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This past year I ran a contest through Ontario Out Of Doors magazine for two lucky winners to join me on a 4 night fly in fishing trip with Park’s Fly In Fishing in Wawa to their Anjigaming Lake outpost camp. Anjigaming as many of you know is one of my favourite fly in destinations and being intimately familiar with it would help us put fish in the boat especially on a short trip. The contest was an overwhelming success with a huge number of entries and in early May the winner was chosen, Jim Derro a resident of northern Ontario and an avid outdoorsman. Calling Jim to congratulate him it was instantly obvious that he was both an eminently likeable chap and a keen angler to boot. In retrospect I don’t think I could have hand picked a better person although I do believe most anglers are kindred spirits at heart. Sometimes the best laid plans are prone to change, and this was one of those instances. Over the winter Park’s was able to acquire 16 new outpost camps from Air Dale Flying Services, some of the camps being of the deluxe variety with hot/cold running water and showers. With an expanded list of lakes to choose from it was decided we’d switch venues to the newly acquired Apisabigo Lake camp. Apisabigo is a gorgeous single cabin outpost on a beautiful rocky, structure filled lake located within the Chapleau Game Preserve. I always enjoy the challenge of new water and Jim was thrilled with the upgrade so it was a bonus for all concerned. The trip was scheduled for late September at the end of my very busy fly in schedule. In my experience this time of year can be either boom or bust with potentially dicey weather and often tough fishing especially if you’re dealing with fall turnover. How would we fare? Time would tell… New Friends And Brilliant Sunshine Driving up from southern Ontario I was accompanied by good friend Jim Valeriote a truly excellent angler in his own right and an all around nice guy. This was a fully guided trip for the contest winners and Jim was a welcome addition to the crew as he would be my right hand man on this trip. Happily it appeared as though we’d won the weather lottery with nothing but clear blue skies and warm temperatures forecasted for next few days. Amazing considering the week before north of Armstrong I’d faced strong winds and even snow one day. Nothing triggers a good bite in the fall like warm stable weather and my optimism was soaring. Jim Derro was bringing his brother Dan along on the trip and after discussing the situation it was decided we’d meet them at a bait shop just west of Sudbury. It was convenient for them and allowed me the chance to grab several dozen oversized minnows. I’m not normally one to bring live bait on a fly in trip, but in my experience walleyes are often found quite deep after turnover has occurred and live minnows are usually irresistible. When guiding I always try and cover all the bases. The guys were right on time and after introductions were made we spent some time packing all of our gear into the bed of the pick up. As I said to the boys, my unscientific rule of thumb is "if it fits in the truck, it’ll fit in the plane”. Fortunately we’d be flying in an Otter rather than the much smaller Beaver. We hit the highway for Wawa and as anglers do we talked fishing the entire way. With the brilliant fall weather and all of us getting along famously it bode well for our trip. I’ve always said that it’s the people that make a trip great and I knew that at the very least I’d just made two new friends. Arriving in Wawa in the early evening we checked into a cabin operated by the Wawa Motor Inn and relaxed over drinks. We hit the sack early after enjoying a good dinner. With a scheduled 7:30am flight into the lake we’d be getting up in the wee hours of the morning… A Perfect Flight And The Hunt For Fish Our outfitter is now using Watson’s Skyways right in Wawa for the air charter making things incredibly convenient. After breakfast and several cups of coffee we made our way over to the airbase on Wawa Lake and unloaded our mountain of gear. Quickly loading we were soon airborne and as you’ll see in this short video clip the weather was as nice it gets in late September. Upon landing we all worked together to get the plane unloaded and in a matter of minutes our pilot bid us adieu and was on his way leaving us alone in the wilderness. Honestly no matter how many times I do this it still gives me a thrill. Perched on a granite rock facing directly west the cabin was a beauty. If nothing else we had ourselves a great place to hang out for a few days! Hustling to unpack we organized the cabin and in short order had our arsenal of rods and reels pieced together on the deck. One of my greatest joys in fishing is successfully figuring out a new body of water. There’s a certain amount of satisfaction that comes with the ability to quickly eliminate unproductive water and figure out what the pattern is. Once the boats were readied it was decided that at least initially Jim V and I would fish together. The idea being we’d quickly run and gun from spot to spot and armed with a boat load of floating markers we’d pinpoint as many high percentage spots as possible. Jim D and his brother Dan would be close by and outfitted with two-way radios we’d be able to communicate with each other. There are always some walleyes inhabiting traditional structure in the 15’-20’ range post turn over, but I’ve always found the larger fish to be in much deeper water, sometimes as deep as 40-60’. This is especially true in deeper shield lakes and Apisabigo is just that. We concentrated our efforts on deep mid lake humps, obvious points falling quickly into deep water and neck down areas. We found fish everywhere. What was surprising at least to me was almost all the walleyes we caught were in less than 20’ of water. The deeper structure held fish, but they were almost exclusively axe handle sized pike. Fun to catch but not what we were looking for. While prospecting for fish Jim and I covered water quickly trolling either deep diving crank baits or 2-3oz bottom bouncers and worm harnesses. Once we found the fish we vertically jigged for them with a variety of 4-5” plastic minnows rigged on a suitable head. We had luck with a variety of baits but the Fin S Fish and the Northland Impulse Minnow were a staple. We also had a second rod rigged with a simple live bait rig - Lindy sinker - fluoro tippet - hook and live minnow. Dropping a minnow down no matter the depth almost always resulted in a bite. In no time at all we had a bunch of productive spots marked and everyone was into fish. It was a perfect first day and we fished until the sun was sinking low on the horizon refusing to give up. Here’s a short video highlighting some of the first day’s action: We had a late dinner that night barbecuing some ribs and burgers at well past 10pm. Lounging on the deck afterwards luxuriating in our success we were elated. I couldn’t have scripted a better first day. Plumbing The Depths And A Back Lake Surprise Up early the next morning the smell of sizzling bacon and coffee perking on the stove soon had everyone up and moving. We were in no rush this morning and coffee in hand we lounged on the deck after breakfast formulating a game plan for the day. It was decided that I’d fish with contest winner Jim D while his brother Dan would fish with Jim V. Now that we’d pinpointed some key spots our plan was to refine our tactics and pass along as much knowledge as possible to the boys, hopefully catching some larger fish in the process. Restless to get going Jim V grabbed a spinning rod and ran down to the dock to cast a jig and twister tail while we watched from the deck. Almost instantly he began to connect with chunky walleye perhaps proving that we really didn’t need to over think things. See that’s the beauty of a fly in fishing trip. Typically the fishing is so good that even rank amateurs can catch fish and for the more experienced angler it’s a perfect opportunity to refine tactics and experiment. Out on the water with Jim D my plan was to scour the deeper basins with heavy jigs and live bait rigs in search of bigger fish. The day before we’d found most of our fish in the 15-20’ range, but the big girls are usually found much deeper in late September and I was loathe to give up. My goal was a trophy for Jim. Keying on these deeper spots it soon became apparent that one vital component was missing. There are two deep basins in the lake, both utterly featureless with a soft muck bottom. This was a huge negative as at least in my experience it’s critical that that the bottom be hard. Either rock or hard packed sand. Just like the previous day we caught numerous fish on rock structure along the fringes of deep water in 15-30’ of water. Sometimes I need to be beaten over the head to have a point driven home, but not this time. With virtually no wind slow trolling deep diving crank baits was a great way to cover water and catch fish. Once a concentration was found we’d sit on top of them with lighter jigs making long casts, allowing them to sink then slowly hopping them back to the boat. Switching locations and tactics we began to put fish in the boat consistently and Jim was a happy camper. As usual I managed to shoot a couple of short videos highlighting the action… Round about 4:30 Jim and I found ourselves at the south end of the lake in a small bay where a creek spilled down a granite rock face into the lake. In the mood to stretch and explore we nosed our boat into the brush and walked a short trail up the hill to an adjacent back lake where we found a boat cached. This is the kind of stuff I live for - exploring new water off the beaten track. This beauty of a lake was far too tempting, but the problem was the days are short in late September and the clock was ticking. Talking about it with Jim he was pretty keen so we decided to go for it (I knew there was a reason I liked the man!). With the thought that this would be an exploratory mission and we’d be back again to fish the lake more thoroughly I zoomed back to camp to grab a second motor and gas tank. Jim stayed behind to carry our rods and tackle up the hill and prepare the boat. It didn’t take long at all and in no time I was back at the creek lugging the motor and gas up the short trail to the lake. Jim had everything ready and I quickly clamped the motor to the transom and we were off. The entire day had been warm, cloudy and windless and there wasn’t a breath of wind as we cruised the lake in search of structure. Watching the graph I quickly criss crossed the lake from end to end looking for something…anything that jumped out at me. Normally wind is a huge aid when fishing new water as the windward shoreline is always a safe bet. With the lake mirror smooth we had to adapt. Pretty much the entire lake was a shallow muddy bowl. Deeply tannin stained with almost no rock or weed there were no obvious spots. The deepest spot I found was a small hole about halfway up the lake that bottomed out at 25 feet. Focussing on this small area we began slowly trolling brightly coloured stickbaits back and forth across the basin. The first hit when it came was almost a shock as I was beginning to think the lake was dead. “I think” Jim muttered, “I’m snagged”. Looking at my graph we were in 20’ of water so I knew it was a fish. Big fish often have an unhurried nonchalance about them and this one was no exception. With Jim’s rod doubled over the fish swam with a purpose directly at the boat while he reeled madly to catch up. Stopping it shook its head and was suddenly unbuttoned. Jim’s line went slack and the fish was gone just like that. We never even got a look at it. Momentarily heart broken we were nonetheless buoyed by the experience. At least we knew the lake held some fish. With renewed confidence we began our pattern of slow trolling the edges of the deep hole and within 15 minutes Jim struck again with another heavy hit, this time there was no doubt! After a short but intense battle I managed to grab a thick bodied 6lb walleye behind the head and hoist it in the boat. Success! I managed to shoot this short video of our back lake action including Jim’s big walleye, have a look! Back at camp Jim V and Dan had enjoyed a stellar day themselves catching crazy numbers of thick bodied walleye dragging jigs across deep structure. Dan had his own share of heartbreak that day losing a heavy fish after a long 10 minute battle. Once again they never got a glimpse. After fishing for so many years those are the fish that really stand out though. It’s always the ones you lose that you remember the most. With everyone in good spirits we poured some drinks, put some beautiful venison tenderloin on the grill and kicked back on the deck. Life was good. Wind, Walleyes And A Late Afternoon Bonanza Lying in my bunk in the wee hours of the morning contemplating coffee and a shower a strange noise shattered my reverie. Wind. I could hear the spruce trees swaying overhead and waves pounding against the granite rock face the camp was perched on. This was a happy turn of events as until now the water had been glass smooth. Maybe, I thought, the big girls will finally turn on. Hopping out of bed I soon had coffee on and the boys were right behind me. We had discussed the possibility of fishing the back lake again right away, but with the wind blowing we held off. While we’d done well on Apisabigo we all believed it had more to offer. Fishing with Jim Derro once again we used the wind to our advantage drifting jigs across likely structure and catching fish almost at will. Tipping the jig with a worm or minnow resulted in a fish or a hit almost every drift. At times we’d run 4 inch plastic minnows like the Fin S Fish clean and caught almost as many. Even on a fly in lake you’re at the mercy of the weather, if the conditions are prime you’re simply going to catch more fish. This was one of those days. With both boats fishing within sight of one another we enjoyed a banner day with plenty of laughs and a lot of sore arms. No giants were caught, but that didn’t matter. In the late afternoon both boats navigated through a shallow rocky narrows at the very south end of the lake, at one point having to lift our motors and paddle through. It opened up into a picture perfect little bay, almost a lake unto itself and was the only part of the lake we hadn’t explored yet. Jimmy V and Dan struck first drifting jigs across the point of a small island. Jim D and I followed suit and soon we were all into fish. By this point it was nearing 5pm and as good as the action was on Apisabigo the back lake was beckoning, especially with the wind blowing. At that point we only had one boat and motor in there and we urged Jim V and Dan to try it out. Surprisingly they declined, as Jim V said “I never leave fish to find fish!”. Normally a good mantra to follow, but in this case I think they were just lazy. Once again Jim D and I hustled over the trail with our rods, expectations running high. The wind was coming directly from the west pounding the east end of the lake the landing was on. Inching our way into the lake we immediately concentrated on a short section of wind blown shoreline not far from the launch. It sure didn’t take long. I think every fish in the lake was prowling that small piece of water! We shot this great little video of some of the highlights, have a look! Jim and I fished until the sun sank below the horizon walking the short trail back to Apisabigo in the dark. We were both ecstatic. Jim because the fishing was off the hook, myself because my number one goal was to make this trip memorable for him. As a guide it’s always gratifying when your client is happy. Back at camp I have to admit we rubbed it in…just a little. It was quickly and unanimously decided that all 4 of us would fish the back lake on our last day. If the expected great weather held we’d even do a shore lunch for the boys. Jim V and I whipped up another great meal, this time bacon wrapped walleye hors d’oevres grilled on the barbecue followed by brontosaurus sized steaks and a great bottle of red wine. Happily sated we hit the sack early, all of us anticipating what tomorrow would bring. A Fantastic Finale With a firm plan already in place we wasted no time in the morning. We sent Jim D and his brother Dan off together to fish Apisabigo while Jimmy V and I readied things for the back lake adventure. Packing a large cooler with refreshments and an oversized Rubbermaid tub with shore lunch essentials we loaded our boat. Along with that we loaded another outboard motor, tied one of the spare boats to the stern and off we went towing it down the lake to the portage. It was hard work, but thankfully the trail isn’t a long one and we soon had the extra boat and motor hauled into the back lake. Setting it up for the guys Jim and I then scoured the lake for the perfect shore lunch spot. Finding one almost immediately we unloaded our provisions on a gorgeous rocky point, built a fire pit and collected a bunch of firewood. With everything ready we headed back to the landing just in time to meet Jim and Dan. We’d told them to come at 10am and they were right on time. Being our last day and having already figured things out pretty well Jim and his bro elected to fish together leaving Jimmy and I to our own devices. Once again it was another windy day and not surprisingly the fishing was steady if not spectacular. Jim D connected first with another chunky specimen once again trolling a stickbait around the fringes of the same deep trough we’d discovered on our first outing. The rocky shoreline where we’d killed them the evening before wasn’t producing. With bright bluebird skies the fish weren’t in the shallows yet even with the wind. Jim V and I simply moved out a little further into the lake and began to pick off fish consistently, some trolling, and some surprisingly on the jig. I say surprisingly because as mentioned earlier most of the lake bottom is comprised of a thick layer of black muck and marl. Every time you’d drop a jig to the bottom it would instantly be covered in the most hideous morass of muck and rotted vegetation. Watching the graph closely it was obvious that pods of fish were down there, but they weren’t hugging the bottom, they were suspended 3-6’ off. We’d find these small pods then catch a couple as we trolled over them. After landing the fish we’d be blown off the spot then had to search for them again. They were highly localized. Finding another pod I dropped a 4” twister tail down then worked it 2-3’ above the marl. It was like turning on a switch as almost instantly I had a heavy hit that felt like I was suddenly attached to a finned cannonball. It was a new experience for me - jigging above the soft muck bottom, but it produced and will stand out as a highlight for me. Anytime you can figure out a new tactic, something you’ve never done before it’s a good thing! Having kept a few eater sized walleye we all headed for the shore lunch spot around 1pm. Jim V got the fire going while I filleted the fish and battered them. I think it’s almost impossible to cook walleye in a bad way - it all tastes good. But for those that are interested I have particular method that I’ve settled on over the years that produces the crispiest, crunchiest, tastiest fish ever - in my humble opinion. First the walleye needs to be filleted into small pieces and they can’t be too thick! Dredge in cajun Fish Crisp, dip in milk and egg then coat with Panko bread crumbs. I don’t like deep frying, I find it’s too easy to burn the bread crumbs. Pan fried in hot oil over an open fire is the absolute best! Don’t think I had any complaints on this day… After lunch we continued our assault on the lake with everyone catching fish and having fun. As the sun began to sink the fish as expected moved en masse into the rocky windblown shallows and once again it was pandemonium. Double headers, cut and bleeding fingers and a bunch of happy anglers! Once again I managed to shoot this short video of the great action we had, check it out! It’s hard to imagine a more perfect capper to our fly in adventure, what a great day! Nearing dusk Jim D and his brother Dan packed it in and headed for camp while Jimmy V and I hauled our gear and the two motors back across the trail. If you’re wondering we left the extra boat there for future guests to use. There’s still four good ones back at the camp so there’s certainly no lack of watercraft. Unfortunately all good things must come to an end and our time at Apisabigo was nearly over. I honestly can’t remember another trip that went off so flawlessly without a hitch. Even the weather was something to remember, especially so being late September. Big thanks to Ontario Out Of Doors magazine as well as Martin and Jennifer Wearn of Park’s Fly In Fishing for making this trip happen! Also thanks to my new friends Jim and Dan Derro and Jimmy Valeriote for his good humour and help. You guys were great! For those that might be interested in a trip to Apisabigo check out this short video tour of the camp that I filmed. To book a trip Martin and Jenn’s contact info is on their website at www.outpostcamps.com or www.ontariowilderness.com My only regret on this trip was not having enough time to sample the second back lake accessed via trail at the north end of the lake. Seeing it from the air on the way out it looked pretty enticing. On the plus side that gives me a great excuse to return again. Apisabigo is a fantastic option for a fly in trip, especially so it you’re coming from southern Ontario. The drive to Wawa is easy, the camp itself is as nice as it gets, the lake is full of fish and there’s some interesting options to explore. What more could you ask for? I will be back!

I’ve been fortunate to have enjoyed numerous fly in trips, many to some pretty far flung exotic locales. This year in particular has been incredibly busy, but I still enjoy flying into the Chapleau region. The lakes in and around the Chapleau Game Preserve are generally smaller and more intimate which means they’re easy to fish. They also teem with fish, mostly fat walleye and girthy pike, but what really draws me back time and again is the easy drive from southern Ontario. It’s close enough to home that I can shoot up for a quick four or even three night trip. It maximizes your time and offers angling action distilled to its purest level. Pack a few clothes, some food and fishing tackle, drive to the jump off point and away you go. Nothing to concern yourself with beyond fishing for the next few days. For the last few years I’ve made it a yearly tradition to bring one or both of my kids along on one of these short forays, and they’ve loved the experience every time! The short length of stay and the easy drive is perfect for kids and we’ve always had a blast. This summer was no exception and recently we enjoyed another stellar trip. As many of you know I’ve been partial to Park’s Fly In Fishing operated by Martin and Jennifer Wearn. This past season they’ve expanded their operation in a big way acquiring 14 more outpost camps from Air Dale Flying Services. A number of these new camps are considered “deluxe” with hot/cold running water, showers and a host of other amenities. Looking at our new options I randomly chose John’s Lake as a destination. The camp looked really nice and the lake being just a shade longer than 3km’s appeared big enough to hold my interest. What made this trip extra special was the company. Joining me was my young fish crazed son Brendan, my very good friend Joe K, his young son Cameron and my next door neighbour Joe S. and his young son Alex. Life can be funny sometimes as there’s actually a connection between all 3 of us. Joe K. and I have been close friends since we were 10 years old, we grew up together. When I moved into my current house and met my new neighbour I was floored. Joe S. was someone who both Joe K. and I had gone to grade school and high school with. He’s been a great neighbour, has become a good friend and our two boys are now good friends. They say it’s a small world and sometimes that rings very true. It’s fun when you can make references to stuff that happened 35 years ago and both guys you’re with get it. There’s a deep connection and it’s extra special as all 3 of our boys get along great and love to fish. The drive to our jump off point was seamless and after spending a night in a motel we were at the airbase bright and early for our scheduled 7am flight. There would be no weather delays as it was a crisp clear morning perfect for flying. After quickly loading the plane we snapped a pic of the three amigos on the dock. It was a spectacular flight into John’s with all 3 kids chattering excitedly the entire way. Upon approach I shot this short video as we circled the lake and landed, giving a birds eye view of the lake and our home for the next 4 nights. Upon landing we quickly settled in and unpacked. While we figured out the water system and got that up and running the kids ran around the shoreline collecting leeches in a cup, fishing from shore and just exploring. The camp was an absolute beauty. Perched on a rocky point overlooking the lake and as neat and clean as a pin, it was easily one of the nicest I’ve ever visited! One of the things I love about fishing is the challenge of finding fish on brand new waters. Even on a fly in lake there will be key spots and specific patterns that work best and solving that puzzle is always fun. After rigging our rods and getting all three boats ready we each embarked on our quest to crack the code on John’s lake. Brendan and I headed for a prominent point near a creek mouth and had instant success trolling a crankbait in 20’ of water. Often I’ll run worm harnesses and bottom bouncers when prospecting for walleye - they’re a great search tool. We used them with great success as well but ultimately they proved more trouble than they were worth. Once the fish were found which didn’t take long, simply casting jigs and plastics with light spinning tackle was deadly and far more fun! The other guys enjoyed similar success with all of the kids getting in on the action. Arriving back at camp in mid afternoon we had kept a bunch of smaller eater sized walleye for a fish fry. After cleaning the fish and getting a fire going Brendan helped me as we cooked them up to golden perfection. Heading out in the evening I found two prominent mid lake shoals and threw a couple of markers on them. Mid lake humps are classic summer spots for walleye when you can find them, and we consistently caught fish there for the balance of our trip. Back at camp that evening we kicked back and enjoyed a bonfire overlooking the lake. The amazing thing was there were no bugs! In fact this particular trip is the only I can ever remember where we didn’t have to spray the cabin, use mosquito coils or even use any bug repellent! I can only assume it was because of the hot dry weather. Whatever the reason it was a pure joy. The next 3 days were virtual carbon copies of the first: Sunny and warm and almost flat calm. Normally I’d prefer a bit of cloud and wind, but the fishing was just as hot. Pretty much at will we could go out and catch walleyes. Most were in the 15-18” range but many were in the 22-26” range. Largest I caught was a fat 271/2” fish. Joe S. received top honours with a thick 291/2” fish. My guess is if we’d have pinched the tail it would have been 30. Those are darned nice walleye anywhere you fish! We’d brought a flat of worms with us but I barely used them. After the first hour of the trip we used 31/2” Northland Impulse paddle tail minnows on 1/4 or 3/8oz jig heads almost exclusively. Honestly they were lethal and imo produced just as many fish for us as the other guys tipping their twister tails with worms. Mixed in with the walleye were countless small to medium sized pike. There were a couple of weedy bays on the lake that produced fish non stop for the kids. Brendan in particular loves casting spoons for pike, doesn’t matter if they’re not huge and he had a riot! I did manage three fish that hit the magic 40” mark, the largest 42”. Cool thing about the 42 was it came on our last evening on what was the last cast of the trip! (I called it). While most of our walleyes came on plastics Brendan caught a ton of incidental ones while casting oversized spoons for pike. Without a doubt the fish weren’t too fussy on this lake! Continued……

Last winter while researching possible destinations for a summer family fly in trip, my wife Joanne had only one request. “I don't care where we go, but it has to have indoor plumbing and actual beds...no bunk beds!” In general I'm more partial to the outpost camp experience, but it's hard to find a camp with those kinds of amenities. In addition my very good friend Joe expressed an interest in joining us with his own little clan; wife Nancy, and two young kids Cameron and Kathleen. Obviously with two families involved this would not be the normal kind of fly in trip, so I expanded my search to include lodges. Key factors for me in choosing a lodge was the quality of the accomodations, a large and varied lake with good fishing, and most importantly price. It simply couldn't be over the top expensive when bringing the whole family along. Even with those criteria there's an almost overwhelming number of camps to choose from in northern Ontario. Price quickly became the key element. With that in mind I soon zeroed in on Buck and Bingwood Lodge, located a 10 minute flight west of the jump off point in Hornepayne on sprawling Obakamiga lake. It's an impressive body of water, well over 7000 acres in size. In addition there's direct access to Granitehill lake which is almost as big via a short connecting river. Talking with the owners John and Shannon Moffat, a young couple from the Midland area, it was clear they truly love what they're doing. Since acquiring the lodge 4 years ago they've poured their heart and soul into it completing numerous renovations and improvements. The cabins are now finished to a never before seen standard. They've also acquired an impressive new fleet of boats. Large, wide Mirrocraft's with full vinyl floors, casting decks, live wells, rod lockers, graphs, and brand new 4 stroke Nissan outboards. The clincher for me was price. Trust me, you can do your own research, but considering what you're getting and the level of comfort involved, their prices are a bargain. They are in fact substantially cheaper than most remote outpost camps I've been to. The coup de grace however was yet to come. Talking to John he mentioned that they'd recently acquired four new outpost camps which had been vacant and unused for a number of years. “Would you be interested in flying into our outpost camp on White Owl lake for a night while you're up here?” “We can only accommodate 4 people, but we should be able to squeeze you in at the end of the week.” Would I? In some instances you actually can have your cake and eat it too! It was an easy decision for both myself and Joe to book with them. John and Shannon operate two separate housekeeping locations on Obakamiga, Bingwood which sits at the mouth of the Buck river where it enters the big lake, and Buck located on a wooded peninsula several kilometers away. We were penciled into the Buck location, 2 large cabins side by side for late August. White Owl was scheduled for the last night of our stay. The anticipation was killing all of us... To say that Hornepayne is off the beaten track is an understatement. It's a rail town carved out of the bush located precisely in the middle of nowhere. Highway 631 is a small secondary route that connects hwy 17 to the south and 11 to the north and Hornepayne lies smack dab in the middle. There's virtually no traffic on this sleepy little two lane road. Once you turn off the busy Trans Canada it's like entering another world. The trees seem denser and push closer to the road , the route winds it's way through the landscape around lakes and crossing numerous rivers. It's a scenic last leg to the jump off point and we enjoyed every minute of it. We were slated to fly into camp with Forde Lake Air Service located just outside town. Having never flown with them before I was curious as to how they'd stack up against some of the others I've used and I came away impressed. They were incredibly friendly, fast and efficient and in no time at all they had our gear weighed and packed into the plane. Our group of eight would fly in two separate Beaver aircraft, flights being just minutes apart. Joanne, myself and our kids Riley and Brendan were up first... It's a short flight, maybe 15 minutes, and once in the air I was amazed at the terrain, it seemed much more pristine. Very little logging activity mars the landscape and the terrain is dotted with sparkling lakes and rolling forested hills. I shot this short video of our landing as we arrived at Buck cabins. Upon landing we were greeted at the dock like old friends, and with military precision our gear was packed into a small trailer and hauled with an ATV to our cabin. Joe and his family arrived less than 10 minutes after us and we soon began the task of unpacking and settling in. The nice thing about the cabins at Buck is they're well spaced out and private each having their own dock. Even better the perfectly manicured grounds offered plenty of room for the kids to run and play. Joe and his family were directly behind us on the other side of the point, their cabin located in a shady grove of cedars. John and Shannon's youngest boy Joseph (everyone calls him Jofish) is the same age as my little guy Brendan and they instantly hit it off. The two of them along with Cameron, Joe's young son, raced around camp in a fever pitch playing like long lost friends. I could tell right away this was going to be a special family vacation... Visions of Lord Of The Flies sprang to mind as they scrambled about camp mostly barefoot, poking sticks at various different creatures trying to capture them. Sometimes they even succeeded... Fishing was the top priority and it didn't take long to establish a pattern. Surprisingly at least to me was the amount of finesse it took to catch the walleye. Normally my go to lure on a fly in is a 1/4oz jig tipped with a twister and worm, but those Obakamiga walleye weren't interested. Top producer was a simple live bait rig. Lindy sinker, long 3-4' leader and a floating jig head with either and a nose hooked crawler or minnow. John traps minnows on the lake and has a huge supply on hand for his guests to use. Utilizing the wind and drifting slowly across likely structure we put plenty of fat walleye in the boat. I'm also partial to pulling bottom bouncers and worm harnesses, especially when prospecting for concentrations of fish. This proved deadly at times as well and I was able to find pods of aggressive fish all over this vast watershed. Pretty much every rocky point and windblown shoreline held active fish. There were also several notable mid lake humps and saddles between islands that produced large numbers of fish. All textbook walleye spots. Even fishing there for a week I barely scratched the surface though, there's just so much water to cover it would take several seasons to learn it all. One item that's an absolute must in my opinion and one that helped put a lot of fish in the boat was a drift sock. Used either to slow the boat down while drifting, or to slow the boat's trolling speed, it proved invaluable! One of the truly nice things about the Buck location was that the point right out in front was a walleye hotspot. Almost every morning I'd head out by myself super early, coffee in hand for an hour or two of bliss. That spot never failed to produce fish. Here's a short video I shot of my daughter Riley landing a nice fish right in front of the camp in that same spot: Blessed with almost perfect weather, no bugs and a full moon, most evenings were spent around the campfire. Lots of laughter and a whole lot of roasted marshmallows. There was a bit of a twist though. With the kids in mind Joe had brought along a massive screen and some kind of new fangled gizmo that hooked up to his ipad to play movies. I think he had 30 movies downloaded for the trip and most every night he'd set it up for the kids. A northern Ontario version of a drive-in! I shot a short video of the proceedings. The kids LOVED it, and best of all it allowed the adults to relax in peace, enjoy a few drinks and socialize kid free for a couple of hours. I'm nominating Joe for a Nobel prize, the man is a genius. Most nights the camp dog Marshall, an affable old Saint Bernard, would trundle over to our campfire to sniff out treats and lounge around. A noble beast to be sure although at times he showed no modesty. I've titled this picture “Even when we're asleep we're still available” Twice during our stay we took the trip over to explore Granitehill lake navigating the placid Buck river to get there. It was a fun trip and the Granitehill walleye proved to be cooperative as well... Of course we ate a lot of walleye, on a trip like this that's one of the highlights. Sometimes wrapped in bacon on the bbq... Other times deep fried to crispy perfection... Both John and Shannon went out of their way throughout the week to make our trip extra special. Little touches like freshly baked bread delivered to our cabin one morning. Drinking water in a large jug delivered every day, and best of all the community shore lunch. Once during the week they host a massive get together at nearby Loon island for anyone who'd like to partake. It's not very often I get catered to like that so it was an absolute treat. Here's a short video of the gathering: I've yet to mention pike, but there are some brutes in Obakamiga. It stands to reason as it's such a huge structure filled lake with tons of feed... While most of our efforts were spent chasing walleye, the pike were, if anything, even more cooperative. With Joe and Nancy relaxing at camp one afternoon they graciously offered to watch the kids for us. Joanne and I seized the opportunity and raced to a large bay at the north end of the lake to cast for pike. There's a vast 10-12' flat up there loaded with vegetation, and as we quickly found out, pike. Problem was they were all small to middling. Fun as it was catching them I was more interested in targeting larger fish. At the entrance to the bay there was a well defined drop off, almost like a wall into 20' of water. I threw out a handful of markers and began to troll this edge in a crisscross fashion with oversized spinnerbaits. I struck first with a fat 38” fish that hammered a Northland Magnum Reed Runner. I was pretty happy with that, because honestly I wasn't really expecting big fish. It was a bit of a surprise. Not long after I landed my fish, just as I turned the boat and our baits sped up, Joanne says “Oops, I think I'm snagged!” We were trolling in 20' of water so not too likely. Almost immediately her line started ripping diagonally through the water away from the boat. “That”, I said, “Is definitely not a snag!” Excited as she was she played that fish like a pro and we soon had it in the cradle. 43” long and easily the largest fish she's ever caught. She was incredibly proud catching this fish, and I have to say I was pretty proud too. We fished for a bit longer just enjoying the afternoon. I knew we weren't likely to top that catch, but it was still fun nonetheless. With the success we had pike fishing in such a brief amount of time I'm curious to know just how good that fishery is. I suspect if you timed your trip accordingly and put your time in the results would be pretty good. For that reason alone I'd return to Buck and Bingwood. There was also a pronounced evening bite on this lake. I havn't mentioned it yet because frankly I never took advantage of it. Evenings were spent relaxing, barbequing, playing with the kids and stoking the camp fire. However a couple of other groups did fish the witching hour with huge success. I shot this short clip of one evenings haul in the fish cleaning shack, what a great bunch of guys! I had heard rumors that John Moffat is an absolute master at cleaning walleye. With a little bit of prodding we dragged him over to the cleaning shack for a demonstration. He was definitely impressive, no doubt about that! With our flight into White Owl scheduled for the next morning my time at Buck cabins was quickly coming to an end. For those that are interested I shot this short video tour of the Buck camp: As I mentioned John is constantly busy renovating and working on the camp. His current project is a brand new 4 bedroom cabin that he just started constructing. I'm sure it'll be spectacular when it's finished! While at Buck I was curious to check out the Bingwood location as well, just in case a future trip is ever on tap. It's honestly stunning, just an absolutely gorgeous camp! Since I could only bring 4 into White Owl a decision had to be made. After much discussion it was finally decided that I would bring Brendan and joining us would be my friend Joe and his lovely daughter Kathleen. Kathleen as you'll see is a natural and the camera just loves her... The wives, God love them, would stay behind with the other two kids and relax for a day. The whole lot of us gathered on the dock early the next morning, gear for white Owl piled high and ready. Right on cue the Beaver arrived and before loading Shannon snapped this picture of the entire crew: It was just a short hop over to White Owl and spirits were soaring as we approached the lake. As we'd been told the lake hadn't been fished in a number of years... With less than one full day to fish and explore the lake we quickly scrambled to ready our tackle and get the boats in the water. With most of the work done I took the time to shoot this short video tour of the camp. And a darned nice camp it is! Once on the water it didn't take us long to get into fish. Right away we managed a few little pike and walleye to break the ice and start things off properly. Then we hit the mother lode. In a neck down area right around the corner from camp the walleyes were stacked like cord wood, fat, sassy and hungry! It didn't really matter what we used either, we caught fish on everything we tried. </p> <p><strong>allowfullscreen> At one point Brendan and I pulled ourselves away from the fast action to explore for a bit and found a log choked creek entering the lake. Looking at the map it seemed as though it was only a short distance to another large lake of substance, this one unnamed. I live for this kind of stuff! With a little bit of difficulty we made it to the lake, and it was a beauty. Almost 2km in diameter and surprisingly deep. There were a couple of basins that hit 60' and overall it probably averaged 20-30. I knew it wasn't true, but it felt like we were the first persons to fish this lake. After poking around for a bit with the finder I stumbled onto a small hump and it was game on. Literally one fish after another... Wanting to get back to Joe and Kathleen we didn't devote nearly enough time to this amazing little body of water. It wasn't easy but we tore ourselves away from our hotspot and began our descent down the little creek back to White Owl. This time I shot a complete video of the journey: Back on White Owl, Joe and especially Kathleen were doing just fine! Before calling it a night we sped over to a large, very obvious back bay to cast for pike, it just looked too good! The bay was loaded with smaller fish, but it was one of those times when you almost expect a big fish at any time... Brendan was hooking fish left and right on a Williams Wabler and I turned on the camera for this one. It turned out to be a pretty decent fish, way bigger than I initially thought. I'm guessing 35-36” range anyway. I think if I'd have been more on the ball helping him he might have actually landed it, but alas she got unbuttoned. Great story though, the kid's now telling his mom that the fish he lost was waaay bigger than hers, 44” at LEAST! He's evolving into an angler right before my eyes. Back at camp we'd planned on fish for dinner and had kept a few. While I busied myself with the chore of cleaning them, Joe and the kids relaxed savoring our great day. It was fully dark by the time I fired up the fish cooker. Drink in hand I marveled at the scene in front of me and the end of a truly fantastic fly in trip. The next morning our plane came right on time to whisk us back to Hornepayne and civilization. The rest of our families were already at the dock waiting and we soon had the vehicles packed and were on the road home. This trip was a benchmark a number of reasons. First off it was an incredibly fun venture, with just as much socializing as fishing. The kids had a blast playing together and we all enjoyed exploring the lake. Fishing wise it was consistently good at Buck, and Joanne DID catch her largest fish ever. The camp itself exceeded all of our expectations, and the most telling evidence was that everyone wants to go back next year. In my daughters words “This was the best trip ever daddy, even better than Cuba!” The capper was White Owl. There's no doubt I'll be fishing this lake again! I can't even begin to imagine what a full week would be like at this location. About the only thing the White Owl camp needs to make it perfect is running water a large deck to lounge on and according to John Moffat both will be done soon. A big thanks to both John and Shannon Moffat, their two great kids, and all of the staff. You guys made the trip a memorable one and for that I thank you. http://www.fishbucklake.com/contact.php https://www.facebook.com/fishbucklake I'll definitely be back! Hope you enjoyed, Cheers, Mike