Elk Lake report

[oxcowboy]

hi folks,

 

sorry this report is a little late, but i have had some medical problems with my dad, and havent had alot of computer time, not to mention school has started and with all the teacher meetings and such, i have had a full schedule everday. anyway here it goes hope you enjoy.

 

we left good ol southern ohio on wed, august 25th and headed for elk lake, the ride up through ohio and michigan was uneventfull as usuall. arrived at the border alittle after midnight. exchanged our money which was our first screwing, dollar for dollar, ol well on to custums. things went well untill he asked if we were carring any weapons. i took a compound bow that my friend in haliburton had bought off of ebay, but they wouldnt ship to canada so he had it shipped to me, any way i declared it like i should and he said "a what?" so i explained to him that it shot arrows and was used for hunting. he had no clue, but he did give us a slip and told us to go park and the search of the vehicle began. no big deal just set us back about 45 minutes and we were on our way. i told the guys its ok its all part of the adventure.

 

the rest of the way was fine, a stop in toronto for gas, a stop in north bay for gas and topped off the tank in new liskeard. we arrived at the golden eagle camp, dropped off some frozen food, purchased our liscence and off to our special spot for 3 days of tent camping. after driving about 15 kilometers back in the bush we found the camping area.

 

the weather was hot, got the tent and camp all set up, dropped the boat in and off to catch some pike for the 1st shore lunch of the year. we did pretty good for the limited time of fishing, we boated 21 between the 3 of us and kept a few for supper that night. after several brown pops and alot of fish strips i finally knocked off and went to bed, i did all of the driving, so no problems falling a sleep. woke around 7 the next morning and feeling revived and ready we hit the water again. it was an overcast day and even rained some, but the fishing was excellent we boated 108 on the day, several nice smallies and some decent pike.

 

i lost a nice pike boat side, that would have probably went around 36 inches, most pike were caught on inline spinners and the smallies on soft plastics.

 

the next day was tough, real hot and the moon phase wasnt right, we still managed 37 fish in a shortened day, came back to camp and loaded everything back up and headed to our cabin at the golden eagle. after cleaning a couple walleye for taking home, grillin some burgers and a much need shower, we decided to go to the local watering hole in matachewan and did a little kareoke and a lot of drinking we made some new pals with the locals and headed to the bar after party at some dudes house, and thats where we met this fellow.

 

needles to say the next morning came way to early, didnt make it on the water till about noon. once again very hot, and on the way to the lake, we blew a trailer tire, no big deal after a quick pit stop we were ready to go again. as i was putting the tire tool up i thought i heard a little sound, sure enough the spare was leaking at the valve stem, messed with it a little and it seemed to stop. went on and stopped to get some snacks in matachewan and put some air back in the tire and off to the water. fished the afternoon with some success, we got to see our 1st bear swimming the lake.

came back in and the tire was looking fine, back up loaded and the tire was going down again. headed back to the store bought a 12 dollar can of fixaflat (2nd screwing) and the tire was good as new. we decided to hit a small bass lake on the way home, fished it till dark scored 55 fish for the day and headed back to the cabin. as we headed down the highway we seen our 1st timberwolf ever cross the road and then a little further down the road we seen a huge bobcat, he stoped just at the edge and we were able to watch him for several minutes. very neat, wish we could have got some pics, but they all turned out too dark.

 

next day we were up early again. after a quick breakfast were were ready to go, went outside and flat tire on trailer. *&&*&%$ got the last spare out and away we go, the water today was close to the camp, we baked in the sun, but still did ok, boating 69 fish, a few decent smallies and alot of hammer handle pike, on a sad note my friend john lost his old heddon devil diver lure, it was a fish catching machine. he and it had quite a history together. after a moment of silence off we go.

 

 

the next day we headed to elk lake, to buy a new spare and to fish the montreal river. on the way, noticed something wasnt right on the trailer, soon after blew another trailer tire. ok this is getting rediculus as we were fixing it we noticed alot of play in the bearing, inner bearing shot. so we bought a new tire and bearing while we were there might as well get everything we need, plus i will cash in my gst when we cross the boarder again(3rd screwing, they done away with that program) fixed the bearing and off we go to fish the montreal. boated 65 pike, nothing special but a few decent ones. hit a series of oxbows and did well.

 

also got a pretty cool pick of a duck taking off the water

 

the next few days were hot,hot, hot and the fishing was cold, boated 11 one day and worked hard to get them.

some sunset pics from the week

 

our friend rob from haliburton joined us for our can/am challenge. rob was able to take the trophy for all of you canadiens this year, but we will get it back next year, the winning entry for largest fish was a 28 inch pike! but ol well, here i am graciously handing over the traveling trophy, be assured it will rest on american soil next year. lol

 

the last 2 days at camp we managed another 108 fish and filled out our limits easy enough, the camp was great as always the fishing was good, but this little party animal was too much lol couldnt keep him off the sauce.

 

we left on saturday morning and headed to robs house for a lay over and to try a musky lake near him, none of us had ever caught one and really wanted to give it a try. on the way you guessed it more trailer trouble, this time we hit a big chuck hole outside of north bay and broke a suspension bar that holds the axle in place.

all part of the adventure!

with the help of a cable tugger and and a ratchet strap we limped on in to robs house. his neibhor had a welder so i give it a quick weld job and off to get our musky. well of course it didnt work out that way for us, we caught a few more bass but rob did land this nice little musky, about 35 inches

after some quick pics, and a little care of reviving he swam away. ive still never caught one, but i now can say i released one

went back to robs, grilled up some deer loin and went to bed and headed for the states around 5 am. we were hoping to see a moose, but no such luck.

we blew another tire around chatham and limped in to a gas station to get directions to a walmart, the lady told us where to go, but recomended a tire shop that was only a couple of blocks away, she seemed nice so ok, we headed down the street to Brooks tire shop. he had the tire we needed in stock even put it on the rim for us, got ready to pay and that will be $57!!!!!! i about crapped my pants, we paid 54 in elk lake in the middle of nowhere for tire and rim together(4thscrew) paid the man and got the hell out of there. had to wait in line about 1.5 hours at the border, found out the gst rebate was no longer and finally made it through customs with out any trouble. outside of toledo hit another chuck hole and the sway bar snapped again out comes the ratchet and cable tugger and limped down the rest of ohio without any incident.

 

all in all we had a great trip, cant wait to return next year, but i think i might do a trailer overhaul before i head back. in total we caught right at 500 fish, seen several bears, a timberwolf, and a bobcat and shared the week with some really good friends. PRICELESS. here are some more various pics of the week, hope you all enjoyed our adventure.

 

jason

 

[2kj]

Great report! 500 fish omg, that's not fishing, that's catching! I could only be so lucky to get that many fish on a trip.

[TennesseeGuy]

Nice job Jason. Your report was worth waiting for.

 

Left home August 25th? You must be on Ohio time.

 

I've been through the trailer and tire problems and had more than my share, but it's been 28 years since I've pulled a boat to Ontario.

[pikehunter]

Good pictures and report. You sure did alot of screwing though LOL

 

Don't complain too much about the GST, at least you get it refunded, not like the rest of us. The GST is a replacement for the manufacturers tax. With that in mind when we cross into the States and make purchases we don't get the hidden manufacturers tax rebated to us. So look at it this way, you aren't getting screwed, Canadians are!

 

The next time you cross into Canada exchange your money at your bank at home before leaving. You will get a better deal there. The exchange booth at the border is not there to loose money, it is a business to make a few percentage points by providing you a convenience.

 

To add to the screwing theme just think how the state of Florida screws tourists with extra hidden and straight out taxes that are not refundable.

 

That being said, I'm happy the fishing was good for you and sorry to hear of your tire and customs troubles. The border guard sounds like a real moron! Probably some part time kid hired for the summer.

[ccmtcanada]

Wow...it's amazing you even made it home with all that trailer trouble!!! Even though it must have put a damper on the trip, I can tell by your smiles in the pics that it was still all worth it. Great job out there...you caught more fish on this trip than I have in my LIFE....LOL. Good job guys and great report!

[Toronto_Angler]

That certainly does sound like quite the adventure! I don' t think I'll catch 500 fish in my life never mind in one trip! Good stuff.

[setomonkey]

Sounds like a great time, even with some of the unexpected hassles.

 

I'd recommend skipping the exchange booth too. I'd suggest stopping at the first bank you find and withdrawing cash from the ATM/ABM. That's what I do whenever I'm in the U.S., the exchange rate the bank offers you is much better than any exchange service.

 

Mike

[Whopper]

Good report Jason!

 

Been there done that with the trailer thing so I know how ya feel.

 

Glad you had a good time!

 

Whopper

[fatherof3]

simply amazing report,congrats on a great trip

[oxcowboy]

[Left home August 25th? You must be on Ohio time.

/quote]

 

yeah tg it was july 25th, must of had a brain fart. lol

 

another interesting thing was that john caught a small blue walleye in a remote lake, it was the first any of us had ever seen. pretty neat, the camera batteries died and i didnt get a pic.

 

i was surprised that the gst rebate was no longer in effect, i figure it is because of our us dollar not being worth as much as it used to be, therefore the canadien govt isnt caring as much if they get it now.

 

we should have waited to exchange like you guys said, but we were there, and had never got hosed that bad before. a lesson learned.

 

thanks for the comments guys.

 

jason

[pikehunter]

i was surprised that the gst rebate was no longer in effect

 

I didn't know that I learn something new everytime I click onto OFC

[Tarzan's Jane]

What a great attitude you have! Enjoyed reading this and looking at the pics...thanks for posting.

[lunkerbasshunter]

all the problems were well worth it for 500 fish lol

 

Great report!

 

Cheers!

[2kj]

Jason that blue walleye you guys caught is extremely rare. They were thought to exstinct since the 60's but every now and then an angler lands one. The ones that do get caught are thought to be a cross breed and not a 'true blue' walleye but they are genetically a different strain than the yellow. What a shame you batteries died, murphy's law strikes again.

[Hooked]

Now that sounded like an adventure!! Sucks to have a slow day and only catch 37 fish, haha. Great report, and I think its time to get a new trailer. Besides that Mexican urine Corona, surely you guys must of had some real Canadian manly beer eh? How long you guys been doin this trip?

Edited August 25, 2007 by Hooked

[oxcowboy]

Besides that Mexican urine Corona, surely you guys must of had some real Canadian manly beer eh? How long you guys been doin this trip?

 

hooked, yeah we drank some manly beer too, bought a couple cases of carlin and a couple packs of toilet paper. lol

ive been making this trip about 15 years, always try to hit a new lake or two each year.

 

jbird- the blue walleye came out of a lake that we had never fished before,it was deep and made like a bowl. it was small, only about 10 inches or so, but we heard of some nice ones that were caught through the ice, going around 10 lbs.

 

jason

[fishindevil]

Holy crap !!!!!!! you guys are cursed when it comes to trailer tires..lol..lol wow,i didnt think anyone had worse luck than i did when it comes to tires.. ..well at least it all worked out for you guys,great scenery pics too,lots of wildlife. ..and a nice shot of the chipmunk getting a swig of beer and a peanut...too funny. .lol.. well you guys must have sore arms after catching 500 fish....man thats what i call an AMAZING FISHING/CAMPING TRIP...WTG CHEERS