take crawlers and minnows, but I firmly believe that the crawler is a preferred meat of early season walleye. Minnows are a hassle for us Yankee folk. I did make up a little supply of salted minnows last weekend using my own recipe. I will also pick up about a pound and half of leeches again. Have a great trip!

That sounds soooooooo good! Love the concept. For me, I will prep all this and get it in the fridge at lunch and pull it out fot a dinner appetizer. Thanks for sharing.

Thanks Johnnyb, I'm planning on making more adventures in a month. Man, I envy you guys. These little trout here in Colorado just don't do it for me. Need me some fish with teeth.

Woodenboater, You are right on the money. I sent an email that was unanswered to the park superintendent. I tried to relate my thoughts about destroying this somewhat historic structure. To look at it now, yes, it is not much to see. One needs to think about what kind of person has the fortitude to not only build a structure like that, but to live in it during the winter months. The isolation and seclusion has a magical charm all of it's own. The cabins that Wendall Beckwith built on Best Island on Whitewater lake are an even better example. This was truly some of the most classic of all of Ontario's recent history that will fade into oblivion. This is one of my favorite you tube videos of all time featuring Kevin Callun I'm guessin from Toronto. Kinda silly in parts, but the Beckwith Cabins at the end of the video are truly remarkable. Solo, if you haven't seen this already, its a must see!

Truly one of the most amazing and harrowing stories to have ever come out of Wabakimi!!!!!!!!! Was there much fire on the leg between Granite and Wabakimi? The portage you describe is called Sturgeon Falls. When I first started going to Wabakimi, there used to be a partial built tiny cabin type structure on the west side just past the falls. I believe that it was built be a canoeist who could not make it through the falls intact. Back in those days, I found more than one canoe snapped in two in the bush. Shooting those rapids could have been a fatal mistake in a forest fire. I'm sure as you are running back to get your second pack, you were questioning your decision of not just shooting the rapids. I'm glad you did what you did because the alternative could have been............. In relation to the Trapper's Camp location from where you camped, The trappers camp is about 7 km due west. If you were to look on google maps, it would be center lake north at the bunny tail. (the bay shaped like a jackrabbit) Hey, if ya feel like doing that crazy assed paddle thing again next month, I'll be there. Wouldn't that be cool. This is what the camp looked like last year.

When my group first started going to Wabakimi in the mid 70's, we came across the Trapper's Camp in all it's glory. This camp was well constructed. The trapper built many smaller huts as well. One for storing traps, One for curing hides, nice crapper, and a very cool sauna. Also, he built this awesome live well(close to the boat) with live bait traps. The camp was locked the first few times that we would snoop around. In 1983 we did access the cabin as we could tell that the camp had been abandoned. We respectively looked around and saw some old books and children's toys and we lucked upon an old paper with a name and Armstrong address on it. A man from my hometown who regularly comes into camp after us wrote to the trapper asking him what is the story. The trapper whose name is Joel writes back and tells us that he is from Council Bluffs Ia. and built the camp when he got back from Vietnam. Disillusioned from the reception he received, he married an Ojibway gal and worked this trapline based in Wabakimi. This is all that we knew till recently. On my anniversary trip this past fall to Caribou Lake, I had the pleasure of spending an extra day in Armstrong. Ever the snoop, I asked around town about Joel the trapper. I found out that yes he lived in Armstrong all these years after leaving Wabakimi working his own business as a forester but had just recently moved to Thunder Bay. Dead end. I was told that "the trapper's wife" name is Mary and that she lives near Dryden in Dinorwic. Upon arriving back home I did a google search for both Joel and Mary (out of respect I am not including last names). No luck on Joel, but I was able to find Mary. I found out that Mary is an environmental scientist for Independent First Nations Alliance. We have exchanged many emails since. I found out many interesting things about her life. While yes, she is an Ojibway woman and, I believe, very beautiful in her Wabakimi years, she did have 2 young children whose names are Jason and Sarah. The children of Wabakimi. This Wabakimi family lived there for 5 years from 1976-1981. An excerpt from one of her emails: " I have wonderful but also sad memories of life there. Joel would be running his line sometimes for 5 days at a time. Me and Jason and Sarah would take care of the place – you are right it was home school every school day morning and then splitting and hauling in firewood and water in the afternoons. We lived there from September to spring breakup with a trip out in the winter to visit family. All our food for those months was purchased ahead – I made bread every Monday. We did spend parts of the summer there also – but we had to go out and work at tree planting and working for outfitters near Armstrong for extra money. Basically, at Wabakimi, I think I lived like the many women in my family who have been in North America since the late 1600's and the Native American women in my line. My parents were both from Iowa and came from farm families." Since they left, Mary and Joel's daughter Sarah died in a horrible skiing accident in 1994. In 1995, Jason paddled his way back to Wabakimi to spread her ashes. On my last correspondence, Mary related that the Wabakimi Park superintendent told her that they either had, or will, burn down the remains of their old trappers camp. The picture is the oldest one I could find. I believe it was taken in 1990, 9 years of abandonment. The boreal forest is very hard on such a structure! In a month I will find out if it is still there. I sure hope so.

Yep, on a fly-in you need some diversity. Nice form with the bacon wrapped Walleye Kabobs, Kickingfrog. Walleye Chesterfield: Season fillets with some lemon pepper and place on cookie sheet on foil. Make a mixture of mayo and dijon mustard @ 50/50 and spread on top of the fillets. Bake for 5 minutes @ 375 and put a slice of sharp cheddar cheese on top, bake another 5 minutes. I like to use the broiler for the final minute or so. At my old restaurant, I made a version of this using salmon and yes it was called Salmon Chesterfield.

MB, your kids are spectacular. Walleye aint bad either. Man, do you ever have the life.

Big congrats Musky Mike. On the board now is your catch of a lifetime!

Nice form.

Big congrats Chris, Beautiful baby girl Grace and proud papa. Might just as well forget about fishing for awhile.