gordy28

Glad people are enjoying Dan - we looked at shipping as well but ended up coming up w a plan where we only had to pay for 3 over sized packages between us which was almost the same price as shipping As I mentioned in the blog we all knew we would be flying about 15 months ahead of the trip and signed up for new credit cards and then slowly racked up the points - I was able to cover my flight cost via points (including taxes/fees) and so did the other guys which helped with the cost Cheers Andrew

For sure. I did that once going to Miminiska Lodge w Wilderness North. Was a sweet way to go. They picked us up at the airport took us to the hotel and then got us in the am to go back to the airport to fly to the lodge. Sweet but was expensive

For our trip this year we did something different - flew commercially to Thunder Bay and then drove a rental car to Sioux Lookout (our jump off point) This was a hotly debated subject leading up to the trip as we had always driven the entire run in the past I put together a list of the pros and cons and what our groups new preference would be and put it up on the blog https://www.northernjacks.com/post/driving-versus-flying-commercial-on-your-fly-in-fishing-trip Thanks for checking it out Andrew

For sure - the bulk of my Kawartha experience was spent on Balsam, a little bit on Sturgeon One of these days I am buying a small aluminum boat to be hauled around various lakes in the area

Looks like a great outing - fall fishing can really be spectacular (although my two outings have only delivered dink smallies and a rock bass lol) Andrew

That looks like a great day and a reminder to me to pencil a day trip St Clair for 2021 Thanks for sharing

Lew - FYI confirmed that my folks camped (or as the Scot's called it back then Caravanned) at the Lakefield Campground by the dam Cheers Andrew

Lew I am not sure. I will ask them it is a nice area for sure. I went past there a few years ago visiting a friend and drove right past Katchawanooka

Too funny. My family used to camp at Lakefield all the time before they ended up buying trailers and moving into the Park. Was an amazing place to spend time as a kid cheers Andrew

Channel surfing the other day I ended up coming across an older episode on Trailer Prak Boys A few days later I saw a few posts on this site about finding a seasonal trailer Growing up I spent a huge chunk of my life heading up to my parents trailer at Sandy Beach Trailer Park on Balsam Lake It's where I learned to fish, drive a boat, water ski and build a fire. I am certain its a huge reason I have continued to spend a lot of time heading North as an adult https://www.northernjacks.com/post/trailer-park-boy Thanks for reading (and to Tomkat - thanks for the inspiration!) Cheers Andrew

Growing up the Mitchell 300 was the reel! My Pop and Dad both used them and my brother and I saved up our pennies to buy our own. We still have two of them gathering dust in my folks basement from back in the day Good memories - thanks for sharing Andrew

My folks (and I) spent almost 40 years at Sandy Beach on Balsam Lake They do have a good boat dock area but they are not covered slips Cheers Andrew

Spend time on any forum that talks about fly in trips or back wood excursions and the topic of a good portable sonar comes up On our Root Bay trip this summer 3 of the members of our group had bought the Humminbird Helix 5 portables Leveraging our experience that week and some of the guys experience using the units in their kayaks or personal boats I put up a review https://www.northernjacks.com/post/product-review-humminbird-helix-5-gps-g2-portable Thanks! Andrew

Man that’s a huge clean looking fish congrats to your nephew Andrew

I first found OFC community researching our first ever fishing trip. I love reading trip reports and when available user reviews of resorts, lodges and products. Trips aren't cheap and in some cases neither is gear and reading user generated opinions really helped our group take the plunge. A big reason I started to blog was to pay it forward and ideally help others make their first trip or catch their first fish or buy a fishing kayak. With that in mind I wrote my first outfitter review (hopefully many more to come, health, wealth and wife allowing) I also tried my hand at a cabin walkthru of the Root Bay Outpost (forgive my camera work - first effort!) - its embedded in the post https://www.northernjacks.com/post/outfitter-review-slate-falls-outposts Cheers Andrew

Reflecting on summer (hoping there is still a lot of time before snow kicks in) I realized how nice it was to be able to get away to the cottage a few times Pre pandemic I travelled a lot for work . I always found the idea of "cottaging" to be very Ontario centric. Probing further I realized that most did some form of "cottaging" - it just wasn't called that My ode to the cottage is up https://www.northernjacks.com/post/weekend-oasis Thanks for reading Andrew

I was finally able to bear down and get the full trip report done It's a big one but I always find it enjoyable to pull it together as it extends the memories of the trip Our trip was a good one, maybe our best Full of surprises good (We saw a bear) and bad (Our flight from Toronto to Thunder Bay was a gong show), plenty of fish, beautiful scenery and best of all great company It's been and continues to be a long strange year with Covid so a week in paradise to fish was a welcome respite https://www.northernjacks.com/post/stick-a-pin-in-it-lake-st-joseph-trip-report Cheers Andrew

Congrats on the new rig - looks sweet Hopefully many fish big and small come over the gunnels (not sure if a pontoon has gunnels but you get the gist) Have you name him or her yet? In my mind every good vessel requires a worthy name Cheers Andrew

Few things I have noticed this summer: Crazy amount of campers, boaters and RV's on the highway (considering no US travellers, limited out of province travellers) going to the cottage and even on our drive from Thunder Bay to Sioux Lookout Bass Pro and Sail were picked clean when it came to fishing and camping gear Doing a few small kayak trips locally I have noticed more people out than previous summers even though many parks are offering reservations Spending time on the water at the cottage I saw more fisherman out than I have in the past 3 summers combined On the flip side I have noticed many for lease or going out of business signs in smaller, local main streets which is very sad. Chatting with a few different outfitters I know that many are in tight this year and may not be able to survive another summer without American guests Strange times indeed. Hope everyone can stay safe and where possible buy local Cheers Andrew

Nice fish - thanks for sharing, looks like a great way to spend a few days Andrew

Newest post is up Summer this year was different for most if not all of us I am sure I found myself spending more time outside and up North than previous years with the family which was great I even tried a few new things and was reminded that I need to do it more My ode to new things: https://www.northernjacks.com/post/just-say-yes Cheers Andrew

Newest post is up - it’s a video journal along with some pictures of our fly in fishing trip to Lake St Joseph with Slate Falls Outposts We stayed at their Root Bay camp and it was an unbelievable week Warning: video is a lot of my ugly mug talking but ideally it will give those who have never done a fly in an overview of what the week was like and for those who have done it before some perspective on Slate Falls Outposts and the Root Bay camp (Thumbs up all around) https://www.northernjacks.com/post/root-bay-2020-video-journal Thanks for checking it out and some new photos below for posterity Andrew

Nice fish and thanks for sharing I love the flicker shads for walleye and it sounds like I need to invest in some Flicker Minnows as well! Cheers Andrew

Newest post is up! Review of my Garmin E Trex 10 which I recently used quite a bit on our fly in trip to Root Bay this past week Overall I am happy with the unit especially when considering the cost and the run time I get out of 2 AA batteries https://www.northernjacks.com/post/garmin-etrex-10-handheld-gps-product-review Trip reports and such will be up soon but I did post a short video of our flight into the Root Bay on the website – its on the home page near the bottom A few pictures below as well for posterity lol Cheers Andrew

I love mine as well. In terms of heat on our recent trip we had some warmer days (21 to 23 degrees) where rain was circling. I found the bibs fine w shorts underneath and kept jacket in the dry bag in case it did rain (which it did lol)